Barbara Strona
Barbara Strona is a native Californian who grew up in the Mid-West and Los Angeles. She and her architect husband, Carl, came to San Diego in 1968 and have lived in Mission Hills since early 1971. Barbara received a Bachelor of Arts from Scripps College with a major in English, and a minor in Art. She attended UCLA graduate school and received a General Secondary Credential. She taught English in Los Angeles, Pennsylvania, and at Point Loma High School. She has been a Realtor specializing in residential sales since 1984. Her passions include her job, reading, writing, foreign languages and foreign countries, animals (feathered or furry), theatre, and her family: husband, two adult children and two grandsons.
Barbara Strona's Latest Posts
Parrot Talk
Every so often, or if you live in some parts of San Diego, you will hear loud squawking. If you look up, you will see a hoard of different kinds of parrots. To shed light on what they are, why they are here, and what their future might be, Sarah Mansfield of SoCal Parrot spoke […]
Super Bloom 2019 Wildflower Tour with Jim Bishop
In June the Mission Hills Garden Club met via Zoom. Jim Bishop, engineer by education, landscaper by choice, and president of many important garden and horticultural groups, showed his magnificent slides from some of the 25 trips he and his partner Scott Borden took to see the spectacular display of wildflowers in San Diego County […]
Zooming Blooms
With most of San Diego being home bound and/or restricted with meeting, April and May’s meetings were different. We did meet via Zoom. Zoom, as you may know, allows people to join the same meeting in a somewhat controlled setting. Our children are using it for classes, and businesses are using it to continue to […]
Staghorn Ferns
Lynn Walker-Beveridge gave the Mission Hills Garden Club a practical and interesting approach to staghorn ferns. She began her talk with the basics giving us specific and easy to follow instructions on propagating and nourishing staghorn ferns. Walker-Beveridge began by showing us several plants that Martha Pehl had grown. They ranged in age from two […]
Looking on the Bright Side
Because of COVID-19, the Mission Hills Garden Club will not be meeting until further notice. I shall continue writing about whatever strikes my fancy or seems reasonable, as always. Today I want to talk about opportunities self-quarantine is giving us. We have heard about what to do to slow the course of the corona virus. […]
My Cats and the Escape Artist
We have two cats, Lord Harry S. Plushbottom, an 18-pound ragdoll who goes by “Harry,” and a nine pound black cat, Cayman Last, known as Cayman. (My daughter’s last name is Last and should Cayman outlive us, he will become a member of the Last family.) Harry is gentle, slow moving, and is content with […]
Attracting Backyard Birds with Mike Matherly
At its first meeting in 2020, Mission Hills Garden Club was entertained and educated about what we could do to encourage birds to visit our yards. A long-time member of the Audubon Society, Mike Matherly is well versed about birds. As he took us through his slide show, he knew what species was singing in […]
Another Aspect of Aging: Lessons learned in My 80th Year
A year ago, I wrote an article about how much fun and how interesting it is to grow old. I still believe that, but I have learned that the veracity of that statement tempers as time goes on. My current belief is that as long as the body cooperates, the sky is the limit. Sadly, […]
Gardens Revitalized
In September the Garden Club presented Steven Harbour who treated us to some terrific ideas for coping with our water situation. Harbour has spent the past 35 years plus in one form or another of the nursery business. A friend bequeathed his “yard boy” customers to Harbour when he was only a kid. This was […]
Controversial Eucalyptus
In front of my property on the city’s land stands an enormous eucalyptus tree. It has been lauded by all and has been designated a community asset. It is truly beautiful with its lofty branches, its variegated colored bark, its leaves and pods. It shades our house, and it provides entertainment. Unkempt fledgling hawks and […]
