Another Stunning Day

A very quiet, peaceful day in Calistoga. We really didn't go anywhere except to the grocery store to pick up some dinner - and that we did masked and sanitized of course along with the few people that are let into the store at a time. 

The day was gorgeous, blue, blue sky and a good breeze which kept the heat down. The high must have been about 90 F but it will drop down into the mid-50's tonight.

I was intrigued by these big old black bees on the Vitex agnus-castus or Vitex or Chaste Tree. I think these are Carpenter Bees but couldn't identify specifically. If you don't know Vitex, it's a lovely Mediterranean small tree which will actually tolerate to USDA Zone 6 (to -23 F). It has some pretty interesting herbal uses if you want to look it up on Wikipedia. And there are plenty of Vitex concoctions sold on the webs as supplements. But it's a lovely, tidy small tree which may find its way into my garden one of these days!

Hope you're all having a marvelous week!