You Know It's Autumn When You Start Stepping on Acorns Everywhere

Although North San Luis Obispo County is best known for its wine grapes, the oak trees got here first. Now they are dropping acorns everywhere. The photo shows my neighbor's oak tree across the street in autumn.

A very long time ago,  that tree started like so many others - as an acorn that fell into the ground  and got

buried in dirt and watered by rain. After it sprouted and grew a few leaves it probably looked somewhat like this.

The trees grow very fast. It won't be long before this little tree is a foot or two off the ground. in a couple of years it might be over one's head. If they aren't growing where you want them, it's easy  to pull them   when   they are tiny, like the one in the photo or about three inches high. If they get much bigger they are harder to remove. If you wait too long, if they get too large, it might be against the law to remove them at all.

This is what the ground looks like under my neighbor's tree. The acorns and leaves fall fast at this time of year. Fortunately, my neighbor is very conscientious about removing the debris from his tree. It's easy to slip and fall on an acorn because it can roll.

Are there acorns on the ground where you  live? Have you seen any baby oaks where they don't belong?

Learn more about California oak trees.

 Oaks of California

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Side Trip to Harmony, California

Harmony: A Small Art Colony on the Central Coast of California

 I had lived on the Central Coast for over twenty years before I finally got around to investigating the tiny town of Harmony. It was started by Swiss Dairy Farmers in 1869, but it is no longer a dairy town. It's now more like a colony of people who make art objects. The only open businesses I saw the day I was there were the glass blower and the pottery shop. If you click the photo to enlarge it, you should be able to read the history. The Harmony Cellars Winery was at the top of the hill, but since I was there late in the afternoon, I didn't bother going up to see it. I'll do it on another day.

The Pottery Shop and the Well

The only shop I entered during my visit to Harmony was the Pottery Shop. The proprietor didn't want me to take pictures inside, so I didn't. I did think the outside was lovely. It appears that the raised beds and and other elements of the decor were made from materials recycled from previous structures.

Here is a closer look at that exterior wall of the pottery shop. I especially like the weeping willow tree.

Here is the well  at Harmony. It adds to the mood of the small town and may have historical value. It did not appear to be in use anymore and may be purely decorative. I can't find out much about it.

Frame Yourself in a Photo in Harmony!

Want to prove you've been to Harmony? Use the picture window to get your picture taken. Then go to Zazzle and make yourself some postcards to send to friends. Just follow the link and upload a photo you've edited to 1120 x 850 pixels with a resolution of 200 ppi and follow the simple instructions. A larger resolution is even better. You can actually play with the size on the Zazzle page to show your photo  to best advantage.

Of course, if you don't want to put yourself in the way of the scenery, you could just  shoot through the window yourself as I did here.

I also saw a number of interesting succulent plants in Harmony. You can see those succulent gardens here. 

Harmony is on the way to making a comeback and developers have plans. We will have to see if these plans will actually make Harmony a busy and thriving community again. Part of me hopes it stays a quiet oasis.

Beach Shelter in Summerland, California

Barbara Radisavlejvic, Paso Robles, CA, USA

Once again it's theme day at City Daily Photo Blogs. This month the theme is "Shelter." I thought this would be the perfect time to show you this photo of the beach shelter someone built on the Summerland beach.

Summerland is one of my favorite beaches. It's located in Santa Barbara County. The beach can be accessed from Lookout Park. It's right off Interstate 101 if you are coming from the north. It makes a wonderful rest stop near Santa Barbara, since it has restrooms, a picnic area, a place to wash your dog, a playground, and benches in a grassy area. There's even a hiking trail. Best of all, it's free, and that includes the parking.

Poster: Be Creative Poster

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Sights at Summerwood Inn at the End of September

On Sunday I decided to photograph some of the newly planted vineyards along Highway 46 West. I had noticed one going in at Summerwood, so I parked and walked over for a closer look. This photo shows the way  the bed and breakfast inn looks from the road. On Sunday, though, I discovered a few things you can't see by just driving by.

