Jan, Keter, and other happy things

Above, you see the new happy compost mixer (both human and plastic)! Below, you see the previous compost bin situation. Economical? Well, yes. Raided by racoons? Unfortunately. Neglected? Embarassed to confirm. As you can tell, I really needed some help!

You know, I'm in love with two men - my husband of course, but also the UPS man. Who wouldn't love this strong and wonderful man in uniform? He's capable of lifting 150 pounds of unwieldy cardboard and drops by with smiling face bearing gifts on a fairly regular basis. Well, technically they're not gifts if you had to pay for them in advance, but in THIS case, the compost mixer I received was TRULY a gift from both the Keter company and Jan from Thanks for Today, following my post on the Satanic Boy Scouts (and the follow up) linked to Jan's Gardener's Sustainable Living Project, an annual Earth Day event.

Now that I have my new compost mixer, here's what I'm looking forward to:

deterring the raccoons and neighborhood cats
having finished compost in a contained space that I access and use easily
turning my compost more frequently (with the mixer's handle, it enters "toy" catagory and I might even get a regular helper out of this)

I'm really partial to the 3-bin compost system (an unflattened version of what you see above). I like the idea of filling a bin to the top, closing it off, and then starting to fill another bin while the first bin cooks down, and so forth. I think what I'll do is use the new Keter to collect my browns and greens, and once full, I'll close it off and begin to collect my compost materials in one of the round bins. Once the Keter compost is finished, I'll empty it in the garden, and then move the more recently collected scraps into the Keter, repeating the process of saving more in the round bins.

I envision a much healthier garden with the addition of good compost that's more speedily made. I have high hopes for this tumbler - I have wanted some sort of tumbler for ages! Looking forward to the beautiful blooms and fat veggies that I'll surely have now! Thanks so much Jan and Keter for this generous prize! In other happy things...

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Below, the happy "bouquet" I received from my almost 13 year old this past Sunday.

And another happy thing, in a prelude to the bumper crop I think we'll have this year, strawberries are ripening one by one. In the photo below, you see that the first stop after kindergarten every day is the garden, "Hey mom, let's go check on the strawbs!"

One more happy thing for today, May blossoms!

Shaping young minds

I believe the children are our future. Teach them well and let them lead the way. Show them all the beauty they possess inside...

Wait no, that's a throwback from my childhood. Let me hear it from all the Whitney lovers in the blogosphere!

Jan from Thanks for Today is hosting an annual Earth Day event called the Gardener's Sustainable Living Project. Check out her blog to see how others are being eco-friendly or taking action to create a more sustainable lifestyle. I do things that many of you do as well in order to live a more green lifestyle - shop locally whenever possible, garden organically, water with harvested rain, compost my kitchen scraps, and basically just reduce in lots of ways.

My entry for Jan's project is about a larger way I'm contributing this Earth Day. Though there is lots of paper in the photo above, I think it will be put to good use as I'm leading the merit badge for Boy Scout Troop 666 (I shit you not). This is a job I'm doing as a Master Gardener (still earning my initial hours).

Like Whitney, I do believe the children are our future and despite my slight hesitation at the rather satanic troop number (if you never hear from me after Saturday, you'll know why), I'm so excited to talk to the young boys about photosynthesis, building soil, growing vegetables, vermiposting, organic methods to control pests, etc. I'm trying not to go into this too naively, and I've been told sometimes there's a rush to simply check off tasks to earn numerous badges, but I DO hope to put my teaching and counseling skills to build some genuine excitement about gardening. I figure if I get just ONE kid to see the joy in growing his own food, that would really make it worth my time. And scout's honor, I don't even care if that sounds naive.

Sleep, Dormancy, Hibernation, Rest...

I'm referring to this blog - and the three precious little pigs of course. Though this blog will be in sleep mode for the next couple of months, I will not be. After putting my thoughts in writing in yesterday's post, and then reading the thoughtful comments following, I've decided that the project I am working on really needs to be the focus of my attention right now. I'll spare you my trite metaphors and just direct you to the photo below.

