We spotted this beautiful bromeliad yesterday at the Santa Barbara Farmers Market. Bromeliads are fascinating tropical plants. They come in a variety of shapes and colors. Thus far there are 3,475 species documented, which are native to the tropics and subtropical areas of our planet. One of
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04/30/2017
The shouts of "Stay Hungry, Santa Barbara!" attracted to B.D. farms, where we always stop, because B.D. has an incredible assortment of culinary herbs. The culprit is Michael pictured above who works mostly for fun. Michael has a PhD in botany and has written several well received books! He i
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04/29/2017
Thanks to the wonderful rainfall we have had thus far (yes I am hoping for more), the corncokles (aka agrostemma githago) are back in bloom in Santa Barbara County. They grow wild in the fields surrounding farm land, and their origin has been traced to the Mediterranean areas. In England and Ir
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04/28/2017
"Cats are connoisseurs of comfort" James Herriot--British writer and veterinarian "The replenishing thing that comes with a nap-you end up with two mornings in a day."Pete HamillRon and I like power catnaps especially when we are very focused on coming up with a strategy. These catnaps clear ou
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04/28/2017
Playing chess to win involves strategic thinking. A good chess player thinks several moves ahead, and they are not content with immediate gratification of getting one piece of the board game as their end result. Unlike chess, checker pieces move in the same direction. In chess each piece has
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04/27/2017
Ron's sister and nephew sent us these pictures of "their best in show (tongue in cheek)" furniture picks,"from the High Point furniture show in North Carolina which they recently attended! And then, there is this interesting piece of furniture, will this remain in the home, Sharon Tara ? Will t
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04/26/2017
We were drawn to this amazing looking plant which turned out to be a butterfly lavender. It attracts both butterflies and bees. The color is stunning and the the silvery leaves are a beautiful contrast. We loved this quote regarding the scent of lavender. "Forgiveness is the smell that lavender
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04/26/2017
If you have followed our blog posts, you are no doubt aware that we are constantly noticing logos that tell the brand's story. Pictured above is a great example. This morning we were looking for the perfect pot for our new plant. As we were meandered through the nursery's selection, we noticed
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04/25/2017
We often hear blanket statements about loyalty. Quite often, people will say "loyalty is a thing of the past!" "Loyalty is a luxury!" Or, "the only creatures on the planet who are loyal are dogs!" Loyalty is a byproduct of high trust relationships. The dictionary defines loyalty as faithful to
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04/25/2017
Prior to real estate Ron and I had a management consulting company which involved teaching weekend courses on relationships (which were accredited as CE (continuing education) courses by University of California-Berkeley and the University of San Francisco. We also had an executive coaching pract
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04/24/2017
