Category Archives: Garden: Verb and Noun

Hawk Chronicles: Unfettered Flight

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Yesterday, I looked outside and heard an unfamiliar sound so I went to investigate.

What I had heard was the struggle of a Red-tailed hawk’s wings caught in some fruit tree netting I had sort of bunched up and left on the ground.

As I quietly creeped closer, I could see the hawk was flapping her wings and laboring to break free. I was petrified that she would injure herself.

I was able to crouch down and hold open the section of netting that was attached to her wing and she freed herself.

I have NEVER been that close to a hawk before, or any predator, and I really really wanted to pet her, but she gave me an angry look and flew away. Her beak and talons are absolutely enormous.

She didn’t look very happy and I can’t blame her. Fruit tree netting is notoriously dangerous for just that reason; birds become entangled and often injured in their attempts to extricate themselves, or perish. I immediately removed the netting and put it where no creature would find it.

I’m guessing that this hawk was trying to capture an early rodent dinner which makes me happy, but I’m sad that she got caught up in the netting and didn’t finish the hunt.

When a hawk gets caught in a fruit tree net and you help it escape, it carries meaning on two levels: a highly significant spiritual or symbolic message.

Here is what this powerful encounter means:

Spiritual and Symbolic Meaning

In many cultures and spiritual traditions, hawks are seen as messengers from the divine, representing vision, perspective, and guardianship.

  • Breaking Free from a Trap: The netting represents an invisible or sudden restriction in your own life—such as an unhealthy routine, a toxic mindset, or a limiting belief. Seeing the hawk break free with your help is a sign that you are capable of overcoming current obstacles and reclaiming your freedom.
  • An Awakening of Perspective: Hawks have incredible vision. This encounter suggests you need to step back and look at the “big picture” of a situation rather than getting bogged down in minor details.
  • An Act of Interconnectedness: By stepping in to save a powerful predator, you have aligned yourself with nature. Spiritually, this acts as a karmic boost, symbolizing that you have the power, compassion, and courage to be a protector and a force for good.

Still, it was my fault and I told her how sorry I was for being careless with the netting. However, if more hawks and owls and coyotes and bobcats came to visit, I wouldn’t be inundated with rats that eat all my apples and plums, and I wouldn’t have to protect the trees from being ravaged.

I hope she returns because there are lots of rodents and rabbits and squirrels around here. Yum.

(The featured photo was taken on a different day and I’m not sure it’s the same hawk.)

Full Moons and Owls

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The Hunter’s Full Moon was still bright this morning when I was awakened at 5:45 a.m. by a pair of Great Horned Owls sitting high in the tree.

As I listened to them hooting to each other, I smiled and thought how appropriate it was for October’s Hunter’s Moon and wished them much success with their rodent hunting.

Hearing an owl during a full moon symbolizes heightened intuition, liminal transition, and the illumination of hidden truths. A back-and-forth owl conversation during a full moon symbolizes collaborative wisdom, dual perspectives, and a dialogue between your conscious and subconscious minds.

The Hunter’s Moon is in the sign of Taurus and is all about grounding energy and reassessing values under a Taurus-Scorpio axis while Mercury and Venus are in retrograde

It’s been chilly in the mornings which is a great relief after the past two months of suffocating heat in SoCal. Although the forecasts don’t really seem too accurate, there might be some rain on Halloween. Any sky water is appreciated, so I’m not complaining.

Not a photo taken this morning, but another owl on another day.

DIY Plant Stake Hack

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I MacGyvered something and I’m really proud of myself.

One of my fiddle-leaf figs was out of control; it had grown almost to the ceiling and was leaning over. I thought I’d have to chop it off which I really hate to do, so I went to Lowes and looked for an eight foot stake.

I didn’t really like the looks of what they had to offer, but as I drove home, I had a brilliant idea. Since I’m a hoarder, I remembered that I had saved a few old curtain rods. Instead of tossing them out, I figured ONE DAY I’d find a use for them, and I did!

This one was the perfect size, narrow and black. It even telescoped out to just the right length; works perfectly, and although I might still have to eventually trim the tallest branch cos it’s looking a little leggy and not as full as my other ones, at least for now, I’ve saved this beautiful fiddle-leaf!

PS MacGyvered means to fix, build, or assemble something in an improvised or resourceful way using whatever random objects are at hand, based on the lead character of the 80s TV show, MacGyver.

Tip of the day: Don’t toss anything out because you never know when you’ll need it.

Fall, Leaves, Fall…

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Even in SoCal, on this Autumnal Equinox, leaves do fall.

Photo by Enchanted Seashells

Fall, Leaves, Fall

Fall, leaves, fall; die, flowers, away;
Lengthen night and shorten day;
Every leaf speaks bliss to me
Fluttering from the autumn tree.
I shall smile when wreaths of snow
Blossom where the rose should grow;
I shall sing when night’s decay
Ushers in a drearier day.

Emily Brontë

Word Of The Day: Myrmecophobia — Fear of Ants

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Myrmecophobia: that huge word describes a fear of ants.

I don’t mind if they stay outside and it’s not like I have intense physical reactions like panic attacks. but I do admit to compulsive cleaning and excessive use of toxic chemical sprays to prevent any possibility of an ant infestation.

