Looking Ahead to 2020

Happy New Year! 2019 is a blur behind us, and 2020 is in our sights. It's always fun to have a new year stretching out before us, beckoning us into the future!

Each year I like to pick a theme for Eden By The Bay. For 2020, I think the only thing we can possibly entertain is Vision! It's too perfect, and the same opportunity will never present itself again. So, for the year 2020, we will look to the past for visionary ideas that got us to where we are; live fully into the present moment with the ideas that surround us; and look to the future for great ideas that will sustain close to eight billion of us. As always, our focus will be gardens, landscapes, and the natural world.

2020 vision - past, present, future	Innovations of the past
Roof gardens of today	Future of farming

Along the way we'll take time to rest, to breathe, to read great books and watch great movies. We'll spend time with our loved ones over delicious meals, get our hands dirty in the garden, and take inspiration from time in nature. We'll roam locally here in the San Francisco Bay Area, and hopefully put on our travelling shoes to venture further afield. Despite the ups and downs of life, I'm planning a great year in 2020, and hope you'll come along!

Reflections on 2019

Another year is drawing to a close (it really is true that time speeds up as you get older)! 2019 was full of professional and personal challenges, and sweetened by friends, family, and the natural world.

For Eden By The Bay, our main focus was "plants to dye for". I had a great time researching how plants have been used historically to dye fabric, revisiting four Linnaeus apostles to see what their research revealed about dyeing around the world, learning about the art and science of dyeing, visiting dyer's studios vicariously, and investigating sustainable dye techniques. Even better, I enjoyed trying it out for myself by dyeing cotton dish towels with walnut hulls, red cabbage, onion skins, and weld extract. See Plants to Dye For: Wrap Up for a summary.

Plants to dye for (weld)	Exploring nature (sugar bush)
Enjoying nature (in style)	Seasonal beauty (Bishop Ranch)

A special project for me in 2019 was trying my hand as a "filmmaker" using an older version of Movavi software to create videos, Audacity to record soundtracks, and YouTube for royalty-free music and hosting. I'm a definite amateur, but it is so much fun to experiment with different ways to tell a story. In addition to the videos created for "plants to dye for", see these links for posts with more videos from 2019.

• Palm Springs 2019
• Indian Canyons 2019
• Lake Day 2019
• Bautista Canyon 2019
• Into the Landscape (Pink Allee of Crepe Myrtle)
• Spooky (Garden) Spiders

We also continued some of our favorite activities like learning about plants, hiking in local regional parks (such as Redwood and Point Pinole), visiting Filoli for the holidays, appreciating landscapes in all seasons, and going to the movies (where plants are the movie stars). It's been a great year in the garden, the landscape, and in nature!

   

Christmas in the Bay Area

We've spent the last three Christmases in Seattle with our wonderful family and granddogs, but this year my husband and I are spending Christmas at home here in the San Francisco Bay Area. It may be low key, compared to all the fun and excitement of past years, but we're taking our time and enjoying each activity and project as it comes.

Christmas tree detail - decorations from the garden

Hope you enjoy your holidays, whether in high spirits or quiet reflection; with lots of activity or just a few main events; with all your friends and family or just a few; with lavish gifts or frugal fun. Try to get a little extra rest if you can, and spend some time doing something new and exciting.

Merry Christmas!