May 2022 South Garden Facing North. Poppy, Where Did You Come From?

Quite a few years ago I was given some oriental poppy seeds. Some were red, and some were purple. All were beautiful and delicate when they bloomed. Poppy seeds are very tiny like carrot seeds, and benefit before sowing, to mix them with sand. From that one sowing of poppy seeds, the poppies come back each year. However, it is always in a different spot, different number of poppies, and different blooming. It is a mystery of where they will spring up. This year one sole red poppy has sprung up and bloomed beautifully in my South Garden.

I said to myself, these poppies sure have a mind of their own. Then I thought, there are some life lessons and musings in the way these beguiling poppies conduct themselves. Maybe you will sport a smile and agree.

It is okay to stand out in a crowd. We are all very special and unique in this world. No one is exactly like us. Remember to be your best of who you are, and not anyone else. You will never be a “wallflower.”

Follow your bliss, and everything else will fall into place. We make our own everlasting joy and happiness, and it comes from within us, not from external circumstances or material things. Bloom because you are happy.

Make each and every year different, in what you do, what you experience, and where you go. Keep your life vibrant in trying new things, meeting new people, reading, and traveling. Bloom in a different spot each year.

Persistence is everything. Even if you don’t have optimum circumstances, sheer persistence and perseverance is on your side, and you will bloom.

Be authentic to yourself and others. Don’t try and be something that you simply are not. An oriental poppy will never be a groundcover verbena.

Life is fleeting. Enjoy each and every day. Live in the “now” and “present” as much as you possibly can. You may not have a tomorrow, but you bloomed in magnificent beauty today.

You might look different from others, but we are all part of, and connected to this beautiful universe. Be careful not to judge by appearances. Everyone is beautiful in their own right, and everyone has a reason they are part of this beautiful universe. Be a beautiful poppy.

Don’t take yourself too seriously. A little bit of humor goes a long way in easing tension, lifting one’s spirits, and creating moments. A red oriental poppy couldn’t be any further from the design of the South Garden. Red oriental poppy makes you stop and chuckle.

Stand up for yourself and what you believe in. No one else is going to take up your mantle. Be passionate, and make a difference. You might see red, but I am a strong and determined red oriental poppy.

Don’t be hard on yourself. “You are enough.” You might not understand the circumstances that allowed you to grow and bloom, but the fact that you did is a gift.

Embrace change. Life is all about change. Don’t worry. Don’t fight change, rather “go with the flow of change.” Everything seems to work out just about the way it is intended to, in the end. If there is only one beautiful red oriental poppy this year, maybe there will be more next year.

April 2019, South Garden Facing West

May 2019, Main Pathway, Purple Oriental Poppies

Bon Appétit et Bon Weekend….Bonnie

Vines Now Nearly Hiding “Coop de Manion”

The last time I mentioned our vineyard, Prepping the Vineyard, it was March and pruning had just finished. In a few months time, the vines have exploded in growth. In fact, you can hardly see the chicken coop through the vigor of the vines.

Vines Before In Spring After Pruning

I often joke that grapevines are like weeds, and they are. Besides all this growth vigor, the vines are flowering and tiny grape clusters are forming. It looks like it is a good fruit set for this year.

Grapevines Flowering

I really enjoy how the vineyard looks in the spring. The vines are a lush vibrant green, full in canopy, stretching for the sky, and basically happily unbridled.

Rows of Happy Grapevines at Domaine de Manion

Now as the vineyard marches toward harvest, the grapevines get down to business further maturing in canopy, growing the grape clusters, verasion or coloring of the grapes, and the ultimate ripening of the grapes in sugar brix for harvest.

It has been fun sharing the vigor of our vineyard. Is there something in your garden that explodes with vigor that you look forward to each year?

Bon Appétit et Bon Weekend….Bonnie

Courtyard Iceberg Roses at Domaine de Manion

It is hard to believe we are almost through the first half of 2022. Soon it will be summer time, and life seems to switch gears. Take some time, to pause, and appreciate all that is in your life this year. Have you already accomplished some of your intentions you composed when 2022 was just days old? Are you on track to do the things you want to do? Have your priorities changed? Do you need to make a course correction? Are there things that need to be eliminated, or added? Are your days filled with joy?

