Nature – Alexandria in Love

Blue Juniper Happiness

Posted on July 17, 2021July 17, 2021

This week the idea came to me to start noting odd things that make me very happy, in case I forget them when I’m in a bad mood (another of the many things I feel the need to journal). Apart from the obvious, like spending time with family and friends, so far I’ve remembered two things that make me very happy: decluttering and visiting plant nurseries, the latter of which can also get expensive if I’m not careful!

Today I went to our local Raska Nursery in Broken Arrow, my favorite place to shop for plants, and found a beautiful little blue juniper evergreen to replace the evergreen that died in this last winter freeze. I was advised to plant it a bit raised because we have a lot of clay soil in our region and if you plant trees too deep here, they can’t drain well in the clay soil.

In other news, my little tropical/succulent garden is doing well. The tropical plant is flowering like crazy in our rainy, hot summer! Some of the succulents are starting to form new buds, too.

I’ve also planted about 100 watermelon seeds in the backyard raised beds and I think all of the seeds sprouted and they are growing fast! On dry days I mist the garden for about 20 minutes and they’re thriving! I hope we have lots of wonderful watermelons soon!!

There’s No Place Like Home

Posted on May 31, 2021May 31, 2021

Few things are as gratifying to me as spending a long weekend at home, which is exactly what I did for this Memorial Day weekend. This entailed planting some flowers, taking down the blinds and putting up new curtains, catching up on some crochet, and enjoying some backyard time with the dogs with the new fence that was built this week.

Tulsa’s 2021 deep freeze winter wiped out everything in the front yard except for the plants closest to the house, so I set out filling those spaces this weekend. I started with some pretty daisies for the pots, and a tropical and some succulents for our little circular “garden” area in the front yard. I spread a few of the succulents out in the hopes they will multiply on their own and fill out the area. I probably should have mixed some pebbles in with the soil for better drainage for the succulents, but didn’t think of it at the time. Perhaps that will be my next project.

Inside, I finally took down our old blinds and replaced them with curtains. It feels like I sprained my knee somehow while doing this; I’m getting old. I shopped around but always came back to Target’s super cute curtains – here are the owls I got for the kitchen window.

Another indoor project I worked on was my temperature blanket, which I really need to catch up on since I’m only on February 8th! This is a good project for me to do while watching TV, and the pets love it when I relax and crochet; they feel like they can settle down, too, and they nap around me, which explains the dog and cat hairs that are an inevitable part of this blanket.

Speaking of pets, I couldn’t be more excited to get a new fence in our backyard for several reasons, but most importantly so the dogs can run free and I don’t have to worry about them jumping the fence! My daughter bought them kiddie pools to celebrate and they loved it all!

Now it’s starting to rain and the plants are getting a nice shower 🌧️

Happy Memorial Day!

Whales Are Enjoying Quieter Oceans This Year

Posted on August 8, 2020August 8, 2020

Humpback whales feed together just outside Glacier Bay, Alaska | NPR | *Christine Gabriele/National Park Service photo taken under National Marine Fisheries Service Scientific Research Permit #21059*

NPR reports that whales are getting a break from oceanic noise this year as a result of the pandemic slowing international shipping, however Jason Gedamke, an ocean acoustics program manager at NOAA Fisheries, says more needs to be done:

When you have animals that for millions of years have been able to communicate over vast distances in the ocean, and then once we introduce noise and have increased sound levels and they can’t communicate over those distances, clearly there’s going to be some impact there.
Jason Gedamke

It also notes that in recent years, Glacier Bay has experienced a dramatic decline in the humpback whale population, possibly linked to health problems and a drop in food sources. In the Pacific, food issues for whales have been linked to warmer ocean temperatures referred to as “the blob,” but this year has shown more encouraging signs for the whale populations.