Petaluma Valley

The hilly terrain here means that there are a lot of valleys that run more or less West to East. The Petaluma Valley is home to Sonoma State University and lots of open farmland, with nary a vineyard in sight. It is so green this time of year...a nice backdrop for peacefully grazing cattle.

Following our Pilates on the floor made a little more complicated by the presence of the Peloton, we were on our way to Cottage Garden Nursery in search of a big pot for some herbs we bought at the Farmers' Market. It's always a pleasant place to wander around with raked gravel paths, lots of interesting succulents, many of them planted in interesting containers. The first warm weather of the season brought out a lot of gardeners and they said they had been busy. John's careful planning to avoid crowds backfired on him but despite not having the place to himself, he coped reasonably well. 

My eye was caught by some old claw footed zinc tubs, but they were both expensive and not quite right for our purposes. They always have a collection of interesting metal animals and some rather eerie stone faces that look a bit like death masks to me. I've put a few pictures in extras.

The final extra is a real Coopers Hawk surveying the scene from the birdbath in our garden. It's not a great image because I took it through the window, but he is still quite noble looking. 

Henrietta the turkey has just made her rounds, peering through all the doors  and leaving her calling card on the decks. She was quite taken aback when she came face to face with Spike on the other side of the door, but Spike was oblivious. John wanted to put an ear of corn out for her, but I nixed that idea. There is quite a large flock of turkeys around here, and I'd just as soon they didn't all wind up in our garden....

It might just be warm enough to sit outside this evening for wine time.