So simple and so true.
I’m not sure where this graphic originally came from, but I found it on Pinterest.
Garden Whispers
2
Essential Elements
To find the universal elements enough; to find the air and the water exhilarating; to be refreshed by a morning walk or an evening saunter… to be thrilled by the stars at night; to be elated over a bird’s nest or a wildflower in spring – these are some of the rewards of the simple life. ~ John Burroughs
~ Art by Jennifer Taylor
Curated from The Garden Of Pensiveness
April’s Garden Beauty
From April’s angst to something a little more palatable and because I try to always look on the bright side, these are some photos I took to cleanse my brain while the rat guy was disinfecting the shed. I carefully avoided that area…
Delosperma Cooperi – succulent ground cover against a backdrop of insane ceanothus with some (I think) Cape Daisies and Creeping Aloe.
Pride of Madeira.
A baby pomegranate!
Cloudless Sulphur Butterfly caterpillar on my Palo Verde tree.
No rats here! Just peace and serenity.
April’s Angst
I don’t know what the heavens have unleashed, but since April 1 every day seems to bring a new disaster, a series of unfortunate events…
—I tore or somehow injured my medial collateral ligament on my right knee, the one that had previous injury issues! Talk about collateral damage…It’s starting to heal; KTape is my new best friend.
—The day after our big rainstorm, I went out to my pond to empty the filled up basin so I could use the water for the garden. There used to be a waterfall with a motor that kept things moving along, but that’s no longer working cos it’s some sort of big job to fix the electricity.
—I very gingerly knelt down to protect my painful knee. I then leaned IN (not the kind that Sheryl Sandberg wrote about) with a small container to transfer the rain water to a larger bucket. Everything was still slick with the inch of rain we had and as I leaned my left hand on the rocks surrounding the pond (some cemented in, some not) I apparently leaned on a rock that was NOT cemented in which was super slick and my left hand slid right in the water, while my right hand which had been acting as a stabilizer got sliced on the other rocks. There was blood EVERYWHERE.
That’s not even the worst of it. I fell so hard and unexpectedly that the larger cemented in granite boulders directly collided with my upper left quadrant rib area. I have prominent ribs and oblique muscles so there wasn’t a whole lot to cushion the blow, which felt like I got hit by a bus. Now I have either bruised or cracked ribs or cartilage, not sure which as I’m going to wait as long as possible to call the doctor. I think that’s called “blunt force trauma.” I figure as long as I’m not having a problem breathing, I can be pretty sure that my lung wasn’t damaged, not so sure about the spleen, but I’m hopeful the ribs caught the brunt of it.
Did you think that was it?
Nope, there’s more…
—Yesterday I went in the shed to take out all the deck cushions and toys to get ready for a visit from the Angels. (My ribs are sore and I know I shouldn’t be lifting anything heavy.) I haven’t really been all the way in there for a while, maybe only briefly to get a rake or some clippers so I was absolutely SHOCKED to see that everything was covered in layers of fresh and old rat droppings. It is quite literally the most disgusting thing I have ever seen.
Apparently in our tight housing market, the first rats to move in must have communicated this free space to their entire extended family and they set up an elaborate condo development. The rats also ate completely through the plastic bags of fertilizer and snail killer, which was NONtoxic (unfortunately).
I thought about cleaning it up myself, but as I looked around at the filth and contamination, I realized that it was beyond my capability. I don’t even know what I’d do if I saw a rat run out of there; I’d probably be scarred for life. The shed also appeared to be a perfect breeding ground for the hantavirus which I definitely didn’t want to breathe in and become infected with, so I found a company that’s coming with biohazard gear and they’re going to take everything out, vacuum up the droppings, disinfect it all, and help me figure out how to avoid another catastrophe like this in the future.
I love all animals but the not the ones that bring disease.
You have to know that a situation has to be REALLY REALLY bad if I don’t clean it myself. I have pics but you probably don’t want to see them. The only one who seemed interested was Angel Boy 2.0 who wanted me to flip the camera around so he could see.
“Show me the rat poop, Grandma!” “Wow, that’s a lot!”
Yuck. I’ve lost my appetite, hope I didn’t do the same to you.
This garden has possums, coyotes, bobcats, hawks, and owls; all of whom include mice and rats on their menu. I’ve tried to make a hospitable environment for them here at Casa de Enchanted Seashells and all I ask in return is that they keep my space rodent free — and they let me down. They failed. I’m very disappointed in our relationship.
What more could April bring? I don’t even want to know. Tell me when it’s my birthday month of May, OK?
