Tag Archives: Photography

African Violets: Tender Loving Care

Posted on by
2

My plant obsession isn’t all about monsteras and fiddle leaf figs, I lovelove African Violets, too.

The African violet symbolizes devotion, faithfulness, and commitment. They’re also supposed to be great for indoor air purification because African violets absorb toxins.

They appear delicate and precious but they’re actually quite hardy and sturdy and not really high maintenance at all, at least not in my opinion. The flowers last for a long time.

Their botanical name is Saintpaulia and they belong to the Gesneriaceae genus. I started propagating my own violets a few years ago. Creating new life gives me a great deal of pleasure, plus it’s pretty easy, so there’s a high success rate.

A couple of my very own babies are flowering. I’m so proud of them!

They’re not too finicky or hard to take care of if you follow a few tips:

❀ Don’t water from the top and try not to get the leaves wet.

❀ They love bright, indirect light.

❀ Fertilize about once a month.

❀ Some websites suggest an Epsom salt drench every two weeks to assist flowering.

❀ Remove dead or faded flowers.

❀ They don’t like to be too wet or too dry, I use filtered water because our SoCal tap water is disgusting.

❀ It’s almost funny but the best performing violets are in the smallest pots, much smaller than you’d think for dinner plate sized foliage.

❀ Propagating is simple. The traditional method of propagating violet leaves is to place the stem into water until roots begin to grow. Select a healthy leaf. It doesn’t take very long for roots to form.

Good luck!

To Be So Loved

Posted on by
4

Meet my boo, my bae, my sweetie:

Every morning he waits for me on the deck by the patio doors. Sometimes I almost trip over him because he’s always underfoot, trailing me from the deck to the garden and back again.

When I first noticed this behavior, I thought he had somehow become stranded on the deck and was asking for help, so I put him him in a box and released him on the grass, but he came right back.

He turns his head back and forth as if he’s listening to me, “Good morning, little guy!” “Is it hot enough for you?” “Here’s a bowl of fresh water in case you’re thirsty.”

At night, he looks through the screen door, but that’s where I draw the line. He’s not coming in, not even if he shows off with a few sets of those lizard-y pushups. #boundaries

One occurrence would be nothing to think about, but this happens daily, so I guess I’m in a relationship now.

I brought him a green hornworm from my tomato plant and he gobbled it up. Since my love language involves feeding and caregiving, that made me happy (and a little grossed out).

Most of my research says that lizards symbolize resurrection and rebirth. In Egyptian hieroglyphics, the symbol of the lizard was representative of plentiful abundance. A lizard in one’s house is often seen to represent an old friend or acquaintance.

Gotta go, my boo just came by for breakfast. 🐛

Surfing and Cartwheeling

Posted on by
Reply

Do you remember your firsts?

I do. I remember my first ballet class, my first pair of pointe shoes, my first ski trip along with my best ride down Stump Alley at Mammoth, and even my first bra, lolz

Not having grown up on the west coast, I didn’t have a connection to the ocean until high school.

I recall my first time on a surfboard…it did NOT go well, and I almost broke my nose. This was not the sport for me. Decades later, I gave it another try. Once again, it didn’t go well. I ended up rolling and rolling under some giant NOT BEGINNER waves, and the next day I was covered in the ugliest bruises. That was IT for me.

Angel Girl takes gymnastics and was obsessed with cartwheels. Tenacious girl that she is, she tried and practiced and kept at it until the mechanics of a cartwheel finally clicked and she perfected it. “Watch me, Grandma!” “See, I can do it now!”

What an amazing sense of accomplishment and mastery of a difficult skill. “Great job, girl!”

Even though we live so close to the ocean, the original Angel Boy didn’t really like to surf, mainly because without his glasses, he can’t see a thing, and it was a scary endeavor unless he had a buddy with him. He’d boogie board a lot, but never really got into surfing until he started wearing contacts.

Now he has a quiver of boards here and at his house, too.

To encourage AB 2.0, he’s been taken along for (gentle) rides on a surfboard since he was about a year old.