When I sign back on in a couple of months there will be seedlings under the growlights, tulip photos to share, the Spring/Summer/Fall Garden to Table Challenge will be up, the Asian Vegetable Series will be resurrected, and the preliminary stage of my project will be complete. The only thing lacking will be the 15 pounds I plan to lose as well!

So as I publish post for the last time before my little sabbatical, I thank everyone for reading, encouragement, positivity, empathy, and insightful and thoughtful commenting. Can you feel the love ?

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I also need to reconcile the Garden to Table Challenge contest. I looks like the diehard winter posters were Char's, Holly, Ricki, and Meemsnyc. Meems, as the jackpot winner, came closest to collecting the GTTC letters. However, I'm going to send 2nd place prize seeds to Charlotte, Holly, and Ricki as well. Seeds are of my choosing - all veggies. I think I have everyone's address except for Holly's - can you e-mail me with your address? If I left anyone out (who linked a blog entry specifically for the GTTC and referred back to the GTTC in the original post), please e-mail me and let me know. The Garden to Table Challenge will return when it's sunny and warm!

I knew I took a picture of this for a reason. Ha! The screen tried to load about 67 times before I had to literally pull the plug. It's a little indicative of how I feel these days.

Fer at My Little Garden in Japan is hosting a Carnival. Hop over there and see what other gardeners in the world are resolving for 2011.

I've been putting off a New Year's post for now...24 days, but figured I'd get my thoughts together to be a part of the fun.

But that last word is all the fun you'll get from this post - which is more of a journal reflection/vent and a diversion from the usual entertainment found on this blog (see Saturday's post for a movie review, a use for rum, and the cutest monkey thing you ever did see). You don't want to continue reading unless you got some time on your hands.

STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS (the union between my garden and I): Current state: tired. I'm not invigorated like I usually am at this time of the year. My seed catalog is marked by post-its but the order is not in. I have not opened the perennials catalog. I have not done my usual organizing such as writing in gardening reminders and tasks in green pencil on the big calender. My piano which is where I stage my seed starting is covered with the paraphernalia of ongoing projects. Some of the perennials in the front have still not been cut down. The hellebores are a mess. In the backyard I see frozen wilted chard, erect garden stakes next to no plants, pieces of edging lifted from a frozen ground swell, and various bowls, spoons, and cups my little one played with in the fall that we never brought inside. I also see that EVERYTHING needs to be pruned (including all the bamboo from the neighbor's yard that is creeping into mine). All this just makes me more tired. I just need more time. As much as I love the gardening season and working outside, I hope spring doesn't come for at least several more months - like 6 or so.

LIFE (as it relates to gardening): I'm tired. Have I mentioned that? Life is good. I have so many things to be thankful for. There are fun things to look forward to and fun trips to be planned. As usual, I'm working on something big (bigger than any project I've taken on) that I'm totally passionate about, but it's very time consuming. I'm not trying to complain here because I'm a capable and energetic person, and I love my life, but...here goes...I have young children and am actively involved in their lives (which currently means I play a lot of Super Mario Brothers and do a lot of carpooling). I work full time. I am trying to lose 15 pounds (ever seriously tried to lose weight? It's a lot planning, cooking, logging, etc.). I have a book group which I started (so I can't really drop out - and plus, I really enjoy it, but finding time to read often becomes one more thing I "have to" do). There are the usual household things. Though I work full time, I'm off by 2:40pm, and hubby is off at 6, which means I'm often doing dinner, doctor's appts, haircuts, kids' activities and things like that - and no, I'm not opposed to take out. Plus, I try to maintain some semblance of a social life and have dinner with a friend every week or 2. I'm not happy that I am only able to post on my blog once or twice a week, and especially that I'm not able to visit my favorite blogs save for once a week or two. The secret time-consuming project I mentioned earlier is a major focus in my life right now and I'm not able to give that due attention. There's just the overarching feeling that there's way too much to do and not enough time (before anyone suggests it, my husband does help out). I have also been dreaming about a new blog that would be very exciting for me. I've never been one to have trouble focusing or prioritizing, but every one of these balls is one that I WANT to juggle - at least for the time being. I used to have trouble with volunteering for things all the time, but I've made a conscious effort not to do that very often anymore (and have reconciled any guilt that this produces). OK, I've derailed from the gardening topic, you may have noticed. All this that I mention just explains why there is little room to get uber excited about spring.

