Spring Fever

I don't know what it is, but every springtime, it feels like the garden is calling me. I am not much of a green thumb, as you can see with our backyard renovation, I keep it sterile. The only time I really tended to a garden was 13 years ago, when we used to live in Antioch, CA. It came with a lush landscaping-- both front and back. It has a marvelous in-ground pool and mature trees. I loved that garden, I spent my weekends tending to the roses. I trim the hedges and made sure the lawn is manicured. We added queen palm trees on our front and backyard. I've enjoyed living in that house because of the outdoors. We have a pergola covering the built-in barbecue, which allowed us to eat outdoors most of the time.

One part of me wishes that we hadn't sold the property, but the wiser part me says I'm glad we had. Of course, this realization came now as my body is no longer as strong as it was. Since turning 50 last year, I have been trying to simplify my life, that is why there'll be no more back-breaking gardening for me. In addition, there is a drought problem here in California. So, my plan is to create a low-maintenance and drought-tolerant garden.

Aside from the three potted New Zealand Flax and one potted kangaroo paws that are now happy in our backyard, I have recently added three more pots. One small pot holds a mix of two types of kalanchoe-- one hot pink and one orange. It's placed next to the kangaroo paws. Kalanchoes are succulents, which make them also drought-tolerant. I plan to add more kalanchoes of diiferent colors--- white, green, yellow, and red.

Kalanchoe

The two identical bigger pots contain identical plants that are now placed on our front porch, flanking our front door. I have yet to find the tag that came with them so that I can identify these lovely plants. We bought them to welcome and keep our hummingbirds. I searched via Google images and did not find anything identical.

Hummingbird Love

It's been a couple of months since my last update on our home improvement projects. By the looks of it, there will be no additional major renovations that we have to do yet. A couple of weeks ago, we hosted my husband's 46th birthday celebration with his parents, siblings and their families, as well as, aunts and uncles joining us. We kept it small and private as usual. In preparation for that day, we organized and cleaned up the rest of the house, mainly the second floor. I will post the minor updates we've done there later. For now, I would like to share a wonderful thing that kept us a entertained.

On 4/5/14, while parking on our driveway, we noticed a hummbingbird nesting on one of our front-side bushes. Before that day, my husband pointed out that he had been seeing a hummingbird a couple of times flying in and around the bush. It prompted us to be more curious. Armed with my iPhone, I took some snapshots and videos of the hummingbird. When it flew away, we noticed there were two eggs. My daughter named the mommy hummingbird Adelaide. Everyday, we say hi to her and we wait patiently for the eggs to hatch. According to some reliable articles, it takes up to 18 days to incubate the eggs. Since we weren't sure when the eggs were laid, we're thinking we will see the babies in about a couple of weeks. Below is the photo collage from that day.

Eleven days later, 4/16/15, the eggs hatched! I am happy to report that the mommy and babies are all doing fine. See photo below!