More sketches from my moms property- Desiree

It is my birthday and I am feeling sad that my mom is recovering from surgery so far away. I had a glorious week with her before this big event so I am thankful for all of those wonderful moments together. This first picture is the view down the valley from her livingroom window. You can sit on the sofa and look all the way down the valley towards the ocean. On many days the marine layer lays low in the valley and the foothills and redwoods peek through . These days were glorious, bright and sunny.

This was done on my very large moleskine sketchbook as a double page spread. You can see some of the trees and vineyards in the foreground are beginning to change into their autumn apparel. In northern California, they do get the seasons but rarely have snow. The nights begin to turn chilly but the sun still warms the grounds during the day. The vineyards are busy testing the sugar content in their grapes to assure that it is right before picking. For many of the specialty growers this time of year is very stressful. If the rains come too early the grapes will not produce the sugars needed to become wine. Last year the rains came around Oct 20th and many late season varieties were lost. 

The hydrangeas are still blooming although looking faded and spent, their bouquets of flowers are beginning to look like they are starting to dry on the vine. My mom has many varieties of hydrangeas, lace cap, snowball, annabell etc. This first variety is called Limelight as the blossoms are a lime green and white. The huge, cone shaped heads are almost a foot long and stand in an arrangement for along time, they will even dry in place and still hold their shape and a lot of their color. The next variety is a lace cap, this variety was still blooming under the redwoods and is a wonderful mix of blues, lavenders and pinks. I brought home cutting from most of the varieties to start my own plants from, they root easily.