An Old Friend, Rediscovered

Once upon a time, like around 1991, when the animated Disney version of Beauty and the Beast first came out, we had a young friend who worked in a Berkeley movie house. For me, yes, actually for me, he "liberated" parts of the in-house cardboard standee - the portion that contained my best buddy Lumiere. 

Now Lumiere knocked about my studio for a while, and then he moved on. To the attic, to be exact. Where he lived in quiet and peaceful retirement until last week, until someone had the really stupid idea of cleaning out the attic. That someone will remain unnamed, at least here. 

And so was Lumiere awakened again: Nope, it wasn't Prince Charming, and no kissing was involved. Instead, it was Luna and I, armed with a feather duster and determination (in truth, I had the duster and determination; she was sleepy and pretty useless). 

Lumiere has moved on once again, to be with my niece who is an art director for Cold Open, one of those marketing agencies for the entertainment industry. Kinda sounds like we've come full circle, eh?

One Plus Two Equals One

As part of the adventure series, What's in the Closets, I came across some wool sweaters I had knit years ago. 

With less need to wear wool because of climate change, the sweaters had slowly worked their way to the top shelf of the closet - you know, that shelf. The one that can only be reached by standing on a chair. The yarn was still in fine shape, so I carefully handwashed the sweaters and gently took them apart.

The result? Plenty enough yarn for an afghan for our tiny TV room. And I might even have it completed before the weather warms up and it's too hot to keep working on. 

Afghan, maybe 1/3 completed

Matchy-Matchy

I bought this fabric for Princess a while ago, to help prevent her from being so successful at wiping out our local feathered residents. And it has worked pretty well.

So when I went looking for some fabric for my own "save-others" outfit, it was obvious that this was the best choice. And besides, it matches just about anything I could find to put on. Every single sweatshirt in the drawer and probably everything in my closet. Not that I've been anywhere near the closet in the last few months - dressing up just doesn't seem to happen much these days...

One Person's Trash

So what do you do when one of your neighbors leaves a giant styrofoam container next to ('cause it's too big to fit into) the garbage can? And you have half a bag of Portland cement kicking around in the garage?

Yes, I know. Any thinking person would walk on by and stick that half bag of cement into the garbage can (not too big to fit) and then wash her hands. But no. I had to buy a bag of sand and raid the coconut coir/peat moss stash to make a hypertufa container.

My only excuse - well actually, I have two excuses - is that I already had that bit of glass mosaic ready for something, but I didn't have a "something". And somehow I acquired a few too many bee-friendly plants and so, something is becoming a home for Agastache 'Black Adder'.

I certainly hope those bees, butterfly and hummingbirds appreciate my foolishness!

Everyone Could Use a Drink

Not for the birds. Not even for the bees, although they are certainly welcome. But for the butterflies. Yes, they too like an occasional drink, though I don't think they worry about whether it is Happy Hour or not.

First, make a fake rock by covering a chunk of styrofoam with hypertufa (thereby entombing some of that excess packing material that all too often arrives uninvited). The styrofoam interior means that a normal person can lift it and carry it around. If it were a solid piece of hypertufa, it would not be so easy to move about the yard. Rock dimensions: approximately 8" x 9" x 14".

Then, make a mosaic inside of a small saucer for a planter. Since it is small, it really doesn't take much time and you get to use up some of those little left over bits from other mosaic projects. And if you happen to have on hand a stash of, say, chopstick rests that you picked up, say, a few years ago (ahem, say like at least fifteen), then it is easy to embellish the little mosaic.

Finally, attach the mosaic saucer to the fake rock with thinset, fill with water and wait for your little friends to belly up to the bar.

The "Heads on Stakes" Project

Blame it on the drought. And the broken plates that Jean Doak passed my way. And the succulent cuttings that other gardeners shared with me. And, and, and...

So many have contributed to the creation of this project of ceramics figures, tiles, low-water plants, gravel and goofiness.

Now the narrow strip along the driveway no longer looks like an abandoned dirt pile in a forgotten work zone. Instead, it brings in the bees and butterflies.

And, thanks to the gravel and tiled pavers, it only needs a drink every two or three weeks.

Getting Ready for Spring

Yes, it's still cold (relatively) and dark (very) around here, and I know that I often plan ahead far more in advance than is needed, but some of my close neighbors - the feathered ones - have me beat.

Usually by mid-January, the local titmice and wrens are behaving as if it were already spring. They have begun nosing around for someone to court and somewhere private to suffer the consequences of courting. And I want to be welcoming.

So, a long time ago, long enough that I can't remember exactly when, I grew a gourd vine along the front of the house. With the help of my Zucchini Sex Goddess skills, the vine actually produced a dozen or so gourds. Most I gave away, but one got stashed in the attic. Not quite forgotten, but it really had no purpose.

