March 30, 2016 by Born To Organize

My Garden has a Great Sense of Humor (Humour)

Note: I started my schooling in Canada, and learned to spell humour ending in “our”. We moved to California in the late sixties and I had to relearn the American spellings of humour, judgement, and colour.

Now that I have a global blog following, I’m acutely aware of the different spellings. American English prefers humor whereas all the other main varieties of English prefer humour. I’m always worrying that I’ll offend people (which comes from my British upbringing). What to do what to do?

Where was I?

Oh yes, my garden. My garden has a great sense of…playfulness.

If you’re a regular around here, you know that we replaced our lawn with California native plants last fall.

Newly planted California Natives, November, 2015

Then it rained! Wet, wonderful, welcome rain. All those seeds lying dormant around the garden sprang to life. Sweet peas, love-in-a-mist, bachelor buttons and others slowly overtook the new landscaping.

A plethora of sweet peas (March 5th, 2016)

By the end of March, I pulled out one of my garden trellises and staked it in the ground. These flowers plan to stay awhile. It makes me smile (and cringe a little too). I hope the California native buried under all those sweet peas will survive this temporary but beautiful upstart.

Sweet peas and love-in-a-mist take over, March 27th, 2016

Our lemon tree enjoyed the showers as well, but I think this is carrying “fresh” a bit too far. Avert your eyes if necessary and move on to the next photo.

Rain kissed lemon tree using a gesture considered rude in many places

I popped the following photo on my Facebook page last week and asked friends to guess its true identity. If you didn’t know, it might be mistaken for an invading alien. In reality, it’s a recently undressed California poppy. They’re beautiful to the last, don’t you think?

Alien landing or a California poppy recently undressed?

Hmm, more ironic than funny

Okay, so the snail working its way across the sweet peas after a recent rain isn’t that funny. I’m trying to keep my sense of humour/humor though. Where there’s rain, there are snails. You take the good with the “oh no, snails!”

Acer shows off fall colors in early spring

The bright blue sky and the orange leaves remind me of fall, not spring, but here is the Acer setting wonderfully orange leaves. It makes me smile.

Snicker

Still not smiling? How about this pic of Mouse moving in for a nibble of grass? I smile whenever I see his little pink tongue.

Is the cat wearing flowers or are the flowers wearing the cat?

While we’re on the subject of Mouse, I didn’t even notice his head in the flowers until I downloaded the pics. Silly kitty,

Rock n Roll hands?

Last but far from least, doesn’t this remind you of Rock n Roll hands, or horns?

I hope I’ve left you with a smile.

Quotable

I have many problems in my life, but my lips don’t know that. They always smile. ~ Charlie Chaplin

Be someone else’s sunshine. Be the reason someone smiles today. ~ unkown

A warm smile is the universal language of kindness. ~ William Arthur Ward

March 29, 2016 by Born To Organize

Sleeping Under a Tree

It’s been years since I napped in public. It was much more common in my youth. I could fall asleep anywhere: curled up in a chair at the college student union, at the beach with friends or on a wide swath of lawn with a boring textbook close at hand.

The idea of sleeping under a tree seems idyllic, but in reality you get twigs in your hair and bugs in the wrong places. Unless of course you’re a cat.

An afternoon snooze on a warm spring day

Though her senses remain muddled, Slinky Malinki, my shiny black kitty is still with us. She found her way out the back door into the garden this weekend, and settled herself in a cool spot of green under the maple tree. She spends most of her time sleeping, but her appetite remains good. She grooms her coat to a lovely shine.

Slinky’s cozy little nest

She’s the grand dame of the house, keeping Lindy and Mouse in their place, even with her limited vision. If either one of them gets too close, she takes a random swing in their direction. They’ve learned to give her a wide berth, even though they are more than twice her size.

Mighty Mouse in the garden

Lindy keeping a respectful distance

Living with Slinky reminds me a lot of the toddler years. She wants in until she’s out; then she immediately wants back in. I close the door, leave the room and she starts howling to go out again. She walks out the back door, takes a few steps, and then she wants to come in. I can hear her howling at me now to open the door once again. I’m outwardly patient, but weary as well. She’ll be ready for another nap soon.

