Aloes

By John’s reckoning, it rained about four inches overnight. It is warmer which means we really are getting the effects of the atmospheric river and no frost or snow. We used to call it the Pineapple Express because it comes across the Pacific from Hawaii. All seems relatively calm here today with mixed clouds and blue sky, but I think parts of the Russian River and the Santa Cruz mountains got hit quite hard.

Gail and Bob came to coffee this morning. Tobi and Dan were elsewhere setting up for a day long workshop on Saturday. We had a wide ranging conversation (conversations with Bob are always wide-ranging). Maggie had to teach a class for somebody, so she didn’t make it either.

I didn’t really expect to see much of the sun today, but it has making an appearance most of the day. John is up-potting his sprouting hollyhock seeds so he can give one to Kathy when she and Mike come for dinner tonight. He got the seeds from Kathy’s plant. There are no tomato seeds growing in the garage this year. We’re going to buy starts from the Harvest for the Hungry, a garden managed by the Master Gardeners of Sonoma County which grown fruits and vegetables and donates them to area food banks. They have a big plant sale every spring with a staggering variety of tomato and pepper plants. I suspect there is a fair amount of competition among the volunteers for who can grow the most plants with the biggest number of varieties.

I finally got my Navy pea coat in a size small yesterday and it is still too big. I don’t think I have the energy to send it back again and I don’t think John will wear it….

The flowers are aloes. They’re not terribly interesting most of the year but they’re quite striking when they bloom. Especially when there is blue sky behind them….

Still waiting for my driving license….