Oh, hey there.

Gee whiz, September has just been a barrel of monkeys, let me tell you! First off, the garden is veritably bursting with fruits, flowers, and foliage in all directions...

It seems like there is a big second wave of tomatoes rolling in, particularly the Cherokee Purples which are my all-time favorites:

I'm trying a new strategy with some Fall veggies this year; planting my starts under the canopy of my Summer plants. I'm hoping that this will allow them a comfortable few weeks to get established while the weather can still spike into the 90's, which would probably stress out crops such as lettuce and brassicas a bit if they were in full open exposure. Here I am utilizing the structure of the melon trellis to shield some just-planted "Marveille des Quatre Saisons" lettuce:

This past weekend Charlotte and I took another drive out to Osmosis day spa about an hour away, near the town of Occidental, for another "cedar enzyme bath", which has been very helpful for her eczema, as well as being a good way to sweat out toxins, relax the muscles and make you feel generally refreshed. The gardens there are also very relaxing to meander through, with swaying bamboo thickets and a pristinely-manicured Japanese meditation garden. We don't carry our phones with us there, but here is what the enzyme bath looks like: (picture from their website)

You just lay in there and they bury you up to your chin for 30 minutes, bringing cool water and wiping your forehead every so often. Quite the treatment! Afterwards we made a visit to a California native plant nursery, California Flora, in Santa Rosa, finding a number of exciting plants for the yard, including 3 different monkeyflower varieties with gorgeous-colored blooms, a couple manzanitas, and a pitcher sage (Lepechinia calycina) that I have been looking for since discovering it's strong sage-fragranced foliage while exploring Zim Zim Falls near Lake Berryessa. In the past I have used this plant's leaves to flavor "gruit" (non-hopped herbal beer) with great results! Here I am in hog heaven:

To top off the day, we happened upon an outstanding, yet inconspicuous Peruvian restaurant in the area. We were seated in a dimly-lit deli that was closed up for the day adjacent to the restaurant. Not quite sure what to expect, our hungry little tastebuds were blown away by the food we received: Lomo Saltado (steak and french fries), fish tacos, potato croquettes, and fried plantain - all beautifully seasoned, wow! There was even a little black cat to see us off as we were getting ready to leave.

Back home after a full day:

Here is a picture of our resident young deer bachelor, "Buckminster", who spends many hours laying around either the West side of the house in the morning or the East side in the evening:

...And here is just one more picture from Charlotte's birthday dinner at her parents' house. "Shrimp Menale's" was on the menu that evening - a crowd favorite. Cheers!

Happy Birthday Charlotte!

We celebrated Charlotte's birthday with brunch at our house: Potato hash nests w/ pesto and quail eggs (a special recipe from Gail!), toast and bacon w/ hollandaise sauce (B-day girl's favorite), and of course some fresh melon! Theodore helped blow out the candle.

Delicious nests!

I painted this table for Charlotte with an art deco stencil and a couple stencils I made myself, a moth and a beetle. We have kind of a symbolism around those two creatures that started with her gifting me a beetle pin and she has a moth pin of her own. Our kitchen has a theme of cherry-red accents to complement the teal and yellows we have going on... might sound weird, but it works I think! This table was made by Uncle Marven to fit right between the oven and the kitchen counter. I put a few layers of Polycrilic to protect the paint, I think it should work pretty well! And I gave it an updated woodblock on cork legs to set oil, salt, etc. on. We also took a little day trip out to a spa called Osmosis in the small town of Freestone, near Occidental in the land of ancient apple orchards. It was a beautiful day with much relaxation, appreciation of the meditation garden there and the beauty of nature all around. We were treated to the "Cedar enzyme bath" which is a 30 minute immersion in a big tub of actively fermenting cedar bark and rice hulls. It is a Japanese technique. It felt like being weighted down by a heavy wet, warm, blanket... and the most peculiar aroma! It was nice, really, despite it being a pretty warm day to begin with. I bet it will be even nicer when the weather cools down a bit. We got a membership and plan to return about once a month. The bath helped clear up Charlotte's exzema pretty good! (It has been flaring up since she's started immunotherapy, as exzema is an immune system response, and the immunotherapy kicks the immune system into high gear). We also got Sedish massages after our baths, which were great! Meanwhile. . .

The cat cafe is in full effect! Casual lounging for relaxation and contemplation (for cats). Our Very Important Patron here demonstrating.

This sky-writer was a fun surprise one recent evening!