Until now. Perfect for a wren house, right? I'm hoping so. A 1" hole for the entryway also made it easy to dump out the seeds and fibers remaining in the gourd. Two small holes at the top for hanging, and four 1/4" holes at the bottom for drainage completed the job. Except that of course I had to gussy it all up by staining the outside with a wood stain, and rubbing in glitter-gold highlights. Then four coats of polyurethane for sealing.

More complete instructions for making a birdhouse can be found here. You can buy gourds or grow your own gourds in Oakland, but most likely you will have to play Zucchini Sex Goddess or God yourself because of our foggy mornings.

The gourd house is now attached to the trellis along the back fence, a common hang-out spot for the wrens. So far, no birdy action, but it's still early in the season. Guy's gotta getta girl first, you know.

*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *

And for an informative and silly look at gourds and humans, a Tom A. Sterns made this video. Enjoy!

When Friends Give You (#3)....

Old broken plates, cover a stepping stone.

I already used up a bunch of donated tiles for a similar project, but I had to fuss around a bit to make it feel right. This one pretty much put itself together in less than a day.

The one element in this square which was from my own stash is the white pieces with the blue rim. They came from my best guy, or rather, from the cafeteria at UC Santa Cruz in the 1970's....I have never asked for the details of that story.



And the second square? I still had a few shards of blue plates left and I should have been able to throw them out, right? But that would have been too easy. You see, during a recent garage clean-out, I rediscovered a stack of handmade star tiles (created a while ago in ceramics class). I can no longer remember why I thought I needed those lumpy star tiles in the first place, but clearly, they belong with the blue plates pieces...

Thank you, Jean!

Freebies from Annie's

Freckles (?) Pineapple Lily

Annie's Annuals allows those with a small bit of oomph and entrepreneurship to collect free, high-quality potting mix. Yes, free, except that you have to shovel it yourself (and unlike horse manure, this stuff is heavy) and you can only get to it on Wednesday mornings.

First come-first serve. And plan ahead - like late winter or so - if you don't want to be disappointed. 'Cause once the gardening season heats up, so does the competition. On a nice clear day in January, however, it's just you and the pile.

And a few plant labels, an occasional plastic pot, old root balls, and once in a while, a surprise (think Cracker Jack®, which apparently still exists after 120 years).

The last time I went shoveling, the mix included a mystery bulb. I threw it in the green bin and then felt badly. So I fished it out, tucked it in a pot and ignored it.

Pineapple lily. Definitely a pineapple lily, although, based on the photos, not one of those that Annie's grows. A wandering pineapple lily? If so, it now has a home in Oakland.

When Friends Give You (#2)...

Finial for the top of the trellis

Copper tubing, make a trellis for those unruly vegetables.

Leftovers from an ancient plumbing project can be surprisingly useful. It took some fiddling around to make the pieces fit together, but I had enough extra joiners and fittings to waste.

No soldering, necessary. Waterproof epoxy (the kind intended for plumbing) should hold it all together. Trust me, I've done this before and it lasts for years.









Yeah, the trellis appears a bit wonky, but with the long side sitting a little deeper in the dirt, it will all level out. The third leg, offset at a 90 degree angle, helps with stability.








Thank you, Dick Holmes!

The Flower Floozies Strike Back

The wonderful gardeners at Annie's Annuals are getting armed with reason, and for a reason.

Recently their blog featured, "Home Gardeners are NOT the Problem", an article debunking some of the big, scary ideas going around about water and its lack.

Their conclusions: basically, if you don't have a large lawn in a hot summer area, then you are probably not the problem. That doesn't mean that we all still don't have to be careful about water usage. Yes, wasting is bad, especially now that EBMUD proposes to raise rates by at least 7 percent. And that's not counting the drought surcharge they are contemplating. (You see, if we use less water, they make less money... Someone is supposedly looking into this conflict of interest at the state level, but I'm not holding my breath.)

However, that didn't stop some passerby asking me yesterday if the water I was using to hand water my peas came from the bathtub (none of your business, buster. And by the way, how come you're driving around, alone, in a big-ass SUV?).

But the big water numbers are elsewhere. The true culprits are large agricultural interests that insist on growing water-intensive crops - almonds being the poster child for bad water management - in the very thirsty areas of the state. Obviously, almonds and desert are not a good match, especially when most of the almond crop leaves the state.

Pretty much everyone is in agreement that 75 - 80 percent of the state's water is used by agriculture. What is less well known is that agriculture and mining together constitute about 2 (yes, two-point-zero) percent of the economy, and employs 3 - 4 percent of the labor force. Now that's a lotta water going to a very small piece of the action.

For their part, agricultural interests argue that they cannot accept water rationing because how else would the rest of us get fed? Food - yes. Non-essential crops  - say for example, the alfalfa grown here, which is exported to China for beef, which is then shipped back here (I just don't want to pick on almonds again) - let me think about it.

