We have entered that glorious time of year where the mornings make you want to curl up and be warm in a bed of straw… (For a larger view, click on the photos.)
and then in the afternoons, stretch out and take shelter in the shade of said straw,
and when the manzanitas regale us with endless, gorgeous colors and patterns as they shed their old bark.
We have even had a bit of rain making beautifully intricate designs on foliage.
The bees are quite enthusiastic about fall blooms on the Rhea Rose.
A bit early on the holiday cheer, the oaks are decorated with literally thousands of what we have learned are Red Cone Galls, the larvae of tiny wasps which the internet assures us are harmless (both to the oaks and to their human neighbors!).
A few minutes of walking meditation in the Monastery courtyard