cooking : crafts : organization : gardening : thrifting : going green
I was just noticing how all of the succulents in our garden have little flowers on them now. Some of them are really cool looking. The chives are also full of flowers. I love the little purple pom poms. I ended up buying a new mint plant and have already used it for mint juleps. [...]
First it rained, and I thought the way the clouds were resting on the El Cerrito hills was especially pretty. Me and Reggie just hung out and knit for a while. I whipped through the second Hunger Games book. I actually thought it was pretty good. Mike and I enjoyed spring rolls at our favorite [...]
Our little front porch garden was looking pretty dead up until recently. First, I noticed some tiny mint leaves poking up through the soil. Then I got really excited when I noticed a little gerbera daisy starting to open. I have planted them numerous times, but they never seem to grow back. Finally! I also [...]
Not that we have much of a winter to begin with, but we pretty much had no rainy/cloudy season this year. So I have been lucky enough to enjoy even more sunny walks than usual, and now they are filled with the bright colors of spring. Even some of my plants, which have received no [...]
There are a few signs that the seasons are changing here. I got some flat pumpkins from Trader Joe’s. They make me happy. My flowers are still blooming in all different colors. And there are still tomatoes on the vine, although they are mostly green. I bought some mums, but they died! However, my chives, [...]
I looked at the orange tree the other day and I noticed that the itty bitty oranges that have been there for months are finally starting to get bigger. I have no idea if they’ll turn into edible oranges at any point, but now I’m excited!
As soon as I saw this article, I knew what I had to do with my bare front porch. I had a minimal budget for gardening, but I already had both an old wooden soda crate and a wooden ammo box, plus a bunch of succulents growing in the front ‘yard’. Mike had always imagined [...]
I have a new addition to my little front porch garden — a cherry tomato plant. I am so happy to see that not only did the herbs I planted survive, but they seem really happy. The mint is already out of control. And the cilantro is shocking me by growing even better than the [...]
A birdhouse! Last week I heard that there was a Groupon for Berkeley Rustic Birdhouses, and it was a total steal. $45 for $100 toward a birdhouse. So of course I bought it. It was hard to choose from all the options. But we fell in love with this one with the license plate roof. [...]
I’ve been going out to check on the garden about once a day the last few weeks, and every day I’ve seen all kinds of green tomatoes, but almost no red ones. Today, they had finally turned. The ones with the greenish tops are purple Cherokees, my absolute favorites. The smaller ones are like cherry [...]
Two of my crochet patterns — vintage hanger covers and a colorful granny square pillow — have been published in a new book. You can now order So Pretty! Crochet, by my talented friend Amy Palanjian, at Amazon.com. 
