fff july 10
overcast skies brought the tiniest of rainfall
When I arrived early to help with audio-visual set up, I noticed several containers of home-grown tomatoes on the snack counter. Someone from class was sharing their sweet bounty. Then, just before class began, a friend brought me a bag containing three of her dragon fruits. Aren’t these gorgeous?
A bunch of us single women have started an annual Independence Day potluck that’s grown slightly. No agenda — just getting together to eat and enjoy one another’s company. There was some friendly competition over cornhole game. Afterwards, roomie and I joined our neighbors for our traditional fireworks and cookies. A good time was had by all, including George who got a little (catnip filled) bee from Debbie.
There were a couple of businessy things that had been on my mental to-do list that had multiple steps including calling customer service (everyone’s favorite, right?). Thankfully, several of those steps got condensed and several items got checked off. Then, I was messing around with my phone (some security advice about locking SIM) and somehow locked the SIM so that it stopped connecting to cellular completely. Thanks to a couple of patient agents, my carrier was able to restore.
At the end of my dental cleaning, my dentist reported that she saw some improvement in my gums (I’d had juvenile periodontitis in my 20s, bone grafts in my 30s). She thought it was the supplements my naturopath had had me on for the last 18 months to address inflammation causing psoriasis. What a nice bonus it was to hear that the (fairly long) path to clearing up the psoriasis also helped other areas.
That heat wave hitting the rest of the country? Some of it has arrived here along with monsoonal humidity. Very very thankful for air conditioning as well as many fans about the house. Oh, and the icemaker in my refrigerator, too. Bonus: newer plants in garden are benefiting from mini umbrellas neighbor had given me a few years ago.
Stay cool, my friends.
fff july 3
This has been a most unusual end of June and start of July, weather-wise. Our morning marine layer has stretched into the afternoon on a few occasions. But highs in the mid-70s? Amazing. These mild temperatures have made garden projects so much more bearable.
While we’ve pretty much finished painting the east cinder block wall, we still needed to secure some pillar caps and breeze blocks that have come loose over the last few decades. Neighbor had some construction glue and offered to help set these (many are on our shared wall). So grateful for her willingness to share her supplies and skills.
We had another successful plant share event as results of various garden editing sessions were brought. Roomie, as usual, was her masterfully persuasive self, encouraging people to take things, explaining plants, chatting up new friends. I picked up some impatiens sodenii in a color my aunt didn’t have and not much else (this is a good thing). Bonus: I didn’t think anyone would want my pile of succulents and left the project for another day. But then on buy nothing, someone requested them. She was making small arrangements to celebrate her son’s retirement and my hodge podge offerings suited her well. Of course, that left a stack of containers to scrub out… another project for another overcast morning.
After our traditional coffee outing following plant share, neighbor and I decided to check out the local nursery that specialized in plumerias (my aunt is looking for a deep gold one) and some tropical fruit trees. We admired all the new red colors showing up in their aeonium collection. We were dazzled by their extremely productive ‘Red Rocket’ jambu (wax apple) trees. It was a lovely visit.
Hard pruning the iochroma at the start of summer is not ideal timing. But only one week after I took down about 50% of this shrub, it’s already started sprouting happy new growth. Whew.
Happy 250th Independence Day, American friends!
(a new blue-ish iochroma bloom)
fff june 26
east side cinder block wall, bricks painted in 2006 (interior house paint, $5/gal miss-tints from Home Depot)
More miscellaneous yard projects this week: iochroma got a hard prune in anticipation of the painting project, several I-give-up plants removed (philadelphus mexicanus, strawberries, nepeta, yacon), picked up some wood mulch from someone who got too much, planted a few things (armeria, English lavender, vinca), thinned out the accumulation of “maybe needed someday” stuff, washed out more containers and tidied the potting bench. Thankful my yard guy also finished securing the bender board around the garden.
I’m not entirely sure why all our outdoor painting projects occur in July or late June when the weather is really hot or really really hot. We didn’t want to miss the opportunity again this year when roomie and I put it on the calendar to paint our east side wall. We’re on a longer term project to calm the garden palette. We’d done the west side wall last July (see? July) and had a gallon left of the same sagey green. We used left over house paint for the undercoat. Thankful for roomie who’s the Chief Painter.
