Now on ko-fi (new)

I'm now on ko-fi, which is a website that promotes and encourages artists such as writers, journal makers, educators, painters, etc.   I just finished my profile, so PLEASE come take a look.

https://ko-fi.com/cherylann0254https://ko-fi.com/cherylann0254

And, if you "buy me a coffee", you donate $3.00 to my effort to replenish all my fabric and thread which I used to make masks these last 10 weeks.

Thank you so much!
Cheryl Ann

Just around the garden~Nature Notes~May 26, 2020

I always love to putter around my two gardens in the morning, before it gets too hot and I have to retreat indoors because of the heat.   Living near Palm Springs, CA is great for about 7 months of the year.   We never know, however, what we are going to get in May, June, or September.   They can either be hot, HOT, HOTTTT or mild.

I still have flowers blooming and now I have squash blossoms!   I planted zucchini and yellow squash in several different locations and I even have one hanging pot (which I put on the ground) full of them. 

So, here's what's blooming in my gardens right now:

 Gorgeous squash blossom this morning

 Sunflower and bee

 Look at all the pollen that bee has!

 Unopened hollyhock

One of my black eyed Susans.   I have several plants of these which came up on their own from last year's seeds.

To visit Nature Notes, please go to this link:     https://ramblingwoods2.com/

Just some odds & ends from my gardens~Nature Notes~May 12, 2020

I actually have 2 garden spots (or "jungles" as the grandkids call them)...one in the front yard and then most of the back yard.   I have no lawn in the front, except on the west side of the driveway.   The back yard, alas, does have a lawn, but I've managed to plant sunflowers, hollyhocks, and now beans & squash in various spots.   I have bird feeders set up in both yards.

I went around yesterday and took photos of the "hollyhock jungle" and some odds & ends.  It's good to view things other than the flowers every now & then.   I had a hummingbird accompany me for a while and I enjoyed seeing all the bees in the hollyhocks, but that's another story for another day.

 Front yard

 Bird bath

 Even the dead cottonwood has a certain beauty

 acacia blooms and yes, they smell sweet!

 Dried sunflower from last summer

My favorite watering can

To visit Nature Notes, please go to this link:     https://ramblingwoods2.com/

Still here , same routine

We are still here and healthy, so far.   My daily routine is this:   Wake up about 4:30 or 5 a.m., see if there is any leftover coffee from the previous day, stick it in microwave, go out and feed the birds, the outdoor old cat, and the dog, check my ETSY shop, check Facebook, mess around on my computer until about 9 a.m...

I finished 2 journals this past week, and it was good to get back and make journals.   I have TONS of fabric and I need to start using it!   They are in my ETSY shop:     https://www.etsy.com/shop/DesertsandBeyond?ref=pr_shop_more

I even started a journal with the 7 year old granddaughter, but she now has 12 pages of work A DAY (first grade), plus her own school journal to do!   That seems like a LOT of work.   Plus, she is required to do reading online for 45 minutes a day.   So, she doesn't have much free time!

I just don't see how schools can reopen.   22+ students in a classroom?   First graders wearing masks?   What about recess and lunch?   Maybe no lunch, maybe just 1/2 day of formal instruction?  How?   Their desks are tables designed for 2 per table. And, classrooms aren't large enough to have 1 child per table.   Lots to think about...

My flowers are gorgeous, but my hollyhocks seem to be fading quicker than last year.   It is probably the heat.   It will be 107 here today, then 109, then 108, then "down" to 106, then the high 90's next week.   Ugh.   It is going to be a LONG, HOT summer.   We open up the house every morning to get the cool air in and so it isn't as stuffy.

Photos of more plants from my garden:

More garden photos~Nature Notes for May 2, 2020

I actually have 2 gardens~one in the front yard and one in the back.   We haven't had a lawn in over 20 years and I DO NOT use pesticides or Round Up.   I have bird feeding stations in the acacias right outside my craft room window and we also have a 2 tier fountain, which the birds love.   Our mornings start with the sounds of birds chirping.   They all disappear around noon, but reappear in the afternoons and early evenings.   We also have a cottontail who comes in the yard and I've found its resting place among the hollyhocks.   I often scare him or her out of their hiding place!

My gardens keep me sane in this time of insanity and uncertainty. My county, Riverside, has the second highest number of COVID-19 cases in California.  Meanwhile I tend to my sunflowers, hollyhocks, cosmos, marigolds, and try to ignore the chaos outside my little corner.

I believe my hollyhocks are at their peak right now.   They are blooming profusely and colorfully.   Every day another one opens up.   I have them both in the front and back.  They are under the mesquite out front and along the pathway to the front door.   I have a virtual forest of them there.  In the back yard, however, I scattered them in different "plots".   They are also along our chain link fence, with my sweet peas.   That makes for a nice combination.

Here are some photos of the hollyhocks:

Nature Notes for May 2, 2020.    To find Nature Notes, please go to this link:   https://ramblingwoods2.com/