Since the young vineyard was on the other side of the inn, beyond the lawn, I decided to walk across the lawn to  get there. I didn't want the fence by the road blocking my view. As I began to walk across the lawn I had some misgivings when I saw this. The entire lawn looked like this. A closer look showed me these were not doggy presents, but instead soil plugs from a newly aerated lawn. You can click the photo (or any other on this page) to see it full size in more detail.

When I got to the other side of the lawn, I was surprised to see a vegetable garden. It would appear that it supplies some of the produce used by the chef. I know there were heirloom tomatoes still growing. These are yellow pear tomatoes. I also saw some red tomatoes that I assume were heirlooms.

Then I saw some large squashes and / or pumpkins. I'm not sure which these large ones are. I suspect they are pumpkins that are not yet completely ripe or a  variety that does not turn orange.




After I passed the garden I finally made it to the young vineyard. Don't forget to click so you can see the photo full size.

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A Hazy Early Evening Sun with Clouds at Castoro Cellars Vineyard

Sunday night I started my search for the Super Blood Moon early. One web site said the eclipse might start before 6 PM, and I was still in 46 West Wine Country at that time. I planned to stop at my favorite sky viewing vineyards to see if the moon  was up yet. It wasn't. My first stop was on Bethel Road beside the Castoro Cellars windmill. I couldn't find the moon in the east, but I did see this to the west. You will see more detail if you click any of these photos to enlarge them.

I wandered across the street to where the Veris Tasting Room used to be. I should have known then, when I took this photo, that it would be hard to see the moon. It should have already risen and been visible here. The clouds were already covering it. This was taken withing minutes of the other photos on this page.

Since I knew the moon was invisible, I walked back across the street to Castoro's vineyard. If you enlarge the photo and look closely, you can read part of the Castoro Cellars name on the closed gate. I'm  hoping you will notice the low layer of clouds on the horizon on the right.

You can see that layer even better in this shot. I used a zoom here, so everything looks a bit bigger than in the photo above on the left. I hope you will click  this to see the full size shot.

Although I was disappointed not to  see the super moon, the clouds that covered it made for magnificent sunset photos. See those sunsets here if you missed last night's post.

If you don't want to miss any special events in the sky, you might consider purchasing the book below -- one of the best for sky watchers. Just click below.

In Search of the Super Blood Moon

Like many others on the West Coast, our search for the Super Blood Moon was a wild goose chase. The moon hid behind a cloud cover until about 9 PM. Those of us heading east to the rural areas when it was due only found each other out looking. I saw many other cars on rural roads surrounded by open space parked facing east. We saw no moon at all. What we did see was this gorgeous sunset as we looked back west.

Earlier, before I left home to chase the moon, I snapped this shot as the sun was setting. I often shoot a sunset through the branches of this oak across the street. I didn't realize at the time the sunset show would only get better.

While I was parked hoping for a moon to appear, the sun almost disappeared. You can see it sneaking under the horizon here.

I decided to change the setting on my camera for night photography just to see what effect it would have. Since I had no tripod with me,  I decided to rest the camera on the top of my car. I was delighted with the surprise reflection that showed up in this photo.

Like most people who were chasing the super moon and the eclipse, I gave up and went home. About 9 I went outside to see if the clouds had moved. I was finally able to see the moon. My point and shoot camera couldn't capture the dark circle that made the moon look like a white bulls-eye in a target,  but it was there, much larger than the moon itself. It may have been the shadow of the sun. I don't know whether part of the moon is missing here because of the eclipse or whether it is just blocked by a cloud. Wish I'd had a better camera and a tripod.

Please click any photo you want to enlarge.

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I wish I Were at Leffingwell Landing Today

I'm patiently waiting for the days to get cooler now that autumn is here. Were I not so busy with a couple of projects that involve a lot of physical labor and a deadline in three days, I would be here today. I love  Leffingwell Landing. To see these waves up closer, just click the photo to make it larger. Here are more photos from Leffingwell Landing in Cambria. 

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