Category Archives: My Life

Who Spit On My Rosemary Bush?

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I have written a few blogs about my garden. I have been learning about some of the succulents, plants, and trees in my yard. My Pyracantha appears to be doing fine. I had noticed a few woolly aphids and spider mites on it in the Spring but now they are gone. The sage bushes are thriving and attracting hummingbirds and bees. I haven’t gotten out into my small backyard garden as regularly until the past few days. I was looking at the garden through my kitchen window and noticed a cute little bird in my rosemary bush. It looked like it was eating something off the branches. I wondered if birds like eating rosemary and then thought maybe there was some kind of bug on the bush. I went out to look but did not see anything and then recently I noticed a little white ball on one of the branches. At first I though it could be some kind of cocoon or a bit of fluff. Today I decided to investigate and saw several more little white balls on that bush. On closer inspection, they looked like white foam or spit. Either the plant was producing this foam, which I thought can’t be a good sign, or some wild animal was spitting or slobbering on my rosemary. I thought of skunks, coyotes, and my brother in law’s dog. Well, of course I had to google it. Turns out it is Spittlebugs! They are the nymphs of the Froghopper bug. They produce the foam as camouflage or for insulation in hot weather. We have had hot weather here in Southern California. They really don’t spit out the foam, it comes out the other end. I thought I saw one of the adult (froghopper) bugs on the bush but it was too small, and camera shy, for me to get a photo of it. I had never heard of Spittlebugs or Froghoppers. Hopefully they will not infect any other plants. Although, from what I have read, plants usually survive them. I don’t think I want to use any of this rosemary for cooking right now however.  😉

I found some information about Spittlebugs from SFGate and I like this quote from their post:

“A nice stroll through your garden can help reduce stress and calm your nerves — that is until you find unsightly spit-like foam covering your plants.”

That about says it all. 🙂  I hope that little bird comes back and eats some more Froghoppers.

 

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Limber

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We are often told these days that we must exercise. I have tried to duck the questions about exercise I get anytime I have contact with a doctor’s office, ‘ Do you exercise? or How often do you exercise? or What type of exercise do you do? I do try to be creative in my answers but then my honesty gets in the way. I used to be able to say, ‘I do yoga.’ My warrior and cat poses were pretty good. But I quit doing that too. I’ve wasted a lot of money paying for gym and yoga studio memberships and then did not go to the classes after a while. I have decided to try some exercise classes at my local city recreation center in the Fall. They are closer to my house, are scheduled at a decent time, and are not overly expensive. And I don’t have to sign a contract. I am looking for gentle limbering up not high impact, weight-bearing, hot chakra yoga or some such thing. Not looking for a triathlon or Iditarod. Not even interested in Zumba Gold. Maybe a nice Qui Gong.

Stream of Consciousness Saturday is hosted by the ever limber Linda G Hill. The prompt for today is ‘limb.’ Featured image of Contortionist via wikimedia.

Talk of Sealing Wax

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“The time has come,” the Walrus said,
“To talk of many things:
Of shoes–and ships–and sealing-wax….-Lewis Carroll

In the BBC film version of Pride and Prejudice (1995), Mr. Darcy stays up all night writing a letter to Elizabeth Bennet in an effort to clear himself of unjust charges by Mr. Wickham. He seals the envelope with sealing wax stamped with his signet ring. This letter writing scene was not in the original book by Jane Austen. In Pride and Prejudice, letters were the way of conveying information from a distance. Or in Darcy’s case, a way to speak from the heart without speaking face to face. The people in the story had to wait to find out what was happening with their friends and family. There was no texting, emails, or phone calls. I remember, not so long ago, this was the way we communicated. There was something special about receiving a handwritten letter. There was the anticipation built up of when the letter would come and the excitement of its arrival.  There was noting the choice of stationary and the handwriting of the sender. Sometimes it could be hard to read some of the words depending on the penmanship. There could be cross outs. You saved special letters in a box. I remember I liked my writing to be clear and hated to cross out words so I would end up throwing out cards or paper and starting over. You wanted your lines to be straight inside and on the envelope, and you might pick out special postage stamps. I remember my mother in law, my husband’s aunt, and I addressing my wedding invitations by hand. For my daughter-in-law’s rehearsal dinner I picked out special postage stamps with images of wedding bands. I have a Montblanc fountain pen that I have to fill with ink. Texting or emails just can’t compare. How romantic to receive a handwritten letter sealed with wax with impression of a signet ring. I miss letter writing and receiving handwritten letters.