This past weekend, it finally clicked for him, too. He stood up and surfed his first legit wave!

This is a bad photo because I took it from the video, but I can feel T’s sense of pride. It didn’t matter that it was a small wave: HE DID IT, and OMG, he’s a carbon copy of his dad.

Predictably, you couldn’t get him out of the water after that. He’s completely hooked, and now Dad has a lifelong surfing buddy. As an aside, is there anything cuter than a little grom in a wetsuit?

I hope they never forget these significant firsts, and since we have video of all of it, I can imagine they’ll show their own children these amazing accomplishments.

Grandma pride RULES!

Come With Me

Posted on by
Reply

“I know you’re tired but come, this is the way…” Rumi

Photo by Enchanted Seashells

It may look like a hot and dusty trail, but I think it’s paradise. Let’s explore this path together.

Hearts and Sons

Posted on by
Reply

My son is the classic dictionary definition of an absent minded professor (which he is). His beautiful brain has multiple trains of thought all speeding along at the same time, so sometimes, day-to-day mundane tasks fall by the wayside.

It was early morning and he had returned from a dawn patrol surf sesh. We were having a lively “discussion” about where to put his surfboard…”Mom, Mom, I’m going to leave it right here, don’t worry. I’m going to surf later, too.”

Whenever he says “don’t worry”, there’s an eighty to one hundred percent chance that it’s something I SHOULD worry about. I learned that after forty-three years of being his mom.

I told him I’d prefer it if he took the extra few minutes to put it away in the garage where it belongs.

This discussion took place as we’re standing in the driveway. It could have been today or a couple decades ago; some things never change!

We were at an impasse. Hands on my hips, I stubbornly stuck to my position that the surfboard needed to go back where it belongs or I would end up trying to lift up a longboard that’s twice my size. Something would break; either the board or me.

Finally, I said, “Look how much time you’re wasting. If you had simply put it up instead of trying to convince me to allow you to leave the surfboard in the way, you’d already be in the house eating your breakfast burrito!”

Well, that’s the kind of logic that works with him. He finally put his board away. Like I told him his entire life, he should take his arguing and debating skills and become a lawyer like his grandfather.

As we wrapped up a twenty minute negotiation, I looked down and found this perfectly formed heart leaf. I took a picture, picked it up, brought it in the house, and I’m looking for a suitable frame while my (annoying) child inhales his breakfast.

It’s all about love. It always has been, and always will be. That child IS my heart, whether he’s being annoying or not.

An Empty Nest

Posted on by
Reply

I learned something new today. I read that freshly hatched doves are silent; unlike most birds that chirp or coo incessantly for food, baby doves make virtually no sound.

I didn’t hear anything for a couple of days, so I climbed up on a stepladder to see inside the nest and there was this gorgeous little one gazing at me with his gentle round eyes. I thought there were two eggs, but there’s only one, and he seems quite content.

Baby mourning doves are ready to fly and leave the nest when they’re about two weeks old, but they stay close to their parents and continue to be fed by them for another week or two.

The nest is now empty but they’re still here in the garden, and even came to visit me on the deck. I feel lucky to be chosen as a safe haven for these placid, peaceful creatures.

Makin’ Babies

Posted on by
Reply

There are a lot of doves around here AND a lot of hawks. I’ve actually watched them hunt doves, and because they’re not the most swift birdies, it’s not even a contest. The hawk wins every time. It’s a traumatizing experience for ME because there’s nothing I can do to save them from their terrible fate.

Yesterday, I noticed some ripe grapes in one of the arbors in my garden so I climbed on a ladder to snip the cluster when I spied a rough twig-filled nest wedged on top between the vines.

Camouflaged so adorably was a mama dove sitting in the nest looking right at me with her big round eyes. I think there are two eggs in her nest.

Photo by Enchanted Seashells

I grabbed the grapes and climbed down as fast as I could to not further disturb or scare mom.

I’m not sure this is the most secure location to raise a family so I’ll do all I can to keep them safe. “You can trust me, mama dove!”

