Looking Ahead to 2025

Happy New Year! I love looking ahead to a new year. There is so much potential一possibilities for exploring, travelling, creating, and enjoying friends, family, and life. Really, any new day offers a fresh start, but a new year gets me thinking about what's important, what I don't need any more, and what I'd like to do or learn in the next 365 days. I find that to be a better approach than making a list of new year's resolutions, which are typically cast aside after a week or so!

This year my theme for Eden By the Bay is "Ethnobotany". My focus over the years has been on the plant hunters of the past who discovered plants from all over the world and looked for economic uses for them. This year I'd like to focus on plants that indigenous people were already using when they were "discovered"!

Clockwise: Hawaii's state flower - photo by Conrado
Ethnobotany and dyeing with plants
Observing local flora and fauna
Enjoying the landscape in all seasons

Looking ahead, I'm researching trip ideas for the coming years. My husband and I love to travel, and to learn about the history, flora and fauna, natural history, and gardens of our destinations. A few candidates on our radar include Hawaii, upstate New York, Four Corners Monument, and Mesa Verde National Park. We also plan on more visits to Alaska, Washington, and Oregon, as well as "long weekends" anywhere in California. Travel enriches our lives and makes us more appreciative of what we have at home! 

While that's brewing, we'll continue some of our favorite pursuits like tending and enjoying our new landscape (I'm currently learning what tasks are required for each month and season), visiting beautiful gardens and landscapes, and delving into the seasons, weather, and critters we encounter. There are books to read, movies to see, seeds to plant, floral arrangements to create, projects to accomplish, fabric to dye, and new ideas to try. At the heart of it all though, are the people, loved ones, and Huskies that travel along on that journey!

Reflections on 2024

Twenty twenty-four is coming to an end, and what a year! There seemed to be upheaval all over the globe, whether it be in politics, society, weather, ideological conflict, or the economy. Thankfully we still have the grounding elements of gardens, nature, family, and friends.

Our theme for Eden By The Bay this year has been Sabbatical, Seasons, and Seasons of Life. Sensing that life was changing, I decided to take a "sabbatical" in 2024 by slowing down and thoughtfully evaluating everything. I had the opportunity to retire in May, which opened up a whole realm of possibilities for a new season of life. I am grateful for the extra time that retirement provides, enabling me to live in Alaska for several months, and to experience a new way to live. 

Clockwise: Big changes in the garden
Family time in beautiful Alaska and the Bay Area
Reunited with Dakota the Husky
The joys of retirement!

After many years of research and planning, we hired Four Dimensions Landscape Cooperative to landscape our yard in January and February. We love our new wildlife-friendly, native garden; and have spent the year learning about the new plants, shrubs, and trees, and observing them in each season. I didn't make any "movies" this year, but I did manage to try more solar dyeing projects, including poinsettia bracts and chokecherries from our yard.

We also had fun experimenting with a monthly "Field Notes" format for reporting observations and projects throughout the month. We read an antique gardening book from the 1930s to see how things have changed and what has endured; learned about several plant hunters in the Americas; and watched some films (not necessarily starring plants). It's been a year of growth, beauty, pain, and joy, and I'm grateful to have you on the journey with me!

Christmas in the Bay Area: 2024

My first Christmas as a retired person (don't worry, I won't inform you of every first in my first year of retirement, or maybe I already have)! I'm appreciating the slower pace of life, with fewer events and obligations, and am thoroughly enjoying the activities and events that we have scheduled. Today our nuclear family is together, with some good cooking and feasting planned for later today. We're missing our far-flung family in Oregon, Alaska, Idaho, Arizona, and more, but look forward to being together with them in the new year.

Enjoying the gifts of the season

While we celebrate the season, the garden seems to slumber. Foliage looks green and lush from the frequent rains, but otherwise everything appears to be dormant. But not so! As we learned in previous posts, the garden is very active. Buds are forming, mushrooms are poking up through the woodchips, compost and fallen leaves are breaking down and fertilizing the soil, and early seasonal bulbs are preparing to poke through the soil when the conditions are right. Gardeners here in the Bay Area can enjoy a brief reprieve from the usual tasks, and enjoy making merry with family and friends.

Merry Christmas to all!