However, our Governor is not letting us think about it. He is singling out urban and suburban water users for mandatory rationing. He may feel our pain, but he sure ain't sharing it around. So shower with a friend, get rid of your lawn (plant some tomatoes or beans instead), and let Jerry know that there is a "big picture" and a "little picture" and he's got 'em backwards.

IkeaHacker Kitchen Counter

So last winter when we were moving the painting studio back home, I came up with this idea for adding more counter space in the old studio's kitchen.

I thought it was a pretty good idea and so did IkeaHackers, which shares many interesting ways to repurpose Ikea products. 

Read on: Small Kitchen Counter and Storage 

Updates: #5

Once again, holiday cheer arrived here in early September. Yup, the amaryllis decided to bloom. I'm happy, but I'm pretty sure that it's tired and cranky and ready for a good snooze in a dark corner somewhere. Next week I'll put it down for a quiet nap.

And if you're thinking of getting some holiday shopping in early, Kathy Kenny will be showing her collection of jewelry at Artistry in Fashion, Cañada College's annual fashion event. 

At home, my favorite watercolorist has been busy lately with painting and stuff. What stuff? Not shopping, but writing a book on how to watercolor, to be published by North Light Books in early 2016. (The only surprise would have been if it were a book on shopping, or at least how to remember to bring home all the items on the grocery list...)

The sunflowers out front were fabulous this year. They kept the bees - the new hive is next door and everyone is delighted - really busy.

And to protect those valuable seeds from the squirrelly predators? Nothing beats an old paper bag.

When Friends Give You...

Extra, unwanted tiles, make stepping stones.

And lucky me, the materials were all on hand, except for the pair of 98¢ cement squares. Yup, concrete sealer, thin-set, usable grout - I had it all. Perhaps I should open a little local building supply center in the garage? No doubt it would still take years to clean out this mess.

My benefactor? Jack Miller, architect, now engaged in re-doing his own home space (or so I assume, since I haven't seen him around much). Or perhaps he got a better idea and slipped off to Paris...

Calendula Heals All, or At Least a Few Things

Resina Calendulas

The local, as in very local, pharmacy has been playing around with remedies for the type of super-dry skin that comes from playing in the dirt. Happily, the experiments have led to success. Success, by the way, which didn't require a lot of work or money.

Neal's Yard Remedies used to have this wonderful Elderflower Hand Softener which turned my lobster claws into tender baby toes overnight. But like so many other great products, it's no longer available.

I don't have space for an elderberry shrub, but I can easily grow calendulas. They are pretty, colorful, help keep the bad bugs away and make the bees happy, too. Historically, calendula flowers have been used to ease an impressive line-up of complaints. These days, its healing powers seem to be limited to external uses - even the medical profession gives calendula credit for skin healing properties.

I looked at various recipes for calendula creams, lotions, tinctures and finally settled on this one from NZ Eco Chick.* Except I'm really lousy at following instructions, so I do a few things differently:

• Use fresh calendula flowers. Pick the flowers during the day and let them dry out overnight. That way, the oil is less likely to become rancid. 
• Do not bother with that muslin cloth idea. Just pour the oil through a sieve and press down on the flowers with the back of a spoon. Way less mess.

And it was a nice thing to be able to re-use that old Neal's Yard jar.















* Around here, organic virgin coconut oil may be found at Trader Joe's.

Oakland Tool Lending Library

Ever since the painter in the family moved his studio back home, we have been engaged in a Battle Against Too Much Stuff. 

On our side, we have craigslist, thrift stores, young friends starting new homes, the recycling bin and as a last resort, the little blue garbage can. Stuff has inertia - the resistance of a physical object to any change in its state of motion. As well, Stuff controls a small, well-equipped and coordinated roving herd of dust rhinos.

Clearly, we don't stand a chance. Stuff alwaaays wins.

One of my favorite Get Rid of Stuff sites is the Tool Lending Library (TLL) of the Oakland Public Library.  Not only can you donate usable tools there (I mean seriously, how did we end up with 26 screwdrivers, anyway?), but if you ever find that you need that exact tool again, you can just go borrow it back.

In May, 2012, Judith Doner Berne wrote all about the TLL for the Rockridge News (scroll down to page 8). More recently, plans are alive to make the TLL an even better space for us chimp-like tool users.

The Best Cheap Cat Toys #2: Underwear

If the designated laundry folder at your house is as conscientious as the one here, he will keep folding those creaky old pairs of underwear without noticing just how unsuitable they are for wearing. So when you have underpants that really needs to be consigned to the Rag Bag (or the garbage can):

Turn the elastic at the top into a favorite cat toy.

Cut out the top elastic. Use the bottom portion to wash the car, re-stain an old piece of furniture, or simply throw that heroic article away.