Bonus: between coats, I sorted our cubby that contained camera paraphernalia and cables (doubled because we had some for iPods, roomie’s phone that uses lightning connectors, and mine that uses USB-C), not to mention all the gadgets that now have their own USB charging leads. Glad that’s done!
While we painted (me cutting in, roomie rolling), we had many a laugh as we listened to the incomparable Barbara Rosenblat narrate the third of the Mrs. Pollifax adventures (The Elusive Mrs. Pollifax). Yes, that’s an old iPod still chugging along. Bonus: our neighbor is lending us her concrete glue so we can fix some of the broken breeze blocks.
Mom had asked if I’d help my dad get a couple dozen pavers to cover up an area under the pomegranate tree for his bench. My uncle would also come to help haul the pavers. I had my doubts when I looked at the area and saw a potential trip hazard that still wouldn’t accomplish what they wanted. After much probing, it turns out Dad’s bench had gotten displaced when the new planter needed less sun. With a bit of maneuvering, we found the new planter another spot, averted the paver project, and got Dad’s bench back in its original location. Whew.
So thankful our summer temperatures were pretty mild this week (high 70s, low 80s), enabling many hours studying or reading or gardening, sometimes with cat.
Have a great weekend, friends.
vitex trifolium
fff june 19
cosmos ‘Double Click’ from seed
It’s a gardeny kind of week, gardens of all sorts. Of course they made the Faves!
For my birthday, roomie and I went down to Roger’s Gardens, 6.5 acres of outdoor nursery, home decor and indoor plants, as well as a gallery and a restaurant. A destination nursery, so to speak. We weren’t looking for anything in particular; just a fun place to see artful displays of beautiful (expensive) things.
We saw a pretty 6-7ft tree among those that could be grown indoors. Roomie asked me to take a photo of its lovely leaf formation and the tag so we could research the name later. When I saw at the price, I was sure it was a typo…. until I looked up the plant. Yes, a Black Olive ‘Shady Lady’ runs about $500-600 for a specimen this size.
It was going to be close to 90F in our neck of the woods and somewhat cooler at Roger’s, about a mile from the beach. But the intense heat had us soon looking for some place indoors for a bite to eat before we headed back. Rose Bakery was close by and had very tasty sandwiches. Roomie liked the club sandwich so much, we found another Rose Bakery closer to us and had the same meal the next day 🙂
The plant share administrators had been busily arranging tours of member gardens through summer and fall. The first one was at the home of one of the most generous gardener at the share. We admired her plants and ideas and then gathered in her tidy garage where snacks and, more importantly, fans were available. We had such a pleasant visit.
By the way, that interesting yellow plant is Golden Shrimp Plant (Pachystachys lutea)
Our Wednesday Bible study group meets once during each summer month for a bring-your-own-lunch gathering with no real agenda but to catch up with each other. This time, it was at the house of one of the leaders who loves to garden. I came away with some ideas for my aunt who spends hours throwing a net over her mature persimmon tree to avoid the critter tax. Below, you can see the PVC arch my study leader has built.
One non-gardeny fave: we’d been intending since spring to meet up with our neighbors for a dinner out. I was having trouble choosing a restaurant they’d enjoy and decided on the Old Spaghetti Factory. They’d never been and loved the jewel-tone Victorian styling throughout the restaurant as well as the trolley car that kids (and adults) love to dine in.
And finally, I’m extra thankful for the morning marine layer that’s allowed a lot of projects to get done around my own garden: replanting that one container that’s been a mess, light pruning of roses, getting ‘Cousin Itt’ ready for donation, pulling out spent alstroemerias, and trimming down the iochroma. We’re hoping predictions of cooler weather in the next 10 days hold since roomie and I hope to paint the east cinderblock wall to match the west.
Have a not-too-hot weekend, friends.
