We went to visit Shani Simmons today in her lovely home and yard. She’s a board member of the Bay Area Butterfly Festival and had a garden tour. There were many monarchs and finches in the yard, so she takes her volunteerism seriously! I’m glad Shea got a chance to meet her and I got to meet Shani’s husband Steve. I just realized I neglected to take a picture of the huge portion of her garden which was comprised of milkweed!
This is the only piece of furniture that I tried to have professionally cleaned which sort of survived the fire in January at my house AFTER having survived my mother’s fire eight years prior. It still smells like fire, which is sort of triggering for me, so it’s currently in my garage, despite the “professional” attempt to clean it. I don’t know if I can find someone talented or patient enough to ever paint it again, but here is the current 2024 condition and from 2020 between the two fires. My family bought this when we lived in Spain in the mid-1970s and it’s one-of-a-kind based on my research. It has a proletariat message and comes from the Catalonia region where we lived.
I’m still taking nice pieces from friends who need to move forward on. I love this armoire a friend in San Francisco had to give from a friend of his who died. The clawfoot desk/dresser that was in this space is now put into the living room, in a space that I really like. There are more pieces to be photographed as I stage the house for the furniture I’m taking back home to my house under renovation.
It’s not home, but I try to make it as pleasant as I can for the time that I’m stuck here. I want to live my best life for now, which includes making it a practical and safe place to live for the dogs as well.
Did some gardening at the house under renovation to try to have things somewhat orderly months from now when I return. Even got some lemons from my tree and trimmed a path for walking by. I’m especially thrilled at how well the cacti are doing and gave some loving homes in planters to the new agave that I got from Manny and Wendell.
Major progress on the house today, even from last week. Roof and front garden are being dealt with, the entire subfloor was replaced as of last week, and now I have a cool video to show the progress.
Another amazing tour of many Vallejo gardens. It was nice to relax by the pool afterward at my good friends’ house, but I made sure to tackle all ten! I am so glad Shea and Greg were able to join me in the adventures. It was also wonderful to run into Monique Louvigny, Don Osborne, Kevin Zimmer, Brenda Crawford and her wife Tonya, Ward Stewart, Jim Sotiros, Kristen Hannum-Gregory, power siblings David and Helen Cates, Nancy Bennett, and others while out and about (and I’m sure others I’ll recall later).
Pictures that Shea and Greg took:
Audrey THREE?!? Here in Glen Cove (Vallejo) this family noticed that out of this agave plant, a huge “arm” was extended like a dragon which rested on the branches of the tree in front of it. It first started growing in their front yard in December 2023, and has since bloomed, for the bloom to now rest on another branch. How cool is that?
Genius! The homeowner at this Vallejo Garden Tour location constructed this simple but completely animal-proof raised bed protectors that are like a car hood. Super lightweight and easy to open when one needs to work under the (transparent) hood, yet unreachable by the critters that run about.