Nature’s pillow

We have a cat fountain indoors along with a small water bowl near Slinky’s favorite sleeping spot. No matter. She wants to go outside and drink from the cold water in the bowl on the steps. She relieves herself in the garden, even though she has a litter box. She uses that too…or the floor when the mood strikes. She’s officially crossed over into high-maintenance territory, leaving me feeling weary when the day is through.

Whoever said “dogs have owners, cats have staff” knew what they were talking about.

Yes, Slinky…I’ll be right there.

March 28, 2016 by Born To Organize

The Traveling Adventures of Gardenerd

Gardenerd joined me at our local post office for his last excursion in San Jose. We’ve had such a good time. As plush carrots go, he really has quite the personality.

He briefly considered auditioning for the part of a California Poppy, but alas it was time to hit the road.

To be [a poppy], or not to be, that is the question.

Gardenerd arrived in San Jose via Sarah the Gardener. He spent time in the gardens of Upper Hutt and Waiuku, New Zealand before traveling to the States. He’s now on his way to Des Allemande, Louisiana, a small community in the southern United States.

While here in San Jose, Gardenerd posed for the obligatory “I’ve just arrived and I’m happy to be out of my box” pics. Then I put him to work. He supervised the VegTrug planting bed assembly, then helped us celebrate the arrival of some much-needed rain.

Together we welcome Gardenerd

Gardenerd admires the garden

Gardenerd supervises the VegTrug assembly

Checking out the rain harvesting system

Will you look at that? Love-in-a-mist is growing everywhere

Yes, Gardenerd, those are California oranges

Gardenerd feeling just a bit out-of-place in the fairy garden

In between storms, Gardenerd came along on a walk through Martial Cottle Park. I plan to write more about this wonderful new place in a future post but in summary: Martial Cottle arrived in the valley in 1864 and farmed the land for over 150 years. The Cottle-Lester family resisted eager developers swooping in for years. At his death, following his mother’s wishes, the family transferred the remaining 287 acres to the state and county for development of a public park and urban farmland. They opened to the public in December of 2014.

No rules about carrots on leashes

Mary Ann introduced me to this park

The Martial Cottle homestead

Gardenerd plays on the playground

A carrot on a horse. You don’t see that every day

More cuteness with Mary Ann

David Tuttle poses with Gardenerd amid the Jacobs Farm carrots

I’ve walked there two or three times with my friend Mary Ann, and I’m eager to share this gem of a place with others.

At the end of his first week, Gardenerd traveled with us to beautiful Carmel-by-the-sea. Doesn’t he look rested? I think it’s that wonderful sea air.

He lounged in the room, considered a game of chess and enjoyed the beautiful gardens.

Cheek to cheek

A bold move

What do you think of Carmel so far, Gardenerd?

Resting our feet

Ah, this is the life

Alas, it was time for Gardenerd to move on to his next garden adventure. Safe travels, little buddy. I’m looking forward to seeing you on Twitter and Instagram.

Where Did He Go?

You can follow Gardenerd’s travels via Instagram or Twitter by using the hashtag #wheresgardenerd (just one ‘n’)

Additional photos on my Facebook Page Gardening Nirvana

My heartfelt thanks to Christy at Gardenerd.com for allowing us to host Gardenerd in San Jose, California.

March 26, 2016 by Born To Organize

Happy Easter

Spring in the fairy garden

Treasures from the garden

Pink cosmos with a sunshine center

For those who celebrate, Happy Easter.

March 22, 2016 by Born To Organize

Tilling the Soil, Tending my Soul: Planting a Summer Garden

Over the years, the arrival of spring usually means one thing: it’s time to plant a summer garden. Last year I skipped the garden entirely. Year four of the drought and mandatory water rationing put the kibosh on a summer garden. Instead of planting tomatoes, I finished sheet mulching the lawn in the back garden and let the rest of the grass die. What a summer, eh? It was disheartening.

