This is my one of my dry riverbeds. (The other one is in the front garden.)
I proudly carried each and every rock and placed them with loving intention.
It’s not so dry now! Yesterday’s relentless rain had other ideas.
Rainy Rocky Vibes
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Tag Archives: photos
Spring Garden Promises
Casa de Enchanted Seashells gardens are alive, blooming with color and fragrance.
In one week, since the last rain, most of the fruit trees are flowering and my florals are flourishing. It brings much joy to create a bouquet from the fruits of my own efforts, a labor of love.
This lavender is vibrant!
Peaches!
Plums!
More peaches!
Apples!
We’re expecting more rain this week. 2023 has been a crazy wet year in SoCal, but it’s just what we need to end the drought for a while. The only downside is horrible seasonal allergies, but that’s a small price to pay to live in paradise.
First Sign of Spring: Daffodils
Every year Trader Joe’s displays boxes and boxes of these beauties, ready to bring home and unfurl their sunny joy.
It only took a couple days and they’re in full, glorious display.
We had almost four more inches of rain! In Southern California! It’s unbelievable, but these yellow daffodils brighten my world. Even arranged in an old jam jar, they’re perfection.
Connected Cloud Love
Two clouds (one that looks to me like a bunny) tethered to each other; my view from the front door. No rain today but it’s freezing in the shade and only slightly warmer in the weak winter sun.
☁️☁️☁️
It was the kind of March day when the sun shines hot,
and the wind blows cold,
when it is summer in the light and winter in the shade.
–Charles Dickens from Great Expectations
California Lilacs: Blooming Ceanothus
California Lilacs, or Ceanothus, are some of our most fragrant and colorful shrubs here in California. They are also evergreen and very drought tolerant.
Our extreme rain has caused my prize ceanothus plant to bloom like it’s never bloomed before.
What’s even more amazing is that a few years ago I thought it had died and planted other things in its place. When I noticed a few sprouted leaves, I decided to watch and see what happened.
Magic happened where I couldn’t see; beneath the topsoil.
Today, it’s taken over the entire area next to my driveway. It’s a testament to tenacity, determination, and perseverance; great qualities to emulate.
This ceanothus is so vibrant and alive that it takes my breath away.
Magical Full Snow Moon
An unexpected marriage of art + photography.
Since I can’t draw any better than an average two-year-old, this is the closest I’ll ever get to creating art. It reminds me of The Joy of Painting’s Bob Ross and his “happy little trees”, only these appear rather gloomy and vague; evocative of nature’s dark night of the soul.
I don’t know how my phone managed to capture this image. I attempted to get a pic of the full moon between the branches of my eucalyptus tree and ended up with what appears to be a glimpse into the portal leading toward a shadowy otherworld.
This full moon is in Leo and since Leo is ruled by the sun, our INNER LIGHT will shine brightly.
I think I’ll print and frame, I love it that much!
House Finch Invasion!
Whether they’re House Finches or Robins doesn’t really matter. They are adorable!
I was standing at the kitchen sink washing dishes and looked out at an amazing sight. There were literally dozens of chirpy birds invading my garden, SO MANY I couldn’t even count them all.
I no longer have feeders because of my arch nemeses, RATS, so what they’re feasting on here is actually an invasive species, a Brazilian Pepper tree that somehow sprouted into the neighbor’s yard and they didn’t get rid of it like we did.
There’s no way I could capture as many as there are, but I’d say definitely more than fifty of these lovely red breasted birds are visiting Casa de Enchanted Seashells.
This makes sense because they’re eating red berries from the pepper tree.
They stayed for about an hour, saturating my world with their most delightful song and chirpy calls to friends and family. Every tree in the garden is full of these guys as well the rosemary and lavender bushes.
I’ve never seen anything like this. For me, It’s as exciting as spotting a pod of whales or dolphin. I’m grateful they chose my garden to visit. Pure joy!
Crows, Crows, and MORE Crows!
Kids really do listen to everything we say, that’s absolutely true.
One time I looked up as a crow flew by and said, “Hello, cousin!”
Angel Girl asked me why I said that, and I told her that crows are very smart and that I feel they’re like family to me.
The next time we saw crows fly by, she pointed and said, “There goes one of your cousins, Grandma!”
Mom asked her why she said that, and Angel Girl told her all the crows in the whole world are Grandma’s cousins, which is a great thing to her because she loves her own cousins.
The best part of the story is that it makes perfect sense to her that animals are family. I like that a lot.
Besides a murder of crows, there are other collective nouns for crows: a horde, a hover, a mob, a parcel, a parliament, and a storytelling.
As for a storytelling of crows? This is a bit of an unknown but crows do tend to gather in large flocks and are known for their loud ‘caw’. Perhaps someone observed this and decided that they weren’t so much plotting a murder but were telling stories to each other, https://www.birdspot.co.uk/
This photo from late yesterday afternoon must tell quite the story; I’ve never seen so many crows on the school field.
Seeing crows at sundown is a common occurrence around here, but not on this grand scale. Everyone driving by slowed down to gawk and neighbors came out to record it like I did.
On the roof, on the fence, on the fields — all my cousins!
Update: I sent the photo to my original Angel Boy and received a video text from his almost seven-year-old clone, AB 2.0 — “Hey Grandma, that’s a lot of cousins!”
My happiness grew exponentially.
Sparkle Sunday
After the rain, the hills are technicolor green and the lagoon is full of shiny sparkles.
I think the line in the water is from the tidal flow, but I’m not 100% sure…
Sunset Artistry + Friday the 13th
The camera picked up exactly what the sky looked like last night at sundown, more expressionism than hyperrealism, in my opinion.
My favorite part is the bit of sparkle as the setting sun kissed the Pacific ocean.
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If you’re under the outdated and superstitious belief that Friday the 13th is an unlucky day, I’ve learned something new.
Before patriarchal times, Friday the 13th was considered the Day of the Goddess. It was considered a day to honor the divine feminine that lives in us all and to honor the cycles of creation and death and rebirth.
Friday the 13th was considered a very powerful day to manifest, honor creativity, and to celebrate beauty, wisdom, and nourishment of the soul.
Friday is Venus Day, named for Frigga, the goddess of love and tansformation. She rules the spiritual aspects of people as they manifest on the physical.
Venus is the epitome of feminine energy. Her energy joins us at the end of the week to honor the days gone by and to remind us that it is important to rest, relax, and play.
Not unlucky at all, this is a day to celebrate the power and energy of being female.
No mansplaining or misogyny allowed.
Enchanted Seashells | Princess Rosebud 