VEGETABLE GARDEN GOAL: When I do get my act together, my main vegetable garden goal this year is to keep up with my harvests. I tend to neglect my garden and work in spurts, often trashing tomatoes that have rotted or lettuce that has bolted. I have a huge sensitivity to mosquitoes but this year, I'm going to set aside some going out clothes (like big pants and a hoodie) that I can put on easily and zip outside to stay on top of the harvest. THEN, when I do bring vegetables in, I'm going to use them. The biggest benefit of my Garden to Table Challenge has been that I've worked my brain to figure out delicious ways to use my harvests. I really look forward to this.

PERENNIALS GOAL: I am not going to buy ANYTHING this year (hopefully). I'm going to carefully update my paper "map" of plants and bulbs and mark in the garden what has survived, what needs to go, where there are holes, and how everything looks season to season. Then, in the fall, I'll fill in but ONLY if I really need/want to.

NATURE GOAL: I would like to learn more about birds and butterflies. People who have visited this blog may know that I'm afraid of butterflies, but last summer, I made it a personal goal to work on this. I am probably not ready to fully enjoy the summer Butterfly Show, but I now realize that butterflies won't hurt me (ha ha ha!). I would like to get a butterfly and/or bird book and learn more about the diversity of these subjects. It would be fun to be able to name the different birds I see - and maybe even get to learn their songs.

There you have it - more than you ever wanted to know about where I'm at - in my head, my life, my blog, and my garden.

10 things I love... (and Happy Thanksgiving!)

Waaaaayy back, soooo way back that I cannot find the original post or comment, Malar wanted me to post about 10 things I love. It's a tad difficult to work with such a broad theme. Hard to focus on 10 things. I mean...the world, my experiences - there's a lot to draw from right? If I really go into introspection mode, I will never produce 10 answers. So rather than overthink it, here are 10 random, mostly superficial things I love. Oh, and I enjoy this task more than a more seasonally appropriate 10 things I'm thankful for - that would really cause some analysis paralysis.

10 things I love...

1) My Blackberry. I'm either getting old, losing my memory, or losing my mind, but my Blackberry allows me to keep to do lists, communicate things with people so that I don't forget later, set alarms, look up directions, and record names of books, movies, music or ideas that I don't want to forget. All without a million scraps of paper floating in my purse. I also do a modified Weight Watchers on my own and I track my points on my Blackberry.

2) For a while, I loved Bertha's language from The Fred Movie (I also love made for tv teeny-bopper movies). You add "ong" to every consonant and just say all the vowels. So for example, "Green" would be said, "gong-rong-E-E-nong". I got very proficient in this. My brother in law Todd is "tong-O-dong-dong". Get it? If you think I'm lame, just try it. It's addicting.

3) I love going to 5:30 am exercise classes. This is because by 7am, I've worked out, taken a shower, had a Nalgene bottle of water, and am in line at Starbucks feeling good and resisting all the sweet treats in the case.

4) I love Japanese food. I think I like it more than Chinese food. I told my mom I could eat Japanese food for breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day for a year and not get sick of it. I also love Groupons.com. I especially love a Groupon for Japanese food. For our belated anniversary, my husband and I did a little weekend staycation and went to a great place for lunch. I ordered soba noodles - one of my favorite noodles. The noodles arrived with what you see below as a condiment. Now I like to think that I'm not a culinary ignoramus, but I had to unabashedly ask the waitress what to do with it. What you see is scallions on the left, minced radish, wasabi, and in the middle, a raw quail egg. Underneath the little plate is the sauce (I think it was tempura sauce). You dump the goodies in, mix it up, and then pick up the soba noodles to dip in the sauce as you eat each bite. Delicious and super fun!!!

5) I love my family. We're cool. I think we're great parents. Nuff said.

