While all of you Austinites were having an early spring snow day, in Berkeley, we were saturated and spilling over with snails.

I don’t know why Andrius and I always decide to take long hikes only when it’s raining, but it has definitely become our M.O. Last weekend, we went down to Point Isabel dog park to check out the bay and imagine who all the different dogs would be if they were humans with occupations (lots of detectives, bouncers, and dowager socialites), but the trip ended up turning into a semi-scientific study of the hundreds of snails that had been chased up onto the asphalt and anise shrubs along the trail.  We documented four main phenotypes: plaid-shelled gooey yellow ones, green-shelled shy black ones, brown-shelled sticky brown ones, and one pink-shelled clear-bodied albino one.

These are pretty well-documented in the camera, but as I came to write this post, I decided that they were not cute enough for this, the cuddliest of blogs – so you will have to use your imagination.

If we had been really hard-core, we could have feasted on escargots…   maybe next time…

Here are some photos of the wet beginnings of spring on the Bay:

Me, hoping I don’t get tetanus from this beautiful, yet very rusty rock.

Something out of a Monet.

Yesterday, it actually snowed in Austin.  The weather newscasters had been predicting it, but we didn’t believe it one little bit.  And, then, right in the middle of the day, it felt as though someone began dumping giant pieces of tissue paper from the sky.  The snowflakes were gigantic.  They were more like snowpapers than snowflakes. Children who had never seen snow were making snow balls, snow men and snow angels.

It was magical.

My original plan for this week was to send you a hint of Spring.  Each year, one day in February, when I drive up our hill, there is my little Flowering Quince bush, suddenly in full bloom, all by himself (or herself) … no other flowers in sight.  I always have a tiny private smile, and think, “There you are, you first brave sign of spring.” I would have never guessed that I might be sending this “Spring is Coming” picture surrounded by ice crystals.  So, happy winter, happy spring!

On Saturday, we had just squeaked out an emergency deadline and Jim was about to run it to the last FedEx drop-off opportunity for the weekend.  I gave a sigh of relief as I watched a mailing tube full o’ new art head out the door under Jim’s arm.  I dropped down into a chair by the window, when what should I spy out of the window pane?  Margaret and Jim peering curiously into our car.  Uh-oh, dead battery at deadline time … that’s not good … but more importantly, what is Margaret wearing?  A prom dress?  Yes, it is.  What else would you wear for a battery-jumping lesson?  Yep, the dad-side of Jim’s duties had overtaken the studio-delivery-man side, and even though a FedEx cut-off time was looming, he just had to give his new-driver daughter a little lesson: How to Jump a Battery.  And, even though his gal was in the middle of repurposing last year‘s prom dress for a let’s-get-dressed-up-for-dinner evening with friends, there was no time like the present for a car maintenance lesson.  Fortunately for all, it was a quick lesson, and our package made it out in time, and more amazingly, her white dress remained white!  The good news is that if she and I are ever together when the battery dies, I’m sure she will know how to fix it better than I do … even if we’re all dressed up.

Just in case you were wondering how the ceramic piece from the previous post looks when it is filled with foliage, here’s a glimpse.  I ran into a few planting issues.  For example, planting the little succulents in the opening on the side of the vase was a little tricky, plus I had to cut away about half of the root base of the orchid because I mis-remembered the size of the vase opening.  So, I think this orchid might last about 24 hours, but isn’t she gorgeous now.  I refer to her as she, because I think she looks like she is singing in an opera!  Okay, so I added the eyes, but the singing mouth is totally real!  Can’t you just hear her?  “O sole mio-ooooo!”
Thank you Jules for my new Opera Stage Vase.  I plan to use it as a venue for many visiting orchid stars.  Bravo!

Now that it’s not a secret anymore, here’s how Jules’s flower pot turned out after glazing.  (This is Mom posing with it on Christmas day.)  I don’t know if there is anything gorgeous pouring out of the peep-hole yet or not, but it’s only a matter of time!  I feel like we need to find a yellow orchid with black stripes to put in this beehive-motif pot…

We have planted and replanted these pots for years.  And this year, we filled them with succulents, which to our delight, have been thriving, except for one small snaffoo … rain! Often, after a big rain, the water coming off of our roof forms deep rivulets forcing hunks of soil and roots out of the pots. Although we are grateful for the rain, we are not happy to have to buy replacement plants and start anew.  So this year, and I’m not sure why it took me so long to think of this idea, I bought three umbrellas at the grocery store for the pots under the heaviest downpour areas, and guess what?  IT WORKED!  All of our shallow-rooted succulents are in perfect condition.  Plus, everyone who has come by has remarked on the fashionable attire of our potted plants during inclement weather … no rainy day blues here!