All good questions to ask yourself now, so the last half of 2022 is everything you want it to be.

Bon Appétit et Bon Weekend….Bonnie

Open Your Eyes to the Eyes on You

Working in the garden is my zen time. The garden pulls me in, and I can spend hours before I know it. Yes, I do listen to audiobooks, podcasts, and music, but I also listen to nothing but the thoughts that come in my head and live in the present. It is such a gift. Living in the now, or present is where you are suppose to live, as hard or as easy as it is for you. So many good, good things come your way when you live in the present. One of them is heightened awareness, which is another special gift.

I can be busy in the garden, and suddenly I feel like there are eyes on me. An uncanny awareness of being watched. Sure enough, if I follow that feeling quickly I soon experience whose eyes are gazing upon me, and I am surprised. Sometimes it is a lazy lizard, a little bird, my favorite hawk, or tracks that are only left behind. The wonderful creatures in my garden watch me, as I watch and am aware of them. There are many, many creatures large and small who call my garden “home.” Here are a few.

My imagination creates personifications for the treasured wildlife and their roles in my garden. The songbirds are the musicians singing so sweetly in the morning and into the day. The lizards are the comedians, lazily lounging in the funniest spots and often displaying territory muscle with their “push ups.” The hawks are reigning royalty soaring high above it all. The squirrels are pirates unabashedly eating my young vegetable seedlings and stealing away treasured macadamia nuts. The gophers and rabbits are just “sneaky” troublemakers and are forever challenging, keeping me on my toes. The coyotes and gopher snakes are policemen, keeping a good “check and balance” in the garden. The night owls serenade me to sleep, and remind me of a day well lived.

St. Francis Watching Over the Wildlife, the Garden, and Mother Earth

My Favorite Hawk Always Perches Atop the Torrey Pine

Coyote Tracks and Gardener Boots in Our Sandy Soil

Lizard On Top of Stone Toad, Real Life Mirroring Imaginary Life

Open your eyes to the creatures in your garden, and you will be rewarded!

Bon Appétit et Bon Weekend…Bonnie

Past Related Blog Posts:

Welcome To My Garden (2009)

Follow the French

Cooking Class Silent Auction Item at Assistance League of Rancho San Dieguito Fundraiser “Springtime in Paris”

The Assistance League of Rancho San Dieguito is having their annual fundraiser on Saturday, April 2, 2022, at the Westin Carlsbad Resort & Spa, 10:30am to 2:00pm. This year’s theme is “Springtime in Paris.” There will be a luncheon, fashion show, and silent auction. Their silent auction has many wonderful items to bid on, including one of my cooking classes for 8 people, and also a case of our assorted award-winning Domaine de Manion wine. For more information and online ticket registration, please go to “Springtime in Paris.”

Your support will help the Assistance League of Rancho San Dieguito: Provide scholarships for graduating seniors. Clothe school-age children with new clothes and shoes. Provide new clothes and toiletries for survivors of sexual assault. Prepare preschoolers for Kindergarten. Provide hand-knit layettes for military families. Provide cuddly bears for trauma victims. Such a great cause, helping make a difference in so many ways. If you can’t make the luncheon, you can make a donation online. I hope to see you there!

Fun & Fundraising at Point Loma’s Garden Walk

Have fun, and benefit the Division of Plastic Surgery Craniofacial Services, Rady Children’s Hospital, San Diego. Part garden tour, part marketplace, part fundraiser, and a great way to spend an April spring day in Point Loma. For more information and purchasing tickets online, please go to Point Loma Garden Walk. Group tickets of 10 or more are discounted.

