Lemons A'Plenty

I had no idea that our lemon tree had produced so many fruit this year until I went out to pick them today. With a freeze in the forecast for tonight, I decided to harvest them before they were completely ripe.

Here is a picture of last years crop, about 35 lemons, and 6 (very bland) oranges.



Here is this years crop, 56 lemons total, 0 oranges. The lemons appear to be larger this year, also. After squeezing all of these, we came up with almost 70 ounces of juice, and this is keeping five out for Becky and four for Emily to use for cooking. The largest lemon that I spotted weighed in at 7.7 ounces, pre-juiced ( 5th from the left, next to bottom row).

More December Pictures

I always forget from one season to the next how many colors the grape vine on the north side of the house changes to. It seems to be more purple and dark hues this year, whereas last year was more orange-ish.

Well, here's the evidence, this year:

And here is last year.

My columbine is enjoying the cold, wet weather we're having (well, if you believe 50 degrees is cold). Here is a shot of the largest plant.

And another picture of some of the smaller ones that I dug out from around it.

Pomegranates

While they have yet to produce any fruit, their leaves are sure interesting, from being glossy maroon when they first come out in the spring, to turning golden yellow in the fall, this is one of my favorites. I thought I'd take these pictures today, as there is a chance of rain the next five days, and if we actually get a decent amount, these bushes will be bare when it's all over.

December Yard

Here are a few quick pictures, the first a bloom on my wedelia, or yellow dot plant, in the big planter box, and the second a lantana that's by the house.

Still pretty mild, over 70 today again, but we have five days of rain in the forecast, starting on Sunday, keeping my fingers crossed!

Is This A Yarrow Sprout?

This little guy recently came up in my big planter out back, and am wondering if this is a yarrow?

Mighty Big Yard Update

With our perfect weather (70s in the day, 50s at night, and sunny days on end), the yard is back in thrive mode. We had nearly an inch of rain a week ago, and I've just today started watering some of the potted plants with rain water.

Here are a few shots of the goings on around the old yard.

The yellow elder pictured here, was killed to the ground two years ago by our freak freeze. It's now about three or four feet tall and has started to bloom for the first time.

Our four pomegranate bushes are finally changing to golden yellow, here's one of them.

One of the many orange jubilee bushes blooming right now, it's also putting out it's fall seed pods.

Our lemons are about three weeks away from being ready for picking. I've counted roughly 40 of them, but it's hard to see them all until they turn completely yellow.

The ever bearing calomonden is covered in tiny fruit, more so than I've ever seen before. Will be interesting to see if these see maturity before it gets colder later this month.

The valentine emu bush, which typically blooms in February (hence the name), has decided to bloom early.

The lilac vine has taken over it's arch in the back corner of the yard. I'll be taking a weed eater to this thing pretty soon. It'll go into full bloom in late January.

And finally, the miscellaneous planter. The jonquils will probably be blooming in another few weeks, and my cardinal vines are still spreading. Again, we'll see what's left alive in this box come late December. That's if it ever turns cold.

Brenna Goodies

This is vaguely related to the yard, so here goes.

With Grandma and Grandpa H's assistance, pictured here are Brenna's Christmas gifts, now hiding on the north side of the house. I've also cleaned out most of the junk that was over there, and we plan on either laying sod or artifical turf in the spring.