6) I love my DVR. Since I don't typically have daily TV time, I let it all record on the DVR and have late night marathons. The series that I DVR are: Grey's Anatomy, LOST (well, before it ended), So You Think You Can Dance, Hell's Kitchen, and Glee. I usually watch about 3 Grey's Anatomy episodes at once so I can have a big emotional cryfest all at one time. It's very cathartic.

7) I love blogging games like this one.

8) I love taking a day off work in the middle of the week. I love strolling out in public - wondering if the other good people of the world are also taking a day off, or if they have the luxury of not working, or what the story is. I love the lack of crowds, and of course, a shortened work week. I think ideally, I would love to work 4 10-hour days rather than 5 8-hour days.

9) I love Fridays at 3pm. No explanation needed.

10) I love Thanksgiving. I loved it as a kid - going to my aunt's house, knowing exactly what to expect, eating all the special T-day foods. We usually had the Western T-day foods as well as lobster and a few Chinese dishes. I always enjoyed seeing my cousins and b.s.ing about movies. As an adult, I think it's fun to host a big feast and help to create these memories and the comfortable predictability for others. This year (and now you'll REALLY think I'm crazy), I decided to make a "Thanksgiving Portfolio". This is basically a portfolio (in sheet-protected pages) of the menu, master shopping list, recipes I need to refer to, details that I need to remember (i.e. order a 14-16 pound turkey), and a schedule of cooking events (i.e. Tuesday: start brine, Wednesday night: make cold dishes, Thursday noon: do this, 2pm: start that, etc.). This way, I don't need to recreate the wheel each year. Plus, once I'm dead and gone, if my kids want to recreate the Thanksgiving of their childhood, they need only to pull the Thanksgiving Portfolio off the shelf.

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Well, there you have it. More than you'd ever want to know about the 10 things I love. At this point, I'm probably supposed to name some others to play along, but I would like to tag anyone on my blogroll, or anyone else reading this to go next! And between now and reading about your favorite things (please let me know you've posted), have a great Thanksgiving!!!

1st blogiversary giveaway!

Chinese wax gourd seeds. The melons develop a waxy coating when fully mature, hence the name. These are also called winter melons, are not sweet, and are typically used in soups.

In celebration of a year of my gardening ramblings and of the people who humor me by actually reading about them, I'm giving away seeds. I'm really humbled and thankful for the people who visit this silly little blog. I've loved meeting fellow bloggers this past year! I could go on about all the meaningful ways in which my life has been affected since I've created this blog exactly one year ago, but then I'd be taking up the space in which I could be discussing this seed giveaway!

Daikon radish seeds. These end up looking like gigantic white carrots and taste much milder than your typical radish. If you have dim sum this weekend, you might want to try the delicious savory radish cakes.

As a small token of appreciation, I'm going to send the first 25 people who e-mail me their names and addresses to wkspray at gmail dot com a sampling of seeds in super cute seed packets I made (I'll post on this later on). Here are the terms: though I've listed the variety of what I have below, I get to choose about 8-10 little seed packets for you. If there's something you really want, I MAY be able to accommodate, based on my limited supply. Just let me know. Also, when I say little seed packet, I mean little seed packet. Don't expect enough to fill your garden next year. Think of it as a sampling of trial sized seed packets.

Chinese long bean seeds - these plants grow on vines. The beans grow by twos and reach ridiculous lengths - they're also known as yard-long beans. They should be picked young and tender though. They are tremendous stir fried!

I know some people do not need/want seeds - if this is you and you've reached this point in this post, please know how much I appreciate you! It's kept me shamelessly posting for 12 months and counting!

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All seeds are organic. Most are heirloom. Some are saved by me or my father. Some are purchased. Most are saved for this year. Some are from last year but still have good germination rates.

Chinese wax gourd

Asian sweet melon (like a small honeydew melon)

Daikon radish

Chinese long bean

Thai eggplant

Luffa gourd (angled)

Luffa gourd (smooth - can be eaten or left to dry for sponges)

Malabar spinach (Chinese vining spinach)

Flowers: Russian mammoth sunflower, cleome, salvia, gomphrena, marigold

Broccoli: early purple sprouting, green calabrese sprouting

Peppers: sweet banana, Thai burapa, sweet red,

Charentais melon (a small sweet orange melon)

Imperial star artichoke, marketmore 76 cukes, butternut squash, tomatillo verde

Selection of herbs: cilantro, giant of Italy parsley, Genovese basil, fine verde basil,

Selection of lettuces: lettuce mix, Swiss chard rainbow lights, mache

Sorry, THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED.

