October Sun

I actually caught Mr. Kallisti off-guard yesterday. I had repainted Miette last week, and did her up properly last night with a new frock from Volks and new wig from Leeke (both the girls are wearing the new "champagne pink" color). I told him she was my NEW DOLL. Knowing that I'd gotten a box from Volks that day (which was really just the outfit and art supplies), and then I kicked him for not recognizing her.  Not fair really.  :p

Anyway, some new pix of Astræa and Miette in the garden. Not good for showing off Miette's new face-up, or anything other than my sucking at the chiaroscuro with a camera :p But you can see Astræa's new dress that I somehow whipped up between hell & high water this summer. It is made out of three different scraps of embroidered edwardian batiste, over tea dyed seersucker. I luvs it.

And here, my lovelies, are my first plants planted.

We get coastal fog and are much breezier than most of California, but our yard is on a sun facing hillside and gets the full blast all day. So I'm going full-on mediterranean. Not intentional at first, originally just a matter of taste, until I started reading up on it and how all the hot, dry, low water plants (aside from native) that I've chosen are common med varieties. Just starting with the fragrant shrubs that I can eat: lavender, rosemary, with oregano and thyme in the tiny herb patch we're putting in what was once an oval pond!  About ten by three feet, there are still traces of blue paint. This was entirely covered over with dirt when we arrived, only much scraping has revealed it. I put in a little bird bath in the corner. We hadn't even gotten the lavender and rosemary in the ground before the bees and butterflies were fluttering. This garden is amazing. So many birds. We have four hummingbirds that hang out at our feeder, Mr. Kallisti (and Biscuit) can tell them all apart!

Yeah, so I'm a famous plant killer. One of the reasons I really need shrubs etc that thrive well naturally. I'm going to try to baby them to get them started. I love the smells already! Gah! It is a start anyhow, we'll be getting more top soil to pretty up the surfaces soon. Our nursery was out. Meh!?!?

And on that note, I'm cooking pasta with fresh garden vegetables given to us as a welcome to the neighborhood prezzie from one of our lovely neighbors.  We're the only couple under 85 on our block, and most of them have been here since just after WWII.  It is really lovely up here! Sigh...