Well, That Was Fun...

and delicious! Last Saturday, my friend Liz and I went out to Annie's Annuals & Perennials to taste tomatoes from Brad Gate's Wild Boar Farms.

The weather was windy, cold and nasty (welcome to August), but the tomatoes sparkled. We tasted a wide range of tomato varieties, all of which were discovered and bred right on the farm. And we all had opinions.

For Liz and me, the yellow "Porkchop" tomato was the hands-up scarfing-down most favorite. We also really liked the "Green Zebra Cherry". (I bought some of those and fed them to my husband that night. He approved.) And "Evan's Purple Pear" tomato was soooo sweet (Evan was at the tasting, too) that it almost didn't seem like a real tomato.

Wild Boar Farm sells tomato plants and seeds, so I'm ready to buy some Green Zebra seeds for next year. I would love to pretend that I can grow
the large, heat-seeking Porkchop tomato but I take my disappointments too seriously. And in fact, for cherry tomatoes, the Green Zebras are really big...

If you are not into tomatoes, you still get to wander through the most amazing array of flowering plants anywhere. With lust in your heart. And wish that you had an estate. With staff, of course.

I bought only one plant. Liz gathered up four. Or was it five? In all fairness though, that lupine was irresistible.

The Sounds of Summer

Young Katydid on Xhosa's Dream Herb blossom

When most people conjure up the sounds of a late summer's evening, they think of the endless repetition of field crickets scratching away, and remember that time when...

Sadly, I don't have crickets in my yard. Instead, I have katydids.  Closely related to grasshoppers and crickets (all three groups are considered part of "the night singing insects." Almost sounds like the name of a folk-rock band...), katydids look like whacked-out grasshoppers, only smaller and sweeter.

The most common katydid here is the Greater Angle-winged Katydid (microcentrum rhombifolium - could be the name for a new vitamin for dieters) and its call sounds nothing at all like "katy did".

If I'm lucky, I begin to see baby katydids in early spring, in shades of soft browns and greens.  Then they are veewy, veewy quiet.  But by full-on summertime - one very wet year, it took until early October - they begin to make noise.  Not loud the way crickets are, but kinda like a metallic clicking sound. Until you know what you are listening for, their call is somewhat hard to hear. But once you recognize the sound, you will hear it throughout the day and night, usually well into December.  And then you will think back to that time when...

Adult Katydid

Volunteers of Oakland #1

I'm losing my most friendly and loyal and helpful garden volunteer. It's so sad for all of us here! Ben (right) and his family are moving away this week.

Most of the time Ben is out and about playing with the other kids on the block. (Yes, the helmet is absolutely critical because of the outrageous vehicular - trikes and scooters - traffic on the street.  Or rather, on the sidewalk.  For these drivers, "sharing the road" is still a very airy concept.  Heaven help us when they graduate to machines that only start with keys.)

But when Ben has had enough of riding, or the older kids are across the street (he's not allowed to cross the street without an adult, and he deeply respects that rule.  As a kid, I don't know that I would have been able to stay behind...), then, well, then I have a helper.

We knuckle down and get straight to work. Watering. The onions, the sunflower (yes, singular, and not even blooming yet - completely piss-poor germination this year), the basil, the rosemary, my pants, his shoes and anything else within range. Occasionally Ben's younger brother Leo gets involved too, and then we all practice that vital life skill: taking turns.

Once they're gone though, who's going to help me with all my yard work?

Brag, Brag, Brag #3: Kathleen Hawkes

Kathleen Hawkes, our niece who has just signed up to be a professor of photography at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, has been living in Fiji for the past five-plus months, compliments of the Fulbright Program.

While there, Kate's been working on a photography project looking at contemporary life and domestic space in the South Pacific.  (As a punk kid, Kate and her family lived in Western Samoa for a year.  For her, the big disappointment of that trip was that they weren't able to live in a grass hut.) 

We tend to think of Fiji as a place for a romantic get-away, which I'm sure it is. Gorgeous landscape there. There being an archipelago of over 330 islands, not near anybody else except for a bunch of other islands - not only is Fiji "down under" but "sorta off to the right somewhere" as well.

Approximately 850,000 Fijians live and work on the islands. And they have normal everyday problems just like everyone else - fishing to do, families to raise and homes to rebuild on stilts now because of flooding.  Hmm...

Kate's camera has documented all of these activities.  Her blog Pacific Island Nation features some of what she has been working on while in Fiji.  And her professional  website shows even more goodies.

So, if you're thinking of visiting Fiji any time soon, let me know.  I think I have someone who can show you around....

Photos courtesy of Kathleen Hawkes

Updates: #1

Some days it seems that nothing is ever going to be different or finished or at least picked up and dusted.  But looking back, occasionally there is positive motion (I refuse to call it "progress"). For example:

The Zucchini Sex Goddess has had remarkable success this summer.  If only "she" could wave her cotton swab and make the tomatoes ripen as well.

Michael Reardon has a number of pieces in a group show at the Thomas Reynolds Gallery in San Francisco (one painting already sold!).

Kathy Kenny will again be at the Oakland Art Murmur on August 3rd.  She sold seven of her lovely handmade jewelry pieces last month.

Two large bags of corks stopped being passengers with me - they had enough driving time completed that they were eligible to take their driving test(s) - and filled up the bin at BevMo last week.

Photo by Ann Rubin

The deadline for sending handmade woolen goods to afghans for Afghans has almost arrived (August 15th), and the response has been wonderful. On Tuesday afternoon I helped pack up nine hundred hats to arrive in time to keep school children warm this winter in Afghanistan.

