DAFFODILS AND TULIPS

Let me set the stage. Jim and I were talking about going to daffodil hill, fifty miles away. Kautz Ironstone Winery does a great job with a daffodil show of their own. You walk their extensive gardens and view barrel after barrel of gorgeous flowers. Not only daffodils but tulips and pansies and hyacinths. They host a daffodil show, inside, which to me is less interesting than the gorgeous outside gardens.

It was all the more enjoyable because the weather was perfect, but the flowers speak for themselves.

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Still, Kautz advertises this as a Daffodil Show. And people every year come from miles around to show off their efforts.

In one area undercover, but out-of-doors, is a contest of daffodil bouquets. Kind of reminds me of place settings at the County Fair. They are interesting.

This particular setting won a silver bowl.  Suffice it to say, there is a lot to see if you decide to attend next year.

Again, setting the scene, this is the daffodil show room. Their placement and how they are judged is for you to see by attending. I question how anyone can choose one daffodil over another since they are all  beautiful and here you find perfection.

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For a more complete view of his lovely place, you can click on my album to view many more pictures: A full screen slide show is gorgeous.

 

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SEIZE THE DAY.

When my doctor was one hour behind in her appointment schedule, I decided to cancel my appointment and just amble back to Murphys. A guy by the name of Stewart Laidlaw started planting daffodils on his place in the 1980’s on the Murphys Grade Rd. It fills three frames to capture them from left to right traveling west.

I wish I had a picture of his first start, just a straggle of daffodils in one long row right in front of the house and then the barn and then lower next to the road.

I drive by here and remember a rather famous local place called Daffodil  Hill. It has over 100 different varieties of daffodils and millions of blooms over several acres. I haven’t visited it in years. Laidlaw’s reminds me it is time to go. I noticed that neighbors near Laidlaw are beginning plantings of their own across from him. Such a neat way of sharing with anyone passing by. Annie Voitich of Murphys also had a yard filled with daffodils, so thick she used to say. “I never have to cut the grass.” There was no grass left to cut.

It is busy during tax time, but I enjoy visiting with my friend Paul who is a widower only a year now and making hard adjustments. Some days it is just best to let all the necessities go and seize the day. Take a moment to enjoy the beautiful weather, the flowers and a friend.

WINTER VINEYARD

I like to walk, at least three times a week. Especially when I’m working on my taxes and the beautiful weather right now calls me. About a half mile from my house is a vineyard all scraggly in winter, with the hills in the background.

I always carry my camera, hoping to spot a bird, like Jim did yesterday from the Motor Home window. I was attracted to the undergrowth of tiny purple flowers.

The vines are fenced. I couldn’t get close enough to really see the blossoms, but as I closed in with my lens I realized the vines are pretty fascinating without their leaves.

I wish my berry plants behaved as well. I lost my thornless raspberries to the Old Gulch Fire created drought. Our water comes from the flume and the flume burned and we had water rationing. Goodbye berries. They are staked but not quite like grapes.

Quite a canopy.

Returning, I realized I hadn’t taken pictures of my daffodils. Since hooking up with Jim, I’m often gone when they bloom and the recent rain brought them out in gushes. Pretty. They look a lot better than my taxes.

 

BUSY DAYS AND CHEER

 

Finished with my taxes, but still hammering away at neglected paper projects, makes for long days. I complain that I’m cross-eyed with fatigue. My only breaks come from short walks because the weather has been horrific. Somehow the daffodils remain unusually resilient. A storm drenched daffodil may not recover. Yet these have defied the snow, ice, cold, wind, and pounding rain. They do make life cheerier. 

There was a time when daffodils were plain yellow. Now, hybrids provide greater variety

APPRECIATE THE SNOW

Its April 7th, its not supposed to snow!

Well, that is, snow isn’t all that likely this late in April. I’ve been here 33 years and remember a snowfall on April 1st. That was unusual. There may have been another April snow. Now this. No one knows what the weather will do, and as much as we complain about the white stuff interrupting our lives, nature has a different plan.
It pays to remember that we have suffered ten years of drought. The reservoirs are filling up. The snow pack in Bear Valley ski area is expected to last through July.  And they need the business, as do the small towns like  Murphys that service skiers.
My daffodils are obliterated; Its back to hauling in wood, but, I gotta say to myself. Quitcherbellyachin. Appreciate the snow. Its cozy inside and my projects get more attention and less distraction. And, that is something to appreciate.

Current project?  Family pictures, this time into scrapbooks.  There have been days I’ve questioned the wisdom of owning a camera. Well, not really. A message to all. Keep up your pictures with dates, names and place as you go. Don’t wait until things get lost and dimmed in memory.