For more information and inquiries on my cooking classes, please visit www.bonniejomanion.com

Bon Appétit et Bon Weekend….Bonnie

New Doors to Open This Year

I wish I could share with you that I was in Provence this past month, celebrating the holidays and making a great start to 2022. Although my thoughts and visualizations were there, I was gladly home at Domaine de Manion enjoying quiet and relaxing holidays. Now I am planning my 2022. It appears already for me, this is a year of upgrades and improving on many fronts.

Having said that, if you haven’t been to my website recently, www.bonniejomanion.com please visit. This fall I worked on refreshing and updating it. One of the new changes is offering my photography online, Purchase My Photography on my home page. My photos are my inspiration, and the source for my ideas and content to share with you.

I have selected a few photos to begin with, like the French Blue Door photo above, where you can see them all at once, or click on individual categories like Provence, Burgundy, Domaine de Manion. I will be adding more photos from time to time. If you have a favorite photo from my blog, Instagram, or website, please feel free to contact me at bonnie@vintagegardengal.com and I will add it to this category. Some of these photos currently grace my home, and I enjoy them everyday. Perhaps some of these photos will resonate with you too!

I am sure all of you have thought through your 2022 with hope, goals, resolutions, and intentions by now. To make this year a spectacular year for you all, I wanted to share with you a very special list. This list came from a Mira Costa College Business Class taught by Tom Severance, I took years ago. Going through some of my old files, I recently found it again. Many of these points I imagine you already know and do now, but it never hurts to revisit the list to keep them fresh in your daily living, and kick start your year. Wishing you your best year yet!

It is a list to unlock the best kept secret in the world—YOU!

1) Live your ideal life …now.

2) Do things that are extraordinary and nearly impossible.

3) Believe that: If it’s to be, it’s up to me.

4) Think BIG. Dream lofty dreams. Plan. Act immediately.

5) Keep in contact with the best, meet people engaged in the best, experience the best.

6) Be your own boss. Do what you love and get paid for it.

7) Duplicate your efforts and receive a percentage on other’s productivity.

8) Increase your income daily…whether you work, play, or sleep.

9) Do what you do so well that people enthusiastically refer others to you.

10) Inspire others by your example.

11) Build your reputation for honesty, integrity, quality, and superb service.

12) Aim for excellence in your field.

13) Support others in achieving their goals.

14) Develop influential friendships worldwide.

15) Take total responsibility for your past, present, and future experiences.

16) Strive to accomplish more with less time, money, and energy.

17) Do and say things that benefit all concerned.

18) Be open to new ideas, relationships, and experiences.

19) Realize that all events happen for the best.

20) Take calculated risks to get ahead.

21) Read books by and about exciting people you admire.

22) Simplify your life, have more fun per hour.

23) Know that you are equal to everyone and everyone is equal to you.

24) Accept people the way they are and the way they are not.

25) Forgive and love everyone.

26) Do what you feel is best, no matter what people think of you.

27) Save 10% of your income.

28) Give something away daily…a postcard, letter, gift, smile, hug, compliment.

29) Collect pictures of what you want to be, do, and have in your life.

30) Do not criticize, condem, or complain.

31) Act as if it were impossible to fail.

32) Live in an elegant dwelling.

33) Dine at the finest restaurants.

34) Stay at the best hotels in the world.

35) Dress to look and feel great! Mostly solid-colored clothing.

36) Collect quotes that motivate you.

37) Speak and write only positive words.

38) Carry a crisp $100.00 bill with you at all times.

39) Learn something new every day.

40) Exercise at least 20 minutes daily to achieve and maintain your ideal body.

41) Eat mostly fresh fruits, vegetables, nuts, and grains.

42) Minimize alcohol, tobacco, sugar, salt, white flour, coffee, pork, beef,and unnatural foods.

43) Avoid saying: can’t, hard, difficult. Instead say: I can, it’s easy, it’s simple.

44) Keep your home, desk, closets, car…clean, neat, and organized.

45) Use a simple time management system.

46) Listen to music which motivates you.

47) Maintain a good-looking tan. Spend more time with nature.

48) Act as if all your goals and intentions are already accomplished.