Roger’s Garden gift shop: an elaborate display with silk flowers attached to big branches
fff june 12
at the Aquarium of the Pacific
Roomie’s niece, her husband, and their one-year-old were visiting from the East coast. They travel well with their little guy, making adjustments to his and their schedule as needed. For us, it meant we didn’t have many fixed engagements and more flexibility in timing. It’s been great to see them quietly attend to their son (who happens to like kitchen utensils and boxes even more than typical kids’ toys). He was well entertained by my backyard sprinklers on the hot afternoon they arrived. When he got a bit fussy at dinner, his mom gave him a wedge of lemon to suck on (he doesn’t even wince). He’s used to playing with their dog and toddled towards George, who tucked his tail and ran, poor cat. We had a great visit together and several dinners at home (oven ribs, tacos), sometimes with food brought in (variety Vietnamese tastes, In-N-Out).
We had a couple of pleasant hours at the local arboretum, checking out mossy turtles (someone had tossed a strawberry in the pond and one turtle decided he didn’t feel like sharing it), wandering among the children’s garden, chasing shade as temperatures rose.
There were also coffee outings (across from their hotel is a coffee shop with fancy stuff — just what they love) and walks through downtown. We had interesting conversations about the latest AI agents (he’s a tech guy who just used an agent to rebuild, clean up, and streamline six years’ worth of coding in about six hours), their plans to homeschool their son, trees they’d like to plant in their new backyard… a fun range of topics.
They took us to Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach. Might’ve been a couple decades since I’d been there. It was very crowded with parents and kids, but well managed and we got to see plenty of beautiful exhibits with colorful fish that don’t photograph well with a phone. My favorite was the jellyfish with their almost other-worldly shapes and motion.
Best for last: my mom is doing significantly better. She’s only had to use the walker to steady her when she gets up in the morning. On our day together, we went down to the Asian market and she got her usual groceries. This is a sign she felt up to cooking again. We are all so thankful.
Hope you have a beautiful weekend, friends.
Lagoon Triggerfish at the Aquarium
fff june 5
Desert Willow (Chilopsis linearis) tree behind whorls of pink Woolly Bluecurls (Trichostema lanatum) at California Botanical Garden in Claremont
At our mini-get-away trip to Claremont, roomie asked each person to share a Psalm on the theme Hope in God. I chose Psalm 46 (“Be still” in verse 10 is actually “Cease.”), roomie chose Psalm 71 (so much hope!), and our friend chose portions of Psalm 119 (focusing on truth). Wonderful times together.
Some trip faves: Sticking to my supplement schedule was going to be a bit of a challenge while traveling. But I came up with hand-stitching sections into a plastic zip bag that could be easily labeled and easy to pack. Anna has to keep to a fairly strict diet, so I was really pleased to come across a recipe for these gluten-free sablés that turned out so tasty and thankfully makes a small quantity (yes, this is a good thing).
Roomie had asked her brother to stop by to feed George while we were gone, but our neighbor Debbie wanted to come to keep George company, too. She brought him new toys, of course, and played with him, even petting him before bedtime. I think George would like us to leave town again so he could have more neighborly visits.
Chula Vista aunt was up our way lunching with a long time friend and stayed over at Mom’s place. I couldn’t visit the evening she arrived, but met up with her the next morning. Somehow (inevitably?) our conversations veered towards plants as she admired the ones my parents had picked out at the wholesale nursery when Dad commandeered Mom’s new planter. “Is it far?” aunt asked. Five minutes later, she was handing me keys to her car. And a minute after I’d parked and showed her where the annuals, perennials, and shrubs were, she was off. With these low-barrier-to-entry prices, it was easy to put new plants on the wagon. She couldn’t stop grinning.
I told her it wasn’t a “deal” if you also pay for your niece’s plants…
Bonus: While I was away, my Cherokee Purple tomatoes grew well and produced these lovely fruits. They ripened to a deep burgundy on my counter. It’s a flavorful variety I definitely want to grow again.
And lastly, good news for my mom. She’d fallen last November and suffered bruises and a sore back. But a couple of subsequent less serious falls since then exacerbated pain in her hip. She was really worried surgery would be required. But two sets of x-rays showed no fracture. There’s still some significant pain to manage and some weakness in her leg, but we are all very thankful for no surgery in her future.
Happy weekend, friends. I’m sorry it’s taken me forever to get over and read your blogs, but I’m on my way!
a rather chubby squirrel chomping on the blooms of Cleveland sage (Salvia clevelandii) at the Botanical Garden
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