Pest Control

We have a lovely table and chair set in the garden.  The problem?  Birds love sitting on the backs of the chairs.  And once they have perched, well, you know what comes next.

Trying to manage the problem I added two ssssssnakes into the mix.  I move them around so the birds don't get comfortable with their presence.  The chairs are staying clean.  I wouldn't say the problem is completely solved, but it is an improvement.

Lemon Harvest

I've been watching the lemons turn from green to yellow over the past few weeks.  Today with the warm sun shining, it was time for harvesting.  Selecting the ripest, about sixteen beautiful lemons were plucked from the branches.  This year's harvest was much larger both in quantity and size of the fruit. 

The aroma is fabulous as Meyer lemons have a peppery citrus fragrance.

The LA Times has a list of 100 things I can do with these wonderful, zesty fruit. 

Another Perfect Day in Paradise

 Enjoying a stroll around town and the cactus which grows so abundantly in the area.

Orange, Red and Pink(?): The Colors of Autumn in Southern California

A Stand of Liquid Amber Showing Red in the Autumn

Liquid Amber Seed Pods

Bring the Rake!  (Compost envy!)

Mother Nature cannot commit.  Bloom amidst the falling leaves

Not quite the range of colors of Autumn in the east, California tries hard to show its color in the fall. 

This Sponge is Not from the Sea

After removing the peel and seeds, the ripe dried loofah is used in the bath as a scrubbing sponge.

Loofah grows much like a cucumber.  Once it reaches maturity, dry the plant and the outer skin peels away.

Recently, I mentioned the loofah sponge to two people.  Both insisted the loofah sponge was from the sea.  Not so.

This sponge is actually a gourd you grow in the garden. Once matured, the fruit can be dried and everything (skin/seeds) removed but the xylem tissues.  The sponge makes an excellent natural scrubber for the bath or kitchen.

Buffalo on Catalina!

Trip over to Catalina Island this weekend.  We were so lucky to have a very special tour and spotted these wonderful buffalo.  The buffalo were brought to Catalina in the 1920s during the filming of a movie and left behind after the shoot was finished.  The buffalo have thrived and reproduced in the subsequent years.

Basil for the Birds

My basil plants flowered and then went to seed. I left them because I noticed the bees were crazy the basil flowers. This evening, I discovered another garden friend enjoying the basil. This tiny bird was so small at first I thought it was a hummingbird. Using my camera's digital zoom, I was able to see it was not a hummingbird.