I read some articles about how to overcome a fear of ants but I don’t really want to do that. Overcoming this phobia isn’t my goal. I like that I’m diligent about NOT allowing an army of ants to occupy my living space.

Updated ant saga: After I initially encountered the scout ants in my bathroom and quickly dispatched them, the next day I walked into the kitchen and was shocked to see a MILLION ants. I’m not exaggerating. Well, maybe I am, but only slightly.

I had been hopeful that the scouts found in the bathroom had been successfully “dealt” with, but I guess a message was still able to reach the collective.

The colony decided to retaliate in a big way and war was imminent. It seems as if they gathered their forces and decided to descend on my kitchen counters and sink during the night. I awoke to large-scale hostility.

I had to take immediate action, and I’m quietly optimistic that this will be the end of the 2026 ant assault. All surfaces have been compulsively scrubbed and bleached and there isn’t a single crumb of food in the sink to attract another interloper.

The part that terrifies me is when I ruminate about how they breached my defenses and found a way to stealthily sneak in the house while I was asleep and vulnerable. Was it revenge for the “scout” episode? Are their tiny ant minds capable of such machination?

But why me?

A couple days have passed and the enemy lines have been drawn. It’s the first thing I think about when I wake up in the morningvand I check to make sure my perimeters haven’t been breached.

However, it appears that these militant ants have honored the agreement to stay outside (at least for now). My fears have slightly subsided but I am on high alert.

The Great Olive Harvest of 2026

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The Original Angel Boy and I purchased olive trees at about the same time from our individual Trader Joe’s stores, just as a sort of experiment to see what would happen.

While his tree is about five feet tall now with many little olives, mine is stuck at two feet and, after a couple of years, here’s my bountiful harvest! I’m so excited!

Photo by Enchanted Seashells

Yes, I know you can’t eat olives directly from the tree because it’s extremely bitter and unpalatable due to a compound called oleuropein. Olives must be cured using salt packing, water soaking, or a brine process to make them edible.

I wonder who was the first person to figure out that it wasn’t a good idea to eat them raw?

And who first came up with these methods?

Dry Salt Method: Layer ripe black olives with coarse rock salt (about a 3:1 ratio of olives to salt) in a breathable container or a perforated bag to draw out the bitter juices over three to six weeks.

Water or Brine Curing: Soak the fresh olives in clean water, changing the water daily for two to three weeks until the bitterness fades, then transfer them to a salt brine solution for storage.

Rinse the cured olives thoroughly, then pack in olive oil, vinegar, or fresh herbs for final flavor enhancement.

There’s another method using lye, but that seems dangerous, so I didn’t include it.

I’ll let you know how delcious it is when it’s ready to eat and I arrange it on a miniature charcuterie platter.

California Poppy Parade

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There is nothing that seems more alive than a summery blooming California Poppy, the state flower of California. It’s the best orange EVER!

Photo by Enchanted Seashells

California poppies (Eschscholzia californica) are tough, low-maintenance wildflowers that thrive on neglect. They need at least six hours of direct sun daily, poor-to-average sandy soil that drains very well, and only occasional, sparing water once established. Avoid using any fertilizer, as rich soil or nutrients reduce flower production. It’s the perfect summer flower for a drought landscape!

A Perfect Rose

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I’m not referring to myself, haha, not this time, anyway… but I’m so proud that I propagated this rose and cared for it so lovingly until it produced a first bloom!

I feel like I just gave birth to a beautiful rose baby.

Photo by Enchanted Seashells

A Big Fig

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Lack of rain and fruit rats are the reason I have had a very sad harvest this year. First of all, they (or squirrels) ate all the baby apples before I could cover the tree in netting, then they ate tomatoes and peas and plums.

I have a little fig tree that produced a few figs and I did use the little mesh bags to encase the fruit to try and save them, but rats ate through the mesh!

THIS was the lone survivor…and it’s a BIG one.

I need to savor every bite because that’s IT until next season. I just don’t understand. Everyone around here suffers from the same rodent issues in their gardens, but I seem to bear the brunt of the destruction, maybe because I adamantly refuse to use poison to get rid of them, mainly because of the secondary damage to other creatures.

At least we’re forecasted to have an El Nino winter which means lots of rain, so I’ll probably plant more veggies (especially lettuce that won’t cause explosive diarrhea) and try, try again, but it’s becoming so frustrating, I’m almost ready to give up.

Flowery Colors of May

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More pics sent from the Pacific Northwest, which I especially appreciate since I’m allergic to most flowers in real life. These don’t cause sneezing and watery eyes; no antihistamine needed!

Thimbleberry flowers…this big flower will eventually produce a small, sweet, heavenly berry.

The thimbleberry gets its name from the shape of its fruit. When picked carefully, the cluster of tiny drupelets is removed from its central core, leaving a hollow, bowl-like shape that fits perfectly on the tip of a finger, much like a sewing thimble.

Lilac…one of my absolute favorites.

Azalea…something that would never grow in droughty SoCal.

Wisteria…I tried to grow one here and watched it as it sadly shriveled up and died, but I’m happy to see how it thrives in the proper climate.

All photos by Angel Boy.