Winter Wonderland

Thanks to Christmas money I finally have a new camera. It has way more functions than I've had in the past, so I'll have to spend some quality time with the manual, but even without intensive study, I can take some beautiful pictures.

And let me say, it has been beautiful here lately!

This is the view out our kitchen window:


And out the living room window:


Chris has begun converting most of our backyard into a Japanese style garden. We stained the existing fence and porch (both had been left unfinished) in a color combination inspired by pictures of Japanese interiors and gardens. I absolutely love how those colors and forms look with the pine trees and the artfully applied layer of snow. Under the snow is a kidney shaped area of colored stones and a few areas of plantings, all bordered by large stones or small bricks. It's already a great place to sit around our raised fire pit, and we'll keep adding to it each summer. I plan to install an arbor or trellis in the flower bed just beyond the porch for a hop vine. The hops will be surrounded by the odd combination of roses and yuccas.


California, eat your heart out!