UPDATE: The rat guy left and the infestation was so bad that a lot of stuff had to be discarded!! It’s all clean and disinfected now, but WOW. If anyone’s in the SoCal area and needs similar services, I 100% recommend Pacific Coast Animal Control.
Playing Possum
Yesterday was April Fool’s Day and I had to blink twice and do a classic double take when I looked out the kitchen window and saw a fat opossum waddling through the garden. I grabbed my camera and quietly opened the screen door to get a better look.
It’s not unusual for them to be here but they’re mostly nocturnal creatures and don’t often appear during the day. If you see one at odd times like I did, don’t automatically think they’re sick. My research revealed that it’s not totally out of character if it’s a new mom who needs to bring home a lot of food for her babies.
With their poor eyesight, she didn’t seem to know or care that I was there, so I followed her a bit up the steps and over the neighbor’s fence and back again.
Opossums eat a wide variety of foods: fruits, grasses, insects, rodents (yay!) mammals, birds, fish, and even carrion. Also good to learn is that opossums are resistant to rabies and rarely carry the disease. They are extremely beneficial.
There are LOTS of mice and rats around here, so I hope she or he went home with a full belly.
I don’t know why some people think they’re ugly or scary. Isn’t this a most adorable face?
Susurrus: Word of the Day
I love words like this, don’t you?
Susurrus is an onomatopoeic word; say it out loud and you’ll hear the sound — so many sibilant ssssssssses.
Susurrus – a low, soft, rustling, whispering; a low murmur or humming sound; think of the wind in trees or grasses, a stream or river, snakes, bees, or large groups of people speaking quietly to one another.
It’s also, apparently, a word used to describe a creature in some kind of fantasy game that I know nothing about.
Happy April!
Melancholy
There will always be a hole in my heart for all my loved and departed souls.
I had a dream about my Border Collie and I thought of “melon collie”, our joke because Victor loved to eat almost anything including cantaloupe and watermelon, and then I saw this.
Sometimes this is exactly how I feel; a void left by grief, sitting on a bench, adrift in sadness.
I’m updating this post to include some research into this sculpture because I feel it’s relevant.
Albert Gyorgy felt intense sadness and isolation with the loss of his wife and went on to create this beautiful piece of artwork as a way to cope.
This hole represents the massive void that we all feel when we lose someone dear to us, and many people have expressed their appreciation for this sculpture for it portraying the exact emotions they feel, but perhaps haven’t been able to quite put into words.
Curated from: https://www.penwellgabeltopeka.com/Blog/6245/Melancoliesculpture
Soul-itude
It’s always a good time for peace and quiet, what I’ve started to refer to as “soul-itude”.
I need solitude, which is to say, recovery, return to my self, the breath of a free, light, playful air. ~ Friedrich Nietzsche
I can’t say that I ever read Neitzsche before my son wrote his dissertation, but this quote reveals to me one of the reasons why Nietzsche resonates with him. Like me, my son loves to be outside; hiking, camping, or in the garden — planting, pruning, and thinking.
Where do you find YOUR soul-itude?
Sunday in the Garden: Downy Woodpecker
It was super quiet this morning until I heard a familiar staccato taptaptaptap, ran outside with my camera and was FINALLY able to capture a visit from my Downy Woodpecker!
Usually they’re playing hide and seek in my garden; this time he’s just over the fence on the neighbor’s palm tree. A while later, his mate came to eat in the exact same spot.
Isn’t he simply magnificent?
In many ancient cultures, the symbolism of the woodpecker is associated with wishes, luck, prosperity, and spiritual healing. The woodpecker often symbolizes new opportunities that come knocking into our lives. Other cultures consider the woodpecker to represent hard work, perseverance, strength, and determination, all positive attributes for sure! (curated from Google search)
Happy Sunday, friend!
Cup of Gold
Important info: Regarding Solandra maxima, Cup of Gold Vine–all parts of the plant are toxic and poisonous, so be aware of this before planting if you have pets or small children.
If that’s not an issue for you and you love vines with gigantic flowers — about six inches in diameter — take a look at this!
The flowers deepen in color as they age which make this plant even more appealing and that’s when they become fragrant.
About a year ago, a gardener friend gave me a few rooted stalks of Cup of Gold and they seem to really love it here. One of them is already about 40 feet and growing every day. The others are doing well too, but not as great as this one.
I’ve rooted more and now I have them growing everywhere; in a few years it’s going to look like a jungle around Casa de Enchanted Seashells.
Enchanted Seashells | Princess Rosebud 