January 21, 2014 by Born To Organize

Garden Pop-ups

Sure *I* was late planting this year’s bulbs, but nature is always on time. Bulbs from last season (and the season before!) are popping up all over the garden.

Life on deck

Sometimes I’ll forget that a bulb is resting at the bottom of a pot, and I’ll dump the dirt into a planter. This explains the random placement of one of the bulbs I see peeking out from the center of the vegetable beds. I love nature’s optimism.

Mystery bulbs in the Veggie garden

There are signs of tulips along the rock wall, but there are also signs of the squirrels eating the greens. I hope they lose interest soon, or that will be the end of them.

Tulips, ever optimistic

The hyacinths are up and looking pretty. It looks like the onion-scented Allium are coming back from last year, along with (I think) a single freesia.

Emerging hyacinth

Freesia?

Can you smell it?

New Life for your Old Calendar

Several of you commented that you save your wall calendars from year to year. Here are a few more ideas for turning your beautiful calendar pages into something new. For more info, visit Garden Calendar Lives Another Day.

Re-purposed Calendar: postcard, covered box, gift tags and stickers, envelopes, gift card holder, fairy garden bunting, drawer liner, box dividers, napkin rings

January 20, 2014 by Born To Organize

Old Calendar, New Life

Last year Susan Golden of the Sereno Group, sent us a beautiful calendar depicting local places of interest. Instead of photographs, the locations are watercolors by artist Lou Ann Styles. Susan sold us our home almost 18 years ago and we haven’t moved since.

Artful pages by Artist Lou Ann Styles

I like to re-purpose my wall calendars each year into something useful. They’re always beautiful works of art on lovely paper. It seems a shame to toss them into a recycling bin.
This year I turned my calendar pages into bookmarks for the Little Free Library. The natural settings and lovely detail worked well, even when cut into pieces and folded in half.

From calendar page to book marks

Bookmarks using the center of the page

Bookmarks using the two edges of the page

I saved one of the pages to make an envelope. I used the back cover of the calendar with Susan’s picture to make her a special bookmark. I hope she likes it.

It’s fun thinking of ways to use an old calendar. I’ve made them into envelopes, bookmarks, gift tags, gift card holders and postcards. Last year I recovered a small box using several pages. It sits on my desk on holds note cards and scratch paper.

Do you hang on to old calendars because they are too pretty to throw out?

Bookmark and envelope

Front side of Susan’s bookmark

January 17, 2014 by Born To Organize

Sunbathing in January

Cats loathe the rain. Conversely, they love the sun. Though our freakishly warm temps are anything *but* normal, they’re okay with it. They’ve been sunbathing in the garden and generally loving life.

Winter shadows, summer temps

Beijing faces the sun

Squirrels have hunkered down in other parts of the country. Not around here. This little fella is soaking up some rays from the comfort of a neighboring pine tree. I love the way he drapes his tail across his back for extra warmth.

Catching some rays

Apparently the spinner of this web is on walkabout. All that sun went to her head. Of course I didn’t linger long in-case she tapped me on the shoulder to prove me otherwise.

I wonder where she is?

What do cats, squirrels and spiders have in common?

Stealth mode. They can hold completely still, then move at lightening speed when the mood (or the meal) strikes. You can drop that little piece of trivia at your next cocktail party.

We’ve been so long without rain now that even the rain-haters are talking about it. Meanwhile, critters everywhere are stocking up on Vitamin D.

Have a terrific weekend. Wishing you seasonally appropriate weather in your special place in the world.

January 16, 2014 by Born To Organize

Kitchen Window

Stunning Schlumbergera

When we remodeled our kitchen nearly a decade ago, we enlarged the kitchen window. Not only is it wider and taller, it’s also deeper. I’ve kept things growing there ever since. It’s the perfect spot for plants, with indirect light, kitchen humidity and absolutely no excuse to forget to water the plants.

Trio of plants on the kitchen windowsill

Many of my houseplants outgrew their small pots and no longer fit in the window. These Christmas Cactus (Schlumbergera cultivar) are another story. They like cramped roots and require very little care. The plant in the center is new, but the plant on the right is 17 years old. I gave it to my husband for Christmas, one year. He’s always been a fan of these pretty plants. The plant on the left side of the window was a house-warming gift and is now ten.

Soft pink bud

I think it’s finally time to re-pot. I’ve been searching for just the right vessel but without much luck. The pots I like are either too small, too large, missing a hole in the bottom, etc. You know the drill.

I decided to buy three clay pots and try my hand at decoupage. Last year I added gold leaf to my outdoor clay pots with pleasing results. It was also a lot of fun.

