meanwhile, back at the cottage ...

[OT from cottage renovations]

... comes a dusting if snow to make the Circle all pretty, captured here by the porch web cam.  how odd it looks from Southern California, just as the lush outpouring of vegetation here  would  must when seen from home. 

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yesterday in an email to a neighbour I wrote "no matter how idyllic it is out here, a big part of myself goes missing whenever I'm away from the Grove.  as always, the sooner I get back the better."

in the afternoon's fading light

[OT from cottage renovations]

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State Street

a day spent shuffling boxes in storage units could not normally be expected to provide much in the way of opportunity for images like the one below.  but as it happens there is a wall or fence to the W, one that's heavily overgrown with this flowering vine. 

stone wall succulents

[OT from cottage renovations]

several homes share a common access with my brother's.  this one has a stone wall topped in one spot with a planter containing these succulents.  afternoon shadows are starting to creep up, imparting a dramatic touch to the lighting. 

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take two before sunset

[OT from cottage renovations]

(click through these thumbnails for higher resolution images)

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Foothill Road

when these leaves catch afternoon sweetlight it catches my eye and I can't walk past without doing something about it. 

Nasturtiums

relax. it's just an agave.

[OT from cottage renovations]

(click through this thumbnail for higher resolution image)

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Mission Canyon Road

Agave

this is a lovely plant, and it's not its fault then when looking at it one is reminded of the creature that attacked the Nautilus in Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea. 

salsipuedes

[OT from cottage renovations]

a favourite Santa Barbara street name is Salsipuedes Street, literally "get out if you can", named for a massive patch of Nopal (prickly pear cactus, Opunta) through which its originally surveyed alignment passed.  the cactus patch is gone but the street name remains, and stands of Nopal can still be found as cultivars around town and naturally occurring out in the hinterlands. 

(click through these thumbnails for higher resolution images)

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Las Canoas Road

just uphill from where it branches off Mission Canyon Road are some wonderfully large specimens.  afternoon light was fading pretty quickly but there was enough for these studies. 

( ... six more ... )

Opunta

blooming into the dusk

[OT from cottage renovations]

(click through these thumbnails for higher resolution images)

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Las Canoas Road

the light had faded past the level where most flowers pack it in until the next day, but these ones just kept at it.  such a combination of delicacy and determination should not be allowed to pass without some recognition. 

flora incognita