Spent two days last week at the San Francisco Flower Show.  Two years ago the show moved to San Mateo south of San Fran.   The new venue is terrific, flat and open with space outside for art installations and food vendors.  But the show was disappointing and didn’t have nearly the pizazz of either NW Flower and Garden Show or the Portland YGP Show.  The parking lot was full and the show crowded but folks didn’t seem excited or engaged.

As a long time show goer I was surprised by an encounter with a proprietary and snippy vendor  who only … Continue Reading

Demolition in the back garden continues apace.  Daughter Melissa and neighbor Aaron are almost finished pulling out all the brick pathways which is proving to be a tedious task.  A small crowbar, hammer and wire brush are the tools of the trade.  Piles of brick, stacked according to size and color,  line the two terraces.  When we built the garden we had lots of ideas and energy but no money for building materials.  Fred watched the freebie ads and stopped whenever he saw a building being demolished.  The pathways evolved as his stash of recycled brick burgeoned.  The bricks are … Continue Reading