Category Archives: My Life

In My Garden-Magical Things

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“The universe is full of  magical things patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper.”                – Eden Phillpotts

I noticed something on the top of one of our cactus plants and on closer inspection I saw these bright pink protuberances:

Cactus with strange protuberances and cute spikey top
Yet another view

I think I mentioned before that we did not save the tags for most of our plants and this makes it hard to identify them later.  However I have been doing a bit of research and believe I have identified a couple more of the cacti/succulents. The image above is of Cleistocactus hyalacanthus.

One of the other succulents in the front yard has a large light green flowering stalk growing out of it right now. I identified this plant as Kalanchoe luciae aka Paddle Kalanchoe, Paddle plant, Desert Cabbage, Flapjacks, and Red Pancakes ( named for the shape and color of the leaves):

Large flowering stalk growing out of succulent
Close up of flowers on stalk of Kalanchoe

I have been reading up on the Kalanchoe and I can grow many more plants from the mother plant. Here, in the image below, are some of the baby plants that can be harvested and repotted. Can you see them tucked into the bottom of the leaves?

While researching some images of kolanchoe I found ( an image by Nova on Wikipedia) of one of my backyard succulents is called Kolanchoe tormentosa:

Kalanchoe tormentosa

We have been converting our front and backyards to drought tolerant landscapes. The front yard has a low flow drip sprinkler system. Happy to have something that is low maintenance with our rock ground cover, pavers and drought tolerant plants.

One Liner Wednesday is hosted by Linda G Hill. Featured image Cleistocactus in flower by Leonora Enking on Flickr. I hope my cleistocactus flowers will open up like that. 🙂

 

 

Yawn

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Resetting your clock can be hazardous to your health

 

“I object to being told that I am saving daylight when my reason tells me that I am doing nothing of the kind… At the back of the Daylight Saving scheme, I detect the bony, blue-fingered hand of Puritanism, eager to push people into bed earlier, and get them up earlier, to make them healthy, wealthy, and wise in spite of themselves.” -Robertson Davies

Spotted this online nola.com: “California Assemblyman Kansen Chu, D- San Jose, is proposing Assembly Bill 2496, which calls for the state to observe Standard Pacific Time during the entire year.” [God bless him].

From Bustle.com:

“Daylight time a monstrosity in time keeping.” – Harry S. Truman

I’m with you Harry.  🙂

Time is on my side, as long as it’s Pacific Standard Time. Video via You Tube:

 

Image of Harold Lloyd setting clock via Giphy.com

 

Worth The Wait

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We can not control the passage of time and it seems to move so slowly when we are waiting. It seems like the more we want it to go fast, the longer it takes. I am waiting for my grandson to be ready to come home. We think the time is short now and the wait will not be much longer. It is hard to be watching and waiting, but he has to do it in his own time. And he is definitely worth the wait. He is so worth it.

Stream of Consciousness Saturday is hosted by Linda G Hill. The prompt word today is “short.” Featured image of  Still Life Bear Reading Book via Pixabay.com

In My Garden Small

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“However many years she lived, Mary always felt that ‘she should never forget that first morning when her garden began to grow’.”
― Frances Hodgson Burnett-The Secret Garden

I have been wanting to get back into my small backyard garden and now that the weather is getting nicer I have been going out.  I have been weeding periodically and I am noticing that the succulents I planted are growing and some are blooming. I was excited to see this one with a big stalk shooting up:

My flowering succulent
Closer look
View of base of plant and stalk

And I did not remember the name of the plant. Then I noticed it had a tag:

Gasteria arborescens

Here are a few more of my succulents:

Pretty blue gray ‘Cassyz Winter’ Echeveria
Furry leaves with spotted brown edges
Prickly one

And here’s some of my wooly thyme ground cover. I will probably plant more because it has not covered as much of the space as I hoped it would:

Wooley thyme
Another section of wooley thyme, note the fuzzy leaves

The sage plants are doing well:

Cranberry Sage

I have a dwarf lime tree that I need to plant:

My lime tree is blooming
Label on tree
My dwarf lemon is already planted and starting to bloom

It’s nice to see that these plants are doing well even though I am new at this.  I plan to scale the retaining wall this weekend, ( don’t worry it is not too tall), dig a hole in the terrace, and plant the lime tree. I hope it likes it there.