This year is different. For starters, the lawn is gone. In its place: native plantings that will thrive throughout our hot, dry summers. Also in place this year is our newly installed rain catchment system. Harvesting rain water for our vegetable garden should see us through at least half the summer if not more. Mike is connecting a drip system to the tank so that we can water judiciously. I’m hoping it will last all summer.

All this is to say that I’m gardening guilt-free this season.

I’ve also nearly doubled my planting space using a space-efficient gardening box called a VegTrug Elevated Garden.

The only practical place for a vegetable garden in our yard is along the back of our house. Unfortunately, that same spot houses an electrical outlet, a low-voltage transformer and an irrigation manifold intake valve.

The “business end” of the garden

All of those unattractive components used to hide behind shrubs. Several years ago we removed the shrubs to make way for a vegetable garden. We added a pair of 4 x 4 elevated beds assembled from a kit, fitting them around the boring but necessary items that are part of the business end of the garden.

Planting Box One: Upper half, transplanted raspberry vines, nasturtiums, lower box, cosmos and nasturtiums

Edible Nasturtium

Planting Box Two: Heirloom tomatoes, three varieties, cosmos and nasturtiums

We added gravel to fill in the odd spaces.

When I grew pumpkins, the gravel provided space for the vines to grow, but otherwise it wasn’t any use for planting.

I spotted the VegTrug in one of my gardening catalogs and inspiration struck. I went out back and measured the distance between the two existing boxes, allowing for the immovable pipe protruding out of the ground.

Oh-my-gosh!!!

The longer of the two Trugs would not only fit, but would have the perfect amount of clearance off the ground and away from the house. I placed the order.

UPS left the box on our front deck while my husband was away on business and my son at school. I couldn’t get it to budge. I opened the box where it sat and carried the pieces through the house and out the back door.

Assembling the VegTrug

I watched a YouTube video ahead of time so I would be able to assemble it (mostly) myself. I sorted the pieces, doubled checked the parts and assembled the legs. No problem. The long planks were a bit unwieldy and they suggested a second person help with that part. In my impatience, I tried to do this on my own, and promptly dropped one of the boards on my little toe. Boy did that hurt. And before you ask, yes the foot with the recent surgery. I felt like a fool.

Later that afternoon, my son helped me with the larger pieces before it started raining. When Mike came back from Brazil at the end of the week, he helped me finish the assembly and move the planter into place.

I have to say, I am in love with this planting box. It’s elevated, making it easy to plant. The inverted triangle means that you use less soil. Deeper rooted plants go in the center where the soil is deep. I planted the shallow rooters along the sides.

Fish-eye view of garden boxes before placing the Veg Trug

Fish-eye view of garden with new VegTrug

It comes with a removable cover to keep the bugs out, while allowing water to flow through. The cover frame breaks apart into smaller pieces for easy storage when it’s not in use. They’ve thought of everything.

Not willing to take any chances, I wrapped the legs with copper tape. Sorry snails, you’ll have to look elsewhere for dinner.

Thanks to tips from Pauline and Sarah, both New Zealand gardeners, I’ve added nasturtiums to the mix this year. I had a vague notion of companion planting, but somehow never researched the pros and cons. I’ve just been lucky most years, other than snails of course, that the pests stayed away. A couple of seasons of nasty squash bugs sent me scrambling for an organic deterrent. Nasturtiums help keep the bad bugs in check.

If all grows well, it will be a summer filled with raspberries and strawberries, three varieties of heirloom tomatoes and delicious sweet basil. The nasturtiums are also edible, but I’ll let them grow and do the job of keeping nasty pests at bay. I planted the lower boxes with one of my new summer favorites. Cosmos grow like weeds, providing cut flowers all summer long.

Newly planted vegetable garden

Soil, tilled.

Soul, tended.

I am one happy gardener.

March 21, 2016 by Born To Organize

Life on the Spectrum: When the Universe Calls, You Pick Up

Many of you know that I have a grown son on the spectrum. You can read about our journey by following this link.