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Stream of Consciousness Saturday is hosted by Linda G Hill. The prompt words are sealing/ceiling. Featured image of illustration from Pride and Prejudice by C. E. Brock via wikimedia. Image of letter with wax seal by Charlotte Gilhooly via Flickr.

Terrifically Icky Hot

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Record breaking heat is predicted for Southern California this weekend. Heat which causes you to feel pretty icky and sticky, weather that can make you sick.

Until 11:00 PM PST, Sat Jul 8
Source: U.S. National Weather Service

…EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING NOW IN EFFECT UNTIL 11 PM PDT SATURDAY… * TEMPERATURES…Daytime high temperatures will range from 102 to 112 degrees. Overnight low temperatures will be in the mid 60s to mid 70s, except to the mid 80s in the foothills. * IMPACTS…This is a dangerous situation with an increased threat of life-threatening heat related illness. Power outages are more likely.

Good that we have AC but I hate to think what our electric bill is going to be this summer if this type of weather lasts. Hope it cools off tonight.

Stream of Consciousness Saturday is hosted by Linda G Hill. The prompt for today is ‘ick.’

 

Holding On To The Good

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I have been thinking again about reining in my time on social media, blogging. I did a post on my other blog Grandmotherly.blog about being over-connected. I just read a post from the Atlantic  by James Hamblin that suggests we do a social media fast every other day to break the addiction. I was thinking of taking a vacation from blogging, which is still an option, but this every other day fast sounds like it would be worth a try.  Otherwise, I have visions of spending the rest of my life glued to my computer and cell phone.

But then there are so many interesting things that I find online from Smithsonian.com, like the West Coast is being invaded by hordes of gelatinous Sea Cucumbers and I have to read about it. Or how about the story of a shriveled human toe, put in a drink called Sourtoe Cocktail in the Yukon, that was stolen then returned. That last one makes me queasy. I am being facetious, but interesting articles about science, nature, quirky comical stuff helps lift my spirits when there is so much bad news.

I have been watching the The Lord of the Rings Trilogy again. We could see it as good triumphs over evil, and maybe too simplistic, but I do find the message inspiring. That even one small person can make a difference in the world. One of the inspiring speeches in the film is by Sam Gamgee to Frodo when Frodo feels despair of ever overcoming all that is against him, all the darkness:

Frodo : I can’t do this, Sam.

Sam : I know.
It’s all wrong
By rights we shouldn’t even be here.
But we are.
It’s like in the great stories Mr. Frodo.
The ones that really mattered.
Full of darkness and danger they were,
and sometimes you didn’t want to know the end.
Because how could the end be happy.
How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad happened.
But in the end, it’s only a passing thing, this shadow.
Even darkness must pass.
A new day will come.
And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer.
Those were the stories that stayed with you.
That meant something.
Even if you were too small to understand why.
But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand.
I know now.
Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back only they didn’t.
Because they were holding on to something.

Frodo : What are we holding on to, Sam?

Sam : That there’s some good in this world, Mr. Frodo. And it’s worth fighting for.

When the darkness rains down, I must not give up in despair. Have to be courageous and believe in the good in the world. And that even one person can make a difference.

 

Stream of Consciousness Saturday is hosted by Linda G Hill. The prompt words for today: rain/reign/rein. Sam’s Speech ‘Worth Fighting For’ via Richurd on edgestudio.com. Featured image of ‘Aqua Tibia Wilderness Sunrise’ by pdpolena on Wikimedia.

Push Back

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“We’ve all seen the television commercials, read the articles, or watched the movies in which society tries to tell us that people our age only have two options: become pathetic, useless individuals living in a shell of our former selves OR we must cover our wrinkles, refuse to retire, and become motorcycle-riding thrill seekers. Neither extreme scenario is necessary for us to get the most from life after 60.”-sixtyandme.com

Listening to the negative messages could take years off your life and it does make you feel worse because we internalize it.

We are all going to be old and we have a choice in the way we think about it, the way we think about ourselves. And there are as many ways to be as there are people. We do not have to be one extreme or the other.