Today is International Women’s Day # HerVoiceIsMyVoice:

This post is my contribution to One Liner Wednesday hosted by Linda G Hill. Featured image is of  my backyard garden path.  🙂

#1linerWeds badge by nearlywes.com

Art Project

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The 26 artists were paid $1 per hour to paint the frescos inside the Coit Tower in San Francisco as part of the Depression Era Public Works of Art Project. They created wonderful murals about the theme of “Life in California.”

There was a series on my local PBS station called California Gold hosted by Huell Howser. I found a video of his about Coit Tower. If you have the time to watch it covers a lot of interesting history about the tower and the murals, including an interview with one of the artist’s ( Bernard Baruch Zakheim) daughters.

 

Here are a few slides of some of the murals via Wikipedia:

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The San Francisco Chronicle has some more beautiful photos of the murals.

This post is my contribution to Stream of Consciousness Saturday hosted by Linda G Hill. The prompt word is “project.” Featured image is Coit Tower Fire Haze Sunset by Chad1616 via Wikimedia. Photos of the murals from Wikimedia by Daderot (Newsgatherings, Railroad and Shipping, and Library), Saiko (City Life, Agriculture and Department Store), Orin Rozen(Industries of California) , and Wnewton 48( Industries of California).

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Coit Tower at Dusk by skeeze via Pixabay

 

Flotsam

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You may have noticed, or not, that I have not posted for a while. This is because I have had a flurry of activity going on which was worthwhile but definitely exhausting. I had a small social event at my house this past weekend. This is something  I wanted to do and I am glad I did it. I always say one good thing about having a party is that it forces you to clean up the house. I did have the sense to start this straightening up part ahead of time instead of doing it in a last minute frenzy which I have been known to do in the past. This whole event, with the planning, straightening, shopping, and socializing was like a huge energy consuming vortex. I am gradually recovering. Why is straightening up and organizing so exhausting, you ask? Don’t you feel such a great sense of satisfaction after organizing and cleaning, putting everything in its proper place?  I wondered about this too. Well, I think I figured out why it does not work so much for me. For one thing my brain likes its piles of stuff. A bit of clutter feels normal and clear, shining, empty space makes me feel edgy. Another thing is, as I sort through all the stuff, I can’t just quickly handle it and make snap decisions on what to do with it. I have to think about the object, where/when I got it, maybe who gave it to me, what it means to me, besides what I can use it for now and where to put it. My husband and I did sort through a lot of stuff and we still have more, but I think I will wait a bit until I fully recover from this session.

Featured image of Retro Housewife by Artsy Bee on Pixabay.com

So Beautiful

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So if you’re wondering why so many people in the US want to preserve our national heritage of beautiful open spaces and not have oil drilling or fracking allowed in these parks, take a look at some of the US Bureau of Land Managment photos. I plan to browse through their photo albums almost as a meditation. I am starting with these below from Bears Ears National Monument, Utah:

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“Those who contemplate the beauty of the Earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts.”— Rachel Carson

Sream of Consciousness Saturday is hosted by Linda G Hill. Images from US Dept of Interior, Bureau of Land Management “Your Public Lands.”

Pause

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I have been thinking about this for a while. I want to take a vacation from writing on my blog. Or at least a vacation from having to make a comittment to writing x times a week. I have been feeling something wanting me to look at my direction. Time to take a break.

Featured image ‘Yoga-give me a break!’ by Andy Morffew on Flickr.

My Kryptonite

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“Solitude matters, and for some people, it’s the air they breathe.”
― Susan Cain

I know which things are kryptonite to my HSP* Introvert temperament. I can list several:

  • Large social gatherings
  • Noisy, crowded places
  • Making a lot of small talk
  • Spending a large part of my day or evening socializing with not enough alone time
  • Engaging in a lot of new experiences/activities
  • Having a crowded schedule during the day with many demands on my time
  • Spending a lot of time on social media
  • Getting overstimulated by all of the above and becoming exhausted

So why do I forget all I know about what leads to a very unpleasant state of fatigue and feeling depressed, and engage in too much of the above list, then find myself suffering the previously mentioned consequences.

http://gph.is/XJkTR3

*Highly sensitive person

Featured comic strip image of Adventure Comics via Joel Kramer on Flickr. Exhaustion GIF via Giphy.