If you’re a regular reader or blogger you also know the amazing connections we foster around the world, and the tremendous support that flows from our blogging community.

On March 8th I received a private email from Pauline at The Contented Crafter.

Pauline had just read a post from her friend Sherri who blogs at A View From My Summer House. Sherri’s adult daughter is also on the spectrum. Moved by Sherri’s recent post, Pauline put me in touch with Sherri via her blog.

Here is Sherri’s story.

About a week later, Marlene at In Search of it All also sent me a private email, this time about an autistic child and his mother, struggling to keep her son Ben in school. The story is similar to ours in many ways, an uphill struggle of a mom trying to do the right thing for her child. Ironically, Marlene saw the story when another writer blogged the news of Ben’s plight.

Garrett Winter, a writer and an adult on the spectrum, shares the plight of Ben and his mom Tricia in this post Help Me Get Ben Back to School

And finally, here is Tricia’s heartfelt post.

I’ve reached out to both of these moms, and to Garrett as well. I’ve also donated to the GoFundMe campaign set up to cover some of the legal costs she is now facing, simply to get him the education he deserves. I know from personal experience that many of these school administrations are condescending, hostile and uncooperative, and at times violate the law by obstructing a child’s right to a public education. The fact that the family had to set up a fundraising page to raise money for legal help so her child can go back to school is infuriating.

Just last week my son’s former high school district invited me to speak to the board of directors at Campbell Union High School District. The executive director of special education put together a presentation on their program’s successes, and I was one of three guests invited to speak. Unlike our obstructive elementary school district, Campbell Union provided services and support to ease our son’s transition from a non-public school to a fully mainstreamed high school. He thrived because he got the right kind of support and because people cared and understood his needs while at the same time valuing his strengths. He is currently attending university.

Campbell’s model should be shared with other schools and programs. Funds should be available to help all children succeed. After all, our children are the future. When they do well in school, everybody wins.

Garrett, thank you for sharing Ben and Tricia’s story. Tricia, don’t give up. There are lots of people who understand and support you. Sherri, my heart goes out to you. Please know that people like Pauline, Marlene, Garrett and others you’ve yet to meet are pulling for you.

March 17, 2016 by Born To Organize

Organizing Everything: When Spring Fever Strikes

Nothing is safe when spring fever takes hold. I go into a cleaning frenzy. The men in the house are used to it by now. After all, I organize other people for a living. My family is not immune.

With my oldest son away at college, his room took a minimum of fuss. He’ll be home tomorrow for spring break, so I made a few adjustments to his room and that was that. I’m excited to have him home for a week.

My youngest son entered his teen years and forgot all about his tidy ways. We’ve tried to negotiate (keep my door closed, he says) but I still go in there to fetch laundry and to air out the house. Clutter makes me uncomfortable. I need to work on my boundaries and he needs to work on the tidy factor. We’re both a work in progress.

My husband usually dreads the annual closet sort, but this year was different. He recently lost almost twenty pounds, so he was happy to give away all the clothes that no longer fit. He looks and feels terrific. We’re on the same eating plan, but he’s lost almost twice the weight. Men. What a lucky metabolism.

My husband’s side of the closet

My side of the closet

Once I get going, I don’t want to stop. After sorting out the clothes in our shared closet, I got out the duster and the vacuum and cleaned the mysterious cobwebs at the top of the closet, and the shoe dust below.

When I say “shared closet” I should also add that Lindy likes to spend her big sleep of the day in our closet. I’m storing a scrap-booking cart for my sister in there. Within days Lindy claimed it as her own. Oh my goodness though, all that fur.

Here’s what I did. I folded a small, soft blanket to the size of the cart, then attached it at the top using a trouser hanger. It makes the spot even cozier, while helping contain the fur. It’s easy to wash and put back as well. For added measure, I hung an old vinyl suit cover, the kind that comes free with a man’s suit, on the other side to minimize the flying fluff.

Lindy’s napping spot (my side of the closet)

Lindy is wondering when she can have the closet back

I should probably vacuum in there more often, but there are five million things I’d rather do.

