The weather has been at its best all year long and I am very thankful for it all. Christmas was wonderful at our home yesterday and this morning, we have been blessed with more snow fall. We woke up to a sublime sight as everything was covered in white (our second snowfall of the year).
Doe and Buck.
Early in the morning after breakfast, I excitedly walked around the backyard with my phone, taking photos of this beautiful winter scenery. Personally, I am quite content with this amount of snow and I am really hoping that we wouldn’t get more of it.
Partial view of my backyard.
My daughter pointed out the palm tree on the picture below, stating that the weight of the snow on some of the fans has transformed the tree into a fancy dress. Can you see it?
Partial view of my backyard.
I love the view from my backyard, which is still a work in progress. I love how snow makes pretty much everything look beautiful, fresh, dreamy and magical.
Partial view of my front yard.
With one or two days of sunshine, the snow will be completely gone, revealing all the lovely green. Before that, we should be able to build a snowman this time around.
Plants covered in snow.
I hope everyone is staying warm and having a wonderful time this holiday season.
“As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.” — John F. Kennedy
Nature has blessed us with snow today!
Happy Thanksgiving.
It’s been so long since it has snowed this much in the High Desert, with some areas seeing more snow than others. The neighborhood is alive with children and adults building snowmen and engaging in snow ball fights. It is such a beautiful day and I am thankful for Nature’s gift on this Thanksgiving day.
Snowy Mountains.
“Gratitude turns what we have into enough.” – Anonymous
The Photinia Fraseri shrubs are in full bloom all over my front and backyard, attracting swarms of Painted Lady butterflies, Small Cabbage White butterflies, bees and other insects. It’s quite a sight to watch them fly around and my kids are loving it. My husband got one of the butterflies to rest on a tiny rock, and I was able to capture the picture below. Their outbreak this year is a pleasant surprise.
Painted Lady Butterfly resting on a rock.
I found a dead Painted Lady Butterfly by my mail box. Since I was unable to see the undersides of the first butterfly I found last month, I carefully flipped this one around and snapped a picture. I love the colors and details on its wings; it’s such a beautiful insect.
Painted Lady Butterfly.
I had a tough time taking a picture of The Small Cabbage White. It was all over the place.
Today we are having a little break from the dreadful weather. The sun is up, the skies are blue and light winds are expected all day with a 10% probability of rainfall. The neighborhood is alive. Some are busy with yard clean-up, setting up for a yard sale and others are soaking up some sun while listening to music. I have barely seen my neighbors in weeks, so it feels good to know they are still alive and kicking.
It snowed a little on Wednesday night and Thursday morning was extremely cold. This is the first time in so many years that I have felt this cold and we haven’t had so much back to back rain storms either. Still, we are very grateful to Mother Nature.
Backyard pallet deck on a cold morning.
The view of the mountains was particularly breathtaking on Thursday morning. So much snow, so much white.
Snowy Mountains.
We didn’t realized that one of planters in the front yard had retained water from the rain; and this morning, the water was frozen.
Frozen planter.
Thankfully all my plants are drought and frost tolerant.
Frost on pretty much everything.
My Report Cove furry boots kept my feet warm and got me through the day. I have had these Alpine inspired boots for thirteen years and they are my go-to choice for cold weather.
Keeping my feet warm (Report Cove).
The sun came up this morning and I had an opportunity to take a walk in the backyard. Not enough warmth to do some gardening, but enough to watch a horse trainer teach a horse to dance, most likely for an upcoming event.
Horse trainer.
There’s something about raindrops on plants …
Photinia Fraseri & Heavenly Bamboo.
I hope you all have a beautiful weekend despite the cold weather.
The kids are out of school for Winter break and I am so happy to finally get some personal time to tend to my plants. Yes, it’s cold outside, but I have a few unfinished projects. The mountains are once again covered in snow, and the view from my backyard is breathtaking. All I need is a cup of coffee and a nice spot where I can soak up some (limited) afternoon sun.
So far the days of the week have been brighter than the previous week as we went through a few days without seeing any sunlight. We have beautiful sunrises and sunsets. For the first time in 12 years, the intensity of raindrops from the heavy, non-stop rain we had a couple of weeks ago created soil erosion here and there, and the ground in some areas is still soft.
Rain (double rainbow), Fog and Frosty Roof.
Heavenly Bamboo also known as Nandina, is a beautiful evergreen shrub, drought tolerant and a toxic plant too. This plant as well as Dwarf Nandina ‘Nana’, add dimension and color to the landscape as their foliage make them a great accent to the yard as they brighten and light up the grey, dreary days by becoming the focal points in Winter.
Heavenly Bamboo.
This summer we redid our 44 years old driveway and in doing so, we had to remove three of our mature Photinia Fraseri ‘Red Robin shrubs. There is still a gap next to the gate and as you can see, the ugly stumps in the landscape. The good news is that new growths are forming at the base of the stumps and they will continue to fill their place in the landscape as they regrow.
Photinia Fraseri ‘Red Robin.’
My Agave Ovatifolia has gotten really big. Five pups can be seen coming up from the larger mother plant (the 5th one is still breaking through). There is another pup that is not in the photo because it’s growing on my neighbor’s yard.
Agave Ovatifolia ‘Frosty Blue’. Mother plant and pups.
I went to Lowe’s last week to get a couple of fuses for the Christmas lights and I ended up buying a few Asparagus plants, including Plumosus, as seen below.
I am still collecting Antique cast iron patio sets. The arm chair is one of the new additions I got this year (the matching bench/settee can be seen in the first picture). I am searching for the extremely hard to find planter.
Asparagus Plumosus.
I am grateful that my yard is still weed free. I did well, the weekly maintenance if paying off. This is also a good time get outside and pull out those weeds, while the ground is soft and the weather is not too cold.
Weed Free Yard.
It has been a wonderful year with no set backs:
We are safe, happy and healthy
Our families and friends are doing great
We completed two major projects
We were given so much and we gave as much in return
By JM Perez
