Photo Scrapbook

Posted on June 10, 2024 by Enchanted Seashells

I spent a frustrating couple of hours attempting to install new, adhesive shelf liners in the kitchen and bathroom. If you’ve ever done the same, frustrating doesn’t even describe the feeling of trying to smoothly stick the paper without bumps, lumps, or having it fold over and stick to itself. I did a HORRIBLE job, gave up, admitted defeat, and put all the items back under the bathroom and kitchen sinks to cover up the mistakes. I hate to fail at a task, but this was a fight I couldn’t win. That’s two hours of my life I’ll never get back, that’s for sure.

After a much needed break with a mug of lovely ginger tea, I reviewed some of my favorite photos snapped in the last few days:

Another photo I sent to the original Angel Boy to make him miss SoCal surfing and come down for a visit!

While I was looking at the surf, a bunny behind bars came to visit.

I was enchanted by pretty cactus flowers all in a row.

My mulberry tree is going crazy this year. In the past, I’ve harvested and made jam and frozen quarts and quarts of them for cobblers and to sweeten smoothies, but I’m not taking on that burden this year. That leaves more for the birds and the RATS. Eww.

Ch-ch-changes | Autumn Colors

Posted on November 5, 2023 by Enchanted Seashells

Time may change me
But I can’t trace time
Ch-ch-changes…

Sing it, David Bowie!

We all fell back last night and gained an hour. For me, It’s always a bit of an unsettling feeling for about a week or so until I get used to it.

More ch-ch-changes…

Did you know that certain trees in Southern California DO change color and lose leaves in autumn?

This is my fruit-bearing mulberry.

The leaves morph into a sunny, vibrant yellow.

Green and yellow against a blue sky.

My garden doesn’t boast any maples that turn red, but these ch-ch-changes mark the hands of time; another autumn, another winter approaching, another year almost over and finished.

Ch-ch-Changes
Pretty soon you’re gonna get a little older
Time may change me
But I can’t trace time
I said that time may change me
But I can’t trace time

Silver Shield: Graceful But Hardy Native From Australia

Posted on January 11, 2015 by Enchanted Seashells

A long, graceful spire of lilac-hued florets.

Multiple flowering spikes.

Jagged sage-like leaves. Lovely for height and texture.

I cut this one back severely, and it’s just starting to grow again. Look at thick trunk; it almost looks like a tree.

More fence-line plantings. The leaves of the mulberry tree are turning yellow and falling.
I need to rake them up and add to the compost bin.

Native to Australia, drought-tolerant Plectranthus argentatus.

I found this plant in our neighborhood on one of our walks to the beach. I surreptitiously snapped off a small piece to experiment with propagation. Lo and behold, it started to grow immediately. That was about ten years ago, and now my entire yard is ringed with Silver Shields, and I’ll share a cutting with anyone who likes them. They are super hardy, beyond easy to grow, and just need to be cut back because of a tendency to spread and get leggy,

It’s raining now and the garden is loving it. Happy Sunday!

Flowering Mulberry Tree — Photos

Posted on April 9, 2014 by Enchanted Seashells

Even in SoCal, fruit trees go through the whole process of dropping leaves in the fall, staying dormant through our mild winter, and spring is the time for budding, flowering, and fruit development.

This is our uber-prolific mulberry tree with fresh new leaves and unique flowers.

As the new leaves develop in mid-spring, tiny male and female flowers hang on separate small, slender, inconspicuous spikes. The male cluster is longer, the female rounder.

It’s been unseasonably warm — almost ninety degrees!! — and I think that’s what is causing an early flowering.