With the closets sorted, I moved on to my toiletries. I moved them into our bedroom to make more room for the boys in the hall bathroom they share.

My crafting area also needed some TLC. It’s amazing the disarray one creates from making a single project. It’s all about experimenting. I’ll take out my acrylic stamps, then the stamp pads, paper and more paper, scissors, adhesive and on it goes. When I’m done, the piles in my limited space have accumulated.

Craft Closet: Organized ribbon and Washi tape

Crafting tools and supplies

Years ago I converted the small closet in our home office into a personal crafting area, but it didn’t last long. Believe it or not, the place where I once sat now houses the cat’s litter box.

Please don’t judge.

Organizing the cat box

It’s a long story, but the abbreviated version is this: Slinky moved into the house but was afraid of all the other cats. This was the only place to put an out-of-the-way litter box. Soon the other two cats adopted this litter box, too. They no longer used the boxes in the bathrooms. I prefer cleaning one box over three, but I do miss the leg room. The cats run this place.

It feels great having the closets sorted, along with my crafting materials. I continue to store my crafting materials in the top half of the closet, while the kitty facilities remain below.

Hiding the cat box

It’s all about compromise, right?

I’ve been in a cleaning frenzy outdoors as we get things ready for spring planting. I’ll save those details for another post.

March 16, 2016 by Born To Organize

Shamrocks in the Fairy Garden, Green Books in the Library

St. Patrick’s Day brings out my inner child. We loved wearing green to school when we were kids and apparently I’ve never outgrown the tradition. Green is my favorite color, so finding the right thing to wear is easy-breezy.

I’m also having fun making Leprechaun mischief in the fairy garden. It’s hard to resist.

Those mischievous Leprechauns have tossed a net over the fairy house

A pot of gold. Is there a rainbow nearby?

fairy garden fairies on St. Patrick's day

Charming fairies enjoy the shade. They were a gift from my friend Kristi.

Succulents tend to like dry conditions, but they sure look green after the rain.

Since joining a Facebook group for Little Free Library stewards, I’ve found myself reinvigorated. Stewards in the group have wonderful ideas, among them setting up themes for their library.

I stocked the library with red-colored books for Valentine’s Day, and offered pink and red bookmarks and stickers.

Last week we celebrated Dr. Seuss’s birthday, which was a huge hit. When I returned from our weekend away, all but one book found its way into a pair of small hands. One of my neighbors stopped by to tell me that his granddaughter was jumping up and down with excitement over one of the Seuss books. That made my day.

Celebrating Dr. Seuss, born March 2nd

If you don’t know about the Little Free Library movement you can read about it on their site. We opened our LFL two years ago. It continues to receive a warm welcome from the community

This week, in honor of St. Patrick’s Day and approaching s*p*r*i*n*g, all the books are green, or green themed. books about gardening, fairy gardening, herb gardening…you get the picture. Once again, stickers and green bookmarks to entice small ones to the library. It’s such good fun.

Little Free Library decked out in green

I’ve been a reader my whole life. As girls we loved our trips to the local library. I came home with the maximum books allowed, devoured all of them, then headed back for more. Having a library card felt special. When my boys came along, reading was a big part of our day. Having this LFL at the curb is a great way to build community around reading and a source of daily joy.

What do you know?

The Little Free Library mission is to:

promote literacy and the love of reading by building free book exchanges worldwide and build a sense of community as we share skills, creativity and wisdom across generations.

The original goal: To build 2,510 Little Free Libraries—as many as Andrew Carnegie—and keep going.

As of January 2016, there are over 36,000 registered Little Free Library book exchanges in all 50 U.S. states and over 70 countries around the world.

Little Free Library: Take a Book, Return a Book

March 15, 2016 by Born To Organize

Saving the Rain for a Hot Summer Day

San Jose summers are hot and dry. Even without the drought, rainfall plunges by April and remains mostly dry through September. When we’re not in a drought, we average 15 inches (38 cm) of rain a year, half of the US average.

