great wall

it was pretty great

never EVER EVER!!!

Please listen.

My lovely father and mother brought me this great garbage can. They drove it all they way from seattle. (along with other things) It is a great garbage can because it is nice and tall and has wheels and a nice tight lid...

Well I think a few months ago I was mowing the lawn and decided instead of walking all the way to the front of the house to dump the clippings in the normal garbage can I got a little lazy and threw them in this awesome one in my big garage. I closed the lid and forgot about them.

HUGE mistake.

Last week I went to toss something, opened the lid and about fainted. The overwhelming smell, a smell I have never encountered in my life just about killed me. Well not really but it was close. The smell of rotting grass. If you have never smelled it I warn you. It is nastiness. I didn't know what to do so I dragged it to the front of the house and left it by the other garbage can with the lid off. Well of course the next day it dumped rain which just made things worse. So this last weekend I decided to dump it out and clean it. After dumping the rottenness mess I brought it to the back of the house to hose it out. I could barley touch it or get near it so on full blast I sprayed the inside. It had quite a bit of sticky moldy grass left inside so when I sprayed it all flew out all over me and the garbage can tipped over into a flower bed and left this mess....

moral of the storey: don't ever throw away grass clipping in a sealed garbage can that you will forget to throw out.

doi.

here is the mess.

acorn droppings

I don't know what to do about these acorn 'droppings' I call them 'droppings' because:

a. they drop from the tree
b. they look like little turds
c. they are probably as annoying to clean up as real turds or 'droppings'

thankfully they don't stink.

But here is my problem: They are EVERYWHERE! Throughout the summer when the grass gets tall you can see the little sproutings ALL over the place under the trees. I think they drop and replant them selves.

This picture is of the patio roof where they all fall. They eventually fall from the roof to the ground. Any advice on how to clean these up? Or get rid of the little seedlings in the grass?

fall clean up

It's a bittersweet feeling to pull out the garden. I actually had fun. I always forget it's a little fun to get out in the chilly weather and get dirty working in the yard. Most of my memories working out in the yard in seattle are cold ones... so it feels a little like that. Which i like (as long as it's not too cold :) I like pulling out the garden because you don't have to be too careful like you do when you weed all summer around the plants. You just yank those guys out and go fast. I kept thinking of my grandma and mom and how fast they work at tasks like this. adiu garden

nourish and strengthen our bodies

A special shout out to my garden for all the delicious meals you provided this summer and fall!

some of my favorites:

Zucchini bread
Pan fried zucchini, with Parmesan cheese
Sliced tomatoes with a little redmen salt
SALSA!! (included corn and tomas from the garden)
Caprese salad (included tomas and basil from garden)
Zucchini pancakes
Zucchini quesadillas
Herb roasted tomatoes
Bbq zucchini wedges
Couscous salad with tomatoes and zucchini (and other add in's)
Green beans
Rhubarb muffins
Corn on the cob
Tomatoes on organic greens with a little balsamic




As you can tell, I ate well this summer. Thanks to my Mom for helping me set it all up! I am excited for next year!

guangzhou

if you look closely you can tell how ridiculously hot and humid it was there.

twenty something

My lil seester's, J + K put on a birthday party for me in my totally awesome patio. My Bro and fam came too! We had quesadillas and cupcakes. Lots of friends came to hang out and DANCE! We also had some props to pose with. Next time we'll make this a more official photo booth b/c it was so fun. Thanks twiners!! Such a fun day!

renew

OLD credenza I bought for $9.99 at a local thrift store. It barely fit in my Honda Element! I love the mid-century style. But I can't decide how to finish it. I would love to leave the original wood but it is pretty beat up. So here are some images of refinished pieces I really like. I have also considered white... What's your vote?

Oh and I am thinking about adding cool drawers pulls/knobs to the front three drawers... yes/no?




{images: knack studios }

roids?

Holy cow!! Look at that thing. This picture doesn't give it justice. This is as big as a newborn baby. I leave for china and the garden goes out of control on me. I kind of want to leave it there to see how big it gets.

manure happens

Since my soil is basically rock hard clay.... I need to add some manure to my soil. Everything that doesn't get water, b/c of the watering system is ROCK hard dirt. It really blows when a weed gets through! It is amazing to me that putting this 'crap' in your garden actually helps produce eatable food.

zuch, carn, tomas, beans!

Freaking awesome!

I feel like a proud mother

I really love vegetables. I love them even more when they are fresh picked from my own backyard. Last year my garden was out of control weeds and lots of wasted water. This year the mom helped a TON by helping me get it going and installing a drip system. Those drip systems are a dream! No wasted water and thanks to the timer I never forget to water. Now I am learning that different vegetables need more or less water then others so I will need to adjust that for next year.