First Salsa

A moment to celebrate, the first bunch of tomatoes went in to a batch of salsa this afternoon.

Cactus are still blooming

The Prickly Pear are still blooming up at the ranch. Here is a lovely yellow one with apricot buds. If you look closely you can see a tiny bee relative hovering in front of it.









Also the Lupines are blooming up there, they don't survive here in the lower desert, but are lovely wild up there.


















Have begun reading the words of Sufi poet Hafiz. His yearning for the rich wine of the spirit of god resonates. As does the desolation of one from whom that joyous pleasure has been withdrawn. My heart is a lined sheet of paper, nothing is written there.

turk's cap lilies

Well I was wrong, silly me. These are the golden turk's caps and they are totally stunning against the bronze red plum leaves.


















Went back to the ranch again to visit best friend. Political tension was not so high this time, they were able to talk about other things as well. I figured out that the reason they had never before been so rabid about politics is because they never had Fox News before they moved here and got Dish Network. Now they believe everything they hear on that blighted network and I feared I had lost the only real soul friend I've ever had. This time she was back to her softer self and I felt a bit more comfortable. Also for the first time I used Caroline Myss's method of looking at the situation symbolically. It was greatly helpful because I was able to get past feeling threatened by their vitriol and being able to feel loving toward them even as I hate their political conversation and mean spirited jokes, because I approached it from a sense of security in myself. And, having got past the spewing we even actually were able to have one of the fulfilling spiritual conversations we so treasure.




















It was lovely at the ranch, the grasses all growing and ripening. There were swallows nesting under the eves of the buildings and they were enchanting to watch.

I'm in love with buds

I'm in love with buds this spring, here is a shot of some beautiful red tinged lily buds in front of the red leaves of a plum tree. wonderfully, these buds will turn into white Turk's Cap Lillies.

By the way can anyone tell me how to remove a photo once I've accidentally downloaded the wrong one?

a successful corner of the garden

This clematis is the best it's ever been this year. Cool weather has kept all of the flowers around longer than usual. It's a treat.

trying a new angle on healing

Weejock must have great Liver's Blood!


Got fed up with not being able to make any progress on relaxing. Had a chi gung class where I was the only student who showed up, so asked Tai Chi Teacher about the pain in my hip associated with the psoas muscle. We determined that I probably have tendonitis where it attaches to the crest of the hipbone.

Went to see Dr. S (Doc of Traditional Chinese medicine) armed with a library of Chinese medicine books. The important point comes from "Web That Has No Weaver" by Ted Kapchuk. pg. 255:

"The Liver's blood is responsible for basic repose, unhurried cyclical movements, a gentle milieu, the absence of a need to go anywhere, and the easy sense of self-acknowledgement. the Liver's blood softens, moistens, and relaxes.
When the Liver's Blood is deficient, a person will be inappropriately tense, feel confined, nervously fidget, have tight tendons, stiff joints, or spasmodic movements."

This is definitely what I have been battling since I became ill, and both Dr. S and I suspect have had most of my life. I have never been flexible, always tense, and have a terrible time with self-acknowledgement. In all of my reading I kept coming back to things which pointed to Liver deficiency. When I asked Dr. S what kind of deficiency she said probably several, they overlap and exacerbate one another, and spread to other organ systems.

So she said she rarely gets to treat people for Liver deficiencies because of the time it takes and the expense, but if I was willing to commit to six months of herbal therapy she had a plan...
What's six months when you've been tight all your life? I'm feeling hopeful for the first time in a couple of years. I've tried so many different therapies to no avail, I don' t want a quick cure, I want one that works!

and another light

These photos are a little disappointing in this small format, the detail doesn't show up. Also the continual haze around here - dust, sage pollen, and, later in the summer, wildfire smoke makes it hard to get a good photo. Double click on the picture to get a much better look at it.