Inner Blossom Jasmine

I ran out of tea, and can't get to Rainbow to buy my favorites during this stay-near-home period, so I ordered from Red Blossom Tea, and My Jamsine set included these "blossoming" (expanding when brewed) types.  Aren't they pretty, all bundled up like this?  

Wild rice (in a domestic setting)

Dreaming of the outdoors

The thing about being indoors under a health order during a pandemic AND in cold, wet weather is that it becomes harder to make excuses not to do things that are on your indoor to-do list. 

I'm low on postcards to use for my postcard exchange club, and I finally found some of my long-lost 2007 Yosemite photos, plus some scans of my trip to Desolation Wilderness.  So, I slaved over a hot stove Lightroom album all morning, and placed my order with my printer for 20+ designs.

I also repaired a vacuum cleaner, taped shut a drafty window, vacuumed the back of a couch, and baked a pie.  Because: INDOORS.

New, white tea

Whole leaf tea like this is rather odd looking...  If I didn't know what it was, it would be hard to guess from this image.  

Ever grander wisteria

Every time I look at it, there is MORE of it...

Sunday morning in my garden

Last year, I had my yard violently cleared beyond what I intended (who tosses out potted plants from a patio when clearing overgrowth in yard??) in preparation for construction that... should have already been completed.  My yard was quite bare, which is giving me a chance to start over after construction (should that ever occur!).

The autumn rain pleased my established plants, and delighted many hidden seeds, which are eager for more rain.

I've been engaging in SF's Social Distancing experiment to prevent the rapid spread of coronavirus for two weeks, and wanted to spend some socially distant time outdoors, without venturing far from home.  A little time in the garden with a cup of hot sencha and my iPhone camera allowed me to appreciate the expanding vision of spring that my yard contains.

Top: tea tree (maybe Leptospermum scoparium), local alyssum, some kind of crocosmia
Middle: local flower (Fumaria capreolata!), euphorbia, camellia (likely japonica)
Botton: California poppy (Eschscholzia californica), wood sorrel (Oxalis stricta), camellia (Camellia japonica).

Ruffles (but not the ones I’m craving)

Eucalyptus bark

While we don't appreciate that these trees tend to explode while on fire, they sure have interesting bark!

Plum time warp to earlier spring

The plum trees with purple leaves lost their blossoms in my neighborhood weeks ago, yet just over a mile to the west, in an adjacent neighborhood, I found one that was in the early stages of leafing out, and still had blossoms.

When we speak of microclimates in San Francisco, they are much smaller than you think they are, sometimes just a few blocks that are in a different season than the adjacent ones.

Bird of paradise in the city

Bird of the City doesn't have the same ring to it.

Wisteria (being more so)

The image posted earlier was just a warm up for this, I see now.

Deep blue-violet

I love living near the Pacific Ocean SO VERY MUCH. 

Afterglow

Afterward, the colors are EVEN BETTER.

Set

Golden

The other version of this photo shows a dozen or more people standing on a bluff, eager to watch the impending sunset.  I hadn't remembered what a crowd-pleaser sunsets are. 

Street pear

Now I feel like I am neglected any street tree in my neighborhood whose blooms I have not reported on.  (Sorry, magnolias!!  So sorry!)

Heavy with pink

It is still so SPRING.

Creative range (Soul of a Nation)

Collage of participatory art event (left), sculptures, and paintings at Soul of a Nation.  It is such a great show.  And LOTS of work by women!

Healthy crowds love art (Soul of a Nation)

It was lovely to see entire families and other confident art-lovers taking in Soul of a Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power 1963–1983 at the deYoung.  The art is FANTASTIC, and the audio tour features Danny Glover AND Belva Davis!!