38 random questions...

...to answer as the snow is melting, and while it's still too cold to do much thinking about spring's garden. These were posted by Janie, who calls for YOU to copy and paste your answers on your blog as well!

This is my husband and I sledding. The bones creaked, but no one was hurt.

1. Do you like bleu cheese? Yes - with chicken wings, on burgers, on salad, etc.
2. Have you ever been bitten by a dog? only my own as I was feeding him. How ironic is that.

3. Do you own a gun? broken water guns only.
4. Favorite Kool Aid: cherry
5. Do you get nervous before a doctor appointment? Only dental, but I have MUCH experience and I'm good at talking myself down.
6. What do you think of hot dogs? grilled Hebrew National every summer Sunday. Yum. Also, NY System hot weiners are the best - but I'm willing to bet most of you don't know what I'm talking about (it's a Rhode Island thing).
7. Do you give money or other things to panhandlers? Only a guy who was a patient at the psychiatric hospital I worked at. He is mentally ill, a Vietnam vet, the most peaceful Beatles-loving guy, and has been screwed by the "system" in so many ways it's very, very sad. When the hospital was run into the ground, he was once again on the streets - I doubt his medical/mental needs are being addressed. When I see him around, I give him whatever's in my wallet, whether it's a dollar or twenty. I worked with him for 5 years. He's using the money for cigarettes, Taco Bell, coffee, or bibles from the Christian store.

8. What do you prefer to drink in the morning? Grande skim latte.
9. Can you do push ups? Yes, I can do lots, thanks to a 5:30am boot camp class I go to!
10. What's your favorite piece of jewelry? I love earrings and necklaces.

11. What is your favorite hobby? Gardening, reading, eating with friends.
12. Do you have A. D. D.? Only in the garden!

13. Do you wear glasses/contacts? yes
14. Middle name: none
15. Name 3 thoughts at this exact moment: Can this ever be used against me? Is my 4 year old going to come up and interrupt me? Should I go to Starbucks now even though I've already had 2 cups of coffee at home?

16. Name 3 drinks you regularly drink? coffee: gingerbread latte, pumpkin spice latte, and my new fave - iced caramel brulee (and I just figured out the answer to my last question in number 15).
17. Current worry: will I finish the book before Tuesday's book group meeting?

18. Current hate right now: none - it's all peace and love. (edited to add: I hate the formatting on this post and I give up on trying to fix it!)

19. Favorite place to be? Seabrook Island, South Carolina.
20. How did you bring in the New Year? writing resolutions, and eating something decadent I've ordered out for.
21. Where would you like to go? somewhere expensive, preferably by plane.
22. Name people who will complete this: ???
23. Do you own slippers? no, I wear Christmas socks from October through April.
24. What color shirt are you wearing? Beige, but it does have paint splatters on it.

25. Do you like sleeping on satin sheets? Maybe for a minute.

26. Can you whistle? Yes, I love to whistle and can whistle really well!

27. Where are you now? Home, where I've been snowed in for many days now.
28. Would you be a pirate? Perhaps, I like to say booty.

29. What do you sing in the shower? Whatever is currently stuck in my head.
30. What is your favorite girl's name? I really like names like: Isabelle, Claire, Chole, and other stately and feminine sounding names. For my kids, I have chosen names that are somewhat masculine in sound (one ends in -er, one ends in -c). I also like girl names that sound like surnames.
31. Favorite boy's name? If our last child had been a boy, we would have named him Finn.

