More . . . More . . .

I have come to terms with the future. From this day onward I will walk easy on the earth. Plant trees. Kill no living things. Live in harmony with all creatures. I will restore the earth where I am. Use no more of its resources than I need. And listen, listen to what it is telling me.

                                                                                      M.J.Hooey

With adjusting to a new iMac my focus has not been on writing a blog post. And yesterday when I completed this post with the same title, it "disappeared" . . . eek! So another attempt at "More . . . More . . ."

Last season, as the Santa Rosa plum tree would have set fruit, there was a late, very hard frost. This season however an abundance of fruit appeared.

Since the birds peck on the fruit, the fruit sort of rots. Thus picking the "More . . . More . .." plums then laying them out on a counter to fully ripen. Once the plums reach their maximum tastiness, they were canned in quart jars for consumption during the winter months.

Some of the fruit as an alternate choice was into jam. This jam I find delish with almond butter to make a sandwich. Anyone care to join me?

Now changing focuses . . . to creatures who visit PageRefuge.

Blue wildrye grass (Elymus glaucous)

Not long ago I was outside in the front watering plants. While do so I looked about and noticed this green insect in one of the large grass. if my recollection serves me there was an identical insect crawling up the side of our Santa Fe house. This is the first one I have seen here in Cotati. Perhaps it is a type of "bush cricket" (katydid)?

Since all of the irrigation from the entire property has been removed, I now hand water with a hose and controllable nozzle. While doing so I have notice this butterfly in the above picture. Using Common Butterflies of California by Bob Stewart to identify this butterfly: Anise swallowtail. The book also lists "Host Plants" so I purchased 4 Yampah (Perideridia Kellogg) from California Flora Nursery. During the payment process I was cautioned that this plant goes dormant. Soon after they were planted in the ground I noticed this to be true. In this area there is also an abundance of Fennel growing wild which is also a host plant.

Nectaring on an Echinacea purpurea 
(Purple coneflower)

Epiphyte (Orchid cactus) flower
Rather late but certainly fabulous to see!

In Seattle Steven and Leigh
Don't they look happy?

Since this is the third or so version of the blog post, I surely hope that I am able to post it! As it is "Published" I will keep my fingers crossed and

Dense

This morning  and the previous several ones I awoke to dense, dense, dense fog. I was so dense that I was certain it had rained. However, when I check the rain gauge no rain was recorded.

When I looked out upon the patio all the indentations of the slate was filled with moisture. It is hard to come to grips that this is all the result of dense fog. 

When Shasta and I have taken our morning walks with this dense fog, all the trees were "dripping", the roadways very wet as was the sidewalks and grasslands we walked past. I have to admit I am not an enthusiast of fog as are many I encounter on our morning walks.

And for those of you who have contacted me about the wood chip pile remaining in the ditch in front of my house, the pile is, as I write this post, being moved by my neighbor to the West. 

 

As I did, when this property had grass in both the front and back yards, I applied for a "lawn rebate" from the city of Cotati. My neighbor did likewise. He has been waiting for  confirmation which just yesterday he received. Thus today he is moving the remainder of the wood chips in the ditch in front of my house. WHEW! Just in time because I got a notice from the City yesterday that if the pile was not removed by noon 12/14/2023 they would do so.

My neighbor's plan is to mulch his yard then plant natives as I have. He and his wife will use my plant list to go shopping at California Flora Nursery.

Now I would like to "give a shout out" for my long time friend's book. It is now available for purchase . . . $12.00 on Amazon. A word of caution: be sure to buy his book on Amazon rather other sites. I found the cost to be $2.00 to $3.00 more on a number of sites that sell books.

EVOLVE: A Modern Wizard's Apprenticeship with Merlin

Rob is such an interesting human BEing. He has cut my hair for eons, except of course when I lived in Santa Fe, New Mexico. We have such amazing conversations while he is skillfully cutting my hair.

I am hopeful that the sunshine will eventually burn off the fog. It is late morning here in Cotati and dense fog has yet to be dissipated. So I enjoy, as I invite anyone reading this post, to