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 A sunny Saturday in Livermore.  Very early to the party poppy, red glow I'm assuming.

Last night my oldest daughter Sophia graduated from college, summa cum laude!  We had a fantastic night, celebrated with a lovely dinner in the city afterwards.  We stayed up very late for this mama, and I'm not very productive today.  A cute picture of all 3 of my wonderful kids, their eyes are all closed but they are laughing together and I love it.

It is so warm, sunny and lovely today, t-shirt weather - but we are supposed to get rain this week.  I didn't realize how low our rainfall was this December.  Our average for December is 2.5".  We are just at .84" - look at how crazy last year was with 4.61"!  Our yearly total is only 15", hopefully we will hit that mark.  I'm originally from Portland, OR where the average is a whopping 36" of rain per year.   We moved here about 14 years ago, and while I do love Portland - I can't say I miss all that rain.

I was thrilled to see another Hakea petiolaris bloom happening, I think she's happy!

Aloe suprafoliatas have turned beautiful colors this fall, love the red edges.
Pretty bud imprint 
And tapping my foot on the protea bud opening.  I bought a gorgeous bouquet at Trader Joe's with an enormous protea bloom for $6.99.  What a deal and long lasting, too.
I love catching him sitting on the rocks, clearly enjoying the view.

I can't say I'm ready for Christmas, I need to get on that.  How is your planning going?  Presents wrapped?  Oh, what is everyone's favorite Christmas cookie, if you have one?



Comments

  1. Kris PetersonDecember 16, 2023 at 5:03 PM

    An early California poppy bloom and a Protea flower show that you're doing everything right in the garden, and your succulents and Hakea offer further proof! The photo of your kids is wonderful.

    I still have gift cards to order for 4 more nieces and nephews because they're all at ages where they prefer to make their own choices (or so I tell myself as I've gotten lazy about shopping). I still have my husband's gifts to wrap and I haven't done anything about Christmas cards yet. I've given up cookie baking as my husband's dietary restrictions limit us to boring options. My favorite used to be brownie drop cookies made with Baker's German sweet chocolate..

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. https://tzgarden.blogspot.com/December 17, 2023 at 9:21 AM

      Thank you! I'm with you on the Christmas stuff, I just haven't pushed myself to do much of it. Brownie drop cookies sound delicious, I'm a chocolate lover.

      Delete
  2. danger gardenDecember 17, 2023 at 10:09 AM

    Those Aloe suprafoliatas are gorgeous! As for your lack of rain and not missing Portland's abundance... have you heard we're over 7" just for December? Ugh. We've also had more dry sunny days than I think is "normal" for December. When it rains it POURS, then it dries up. Cookies... the only one I make anymore is a family tradition my grandpa named haystacks. They're no bakes with oats, chocolate chips, coconut, marshmallows and margarine. I just looked for the recipe to link to it but online no bakes all include peanut butter, sugar and cocoa powder—not the same!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. https://tzgarden.blogspot.com/December 17, 2023 at 2:10 PM

      You have had some drenching rain! Good for the dry days in between, that's nice. Of course it is excellent for the gardens there, and when I'm there I'm in wonder of how green it all is. Beautiful place. Haystacks, there must be lots of interpretations. My Aunt made them with fried chow mein noodles (from a can) and peanuts with melted butterscotch chips & chocolate chips. We always liked them as kids, my mom always said it was a "phony" cookie because of the no bake. *She was being funny, not judgey.

      Delete
  3. Carla from The RiverDecember 18, 2023 at 12:14 PM

    Oh sweet, I love the photo of your children. :-) Congratulations to Sophia.
    I love seeing your gardens and plants.
    We made cut out cookies this weekend, sugar cookies and ginger bread. On Saturday we had a family gathering to help decorate them. :-)
    Carla

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. https://tzgarden.blogspot.com/December 19, 2023 at 8:58 AM

      Thank you :). MMmm, I am a huge fan of ginger bread or anything remotely close to it. How fun you decorated as a family, that makes it a real celebration!

      Delete
  4. sDecember 18, 2023 at 5:09 PM

    I love that photo of the three of us! I love your marshmallows that you made for the christmas cookies- today I made an earl grey hot cocoa with a toasted marshmallow you made on top. Small, but delicious afternoon treat! Dr looks so cute sitting on the rocks. I can't wait to see this garden in person again!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. https://tzgarden.blogspot.com/December 19, 2023 at 8:59 AM

      That was such a FUN night, a favorite of 2023 for me!!! Thank you, that earl grey cocoa sounds delicious :)

      Delete
  5. Gerhard Bock (Succulents and More)December 19, 2023 at 9:07 AM

    Photos of all kids together are so precious, esp. when they're adults and don't necessarily want to be photographed anymore!!

    I assume you've been getting rain these last two days? We've had just a tad over 1" here in Davis.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. https://tzgarden.blogspot.com/December 20, 2023 at 9:31 AM

      Yes, I think we've gotten just about that. Everything looks very happy, and I'm thrilled it's warm. Yes, agree - just having the kids all together is 100% joy.

      Delete
  6. Beth at PlantPostingsDecember 19, 2023 at 4:15 PM

    Congratulations on the graduation! Definitely something to be proud of! Believe it or not, our yearly total for rain is about the same as Portland's, but a lot of it comes at night in the summertime. Of course, we get snow, too--but the totals vary from year to year. Not much this year...yet. Your garden looks happy and healthy.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. https://tzgarden.blogspot.com/December 20, 2023 at 9:31 AM

      Summer rain, and at night - that sounds pretty darn perfect! TY*

      Delete
  7. JoanneDecember 26, 2023 at 9:56 PM

    Seeing all of our children together, happy and smiling ~ that's a very special moment to treasure, and this is indeed a happy occasion. (Also worth the late night!) <3

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hoover BooJanuary 6, 2024 at 6:38 AM

    I've not been able to comment on certain blogs for a while--not sure what my settings are doing or not doing lately, that and an ill dog, the holidays---just want to say now that comments are working on my machine at the moment, congratulations to you on your daughter's achievements and congratulations to her too!

    ReplyDelete

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