Photo by Enchanted Seashells

A dove pair may raise two families in a single summer. Mourning doves mate for life – about seven to ten years. If a mate dies, the remaining dove will persevere in its futile attempts to evoke a response from its lifeless mate. Driven by hunger, thirst, threat, or nightfall, the bird will ultimately depart. SAD!!!

Doves are mainly ground feeders which makes them extremely vulnerable to being swooped up by predators. They’re almost 100% granivores, feasting on grains and seeds from wild grasses, weeds, and herbs. I stopped filling the bird feeders because of RATS and squirrels so these guys are on their own, but that doesn’t seem to bother them.

Like all birds, Mourning Doves are unable to sweat, so to stay cool during hot weather … they pant just like a dog. Panting requires the doves to drink a great deal of water due the excessive loss of moisture to evaporation. Doves are one of the few species of birds that drink by sucking up their water instead of taking a bill full of water and letting it trickle down their throat. It can suck up its total daily requirement in less than twenty seconds.

Symbolically, it’s believed that when a dove visits you, they bring a message from a loved one who has passed away or a sign of peace and comfort during times of grief. Two doves together symbolize unity, partnership, and love.

I left the ladder nearby so I can check on mama’s progress. Soon, I hope to hear the chirping of hungry little dove babies.

In Pursuit of an Enchantress

Posted on by
2

Lately, I’ve been acting like Sherlock Holmes in my quirky attempts to capture this elusive Monarch butterfly. It’s like she knowingly teases me–such a coquette–flitting all around but never staying in one place long enough to capture her beauty. “Here I am; oops, now I’m gone. Catch me if you can!”

Yesterday, my patience paid off!

Purely bewitching…

FYI…did you know that the brilliant Leon Russell was the pianist on Bob Lind’s recording of his song, Elusive Butterfly? It’s TRUE, Leon was everywhere with his musical genius.

Here’s she is, in all her glory on the flowering California native sumac, joined by a couple of friendly bees:

The money shot: symmetry, color, perfection…

Check out this older post with video of Bob Lind and Elusive Butterfly.

Whale Songs

Posted on by
2

Along with today’s rare alignment of Mars conjunct Uranus in Taurus, one of the most impactful astrological events of the year, July’s full moon is next Sunday and I can already feel the energy, how about you?

My dreams are crazy intense. I dreamt of whales swirling all around, smiling at me. There were other, darker, sadder dreams that woke me up and gloomily lingered for the rest of the day, but the whales only brought a delightful yearning to speak to them and join in their song.

This is the juvenile California Gray Whale that became lost and almost dangerously stranded in our lagoon.

Lucky me got several super close up photos and videos. At one point, his eyes locked onto mine and I tried to mentally direct him back to the open ocean so he could join his mom. Eventually he did, but I’m sure I had nothing to do with it.

It was an otherworldly experience, as are all my whale and dolphin sightings. There is no greater joy than the exquisite joy that brings tears from our heart and soul.

Wild Bunny Ambivalence

Posted on by
Reply

Did you know that a family of bunnies is called a “fluffle”?

My garden is home to a fluffle of wild rabbits. Sometimes they frustrate me because they eat every single blade of grass, even pulling out the roots, and it’s literally impossible to reseed the bare spots they create.

This is where the ambivalence comes from; a love/hate kind of feeling. On one hand, they’re cute, especially the babies, but rabbits can be quite destructive, and there’s not much that deters them.

One of my neighbors who complained about a similar problem suggested shaving Ivory or Irish Spring soap around the area to discourage the buns and I might try that to see if it really works or if it’s an urban myth.

However, this little guy greets me every morning when I open the patio doors. He’s always perched on the deck bench and devours grape leaves.

What’s even freakier is that he sits at the screen door and watches me, even at night. I have to remember to securely latch the screen because I think he’s trying to come in the house.

Because of all the rain early in the year, the vines grew crazy big. I covered the grape clusters with little white mesh bags to save them from the buns and other critters, but I’m happy to share a few leaves, especially since they’re pesticide-free.