I saved the ‘wrapper’ from a pair of hydrangea with this project in mind. It has a pretty, watercolor affect and it’s durable. In fact, the wrapper is made from rock. Pretty cool, eh?

Like a lot of things I want to do, but haven’t tried before, I’ve been procrastinating. Now it’s time to get to it. I hope they turn out well.

Do you procrastinate when you’re afraid to try something new?

January 15, 2014 by Born To Organize

Serendipity: My Word of the Year

Mixed-media

Some people choose a word for the year instead of making resolutions. I like the idea, but didn’t really plan to choose one of my own. Instead, I think a word chose me: serendipity. I’ve been wading through the Carl Jung philosophical discussion of synchronicity which lead me to the more accurate idea of serendipity: a happy accident.

Yesterday I took a two-hour mixed media class at a local studio, A Work of Heart. We started with three small canvases, and three tag-board hearts. We applied a thick, clay-like medium to each canvas, then used templates to make impressions in the medium before it dried. The template I used is reminiscent of a beehive.

While we waited for it to dry, we got to choose a page from sheets of music, children’s books, or a dictionary. She had stacks of them. I reached for a children’s book, and quickly came upon Alice in Wonderland. Not only was this a childhood nickname, but I still have a few of the beloved pages from my copy of the book, a gift from my grandfather in England. It’s one of only a handful of possessions we brought from Canada.

Serendipity!

The class continued and it was great fun. We mixed our own secondary colors using three primaries, then painted over the medium. We cut the hearts from our chosen pages, in my case Queen Alice. We spent a joyful two hours, layering, painting and stamping till we had the desired effect. When it was time to add the final detail, a couple of words or a quote on each page, I went back to Alice. There, on the second page, was the following quote: “Where do you pick the flower?” “In a garden or in the hedges?”

Serendipity!

In other words, I made a work of art at A Work of Heart using pages from Alice in Wonderland, managing to find a garden quote in the last few minutes of class.

Yep…serendipity!

Oh and one more thing: when I looked up the term synchronicity, Wikipedia cited a passage from (you guessed it) Alice. Here’s the passage:

One of Jung’s favorite quotes on synchronicity was from Through the Looking-Glass by Lewis Carroll, in which the White Queen says to Alice: “It’s a poor sort of memory that only works backwards”.

‘The rule is, jam to-morrow and jam yesterday – but never jam to-day.’

‘It MUST come sometimes to “jam to-day,”‘ Alice objected.

‘No, it can’t,’ said the Queen. ‘It’s jam every OTHER day: to-day isn’t any OTHER day, you know.’

‘I don’t understand you,’ said Alice. ‘It’s dreadfully confusing!’

‘That’s the effect of living backwards,’ the Queen said kindly: ‘it always makes one a little giddy at first–‘

‘Living backwards!’ Alice repeated in great astonishment. ‘I never heard of such a thing!’

‘–but there’s one great advantage in it, that one’s memory works both ways.’

‘I’m sure MINE only works one way,’ Alice remarked. ‘I can’t remember things before they happen.’

‘It’s a poor sort of memory that only works backwards,’ the Queen remarked.

Queen Alice

Where do you pick the flower?

In a garden,….

…or in the hedges?

Contact Form

I love the blogosphere grapevine, but figured it was time to add a contact form so folks could get in touch. Comments are always welcome, but if you’re looking for a private way to get in touch this is the ticket.

You can add a contact form to a post or create one as a static page. Readers can contact you without the need to publish your email address. My new contact form is in the pages tab, above. If you want to create one for your own blog, here is a quick and easy tutorial from WordPress.

Queen Alice

January 14, 2014 by Born To Organize

Little Free Library: Books for Everyone

The base of the library is ready for plants

The Little Free Library is a hit. The outpouring of support makes my heart sing. I received a number of emails from neighbors and friends promising books and offering support. Several of my friends shared my blog post on Facebook. I’m planning a dedication ceremony as well so stay tuned for details.

I received the following email from a dear friend:

I just adore you new free book library and wanted to add four of my favorite mystery authors. I have these paperback books coming straight to you from Amazon. Please add in honor of our friendship and my aunt Vicki who as you know was a reading specialist. Believe it or not, it was 5 years ago in December we lost her. I miss her as much today as then but she is always in my heart/thoughts and she would be so proud of her great-nephew. Jackson won the school award for reading the most books last year. Kristi

Wow! In addition to being a great friend, Kristi got me hooked on two fun authors, Sue Grafton (great mysteries) and Janet Evanovich (the laugh out loud adventures of a bounty hunter in New Jersey).

