Here in SoCal it’s pretty warm during the day, bugs are out and about and these noisy little birds snapped them out of the air right in front of me. It was daylong entertainment, at least half a dozen birds catching flies and (I think) termites in mid-flight.
Black Phoebe
Scratching on the ground, a few California Towhees make my garden their home. They love their reflection and tap at the window or anywhere they can see themselves.
This was a peaceful first weekend of 2021.
As promised, I’m posting my homegrown Yule wreath. I used a ten-inch wire circle and all the rest of the ingredients were foraged from my garden.
Toyon berries:
Rosemary, lavender, pine boughs…
Manzanita, the star of the show with her lovely pink/red flowers:
Getting started, with a ten-inch wire circle and the bendy manzanita…
…to the finished product, ready to manifest all kinds of positive energy and magic for the solstice and 2021…
If I feel like wearing it on my head like a flower crown and dancing in the moonlight, I might just do that.
I feel very witchy today.
Happy Winter Solstice!
Since we’re still in the midst of a surging pandemic and travel of any sort isn’t a great idea, I’m going to honor they day by making a Yule wreath with some pine boughs and rosemary branches from yesterday’s garden project and a few bright red toyon berries. If it comes out OK, I’ll post a photo.
Along with the shortest day of the year, if we’re lucky, we’ll be able to see the Christmas Star, the Great Conjunction with Saturn and Jupiter that hasn’t been seen since 1623. Best times for viewing in the San Diego area is 4:47 p.m. until 7:00 p.m.
Taken with Canon Rebel T3I
Did anyone see the sunrise at Stonehenge?
With a nod to All Creatures Great and Small by veterinarian James Herriot, this is what my Sunday looked like.
We started off the day at the beach and I’m beyond sad that I didn’t have my good camera with me so I couldn’t capture the magic of a school of dolphin jumping and splashing in the water. I’m sure this paddleboarder was happy because they seemed to follow him wherever he went. Trust me, there are about six dolphin in this photo.
On the way home, we saw a bit of an odd sight…check out these seagulls that shouldn’t have been this far away from the beach. They usually only fly inland when there’s a storm, so I have no idea why they were flying around in circles and then perched on the telephone lines.
Today was a work project day in the garden, cleaning up around the rosemary and lavender. I sat down for a minute for a wheatgrass break and this little alligator lizard stopped by to say hi. I scratched his back with a stick and he allowed me to take these pics.
All in all, a great Sunday for creatures great and small.
Bay leaves give tomato sauce a special flavor profile, allowing all the other spices to develop with synergy and complexity, providing a subtle depth of flavor.
I LOVE bay leaves in soups too, and can immediately tell the difference when I neglect to add them to the pot.
A while back I planted my very own Bay Laurel tree so that I’d never run out.
I learned that bay leaves offer benefits as herbal remedies, too, as well as value in smudging like we do with sage.
Bay leaf tea is used to treat stomachaches, colds, and a sore throat.
A poultice of bay leaves is used for the treatment of rheumatism and neuralgia (Goodrich et al., 1980).https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/
Bay leaf tea is alleged to lower blood sugar, can eliminate bad cholesterol, and relieves the body of triglycerides..
Bay leaf protects the heart as it contains cardiovascular protective compounds. It’s rich in acids such as caffeic acid, quercetin, eigonol, and bartolinide, substances that are thought to prevent the formation of cancer cells in the body.
It eliminates insomnia and anxiety, and if taken before bed, helps you relax and sleep peacefully.
I’ve started drinking a cup of bay leaf tea twice a day, along with my everpresent ginger tea.
A simple soothing Bay Leaf Tea to boost immune function:
Since the ash tree endured its yearly abscission, I raked fallen leaves for the very last time and have been enjoying this disrobed version until late afternoon when I noticed the branches were once again full; not of leaves, but of dozens of happy, chirpy little birds adorning every space.
So completely adorable.
One by one, they flew away, and the tree was once again barren.
After I removed the messy, encroaching ficus tree, I decided to replace the empty space with something edible.
I selected a pomegranate, Valencia orange, and a fig. I chose the Diana variety because it looked so adorable, almost like it was decorated for the holidays.
I know you’re supposed to remove any fruit the first year because it’ll encourage stronger root growth, but I’m going to let these guys ripen first and eat them.
This golden fig is soft and ready to eat; incredibly sweet–tropical with hints of banana and pineapple.
What’s funny is that I learned that fig is a member of the ficus family, so to avoid any invasive root damage, I planted it about fifty feet away from the house. The guy at the nursery said that would be far enough away to be safe.
So yummy, not too crunchy with seeds like other figs. It was absolutely delicious and juicy. Dried figs are great, but this one fresh off the tree was such a treat!
This is the end of the month, almost the end of the year, and tomorrow’s full moon will beguile us with a spectacular lunar eclipse.
He sat for the longest time on a volunteer Brazilian peppertree. The original tree was removed because it’s an invasive species, but also resilient and obnoxious, an aggressive woody weed which displaces native vegetation and rapidly invades disturbed sites.
To A Mocking Bird
The name thou wearest does thee grievous wrong;
No mimic thou: that voice is thine alone.
The poets sing but strains of Shakespeare’s song;
The birds, but notes of thine imperial own.– Henry Jerome Stockard
#WordlessWednesday
The call of love sounds very hollow among these immobile rocks.
-Gustav Mahler
I love rocks as much as I love seashells. I’m drawn to all shapes and sizes, colors and textures. Each one has a story to tell. They’re alive; warm from absorbing the sun, cool to the touch when it’s chilly, and shiny wet when it rains. They change but stay the same. I can trust them and that’s important to me.
Rocks are composed primarily of grains of minerals, crystalline solids formed from a chemical compound arranged in an orderly manner. The aggregate minerals forming the rock are held together by chemical bonds. Immutable bonds of love.
This is my very own dry river bed. I hauled each and every rock with my own two hands; thousands of them; a true labor of love.
Enchanted Seashells | Princess Rosebud 