49) Constantly escalate your goals.

50) GO FOR IT! JUST DO IT!

Related Post Link:

What I Love About January

Vegetable Edibles to Plant in January

Bon Appétit et Bon Weekend…Bonnie

Holiday Spirit in the Wine Room

I am thinking of you all through the holidays. May you be surrounded by loved ones and the holiday spirit now, and throughout 2022. My blog posts will return in January.

Love. Peace. Blessings….Bonnie

Butternut Squash from the Garden

When I was looking through recipes around Thanksgiving I happened up this recipe, Risotto with Butternut Squash, Gorgonzola, and Toasted Pecans. This has been a favorite of mine from the December 2003 Oprah magazine. Somehow I had forgotten about it.

I still have home-grown butternut squash from the garden, and on a recent trip to an Italian specialty store, I picked up a pound of Carnaroli rice, considered the best risotto rice overall for making the creamiest risotto due to its very high starch content. Carnaroli rice is available on Amazon, specialty food stores, and gourmet food websites. This recipe calls for arborio rice which is a more common available rice for making risotto.

Home-grown butternut squash, fresh sage leaves, and a new box of Carnaroli rice said it was meant to be.

This is a delightful recipe full of flavor, depth, and texture with soft golden butternut squash, sweet Gorgonzola, and crunchy toasted pecans for crunch. Chef Rori Trovato recommends serving this risotto with a California Zinfandel or Central Coast Syrah. She also provides below simple interesting variations on this recipe. Enjoy!

Sauté the Rice and Butternut Squash Together

Risotto with Butternut Squash, Gorgonzola, and Toasted Pecans

Lovingly Adapted from Chef Rori Trovato

Oprah Magazine, December 2003

Ingredients

1. 4 cups low-sodium chicken or vegetable stock

2. 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

3. 1/2 small onion , finely chopped

4. 1 cup arborio rice

5. 2 cloves small garlic , finely chopped

6. 1 medium butternut squash (about 1 1/2 pounds), peeled, seeded, and cut into 1/2-inch cubes

7. 8 large sage leaves , chopped

8. 2 tablespoons butter

9. 2 teaspoons salt

10. Freshly ground pepper

11. 1/3 cup crumbled Gorgonzola

12. 1/4 cup chopped toasted pecans

Directions

In a saucepan, bring the stock to a boil. Then reduce heat to low.

In a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan over a medium-high flame, heat the olive oil. Add the onion. Sauté for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add the rice; stir until well coated, about 1 minute. Add the garlic and squash and continue to stir another 30 seconds. Lower the heat to medium and add 1/2 cup hot stock. With a wooden spoon, stir until the liquid is absorbed but the rice isn't sticking to the pan. Continue adding 1/2 cup stock and stirring until the stock is absorbed, about 20 to 25 minutes, or until the rice is tender. Recipe Note: I was taught to stir your risotto in a clockwise direction, the whole time, for waking up the starch and in turn creaminess in your rice kernels. I also used 1 teaspoon of salt rather than two.

Remove from heat; add the sage, butter, and salt. Season with pepper. Stir to combine. Place risotto in a serving bowl and top with Gorgonzola and pecans. Makes 4 servings.

Recommended variations

• Cranberry Risotto: Add 1/2 cup dried cranberries with the garlic and squash.

• Barley Risotto: Substitute one cup barley for the arborio rice and use one additional cup of stock. Barley has a nuttier taste and a less creamy texture than rice.

• Indian-Spiced Risotto with Shrimp: Omit the squash and add one teaspoon cumin, 2 teaspoons curry powder, and 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes. When the rice is about two-thirds done, add 1 1/2 pounds medium-size peeled and deveined shrimp. Continue cooking until the rice and shrimp are cooked through. Finally, substitute 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro for the sage, omit the Gorgonzola, and increase the amount of butter to 4 tablespoons.

Elegant Risotto with Butternut Squash

Please share if you have a favorite risotto recipe you like to make.

Bon Appétit et Bon Weekend….Bonnie