Halloween with Cousin Martha - Flowering Pumpkins

Carving Pumpkins

and

Flowering Pumpkins

Smaller Pumpkin Ingredients

Glue

Yard Debris: CA Pepperberry and Bits of Succulents

Large Pumpkin:

Scooped Out

Filled with Gravel

Then filled with agave pup (a small succulent compmplete with root, found in my Cousin's yard), bits of succulents and CA pepper berries

Added water to the large pumpkin as some succulents may root

Ancient Raindrops

Fossil Raindrops in Mudstone

Tonopah, Nevada
~16 million years old

Slow Travel San Francisco: Piazzoni Murals

I visit the De Young Museum in Golden Gate Park every couple of months.

Mostly, I go to see just one exhibit, and focus on that.

I always, however, stop in to see the Piazzoni Murals: The Land and The Sea on the first floor. You don't need to buy a ticket to the museum to see them.

These are portions from two of the ten  panels, from 1931, originally displayed in the San Francisco Public Library. They are associated with the Beaux-Art style.

Pumpkins - Special Delivery from New York

Country Squash from Rosie

Who lives high in Manhattan

Does she miss California?

Finest Pumpkins and Art in the West - Half Moon Bay CA, Oct 7 - 10, Oct 15-16

The Pumpkin Festival starts up in Half Moon Bay this coming weekend - October 7. I have a lot of fond memories that go back to the 1970's of visiting this annual event. And it doesn't get much more beautiful than the San Mateo County coastline.

Town's Schedule for 2016 http://pumpkinfest.miramarevents.com/schedule-of-events.html

History https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Half_Moon_Bay_Art_and_Pumpkin_Festival

Pismo Beach - End of the Summer Camping

Camping doesn't get much better than hanging with Cousin Martha and Jasper-the-Wunder-Pooch at Pismo Beach North Beach Campground, along the Central California Coast. Foggy in the morning, followed by temperate days. The beach is close enough for multiple daily pooch walks. We strolled into town along the sands, as well as heading south towards Oceano. Went out to eat only once, and honestly we wouldn't have needed to do that - cooking in camp was easy and lovely.

Slow Travel: Stanford Succulent and Cactus Garden (Arizona Garden)

At this time of year there's quite a bit of fruiting and flowering going on among the cactus. My mother used to make cactus jelly when I was a kid living in rural Arizona, and it makes my mouth water seeing the nopales

Walk past the Stanford Family Mausoleum - A lovely spot - And head vaguely west to the cactus and succulent garden. http://bgm.stanford.edu/groups/grounds/special/arizona

The garden is not heavily visited - though it has a regular cadre of visiting walkers and dogs.