32. What's in your pocket right now? lint.
33. Thing that made you laugh today? my husband threatening to "tell on me" to the financial planner because of the money I want to spend on my 4 year old's birthday party.
34. What vehicle do you drive? Toyota Highlander. Look, I sacrifice in many ways, but I will always drive an SUV. Once you drive an SUV, you'll never go back.
35. Worst injury you've ever had? Luckily, nothing too serious, but when I worked at a bakery in high school, a falling bagette hit my arm on the way to the ground, and its split top had a few jagged points that totally sliced my arm. There was a lot of blood, and I still have a faint scar.
36. Do you love where you live? yes, I love this house, in this city, in this county, in this state, in this country.

37. How many TV's do you have in your house? one

38. Do you have any tattoos? No. I did plan to have a couple when I was a teenager (before it became "acceptable") but I'm glad I didn't because I would not be happy with the design I thought was PERFECT at the time.

...why someone would consider this blog "best"

... is totally beyond me!

Nonetheless, I have to thank Avis from CityDiggity.com (who shares mouth watering recipes and stories from her urban garden) and Deborah from Green Theatre (who provides non-stop inspiration for the outdoors and indoors) for this Best Blog Award!

I take this award very seriously and am not sure I can pass it along to any number of people fairly. For all the blogs I would vote "best" - see the blogs I've listed to the right under Gardening Blogs, and also below that under Other Sites To Visit. I read each blog regularly for motivation, education, laughs, and understanding.

To play along a bit, I will give an extra special "best blog" shout out to Rosey Pollen (Dung Hoe), Julie (The Little Things), and Grace Peterson who all make me laugh out loud. Lynn (Best in Bloom Today) is also the sweetest someone who I know I would like to friends with in real life. Autumn Belle (My Nice Garden) in Malaysia, is such an interesting person who will occasionally share cultural aspects that are sometimes very different, but sometimes remotely similar to my own.

To rebel a bit from this, I would also like to revert back to the Honest Scrap Award and tag Kathy Jentz from Washington Gardener magazine. Kathy is a crazy busy person, assuring that Washington DC area gardeners are kept abreast of garden happenings, best practices, trends, methods, etc. What we DON'T know though...who is the lady behind the publication, blog, enewsletter, and everything else she does???

Another scrap of honesty

Thanks Rosey for passing the Honest Scrap award along to me!

If I have to be honest, the creative juices were flowing the other day after Rosey posted her SCARY truths and passed along the award to me, but the well of creativity has not only gone dry, but the memory is going too and I can't remember what I was going to say before. Since my last MeMe award was a waaaaay too long dissertation on my hair (of all topics!), I'll keep this one short and sweet, writing whatever random facts come to me in the next 5 minutes.

1. My older daughter is named Winter, after my favorite season. She is the opposite of her namesake though, and not the calm, serene, still, stark image I have of winter, the season. Rather, she is lively, warm, outgoing, and a bundle of fun and energy.
2. My younger daughter is named Lyric, which is what gives meaning to music. Though she's the most adorable singer, she's shy and won't perform on demand, or in front of an audience. She has to be caught by surprise. And you can't clap or laugh b/c she'll get mad!
3. I am not a fan of unnecessary medical intervention when it comes to my own health and had both girls via natural childbirth, having Lyric in a birthing center and having used self-hypnosis.
4. I am obsessed with shoes. I developed this obsession only about 3 years ago. I am extremely particular, but when I see a shoe I like, I will usually wait overnight. If I dream about the shoes, and if I literally lay awake thinking about them, I will buy them the next day. I just used this method to confirm that I really needed the blue suede boots I bought yesterday.
5. I love food. I love anything that is fatty, creamy, and buttery. I love anything that involves puff pastry. I love a European chocolate. I love cream based soups. I love my desserts warmed and a la mode. I love appetizers with melted cheese. I love risotto. I love rice, pasta, potatoes, bread (carbs!). I love spicy, creamy, curried Indian food. I love hollandaise sauce. I love scones with a double Devon cream.
6. I like to work out (notice I didn't say love). I like to watch CNN American Morning while I'm on the elliptical machine at the gym. I like this awesome motivational spinning instructor at my 5:30am class when I can get up on time for it. I really like to run on the weekends when I don't stay up too late the night before - and I really like to stay up late.
7. I have a grande skim latte from Starbucks every Monday through Thursday. On Fridays, I go crazy and get whatever special drink I'm feeling. I think this Friday, I'll be feeling the gingerbread latte.
8. I really don't like pets. It took me a while to realize this b/c my parents only allowed my sister and I to have as my husband calls them "throwaway pets" (hamsters, parakeets, fish), but after having some "real" pets as an adult, I've realized I'm just not a pet person. Yeah, they're cute and all, but ultimately, I don't like to pet a dog and I don't like to scoop hardened urine balls out of a litter box every day.
9. I pride myself on being idealistic. I try to balance this with a tiny dose of realism and aim not to be naive. I'd rather wither away and die than allow myself to be stuck in a situation - at least for too long! - I feel jaded about.
10. I was a very wild and crazy young teen and took waaaay too many risks. As an adult, I'm still a very liberal thinker, but very safety-minded and probably overprotective of my kids.