Take that circular piece of elastic and cut through it to make one long piece.

So much the better if you have two dead pairs. That way the two pieces of elastic can be knotted together to form a longer cord: much less strain on your back at playtime.

You can stop at this point and have a great toy, or,

for even more enjoyment, dig out an old sock (purple or otherwise) and pin it to one end of the elastic cord.

(The optional black streamers on the end are narrow strips cut from an old sweatshirt. Cats get bored with toys, but a few small imaginative changes can bring back that old excitement.)

This toy is great for kittens because they can't swallow it, the way they can with string, yarn, rubber bands and all those other cute and dangerous play items.

Throw it in the washing machine when it gets grungy. It will last for years and years of safe fun.

Just ask Princess!

The Red Chair

Princess & the Red Chair

We didn't move, not really. But my best guy did bring his painting studio back home, which meant that the TV room had to take over the computer space, which put the computer stuff in my workroom, which… you get the picture. Too little house for too much furniture.

So we've been re-arranging stuff, recycling stuff, selling stuff, and just generally moving stuff along. Including giving stuff away. Some things have been easy to part with, and some have been a lot harder. In the middle range was the Red Chair. The chair that was given to me by college chums and in which I wrote my graduate thesis. It wasn't red then, but at some point it got painted red (Guilty. I confess. I did it.) and brightened up a corner of the small alcove just off the living room. Obviously a great place for a small, furry animal on a sunny afternoon. Like Princess, for example.

Luckily, Jackie and Adrian, with a new home to furnish in Alameda, saved the day and the chair. It's new role is to be Jackie's work chair, assuming that she can ever reclaim it from Mushu…

Mushu & the Red Chair

Photo courtesy of Jacquelyn Frost

Volunteers of Oakland #3

Gosh, I wish I'd heard about this sooner. I could have lived with so much less garden-guilt. All those little plantlets and no place to put them, so off to the composter they went. Yeah, yeah, I understand that they certainly are useful as compost, but they still had to die.

But now, all those extra plants, bulbs, seedlings, vegetable starts and all that other green stuff can be given a new chance at life at The Plant Exchange on Saturday, March 29th at the First Presbyterian Church in (guess where?) Oakland!

Very briefly, it works like this: you bring your items to donate (click here for a list of what they accept), and then go "shop" (dangerous, ve-e-ery dangerous) among all the other plants and items donated by other generous gardeners. And the lovely people at The Plant Exchange even help you unload your donations and reload your car with your new acquisitions.

For the complete read-remember-and-follow instructions, click here.

I wish that I could say that I will see you there, but I can't make it this time. Even so, I'm dropping my donations off early - they accept them anytime after noon on March 15th at 2619 Broadway (along 27th Ave, near the handicapped parking spaces) - and marking my calendar for their next event in October.

Bottom Rot

2012 San Marzanos.  No Bottom Rot That Year.

Technically, it's not called bottom rot but "blossom end rot (BER)," but we sometimes are a bit more blunt - crude, even - around here.

But so what is it, anyway? A disorder of tomatoes and peppers, featuring lesions at the blossom end (dah!) of the fruit which all too often expand, turn funky and black, and ruin the fruit for eating. Ick. Sometimes you can salvage part of the tomato, but usually it's only use is for target practice in the green bin. Sadly, it seems to occur most frequently on paste-type tomatoes, such as our family favorite, San Marzano.

What to do? Well, BER is generally associated with a calcium deficiency in the plant and/or soil. And lots of expert-type people have all sorts of remedies. I also have one:

Save your empty egg shells, allow them to dry out for a few days, or weeks even, it doesn't seem to matter. Then crunch them up into little pieces* and mix a small amount of these crushed shells in the dirt at the bottom of the planting holes for your tomatoes.

If you do a web check, you will discover that many people have proposed this same idea, but they will also instruct you do crazy things like store the eggshells on top of the refrigerator (do they have a magic refrigerator? Mine only seems to collects dust). Or grind them up in the blender (just what you want… more dishes to wash).

Why mention this now? Because March is the time to start thinking about sowing your tomato seeds for this year's bountiful harvest (all fingers crossed). And adding a smidgen of those crushed eggshells to the potting mix certainly can't hurt.

OK, OK, so why grow tomatoes from seed? Because you need one more project to worry about.

No, really because it's the only way that I know which pretty much guarantees that the variety of tomato I want to grow will be available. Most nurseries only stock a few types, which may or may not be suited to your garden and/or your taste buds. Also, you are less likely to import diseases, such as late blight which decimated the tomato crops in 2009 and 2012.

*I first start with my fingers (easy to wash) and simply pinch and crush the shells. To reduce them further, stick them in a plastic bag, loosely tie or knot the bag shut and run your rolling pin over it a few times. Nothing to clean up. Does not collect dust.