Of January Light and Winter Rose Petals

Hello lovely friends, so nice to see you again.

An after-holiday break was very much needed and enjoyed.

The ever reliable Pearly Gates roses and Climbing America roses have offered up some gigantic winter blooms. Such a joy to find them bobbing outside the entrance to the little citrus grove.

The coral rose is the America rose and the lighter candy pink to peach rose is the Pearly Gates rose.

It is wonderful citrus season in the high desert, which always makes the winter a bit of a magical time.

The light has been glorious the last few days.

Makes us just want to hang around the garden, doing little projects.

The entire landscape has turned green here with all the rain.

Definitely lends to the storybook feeling for sure.

Iridescent light with roses and lemons bobbing in the breeze is the best thing a girl could ask for, especially in January.

Case in point.

A very happy girl dreaming in a beam of sunlight.

I can not bring myself to take any of these roses out of the garden, so I clipped a few others.

These are absolutely joyful arching over by one of the entrances to the secret garden.

The candy sweet oranges are delicious, meanwhile the lemons are nearly ready.

The key limes have been coming in for months endlessly and the pink grapefruit will be ready very soon as well.

No complaints from us as we hide away in our little secret world.

The dogs are so very happy, running around playing.

Poppy even jumped into the frigid pool and then warmed up in the sunshine.

It’s really all for them.

A garden for a couple of happy dogs delights the human.

We are just on our way to work at the country house garden next.

I hope you all had a lovely holiday season.

I spent a week at the family house with my mom and family.

It was so nice to be there, but I was happy to return to my hearts, Poppy and Teddy.

I have not taken down any of my Christmas decor, just the dining table really.

It got super cold there for a couple weeks and being in front of the fire with the Christmas lights and all was beyond delightful.

I’m never in any rush to take everything down.

I like to enjoy it until I feel ready to move on, usually before Valentine’s creeps up.

Now the stunning sunlight has returned, with cool days and warm sun.

I see the poppies and Queen Anne’s lace everywhere, about 3 inches tall already.

I hope to be able to rest a little more through the month of January.

I do love the restfulness of winter.

After the grueling days of summer and then the holidays, winter just seems like the perfect time to refuel.

The weather is sublime in the high desert at this time of the year.

I have been painting in my little nook off my bedroom, which gets plenty of light and is perfect for when I don’t want to stay in the studio all night.

It’s such a cozy spot to just play with paint in.

Poppy and Teddy are napping and soon we will load the car and go over to the country house.

We are putting in some wood picket fencing and I am off to help, plus tend the gardens there.

Nothing major to report.

I just hope that you are very well and being kind to yourself.

Taking time to breathe and rest.

I will return soon.

All my very best to you!

Love, Vanessa