Recently, one of our favorite babysitters from Margaret’s little years, came to town for a visit and brought her own precious little ones.  Here is her cute toddler christening her Little Pond melamine dish set.  It was good to see that it could be bonked, dropped and dinked, and still be ready for mac and cheese.  Also, Neville, our all-boy puppy would like to thank Charity’s adorable all-boy son, for taking him on an adventure trek in our backyard wilderness.  Neville had so much fun that he had to take a four-hour nap afterward!
We loved seeing Charity, our great babysitter-now-teacher and her adorable family.  Maybe one of our girls can babysit for her now!

Here’s a picture we found of Margaret, our now 16-year-old, when she was four, with her wonderful babysitter, Charity, mother of cute toddler above, who was a student at UT at the time.  You just have to love a babysitter who is willing to play dress-up, and hide in tents, and crawl into club houses, and whose name is Charity!

It was a rainy day and Neville reeked.  So off we went to Dirty Dog, a washateria for dogs, or we like to think of it as a day at the spa for Nev.

Let’s just say that spa life is not his cup of tea.  He did not like the special ear-cleaning towelettes. He did not like the shampoo. He did not like the rinse.  He did not like the blow drying. And when we tried to spray him with the Doggy Cologne, he just wanted to eat it.  But, after all that agony, he did smell great, and he was as soft as chenille.  If he could have spoken English, I’m pretty sure he would have said, “Hey, I look good!”

After his uneasy day at the self-serve groomer (he had figured out by now that it wasn’t really a spa), we treated Neville with a visit to Petco.  (They actually allow dogs to shop with their owners–brilliant marketing–sort of like walking with a toddler on the sugar-cereal aisle.)  Neville talked us into buying some fresh acrylic chew-bones and a new pheasant toy since he had been such a good sport at the washateria.

And, since he was feeling all gussied up and frisky, he sidled up to the rawhide bar and had himself a much deserved fancy treat.  Ahhh, this is the life.

We finally had time to find some candles for our advent wreath.  And since we were already well into the second week of Advent, I had to do my annual advent wreath candle catch-up, which is to say that we burn one candle for two dinners, then two candles for two more dinners, so that the candles will all be appropriately staggered for the number of weeks they should have been burning, if I had been thinking ahead.  Does anyone else have this dilemma?
I don’t even know why I feel the need to hustle on the candle burning, because for the last few years, as we languish at the table after our big Christmas dinner, someone has yelled out, “Oh no, the advent wreath is on fire again!”  Three times we have been having so much fun that we haven’t noticed that the Week One candle has burned all the way to the little wooden holder and is smoldering.  And all three years, we have carted our sweet little wooden wreath to the little shop here in Austin, Rootin’ Ridge Toymakers, which makes them, and they have replaced the wooden holder.  If you would like to add this pretty advent wreath to your tradition, the little shop here in Austin still makes them.  But, be sure to blow out the candles before they touch the holders unless you want to add a little excitement to your Christmas night!  Happy Advent.

Berkeley is known – starting with the efforts of Alice Waters and Chez Panisse – for encouraging the consumption of food that is “fresh, local, and in-season” – and there’s nothing limiting about that when you live in a place where it sometimes appears that everything is in season all the time. Above, you see the progress of the little heirloom seedling that I adopted from a generous friend who had collected seeds from her favorite tomatoes and nurtured them. This little guy started way too late to fit into the normal summer tomato season, but here he is – spindly and green and ever so optimistic in the late-November sun.

Below on the right, the upside-down tomato plant of my upstairs neighbor, which hangs with its endless clusters of enormous beautiful green and turning tomatoes that I always daydream will drop from the vine perfectly into my hand as I am coming in from getting the mail, and which never do. And on the left, the jewel-like baby heirlooms that my sweet husband brought back from the Trader Joe’s when that first daydream didn’t come come to pass.

In the spirit of yesterday’s great holiday, I would like to mention that I am thankful both for this late-season abundance and for the sweet husband who brought them home.  Happy Day-After Thanksgiving!