I'd love to learn more about the following new cyber friends... Hopefully I'm picking people I haven't tagged already, and haven't participated recently, and might consider playing along.

Hortist - Only 5 posts thus far from new blogger Saif, but 5 posts that I read with great interest. I'm looking forward to hearing more of what Saif has to say.

Sylvana - The Obsessive Gardener - an awesome and inspiring vegetable grower!

Subliminal Intervention - A blog I've just recently discovered. Dreamybee is a voracious reader and seems to share the same approach to life as I do.

Janie - An Obsessive/Compulsive Plant Collector - a really sweet person whose comments I adore. She's from Texas and could whack a snake gone in 2 seconds flat (as long as it's small and Janie doesn't run away screaming first).

Catmint - Diary of a Suburban Gardener - all kinds of nature and reflections going on on her blog. A great read and super person!

Grace Peterson - In a word: Pink. Who knew it could be so utterly beautiful? Grace has must-see photos of her absolutely gorgeous garden with fun writing alongside. Check it out.

Green Theatre - A busy Canadian blogger who is constantly inspiring us with great ideas!

Sprig to Twig - I love reading about Ricki's escapades in the garden. Her energy is contagious!

Liz and the Professor - great stories and photos of beautiful tropicals from the southernmost point in the US - Key West!

Meme award for me!

The ever-wonderful Bangchik (My Little Vegetable Garden), my friend in Malaysia, passed the Meme Award along to me. To play along, I need to reveal 7 things about myself. Because I'm not feeling very profoundish today, I've decided to talk about my hair. Since I'm 35 years old, I will divide my years by 7 and talk about the changes that my hair has gone through in 5 year segments (yes, I am totally serious. The brain is really working today - just in rather odd ways).

1. birth to 5 years old. I had a stereotypical little Asian girl hairstyle (I don't know why Chinese parents do this to their kids). Bangs, about shoulder-length hair. The texture was sort of medium (not too thick or fine), and straight. The color of my hair was a dark brown. I had no thoughts about my hair, but did like to put my younger sister's hair in pink plastic rollers, and at one point, I wanted to be a hair stylist.


2. 5-10 years old. During this period, I started growing my hair (b/c my mom didn't cut it, not because I had any care about it), and being the late 70's early 80's, lots of hair accessories became the norm - we would buy simple barrettes and weave ribbon through them, let the ribbon hang down a few inches and maybe add some color coordinating beads. In the younger years, used yarn and barrettes, later on, the Scrunci was invented. Soon thereafter, the banana clip was invented. Fun stuff.


3. 10-15 years old. The largest amount of change probably happened during this time. I began living at the pool each summer from about 8-12 years old, and my hair color was still overall a dark brown, but also became a little brassy. I also had some lighter - almost blondish colored highlights (from the sun). Around 10 years of age, my hair texture changed dramatically and became extremely full and wavy. Towards the mid 80's, I dreaded haircuts because the hairdressers would inevitably tell me how much they loved "playing" with my hair and blow dry it waaaay up and out, with big wings on the sides and bangs that curled up. All eyes were on me as I left the joints, and I was not happy. It was Miss America hair and I hated it. Big, huge, fluffy, wavy. The exact opposite of the loose, straight, flat, hairstyles I liked. Truth be told, it was probably the typical Caucasian hair that I desired - light, wispy, soft-looking, etc. There are probably a whole host of ethnic-identity issues here, but as I said, I'm not feeling profoundish today - just wanna talk about my hair. One hairdresser told me I'd be glad to have thick, full hair one day.


