Weekend Work

IT WAS SO NICE OUTSIDE LAST WEEKEND!!..that I hardly spent any time in the house. It was such a rarity to have a nice weekend in March that I took full advantage! First order of business- finish potting up seeds. I did broccoli, cauliflower, peppers, more tomatoes, tomatillos, and cilantro. The greenhouse is officially full. My germination mats came in the mail right on time to put under the newly planted pots:

The greenhouse bursting at the seams:

Matt also put up one of the magnetic strips he bought me for Valentine's Day. I'll use this one for spices I use all the time.

I also painted the front of the pantry shelves with chalkboard paint in between chores outside. Now, I know exactly what I have and how many jars there are without pulling out the stool.

I also re-potted all my bearded irises, since they were getting really root-bound. Out of six pots, I got fourteen new starts! Matt and I decided to rearrange the patio so that the flowers are more prominent and get more sun.

I also tidied up the strawberry pyramid- these were all the shoots that had rooted in the hazelnut shells over the winter. They're all potted up and in the greenhouse.

The big project that Matt and I finally finished was a tall greenhouse over one of the raised beds. I wanted to make a larger one to try and extend my tomato harvest. Last year's Romas were particularly disappointing... Look at how cool it is! It zips!

I also got some scrap materials from work last week. I think I'm going to plant potatoes in the black tub, but am not sure what to do with the rest...any suggestions???

Home and Garden Show 2012

Mary, Lugene, and I were quite the Portland-bound trio a few weekends ago. We trekked up north for the Home and Garden Show at the Expo Center. We saw lots of amazing plants and garden ideas. I'm going to try my hand at making something like this: A vertical-hanging pouch planter! I have most of the materials at home to try out a prototype- maybe this weekend.

This is my vision for between the garage and house in the backyard. Someday (not anytime soon, I'm afraid), I'd like to take up the cement, replace it with patio stones and build a beautiful arbor like this. I like the hog panels and metal posts rather than more wood on top. Seems like it would keep the price down...

After we left the Home and Garden show, the three of us went to lunch at Habibi's- one of the best Lebanese restaurants I've ever been to. Then, we did a little vintage clothes shopping. Mary found a great Easter hat, but decided not to get it for some reason...

Then, after some time at Powells Book Store, we got back in the car and decided to visit Voodoo donuts! This is the first time I've been there since their expansion and it looks so different! The stained glass windows are really neat.

I decided on Captian Crunch and Lemon Filled donuts to take home.

I also got two carniverous plants at the home show which include a baby pitcher plant (isn't just adorable!)...

...and a Sundew, which is currently living at Matt's apartment and decimating the gnat population there.

I also got some air plants! I've been wanting to do a project in my kitchen windows for a while (since they don't open, might as well hang plants, right?) and I went a little crazy in the air plant booth at the home show.

They make a stunny display in the window!

California Vacation!

I'm back from a wonderful week in LA! It didn't start out so great, considering I missed my flight by 1 minute. Literally, 1 minute. I had checked in, printed my boarding pass, and paid for my bag online the night before, so I thought getting there an hour early would be fine. Wrong. It took Alaska Airlines 40 minutes to accept checked bags, which was exacerbated by the fact that they kept pulling people from the First-Class line instead of from the Regular Schmucks line that I (and everyone else) was in. There were about ten of us that missed the 6:50am flight to Orange County that morning. I had to wait another FOUR HOURS to get the next flight to John Wayne airport. While I waited, I decided to have a really nice breakfast to pass the time. It helped

So did this...

Anyway, once I actually got into Orange County, everything went splendidly. Mom picked me up and we went to have high tea at the local tea shop. Then, we went home to see Dad and Steven.
The next day was Disneyland! I'm afraid I was so busy having fun that I didn't take that many pictures. The longest line we waited in was only 25 minutes! We went on all the big rides including Space Mountain, Star Tours (twice!) Pirates of the Carribean, The Haunted Mansion, Indiana Jones, Thunder Mountain, Jungle Cruise, and the Tiki Room. We also got on the Submarines, Alice in Wonderland, and Peter Pan in between waiting for our fast passes to be eligible. We had such a good time and our lunch at the Blue Bayou was wonderful! I'd always wanted to go and finally made a reservation this time for 2:20. Who knew you could have goat cheese stuffed salmon at Disneyland!
Anyway, here's a shot of Tomorrow Land from the Star Tours line

Mom saying something that Steven doesn't approve of...

The next day, Mom and I went to Tevana tea and a French bakery in the Cerritos Mall, then followed that with an impromtu stop at two antique/ salvage places. I got some great finds at both places and a great idea for some vertical gardening.
All you have to do is silicone some canning jars to a piece of wood and paint labels with chalkboard paint. Easy! I'm sure you could make numerous variations on this idea- add more or larger jars, wire the jars onto the wood instead of gluing them, etc. But the idea itself was really neat, I thought.

I also found a metal basket which I plant to put little terra cotta pots in for display as well as a metal feed scoop (for the chicken feed), and an egg-gathering basket! I've been tempting fate by putting the eggs in my pocket each morning; it's only a matter of time before my luck runs out there...

I also found this adorable bird bath that I thought would make a great drink stand.

Mom and I tested it out over the weekend and it worked great. Mom kindly offered to bring these things up with her in April, since I couldn't fit them in my suitcase :-)

The next day, we decided a stroll around H&H Nursery was just what we needed. The weather was blissful and we very much enjoyed looking at all the plants they had available. A tour of their greenhouse produced these beautiful orchids in full bloom:




We also marveled at the sheer number of succulents and cacti they had available. It was a terrarium-makers dream!






While at H&H, Mom bought some ladybugs to spread in the yard to combat aphids on her roses. They were still a bit cold when I took this picture, huddling together for warmth.

The next day, we went to the Huntington Library with family and had a wonderful tea at their tea house. Alas, I was again so busy enjoying myself that I didn't take any pictures! The next day, Mom and I decided to do some dying in the morning. Here was the set-up:

Soak the scarves in water and citric acid first.

Then, you can apply the dye.

Here is my shibori scarf all dyed before I took the rubber bands off.

And here's my scarf drying on the aprium tree. After 20 minutes, it was ready to wear.

Mom's scarf drying:

After we were finished dying, we went on an adventure to Little Tokyo in LA and wandered around a Japanese grocery store. I couldn't even imagine how you would prepare sea squirts- don't they look hideous??

After lunch in Little Tokyo, we went to the LA Farmer's Market which is open 7 days a week.



I got mustard seeds for pickling, several types of tea, and some goodies to bring home on the plane. It was a wonderful trip and filled with lots of fun. I can't wait for the weather here to be as nice and to see Mom and Dad when they come up in April!