Raven Ridge Gardens: weather

Showing posts with label weather. Show all posts

Thursday, July 12, 2012

Cool Water, Cool Weather, and Garden Zucchini

Cool, foggy days are the norm during summers on the far north coast of California. Sometimes it's so foggy and the air is so wet, the forecasters call it drizzle. Locals call it spitting.

I wish I could send some of our weather to my friends, family, and blogging friends who are dealing with record heat and drought this summer. And maybe get just a bit of sun in return. The zucchini would like that.

The best I can do is invite you to visit coastal Humboldt County to experience for yourselves what life is like in California's refrigerator; where the majestic redwoods meet the Pacific Ocean and outdoor fun includes camping, biking, hiking, fishing, surfing, boogie boarding, skateboarding, and beach walking. All in coastal-cool summer temps. Can you say "today's high, 62-degrees" in mid-July? In the northern hemisphere?

And if you bring a bit of sun with you, you just might get zucchini for dinner, chez nous.

A sunny and warm late spring had the zucchini growing like zucchini should: from itty bitty fruits to kitchen-size overnight. Now that summer has settled in it's growing at a more sedate pace. This is definitely not the Sacramento Valley!

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Autumn in My Garden - Water Everywhere

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Early morning: I love how water droplets cling to the serrated edges of rose leaves.

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Summer in my Garden - Purple Pansy

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Summer indeed.

We are awash in fog.

Our high today will reach all of a foggy, breezy 62-degrees.

If it's hot where you live, come on over to California's refrigerator.

What's your weather like today?

Saturday, February 06, 2010

A Brief Illumination

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After a gray wet day

All of a sudden the sky cleared

The sun "came out"

Of nowhere

It lit up the sky

Backlit the clouds

And was gone

Almost as if it had been an illusion

My camera and I chased its fleeting light

- All five minutes of it -

All over the yard

Just to capture those rays of glory

Of sustenance

Of hope

Of life

Of need

Of wonder

Of nurture

Before it sank beneath the horizon.

I have such a primal gut-deep soulful relationship with the sun.

Gosh, am I light deprived or what?

Ed note: An hour later it was raining as we made our way to our neighbors for dinner.

Just now, coming home, the stars are out, glistening like diamonds.

I can't wait for morning . . .

Friday, January 22, 2010

Clear Dawn Sky

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Want to know just what's so special about the otherwise plain dawn sky this morning?

No clouds. Not one.

It's a beautiful thing.

Will it last? Probably not, according to NOAA, but I'll take what I can get.

Monday, December 07, 2009

Autumn in My Garden 2009 - Frost-Nipped Teal Hydrangea

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This small hydrangea lives along the pathway to the house. In the spring, summer and early fall it's a soft blue color but when the frost starts nipping at it, it turns a beautiful teal blue.

Tonight's weather forecast, down in the 20s; it's possible we'll have some snow soon. Brrrrrrrrrrr!

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Autumn in My Garden 2009 - Morning Sky with Rainbow and Chickens

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Since the world fell back to a more civilized time frame on November 2nd (I'm speaking of that magical time of 2 am on Sunday morning when daylight saving time goes back to where it belongs - not on our clocks, and not, for a time anyway, skewing the lives of those of us who get up with the dawn and get sleepy when night falls), I've been happily rising at 6 am, making my tea and heading outside to watch the light creep softly down the redwood trees to finally land on fencetops, garden and chicken yard.

The neighborhood roosters will have been crowing for at least an hour and my hens are either cackling away, proudly announcing the production of each and every egg, or they are talking softly amongst themselves, waiting for the door to open, then spilling out, tumbling over each other to be first. At what remains a mystery.

All this was going on several mornings ago, when I looked to the western sky and saw a rainbow out over the ocean. It was not raining, there were just a few high clouds, but the rising sun must have been hitting the ocean moisture just right, because there it was:

An auspicious beginning to an already beautiful day.

Friday, February 13, 2009

Geese Flying Over Clam Beach

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A warm afternoon walk on Clam Beach last weekend garnered lots of photos, many of which will be seen soon. And although it was a lovely day when this photo was taken, it's very cold and stormy now and it looks like it's going to stay around a while. Ah, January - with sunny days and temps in the 70s - where are you?

Want to see the geese up close? Click on the photo for greater detail.

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Frozen In Time

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The last two nights we've had temps below 30F. Not usual weather for us. Daytime temps haven't risen above 38F so the frost from the night before just stays there.

Saturday, December 13, 2008

Snow Day

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The rain turned to snow this morning.

Then fell heavier.

Then heavier still.

Then the sun came out. For a minute.

It has snowed more in the last few years, here on the north coast of California, than I've seen in the previous ten. The weather is definitely changing.

Thursday, July 10, 2008

She Who Waits...

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Ever vigilant, Grandmother Rock watches the sea, even in the fog.

Friday, March 28, 2008

Rainbow Weather

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Cause...

and effect.

Saturday, March 08, 2008

Winter In My Garden #14 - Muscari

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Unless it snows sometime between now and March 20th, this will be my last winter garden series post. Sorry, no matter what the calendar says, spring has sprung along the northern California coast. What has also sprung are these cute little Muscari armeniacum. Known more commonly as Grape Hyacinth and actually a member of the lily family, you have to get down on your hands and knees and put your nose right up to the diminutive blue blossoms to get even a whiff of scent and even then it can be rather disappointing as these don't have the sweet fragrance of your standard Dutch hyacinth. Ah well, they make up in cuteness and blueness what they lack in scent.