New this week:

One for the Money

A is For Alibi

No Nest for the Wicket

Keepsake Crimes

Once the library was official, I found myself scrutinizing everyone who walked by. Would they stop? Would they look? Would they take a book? It didn’t take long for a few of the children’s books to move. One afternoon a woman pulled into my driveway (picture me trying hard not to stare) and her son got out and collected a book. Mortified, my teenage son begged me not to stare or worse, take a picture. Who me???? Of course I would never take a photo of someone without permission, but it was exciting to watch it unfold (the book borrowing, not my son’s angst). I remember my teenage years. So many things embarrassed me so I make an extra effort to stay aware of his emotional discomfort.

Ways to get involved

One of the questions last week was: Is there an effort to see these in some of the poorer areas?

Yes! There are a number of initiatives in the works to spread the love of reading worldwide, especially in low-income and impoverished areas. Here are a few:

Africa: Send a beautifully designed Little Free Library and more than $1,000 worth of books to Africa! Your contribution supports construction, decoration, registration, signage and enough books to help an entire village in need.

Small Towns: A small town or neighborhood near you may not have a public library of its own. One Little Free Library can bring the joy of reading to children, older adults or a whole community. Your donation will help build, deliver, install and stock one or more Little Libraries with quality books.

India: Our nonprofit partner in India is already at work using beautiful books and Little Free Libraries to inspire poor kids to stay in school and learn to earn a living. Children who thought it wasn’t even possible to dream of attending school will have the chance to learn language, geography, science, math, health and business skills. Each $500 sponsors a Library and hundreds of books that can last for at least three years. For both donors and receivers, this program can transform lives.

Minneapolis Public Schools: As many as 100 Little Free Libraries will be installed by and for neighborhood kids in a new program created with Minneapolis Public Schools. More than 20 have already been committed. The goal is to interest children who have not yet learned the pleasure and value of books. Thousands of books have been offered by Coffee House Press, Reach a Child and others. Each Library starts with more than $500 of books.

You can read details about the above initiatives and more at Little Free Library.Org

Back of the library, reclaimed fencing

January 13, 2014 by Born To Organize

Narcissus and Freesia

Bulb Packets

Hopefully I’m not too late. The cliché “nothing ventured, nothing gained” is at work in my garden.

Today I planted nearly 75 bulbs, 50 Yellow Trumpet Narcissus and 24 Single Mix Freesia. The preferred planting time is November through December. We’re mid-way through January so I’m a teeny bit behind schedule. No matter. They’re in the ground now, a nice six inches below soil level. All these years of gardening and I’m still amazed that you can bury a bulb that deep. Their internal programming tells them when to pop up and where. If you plant one upside down, they’ll simple make a u-turn and grow up towards the sun anyway.

The narcissus will put on a show early to mid spring. They’re planted broadcast style in the curb garden. All that new, rich soil made quick work of the planting. It was nice to see earth worms in the mix too, always a plus. As a bonus, I unearthed my afternoon snack: half a dozen carrots that I missed harvesting last week.

The Freesia are early summer bloomers. I planted them in a curved row in the small triangle garden I created last year. The mix includes white, yellow, red, pink and purple flowers.

Rain

San Jose received a ‘trace’ of rain last week. It was enough to clear the awful air we’ve had, but nothing more. We’ve had 27 spare the air days this season days thanks to fires, illegal wood burning and lack of rain. Our five-day forecast calls for sunny skies and high temps. By Thursday, temps will be up to 72 degrees F (22 degrees C). January is typically our coolest month with an average of 58 degrees. I enjoy beautiful days as much as the next person, but it feels so strange to have winter skies, spring temps and summer ‘rain’.

Little Free Library

The Little Free Library is up and running a week now. Check back tomorrow for an update. I hope life is good in your corner of the world.

January 10, 2014 by Born To Organize

When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Get Sewing

Costume Design by Deborah Slate
I spent 40 hours sewing this costume

Wedding and birthday anniversaries are fun. When it’s the anniversary of a death, clouds descend. My mom passed three days after Christmas in 2008, so in addition to my usual seasonal blahs, feelings of loss prevail.

This year, I spent the day sewing, something my mom taught me as a girl. I remember the moment clearly, though I was only six. It started at school.

During arts and crafts time, they gave us sewing cards, cardboard pictures punched with holes and a shoe lace. We were to thread the lace in and out of the holes to frame the picture. Though mesmerized, I was also annoyed that I had to take it apart when done. I went home and asked my mom if I could sew.

