I've never really suffered jet lag much, maybe one day. I always force myself to fight through the day and one night of sleep fixes everything. Not the case this time, maybe because it was such a time difference - Cambodia is 15 hours ahead. Or maybe just because I'm getting older. I was up at 3:30 am, hungry and wide awake. I tried to stay busy today and hopefully tomorrow is better 😅. It is looking like fall around here, complete with some pretty leaves and cold nights 34° last night! Brrr. We should be getting rain this weekend. I figured cleaning up leaves would keep me busy and stop me from taking a nap. The task is so much easier before they get wet.
Close-up of the Hakea laurina above, I know I keep sharing pics but this tree is just killing me. 💞 The foliage, and those crazy Dr. Seuss blooms. My taller tree is popping too, but this one is easier to snap pics of.
The front street tree still has a LOT of leaves on it, but after 2 weeks the sidewalk (and my car) needed a clean-up.
Livermore has a good number of wild turkeys, and we received a proper visit from them yesterday.
As they were leaving, they each took a nice peck of the lantana berries near the sidewalk.
I don't rake all the leaves, just path,sidewalk and street.
Still messy, slightly better.
I'll admit to wanting to re-do the entire front. I'm toying with the idea of ripping out the perennials and revamping more in dry garden style. Then all these leaves would be in cacti and really tick me off. Ha ha.
Hmm, I would need lots of rocks.
Anyway, I don't have the shade house done and our temps are getting low. So, I decided to throw together a pop-up greenhouse for the orchids, some ferns and tillandsia that live on the porch for most of the year. I didn't want to bring everything inside. I built the frame and placed it right next to the cactus greenhouse. *This really helped me get the cover on, thanks Dr.
And started filling it. *I'll put Christmas lights up to add extra warmth. We're getting rain so our temps won't be as cold for a bit- still I wanted it done.
It's crammed, and was nice and warm and steamy in there today.
This should work, we will see!
And a few came inside, I couldn't fit the big branches in the pop-up. This is what I was trying to avoid, haha. Oh well, hopefully this is just for a couple weeks.
Maybe I can add some jingle bells?
Oh, I almost forgot - a quick check in on the steel planters. I snapped a few pics since I was moving stuff from the now mostly empty porch. Rusting nicely!
I don't think the larger one is rusting as quickly, but no worries it will.
I'm ready for a glass of wine and an early bedtime! I'm betting tomorrow I'm 100%, at least no headache today.
What do you do for Thanksgiving? Do you do the cooking? Favorite Thanksgiving pie? I'd love to hear!
*I'm making 5 pies. Well one is technically a tart. Pumpkin, apple, pecan, sour cherry & cranberry and lemon curd tart (gingersnap crust). The last one is my favorite, but I'll have to try them all to make sure.
Dr. Feelgood was well taken care of by Olivia & Vincent, but I think he's happy I'm home.
It's been pretty chilly at night over here in the city as well. Today has been a bit glum, too.
ReplyDeleteI can imagine that that time difference would mess me up as well. I had a bad time with just an 8-hour time difference when in London. -took a week to settle in. Coming back this way wasn't as bad, interestingly.
It's such a harsh change to the cold mornings! I feel so much better today, you were right just takes time.
DeleteI think a 15 hour time difference would throw anyone for a loop. Nice makeshift greenhouse.
ReplyDeleteThank you, it will work even if it's not so pretty :)
DeleteI am surprised to see those gorgeous autumn trees adjacent to your xerophytes.
ReplyDeleteThey are gorgeous this time of year, I'll admit!