Peter Nicks, the director of The Waiting Room was interviewed on the PBS NewsHour on July 18th.  We saw the film at the Temescal Street Theater in June.  Hats off to the Street Theater organizers!  Actually, it was so cold that night that you would have kept your hat on (or wished you had borrowed one from afghans for Afghans) and wondered why you didn't bring your gloves and scarf, too.  For information on future screenings of The Waiting Room near you, click here.

And lastly, Princess is back in the pink!

Summer Fun in a Park Near You

SF Mime Troupe's For the Greater Good

We all know about these events, but somehow the summer can glide past without remembering to go and do.  Especially now that there seems to be so many fewer posters hanging up in store windows to give the old memory a jog. Or maybe I just don't get out very much any more.

For a few ideas before the August fog rolls in and the official summer is over (we all know that "real" summer begins in September 'round here):

Now in its 53rd year (my goodness, almost as ancient as I am), the San Francisco Mime Troupe is very busy presenting For the Greater Good in a large number of local parks.  Free to all, although expect to be hit up for a donation (well, duh...).

I saw the performance at Mosswood Park with some good friends and I strongly recommend the good friends part. The music, the singing, and especially the dancing were great but the preaching was a bit too much. It used to be funnier. But with friends, a picnic and some sunshine, I couldn't complain.

And the San Francisco Shakespeare Festival is putting on Henry V this summer - their 30th season (we're all getting old).  I remember watching their production of Henry IV (same Henry, but with Falstaff for entertainment) a number of years ago.  Can't say exactly how many years, but I do remember that it was very good. And this one should also be good. Sadly, SF Shakes no longer holds performances at Lake Merritt, so you'll have to go further afield with your picnic, blanket and friends to see it.

Lastly, across the Bay, the venerable Stern Grove Festival has for 75 years(!) presented world class concerts and other events free and open to all during the summer. Cross your fingers for sun to shine.

Got an Oakland Library Card?

If so, then you can go to wide variety of wonderful museums and other cool places in the Bay Area for free!  Places such as the Asian Art Museum, the California Academy of Sciences (save a bundle!), the California Shakespeare Theater and the Exploratorium.  

This brilliant program is called Discover & Go.  The only thing you need is an Oakland library card.  If you already have one, it's very easy.

And if you don't, sign up - it's free, but you have to be a California resident and apply in person.  So just come on over here one day soon, grab a bite for lunch and meet some lovely people at one of the many branch libraries.  For hours and locations, click here.

Then, with your library card in hand, sign up for a PIN. (It's really simple. The library card number that they require is right on the card itself.)

Next, go to the Discover & Go page which lists the participating organizations. Read the instructions - you will have to enter your library card number and that new PIN.  After that, you can see which venues have free passes available on a particular date.  Some places have other restrictions as well, so click on the name, read the details, and get ready to see some great sights. You may even catch us at the Cal Shakes' production of Hamlet in September.

All brought to you by your (my!) local public library.  I love it.

Cat? What Cat? I Don't See Any Cat...#2

A while ago, Princess wasn't feeling so great - she threw up twice in the hallway, each time just missing the rug.  All before 8:00 am.  It was a masterful performance.

So she spent the afternoon on the furry blanket in the bedroom.  Only we couldn't find her for hours. And then she turned up, or rather, turned over....

Yes, thank you.  She's feeling just fine now. 

Put a Cork in It

At our house, we joke that we'll really know that we truly are in deep economic trouble when we have to drink wine from a box. Thankfully, we're not there yet, but there are other worries.  Like what to do with all those corks.

(I really dislike the plastic jobbies. They are difficult to get out of the bottle, impossible to get back in, and, well, they're just trash.  The metal screw tops are OK, but relatively few wineries use them.)

For a long while I would throw corks in the green bin - it's tree bark, after all - and they became compost.  That was better than the trash can.  And sometimes I would take them over to the East Bay Depot for Creative Reuse for someone else's artistic pleasure (There are lots of ideas for projects using corks, but I'm not about to do any of them.  I mean, corks through the blender? Really?).

Now there are more options for their re-use.  ReCORK will help turn your old corks into sandals (by SOLE), if you drop them off at one of their many participating partners around the country, including BevMo! locations.  And Cork ReHarvest has set up drop-off locations throughout the country for corks, including the entire chain of Whole Foods grocery markets.

And if you really want to wake-up in a WineLand fantasy (and I don't mean a wicked hang-over.  For that, consider Blowfish, where our friend Erin Anderson works), imagine an entire (tiny) living space made out of cork.  The Portuguese designer Gabriela Gomez has created such a space.  And she should care: Portugal is the largest producer of corks in the world.  (Believe me, it's worth the bother: the cork oak forests of the Mediterranean are among the loveliest places on the planet that I have ever been.)

If nothing else, you can always have a contest as to how long the corks wait in the car. They are patient: I have one bag which has been on the back seat since last December. Maybe this week...

Shameless Plug #3: Kathy Kenny

If you want to find me on a Tuesday morning (and not many people usually do,  but that's OK, I can handle it), go over to  Mountain View Cemetery and most often I'll be walking with my friend, Kathy Kenny.

Kathy does other stuff too.  Like make wonderful jewelry out of her very own handmade glass beads, along with vintage beads, buttons and other cool findings.  On-line, her work can be seen on Etsy.

But if you happen to be around here this Friday (that's the 6th), you can see her work in person.  She will be participating in this month's Oakland Art Murmur, a most amazing "art walk" which takes place every first Friday night of each month of the year.  Kathy will be showing her work at Uptown Body and Fender, 401 26th St..

I'm planning on going, and even considering going on my bicycle (don't tell my husband; he'll just laugh and roll his eyes. Most juvenile and rude.).   It gets busy there and parking can be tight, so plan ahead - wear your helmet, or consider public transit.  Just don't do both.