13.5 inches (34 cm) of that rain falls between November and April. The following six months averages a *total* of an inch and a half or about four centimeters.

When you hear me squeal with delight at the end of this short video, you’ll understand why. We’re back to doing what our ancestors did: saving rain water.

A local company called Rainsavers installed a rain catchment system along the side of our house. The tanks are just around the corner from my vegetable garden.

Lot sizes are small in Silicon Valley, so big tanks aren’t feasible. We looked into gray water systems, but they have limitations. Further, they are largely promoted for watering a lawn which we no longer have, or other non-edible plants. A friend showed me her patio cisterns, and described how they worked. The pair of cisterns keep her vegetable garden watered all summer. In the end we opted for Bushman Slimline tanks. They have a small footprint so worked well in our narrow side-yard. They connected three tanks, allowing us to collect and store 390 gallons (1,476 liters) of rainwater.

Rain Catchment System: view approaching side-yard, vines camouflage tanks, tanks installed along side of house, Brad from Rainsavers

Nearly two years after my water audit, and several stops and starts later, Rainsavers installed our new system. Within two weeks, we had a series of storms. One good soaking filled all three tanks to capacity.

The other cool thing about these tanks is the overflow. Most rainwater becomes run-off, further jeopardizing our diminishing ground water. Any overflow from these tanks helps replenish the county aquifers instead.

Here’s the timeline for reducing our outdoor water usage:

June, 2013: Removed lawn in sidewalk strip, replaced with gravel and raised planting bed

May, 2014: San Jose Water Company Audit

December, 2014: Sheet mulch half of the lawn in the back garden

May, 2015: The Fairy Garden Goes Native

Summer, 2015: We stop watering the lawn

November, 2015: The last of the lawn is history. California natives move in.

February, 2016: Rain water catchment system installed.

March 14, 2016 by Born To Organize

A Restorative Weekend at Carmel-by-the-Sea

We’ve just returned from a relaxing and restorative weekend in Carmel-by-the-Sea. Getting away like this is rare for us. We’ve focused on raising our boys who are now teens. Once a year we do an overnight stay at a local hotel for our anniversary, but otherwise we’re close to home. With our oldest son away at college and the younger one away for the weekend with friends, we pounced on the opportunity to get away.

Enjoying the weekend with my sweetie. On the coast, enjoying an iced tea at Basil’s, posing with gardenerd, wrapped up against the wind

The city website describes Carmel as

A city in the forest. A one-mile long pure white sandy beach.
A cultural mecca for the performing and visual arts. Superb dining and shopping experiences. A storybook setting!

We stayed at La Playa Carmel, a boutique hotel originally built as a mansion by an artist as a gift to his wife. Most of the talented artists I know can only dream of making that kind of money.

When I shared holiday photos on Facebook, I learned that one of my friends honeymooned there 35 years ago. Another couple we know married at La Playa Carmel. I’m tickled to no end by this. Mike made all the arrangements, so I had no idea that we were staying at this charming place.

[Click on individual photos in the gallery to enlarge]

Mike at the entrance to our hotel

One of many seating areas at the hotel

Garden view

Having a chat with gardenerd

Wisteria on the veranda

Seagull waiting for a handout

View from the patio bar

We enjoyed lunch and dinner in the historic city center, visited the cute little shops, and admired the beautiful landscape nestled among the Monterey Pines. Flowers bloomed in front of every home and shop in the area. It’s a gardener’s dream.

#gardenerd in repose

Garden near our hotel

Garden along the coast

Trumpet flowers

Charming garden entrance

Succulents at the curb

Succulent closeup

Charming kitty pottery

More succulents

Carved gnome

Gardens at the coast

Sunday we awoke to a musical downpour. It cleared after breakfast, allowing us to go for a long walk. As we walked the beach trail we imagined ourselves living in one of the beach-side homes to our left as the waves crashed against the rocks to our right. They build these homes for maximum viewing of the sea. The average list price of a home in Carmel is north of $3 million dollars US. Gulp. It’s fun to dream, though, right?