4. 15-20 years old. This was a time of experimentation. When I was 15, I kept only the hair on the very top of my head, but shaved the rest of my head to the scalp (picture this with my combat boots, fishnet stockings, blackberry lipstick, and black liquid eyeliner). Most of the time, I wore the top part of my hair in a braid or ponytail. I also experimented with color and tried: auburn (loved it), magenta (not me), blond streaks (including Sun-In and Frost and Tip), but most of the time, it was dyed blue-black. I liked the style of the shaved head, but also liked that with most of my head shaved, I finally got rid of the dense, heavy head of hair that I cannot stand and have fought for years.
   
5. 20-25 years old. During this time, I'm raising my first child and ponytailing most of the time. I like the ponytail b/c I don't like hair in my face, and obviously, it's easy. I feel alert with my hair out of my face. It's not necessarily attractive, but this is also not necessarily my focus.
   
6. 25-30 years old. More change, though not so wild. I am a busy working mom, and have starting working on my second Master's degree part time in the evenings. I spend a lot of money on a haircut, and as a result, try not to cut too often. At this point, I grow it long, long, long, then cut it chin length. Then long, long, long, then chin length. Once, I donated to Locks of Love (though they probably threw it out when they got it because my hair is still very big, frizzy, wavy, unruly, scraggly, etc.). One year, I discovered a straightening iron, which gives my hair a very sleek look, but since I have so much of it, it takes about an hour to do - an hour more than I have to invest in my hair. Ironically, it was taking me an hour to get my hair to look like the hair that most Asian people have naturally.


7. 30-35 years old. I have my second child at this time, and though I'm still busy, have taken slightly more interest in my appearance. I think that developmentally, this is because I am starting to feel the effects of age. I start reflecting on the self-esteem (I'm talking purely about superficial aspects) that I lacked as a teen and wondered why I thought I looked fat in my 20's when I actually looked pretty good; about why I ponytailed it when I could have worn it down and attractively. In the past year, I have also noticed a dramatic amount of hair actually falling out. I think I've probably lost about 30% of the fullness during these 5 years. In addition, I choose to dye my hair regularly to cover the grays. So now, I'm realizing I want to take more pride in my appearance, cause giiiirrrrlll, it's fadin' fast. Around age 30, I also found an amazing hair stylist (who has since moved) who showed me how to actually work with my own hair texture instead of fighting it. So instead of pulling stunts like carefully sleeping on my hair a certain way so it will dry flat, or spending an hour with a straight iron, or shaving my head, I can use a simple product on my wet hair and let it air dry. One hour later, ka-bam! A great head of hair that is loose and wavy and sort of beach-tousled looking. The greatest thing about it is that I finally accept my hair for what it is, and have actually even come to love my hair.

While I think ANYONE who has read this post deserves an award, I am passing the Meme Award on to the following blogs - just some out of many blogs that I really enjoy!

Best in Bloom Today- Cause Lynn is totally awesome! Nuff said.

The Little Things - Julie, all-around cool person striving to do the best she can for her kids and live in an authentic way.

Gardening With Soule - I love Teresa's appreciation for and wonder of the world around her.

Arabella's Garden - I really relate to L'il Ned's sense of fun and her down to earth self.

Joel the Urban Gardener - Who makes any urban gardener or Marylander proud.

Digging RI - For informative and sensitive posts typed from my second favorite state in the US.

Bay Area Tendrils Garden Travel- who makes me yearn to see the world.

And because I'm not sure Bay Area Tendrils will post non-travel related things, I'm allowing myself to add an 8th:

A Faerie's Garden - a really amazing balcony gardener and cupcake baker!

Here are the guidelines:

1. Link back to the person who gave you the award
2. Reveal the 7 things about yourself
3. Tag 7 other bloggers at the end of your post and link to them
4. Let each blogger know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.
5. Let the tagger know when your post is up.