One Liner Wednesday is hosted by Linda G Hill. Featured image of older couple by Erika Wittlieb on Pixabay.com

 

 

Sun Signs

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This year I have been happy with our June Gloom here in Southern California. It is a sign of cooler weather when we have gray cloudy skies, when the climate conditions cause the moist cool air from the ocean to come inland and keep temperatures down. It results in cloudy days but it is better than the very hot days we will be getting in July and August. But just when I was celebrating the coolness along comes a heat wave expected to last at least until early next week. TGFAC! (Thank God For Air Conditioning). I am hunkered down inside like a refrigerated hermit.

I have ventured out a few times and wanted to share some photos of clear blue sunny Southern California skies.

My sunny neighborhood
Blue Skies

“Blue skies smilin’ at me

Nothing but blue skies do I see…”

Stream of Consciousness Saturday is hosted by Linda G Hill. The prompt word for today is “sign.”  Featured image of Sun with cloud by kropekk_pl on Pixabay.com

 

Words of Wisdom

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“There are many things of which a wise man might wish to be ignorant”-Ralph Waldo Emerson

Every morning I scan my email inbox and see how many I can weed out. I try not to let too many emails accumulate. I get emails from organizations I have donated to in the past, asking for more donations, or asking me to sign petitions on this issue or that. I have started ignoring them more often now because I feel that I can not afford to be making donations and tell myself I should probably be the one who gets donations. I get tired of signing petitions, but still do a bit of it. I get emails from different newsletters and websites I have signed up to. I may have found an article of theirs interesting and decided I would like to read more, and I end up with all these emails from them. I have noticed that so many of the websites and newsletters are in the business of giving us all advice on how to live our lives with subject lines like: How To Get More Joy In You Life, Why It’s So Hard To Say You’re Sorry, The Best Cities For Successful Aging, The Next Food City You Should Pay Attention To, What a Healthy Relationship Looks Like. I have noticed that posts about how to be happy and have good relationships are a frequent topic of many writers. When we are struggling with our problems or lonely we might be drawn to read their advice. Are we all supposed to pack up and move to a city that has the best food and chance for us to have “successful aging?” I have this vision of selling our house and moving to one of these places and then finding out they have decided to cut back on their services and not be a best city for successful aging. And then I would be stuck.

One Liner Wednesday is hosted by Linda G Hill.  Featured image ‘Woman sitting at desk writing’ via Pixabay.com

 

Image by O. Palsson via Flickr

Admitting To Going In New Directions

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I have recently reached a WordPress milestone of 500 posts on Notes Tied On The Sagebrush. And I must admit it has been quite a journey. I have used this blog to share some of my life, thoughts, opinions, humor, and even some creative writing. I appreciate very much the support of my followers, family, friends, and other bloggers. It has been wonderful to get the positive feedback I have received over the past 3 years. I have appreciated your comments and encouragement very much. There have been times when I thought I was tired of blogging. I learned I had to discover my own pace. I realized I was not going to be out to win the most prolific blogger award. So I am surprised to find that I have decided to start a second blog about my journey into Grandmother-hood called Grandmotherly.blog. I have to say I am pretty excited about the new blog. I have had a few posts on Notes Tied On The Sagebrush about becoming a grandmother, but I decided this new part of my life deserved its own blog. I will be continuing my Notes as well.

GRANDMOTHERLY.BLOG

I welcome all of you to come by and take a look. The focus will be on Grandparents, grandchildren, premature babies, and all things grandmotherly. I hope you will drop in and comment from time to time. I will continue with Notes Tied On The Sagebrush as well. So here’s to new adventures!!!

Stream of Consciousness Saturday is hosted by Linda G Hill. The prompt word for today is “admit.” If you are new to blogging I recommend taking a look at Linda’s blog. You can meet a nice group of bloggers there. My Grandmotherly blog image is by blickpixel on Pixabay.com Desert image by O. Palsson via Flickr.

 

The More Things Change The More Things Stay The Same

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Too many women are afraid to say the ‘F word’. Not the one you are thinking. I am talking about Feminism. They say I am not a feminist, as if it would be some kind of black spot on their image, like racist. They must apologize for wanting to have their own voice. Now we are finally figuring out that the only way for women to truly be seen for who they are is if they have a voice. That is women writing about women characters in books, and in films. It is time for things to change, they have stayed the same for way too long.

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Featured image ‘Writing’ from Wikipedia.