Author Archives: Sonrisa

My kitty Lilly died the same day that my night blooming cactus bloomed in its once a year showing.  Lilly loved flowers and would deeply stick her nose in them.   I felt the cactus honored her with its blooming.  It was during a long heat wave with temperatures unimaginable for several days.  The heat wasContinue reading “LILLY”

The scent of spring is in the air. I walked by my tall hedges and they were filled with fragrant blooms in spite of the drought. Thankfully, the December storms gave us 9.5 inches of rain. It may be all we get this year, but better than last year’s 2.78 inches and the previous year’sContinue reading “SPRING CAME EARLY”

My dear friend is returning to her home country of Australia.  I promised not to cry but I find myself needing to bake.  We had tea together every week for almost 20 years unless one of us was out of town.  So many scones, tarts, cookies and cakes with a big pot of tea.  I’veContinue reading “ANOTHER CHAPTER IS TURNING”

We have a plethora of peas growing in our yard. Two kinds of sugar snap peas, giant Oregon snow peas, English peas, and in the gardens by the house, we have three kinds of sweet peas. I love peas. I could eat them every day, and indeed I am picking at least a basket ofContinue reading “PEAS AND ARTICHOKES”

My kitty woke me up early on my birthday to this beautiful sunrise. What a gift! It reminded me that in spite of the tough year we had in 2020, there was still much beauty in the world to be thankful for this morning. And now we are about to turn the page to spring,Continue reading “BIRTHDAY GIFT”

The Golden Orb spiders arrived early this year. In mid-August, they came in droves to my property. They spin the most beautiful big spiral webs. The first one caught me unawares as I walked outside to get the newspaper. It had attached itself from our hedge to my car. I walked right into it inContinue reading “THE GOLDEN ORB SPIDERS”

I have a very old cactus growing in a pot by our back patio. It has been there since we moved into the house. Friends have suggested I get rid of the ugly, old, half dead looking cactus. It is true that it is old and grey, but when it blooms, it is gorgeous. TheContinue reading “NIGHT BLOOMING CACTUS”

As I was out watering today, the Monarch came to me nearly landing on my hand. As I moved around the garden to where my Golden Barrel cactus sat, I looked down and to my surprise, found a Monarch caterpillar eating the milkweed that grew oddly in that pot. The Golden cactus is quite sharp.Continue reading “THE MONARCH HAS CHOSEN ITS SITE”

(Written May 22, 2020) The breeze has kicked up this afternoon. We are sitting outside on our patio listening to Cuban music –Congo de Cuba. I look over and see my sunflowers gently swaying in time to the music. Even when the breeze stills, the sunflowers dance on. My husband and I like to danceContinue reading “THE DANCE OF THE SUNFLOWERS”

Finally we spotted a Monarch in our garden. It is happily flying around and even comes quite close to my husband and I. I planted lots of tropical milkweed for them along with a fuzzy variety with pink flowers that my friend told me about. I am still waiting for those fuzzy seeds to comeContinue reading “THE MONARCHS”