DeleteI know what you mean, I slept until 10am yesterday, I don't think I've done that since I was a teen. For Thanksgiving, I always make a pumpkin roll which is like a sponge cake rolled up with a cream cheese filling. It is our favorite. Sometimes I make pecan pies but I usually do that for Christmas.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you got some good sleep, that probably really helped. I love hearing about holiday traditions, and your pumpkin roll sounds just like the one my mom makes one for Christmas - SO GOOD! Sounds like we've flip flopped our desserts :)
DeleteWell, getting up at 3:30am has some advantages it seems - you got a LOT done! Exhausting yourself with physical exercise should help you get a better night's sleep. At least that works for me. Painful as dealing with all those leaves is, you do have some beautiful fall color, something I get little of in SoCal. The intense red-orange color of the trees behind the black fence in the first photo is fabulous. Is that a neighbor's property? If so, at least you get the advantage of their color without all the leaves to rake up.
ReplyDeleteI'm just the same Kris, wore myself out and slept until 7 am! Feel human again. The trees are in the city owned fire lane next to our house, it's a walk through area. *My dream is to win the lottery and buy that land from the city. They are gorgeous, and a ton of the leaves blow into our yard. Ha ha, but's it's worth it. And nice not to have neighbors on that side.
DeleteSounds like you're winning -- a fabulous trip, almost done with jet lag, happy kitties, and a beautiful garden to greet you on your return. Yes, that hakea is something! Wonder if zone 10 suits it...
ReplyDeleteI think they are zone 9-11. Do it!!!
DeleteThat little greenhouse is so handy! Anything you can do to provide some shelter is better than nothing.
ReplyDeleteFront yard redo: ROCKS, ROCKS, ROCKS. That's my new mantra.
Lovely fall color!
As long as it doesn't blow away. Haha, I knew you would encourage a reno and/or adding ROCKS!
Deletei envy your energy level. Even with severe jet lag you are still a dynamo!
ReplyDeleteEnjoying my Hakea too--must get it in the ground soon. (Been saying that for far too long.)
Extra coffee didn't hurt. I can't wait to see where you plant it, I bet it will really take off!
Delete34? Good lord, you've been colder than we have. Leaves, leaves, so many leaves. And here they're wet. It looks like heaven inside that pop-up greenhouse!
ReplyDeleteThankfully it was just a few hours, and has warmed up. I'm not ready for that. I thought the pop-up would be too big, I don't need that much room, wrong!
DeleteOh goodness me, please send a slice of each kind of pie to me here in Wisconsin. :-)
ReplyDeleteWe will be celebrating an early Thanksgiving on Saturday with our boys. We plan to decorate the Christmas tree. I am making pumpkin pie, using a homegrown pie pumpkin. YUM!
Oh, that is so great - what a lovely weekend! And that sounds like the best pumpki pie EVER.
Deletehttps://youtu.be/wJGjtMzJiig
ReplyDeletemy home garden ......
I'd be sharing photos of Hakea laurina too if I had one, especially looking so spectacular. I can see the pattern of its leaf and bloom on wallpaper or fabric, on accent wall or pillows; So gorgeous. Wild turkeys?? That's hilarious, and charming. Does the Dr. stalk them?
ReplyDeleteChavli
I love that idea of the pattern on wallpaper, or pillows -what a good idea! Dr. doesn't know what to do about them since they are so much larger than him, he walks around with them with his ears back. They are not intimidated in the least.
DeleteWow! Look at the colour of the foliage of the tree in that first photo! Beautiful.
ReplyDeleteIt really is pretty, I agree. And we really don't get tons of fall color around here.
DeleteGood for you, getting the plants a shelter! I don’t think I’d have the energy.
ReplyDeleteI'll admit to running out of steam by the end, ha ha.
DeleteYes, the leaves would give me pause too if I was too revamp the garden We've got a mass of wet, smothering wet ones at the moment from our poplar. I'll need to get out there one of the holiday days and do some unsmothering before it's too late. Those Hakea leaves are the best! We're going to a friend's house for a potluck - so, it will be a mix of various things. We're taking our favorite celery salad (https://minimalistbaker.com/celery-salad-with-dates-mandarins-and-pistachios/) and roasted root vegetables. I've been promised that there will be pumpkin cheesecake. If there isn't, I might need to make one myself!
ReplyDeleteOh, I'm checking out that salad. If you've been promised pumpkin cheesecake, I don't see how the holiday can go by without having some!
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