She found the largest needle she had and an old sock. I sat by her knee on the floor, cutting the sock into shapes and then sewing them together. I completely lost myself in the activity.

I made a lot of my clothes in high school, and sewed for friends as well. I attended community college where I got an associate degree in fashion merchandising, taking classes in fine sewing and design. From there I transferred to San Jose State where I studied costume design, graduating with a BS in theater. I worked as a ‘stitcher’ at San Jose Repertory Theater, my first professional experience. I also spent three summers doing summer stock in Santa Rosa, working as an assistant cutter and later cutter for summer shows.

Summer Stock Theater

Making a living in the arts is hard work. I admire my friends that stuck with it, many of them working in academia to make ends meet. I drifted into different things, when the challenge of always looking for that next job, contract or summer gig started to wear on me. I miss it. You meet incredibly talented and creative people in theater, and you meet prima donnas and sociopaths as well. Everyone’s welcome. No judgment.

These days I sew for myself once a year at Halloween. It’s a wonderfully creative outlet. Whenever I haul out my machine, I wonder why I don’t find the time to do it more often.

During my day of sewing, I repaired a dress for my sister. Sharon is also a good seamstress, but her MS makes sewing a challenge these days. I did a bit of mending for my son, then learned how to use the overlock stitch on my machine. Oh happy day!

Mended seams

Two summers ago I made a slip cover for my garden swing. I piped most of the edges, but the two side panels were simply pinked (with my mom’s pinking shears). The loose weave of the fabric didn’t hold up in the wash, unfortunately, so the pinked edges frayed. I trimmed the edges even, then went to town with the over lock stitch. Be still my heart: it worked! I laundered the cover and put it away for the season. For some reason that really made me happy.

Over-locked seams

Garden swing cover

Last on the list for my sewing day: a pillow. My friend Melanie had a beloved canvas bag from her summer camp days. Her well-loved bag sported torn seams and a few holes, but it had great sentimental value. I offered to turn it into a pillow.

I found the perfect trim at my local craft store to add a bit of texture. Within no time the bag transformed.

Camp Seafarer pillow

The day was cathartic. I sewed for myself, my family and my friends and I sewed for the memory of mom. I used her pinking shears that day too, and believe it or not, a spool of black thread that once lived in her sewing box.

As I put all this into words, I wonder if I’ve hit upon an annual tradition.

What helps you get through a ‘loaded’ anniversary?

January 9, 2014 by Born To Organize

Convergence

Convergence: the act, condition, quality or fact of converging.

Cyclamen’s near the Hyatt Hotel, San Francisco

It’s what came to mind when I clicked on Julia’s Blog, Defeat Despair last week.

In late December our family ventured to San Francisco in what could best be described as a bust. Mike had the week off and wanted to go somewhere with our boys. We rode the train, then a trolley followed by a long walk, only to find a line wrapped around the building of the site we had come to see: the renovated Exploratorium.

It was a big let down, though not unexpected when you live in a large, metropolitan area. Whatever you thought to do, it seems thousands of others had the same idea.

As we were leaving the City, we stopped in to see the holiday decorations on display at the Hyatt Regency, then exited into a courtyard filled with cyclamen. I took several pictures before we headed home, and planned to blog about them the following week.

Cyclamen up close

San Francisco Cyclamen

When I clicked on Julia’s blog I felt that odd sense of deja vu. Her post “Actually See” featured her cyclamen photo, taken a decade earlier in the same neighborhood of San Francisco. Convergence. Julia lives in another state. We connected through a fellow blogger living in Canada. Yet here she was posting cyclamens from 2004 that seem to mirror my own the week before.

Convergence.

Have you had a similar experience?

January 8, 2014 by Born To Organize

Roasted Vegetables: Savory and Sweet

Beta-Carotene.

It’s what’s for dinner.

The last of the carrots

More specifically, carrots, the last of them from the winter garden.

Next year I’ll plant quite a bit more, remembering to divide them, of course. It’s been so much fun.

Mike whipped up a vegetable roast, using the carrots along with new potatoes, parsnips, onions, green peppers and tofu from the market. It’s a nice, vegan/vegetarian dish for cold days. It’s warm and filling and easy to make.

Vegetable Roast

I’m spoiled rotten living with a man who likes to cook. Mom was a great cook, too, but this apple fell far from the tree, rolled down the sidewalk and into the woods. I can produce a meal under duress (and I cook for my boys when he travels) but most of the time I would rather be doing something else.

That said, I love to eat! Do you like to cook?