The Westbrook cats massing for their 4:00 feeding. They live in a tree house and keep the vineyards rodent free.

The coastal range is visible in the distance at sunset. The valley haze has blown away. The sun sets in what seems like mid-afternoon.

A finch waits for his turn at the niger seed feeder outside my kitchen window. As the Good Tanyas say, the littlest birds sing the prettiest songs.

Deck the halls with manzanita berries, fa la la la la la la la la.

The new barn under contruction at Westbrook winery. The sides are board and batten pine.

A redbud in my front yard losing its leaves.

Plant with little purple flowers coming up after the rain. This meadow will become a marsh for the rainy season.

The white oaks are losing their leaves, each at their own pace.

A spider's web lays in wait.

Ward Mountain with the bull pines sticking up above the oaks and manzanitas.

Still trying to capture the sunset to the south west over the valley.

This sage in the garden is blooming like crazy. Crisp, wonderful shade of blue.

I was trying to catch the sun at the exact moment that it set. The trees that screen the house from the neighbors have grown enough to intrude on the view.

This is a marsh in the spring. It filled with tarweed in late summer which has finished blooming.

Looking off my front porch to the clouds in the high country. The parched trees are shedding their leaves.

This redbud provides some autumn color. Transplanted easterners are always complaining of our lack of fall foliage, but here's proof that it exists. It's just a little more subtle.

The nest was almost completely hidden by leaves and now stands alone. That's looking over to Ward Mountain.

Hard to tell if this buckeye is dead in all its silvery splendor. It appears to have shed all its leaves and buckeyes in readiness for winter.

Some new yarrow blooms are peeking out among the dead stalks. They are a fresh counterpoint to the feathery leaves.