Lichen
Here is some lichen and old man's beard I found on a plein air excursion down the peninsula. Lichen is the result of a nice symbiotic relationship between green algae and a fungus. They are remarkably vulnerable to air purity...
Emotional Rescue Kit
I learned how to temper and mold chocolates and couldn't wait to make up gift boxes for friends and family. I thought of the comfort chocolate brings us and created medicine-chest-looking "Emotional Repair Kits" to soothe whatever ailed them.Here's what...
Jewelry box
I was tired of untangling necklaces and earrings and couldn't find a jewelry box to purchase that wouldn't perpetuate the problem. So I took a wooden wine box and converted it to a vertical jewelry box which solved my problem....
Gardening
When I first came to California, I didn't recognize a lot of the plants, because so many would never thrive on the East Coast. I started gardening in earnest in 2004, with my first garden. Luckily, my neighbor, a Dutch...
Almond orchard
Last week I took a trip to the Sacramento Valley, where almond blossoms were beginning to come out, and the bee hives had been trucked in to fertilize them. I visited the organic orchards of Glenn & Leslie Anderson, and...
Party birds
Every year at this time, the berries of the Pyracantha and Cottoneaster get ripe—really ripe as in fermented—and the birds go nuts. It sounds like a party all day long as flocks of beautiful Cedar Waxwings and over-wintering Robins hang...
Bûche pour le Nouvel An
I love making all sorts of pastry, especially when there's construction involved. I have made a bûche almost every year. Here's the one for Jan 1 2012, made with chocolate sponge cake, mocha buttercream, and the traditional meringue mushrooms.
Dolphin Club
On Christmas Day, my friend Nancy took me to the Dolphin Club in San Francisco. I am fascinated at the ability of people to be able to withstand the terrible cold of our San Francisco Bay. I appreciate the love...
Corsica
In July I visited Corsica, which is a province of France, though I don't think the inhabitants are too keen about that. (Witness the crossed out French translations of Corsican village names on the signposts). But this island has the...
Paris
I am fortunate to have family in France and I go as frequently as I can. Before going to St Cannat, a tiny village in Provence where my sister lives, she and I packed in as many adventures as we...
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