My Succulents

I never knew I'd become a "plant lady." I used to kill plants all the time. Part of it was just me being so busy I'd forget to water them, and the other part was pure A.D.D...just plum forgetting them. With a lot of patience, care and attention, I have mended my ways and now enjoy a houseful of plants. I also never knew you could become addicted to plant-collecting. I have been looking forward to our weekly Saturday Farmer's Market trips for a new reason--succulents. Tony has (logically) advised me to only buy ONE succulent plant a week--tricky, but it gives me something to look forward to. When I get my new plant home, I have to decide which of my 1950s animal planters will be the most attractive home for the succulent. This is also something to look forward to. Here are some I've done in the last few weeks:

I've also discovered that they make a nice gift for my very special friends.

**Unrelated, but readers may be pleased to hear I got an A+ in my first college course...I know I was.

Dula and her Rice Wraps

Vladimir loves his new backyard...every night when we finally manage to drag him back inside, he passes out in his favorite chair and is comatose the rest of the evening...this is a good thing.

Tony bought and potted a Chocolate Mint plant...the only thing I can come up with to do with this is put it in some sort of sweet bread. Any other ideas?

Herbs handy at the back door

The tomato patch. Basically, I knew I needed to get the plants in STAT, so I really only planted tomatoes because I can't live without them. We planted 11 varieties of heirloom tomatoes including: 2 black brandywines, orange oxheart, red zebra, green zebra, mortgage lifter, rainbow, and Nebraska wedding...the other 3 I can't remember off the top of my head. Hopefully they thrive--since the garden is in my backyard this year, I think I'll have time to weed and water accordingly. I also planted a bunch more basil in there for pesto, and I'm trying a row of heirloom squash seeds a friend gave me (though it might be too late this year for seeds, we'll see).

This crazy vine (above) takes over the back fence, and since we moved in we've noticed a lot of the back neighbors (mostly immigrants from here and there) picking the leaves. Once Tony was back there and a lady asked "is it okay that we pick these?" and Tony of course told her that it was fine and asked her what she did with them.

This morning the doorbell rang and there was a light knocking, so I answered it. A sweet-faced woman stood there with a plate wrapped in foil. "For you and husband" she said to me. I asked what it was and she told me "wraps, for you and your husband." I didn't correct her, but I did ask her name (Dula) and thanked her a bunch of times.

The wraps are very much like a dolma--grape leaf wraps--they are filled with curried rice and chicken. Very delicous. I just can't believe how kind our neighbors are. Even when we were gardening, 5 or 6 people came over to introduce themselves. I already feel more at home in this house then in the last two apartments I've lived in. Hooray for the kindness of strangers.

Still Life: Unpacked

Well, things have finally slowed down, and I feel like I have some time to blog again. I haven't stopped any projects, but I've recently being doing nothing but projects. We're in the new house on 19th and Washington--and we LOVE it. It's a really old place with wood floors, big doors and the sweetest landlady we could ask for. Before doing much unpacking, I was determined to get some flowers on the porch: 3 hanging baskets, 1 window box (1 out of 4 done), and a standing bowl...it just makes me feel happy every morning when I go out to water them.

Below are some pictures of the house...really bad pictures, and we're way behind on unpacking so--look at those huge windows!

We'll get there. At least my flowers are looking good, the herbs are up and the garden is planted--more on that later.