California Living – Page 4 – The Creative Salad

Poppy Seed Pods

Poppies grow rampant here in Northern California. We see the orange, California-native poppies bloom throughout the spring and summer, along roadsides and in fields. Reseeding themselves, they come up year after year.

Recently we’ve also spotted the larger, more spectacular, non-native Papaver poppy:

Our neighbor Sarah saved us some seed pods from her purple-colored Papaver poppies:

When you shake them, you hear the poppy seeds jingle around inside.

Be careful though! They easily spill out of these holes in the side of the pod. A simple, elegant way to distribute seeds, relying on wind or animals to shake the pods.

We’re excited to sew them in our garden! Thank you, Sarah!

Shots, Posts and Tweets July Edition

I’m trying something new here on the blog: a summary of our Creative Salad posts from other corners of the web, archived here on our website. So, without further ado…

Here’s a summary of this past week’s Facebook posts and tweets, plus some fun never-before-seen snapshots to cherish and remember:

(facebook) Connect-the-dot activities at our wedding anniversary brunch

(tweet) Iced tea served in bell jars tastes extra refreshing on a hot summer day.

(facebook) Playing library, checking books in and out with the laptop and a hair brush (evidently the perfect bar code scanner)

(facebook) When David saw my new shoes, he said, “Hey, I want a pair!” (Thank you, Alissa, for the great present! I love it when you clean out your closet.)

(facebook) The ONLY downside to swimming in a saline pool: tarnished wedding band (a present handcrafted by David)

(facebook) Creative pizza toppings: today’s menu includes scrabble letters

(tweet) Wondering how long my child’s face and hands will be purple thanks to some super juicy cherries that don’t seem to be washing off… Ah, summertime fruit.

(tweet) I keep finding fantastic blogs to follow via pins on @Pinterest!

(facebook) Beading activities

(tweet) YES! Me too! RT @cafemama: stealing time from my kids when i run. I always feel it… good, but guilty.

(snapshot) Mama daughter art projects over brunch

(snapshot) Birthday cake time with the little ones

(snapshot) Princess dress-up party fun (wearing her handmade birthday crown)

(snapshot) Gearing up for blackberry season; they’ll be ripe soon!

Fitness Update

Oh-so-long-ago I wrote about my goal to lose weight. Move more, eat less. It’s working; I’ve lost weight. Not nearly as much I had hoped for in this time period, but I’ve lost some. More importantly, I’ve gone down several clothes sizes.

I’m running.
I’m walking.
I’m (occasionally) counting my calories. (Not necessarily to restrict, but to be aware! I find I’m eating less when I realize there’s how many calories in that pasta dish?!)
I’m eating healthier.

It’s challenging. Occasionally ass-kicking.

I’m not going to lie. Most nights I don’t feel like running, I don’t want to get off the couch. But David encourages me to go.

Each night I come home and thank him for helping me get out the door, because after working out and having a bit of alone time, I feel great.

My health is important. There’s no time to waste.

All photos from my evening runs via my camera phone

Drought-Tolerant, Low-Maintenance Flowers

We’re transforming our front flower garden into a drought-tolerant oasis.

My actions may sound eco-groovy (and, in part, they are), but I’m not going to lie and say it’s completely altruistic. Watering the garden several times a week takes a long time and, frankly, I would rather focus on other things.

Like this blog, for example.

So those water-loving plants have got to go.

I love these particular flowers, called gazanias and native to Southern Africa, because they’re drought-tolerant and contain the most simple, beautiful flowers that exhibit an interesting behavior.

The gazania flowers close at night and only open during the day when the sun shines directly on them, a behavior called nyctinasty.

They come in a variety of colors, each distinct and pretty. We have a host of orange, yellow, and pink blooms.

While typically considered annuals, here in our mild climate they act as perennials. If left alone, the blooms do go to seed and spread. There’s no shortage of gazanias on our street.

All of our gazanias came from volunteers from our neighbor’s garden. Look at that line of gazanias from her yard (on the left) up to ours… Just beautiful.

Pop over to your neighborhood garden center and pick up some today.

Plant Names Revealed

Thank you to our friends who participated in our Plant Identification Quiz earlier in the week. Here are the names of the plants, all spotted growing in Sonoma County.

Plant 1: AMARANTH