by Lorraine on February 19, 2012
Oh what a beautiful day…..I’ve got a beautiful feeeeellllinnnng! Everything’s going my wayyyy”….Okay, so I guess who ever is reading this, knows this is my attempt at singing the song from the musical comedy, “Oklahoma”.
And what does it have to do with native plants, gardening, habitat creation and other aspects of life? At least my life? Probably nothing other than it is a beautiful morning and as morning gives away to the afternoon, there are implied promises that the day will continue to be inspiring.
It doesn’t take much for me to be happy and I just completed spreading out four bags of mulch which gives my garden a neater look, especially since this year I won’t have the usual display of wildflowers.
And that is because it hasn’t’ rained enough to encourage the seeds to sprout but there will be plenty of California poppies putting on their best colors as they daintily slip off their slender, green overcoats. And they never disappoint and can be counted on to show up and show off..
I am so far behind on writing regularly here and I do want to share some of the notes that I took while attending a class at the Theodore Payne Foundation for Wild Flowers & Native Plants…a few months ago conducted by Barbara Eisenstein on the exciting topic of irrigation.
Then there are those times that when I just simply fail when I try to do something such as digging up, dividing and transplanting some of the Douglas Iris’. Most of them died but failures are to be expected in life and it’s best that we take them with a smile and learn something from them.
Although the ones that I gave to my daughter-in-law are apparently doing just fine. Or at least that is what she’s telling me. Maybe she doesn’t want me to know she killed them, too.
I guess the song from” Oklahoma” is saying that no matter where you are, no matter what you are doing, no matter how scared or hopeless you may feel, the sun is always raising somewhere and that includes your heart.
Figueroa Mt.'s Poppies/Santa Barbara County
It’s a beautiful day….
by Lorraine on February 16, 2012
It has been a very dry winter this season unlike last winter when it seemed as though we were being rained upon almost all the time. Everything was so saturated and one storm was particularly intense as it blew in from the southwest, smashing against the house with high winds.
I remember that I had a problem with water coming in underneath the front door and into the hallway. Ha, ha…lot’s of fun. I’m outside in the driving rain, completely covered up in rain gear and attempting to cover up the front door in plastic as everything was whipping around me but all the time I kept thinking how lucky I was that I wasn’t someone that was faced with losing their home in a flood as they were back East at the time.
Then I had a temporary flashback of a particular El Nino year when it seemed the state of California was going to drown and I had a leaky roof. I would climb up on it when it was raining (Not the smartest thing to do) with huge rolls of plastic and attempt to hammer it down and keep the inside of the house free from leaks, all the while making sure I didn’t slide off and get hurt.
(One of my more enjoyable experiences of being a single Mom. And a “thank you” to my son Ryan who was right along beside me, building his character.)
But the storm from the previous winter ruined the wooden front door although somehow my flooring survived the assault and out of this, one of my sons gave me a beautiful new front door a few months ago.
So, I’m digressing here…I think I was talking about the lack of rain we’ve had this year and I have been doing some supplemental watering in the garden. I’m disappointed that none of the wildflower seeds I had sown a few months ago, have appeared. But the poppies are plentiful and I noticed this morning that one has a cheery, orange flower bouncing upon itself.
A couple of days ago I purchased four large bags of shredded bark and this weekend I plan on spreading most of it out in the areas where things are a bit bare. All I need to do is get them out of the trunk of the car.
Where’s a man when I need one?
As I was saying, the weather has been odd this winter. I few weeks ago it was hot and that’s when I had a rattlesnake in my sitting area and then yesterday, it became very cold (Something I hate) and it hailed!
So what’s next? I think most of us are still hoping for more rain, as we certainly need it but in the meanwhile my garden still looks beautiful. And at the end of the day, I can enjoy the tranquility and peace it provides to me and know that life is good and each day brings it’s blessings if we are only paying attention.
