February 14, 2014 by Born To Organize

My Red Hot Garden

“Jo had learned that hearts, like flowers, cannot be rudely handled, but must open naturally…”

― Louisa May Alcott, Little Women

“The moment you have in your heart this extraordinary thing called love and feel the depth, the delight, the ecstasy of it, you will discover that for you the world is transformed.”

-J. Krishnamurti

“There are many things in life that will catch your eye, but only a few will catch your heart…pursue those.” – Michael Nolan

“Don’t be reckless with other people’s hearts; don’t put up with those that are reckless with yours.” – Mary Schmich

“Have a strong mind and a soft heart.” – Anthony J. D’Angelo

Lindy-Lu

Warm cat, happy heart. – Alys Milner

February 13, 2014 by Born To Organize

Love Shack

What do you think?

♫ ♪Love Shack, that’s where it’s at) ♫

It’s my desk-top, love shack. I’ve been smiling and humming the song all week.

The lovely fairies on Quinto Way left a tiny treasure on my doorstep last October. It sat on my desk for a while before I knocked it to the floor and broke it. [Insert sad face here].

Thankfully it was a clean break. Mike used his magic glue and now the mushroom looks as good as new. Today it stars in the Love Shack debut. Isn’t it adorable? Those Quinto Way fairies are the best.

This sweet card came with the pink mushroom

Build it and They Will Come

I started with an old eyeglass case. I lined the inside with bits of leftover crafting grass and moss then added a tiny silver mirror. The mushroom rests on a wooden block once intended for a rubber stamp. It needed some extra height.

I cozied up the place with a shiny red heart from my friend Bunny. A piece of coral adds interest. The coral has been showing up in various places around the house for years, but no one knows where it came from. Perhaps a fairy left it on her journey.

The X.O.X.O banner was a gift last year from the crafty goddess of goodness at Boomdeeada. It too travels around the house and brings cheer wherever it goes.

Love Shack Collage

Quality control, aka Mouse the ‘neighbor’s kitty’ did an up-close inspection. All systems go.

I love the B-52’s and enjoyed seeing them in concert many years ago. I hope you enjoy this upbeat, nostalgic video performance as much as I do. ♥

February 10, 2014 by Born To Organize

Bloglovin’ and that Strange Post

I signed up for bloglovin on Sunday. It’s a simple and uncluttered way to follow all the blogs that I love. WordPress has a reader, but it only works for WordPress blogs. Other platforms, like Blogger, BlogHer, TypePad, etc. show up in different places, via email or in an RSS reader.

In order to “claim my blog”, I had to send a short post with code, hence the strange post.

Here is the scoop from the bloglovin site:

Why did you build bloglovin’?

We started building websites in a garage in Täby, Sweden, and before we started bloglovin´, we were working on our second failed web project: a fashion-community. To get feedback on that idea, we got help from three fashion-bloggers — one of them was Carolina Engman. Somewhere between discussions and coffee breaks, she checked if any of her favorite blogs had updated. So she picked up a laptop and started typing in their web-addresses. A bunch of new windows flew up in her web-browser. Some blogs were updated and others weren’t. It. Was. Chaos.

Here was an opportunity for improvement. Wouldn’t it be sweet if you had one site that notified you every time one of your favorite bloggers had written something new?

We scrapped the fashion-community and started over from scratch. Two weeks later, we had our first, somewhat rusty, version of bloglovin´ up and running. One week later, over 1000 people had signed up.

Sure, there were other blog readers out there, but they were technical, boring, and cluttered with features. We wanted to build something for the rest of us. For everyone who doesn’t care about the technology behind it. For everyone who just wants things to work.

Check it out when you have the time. It was quick and easy to set up. It’s also free! Happy reading.

February 9, 2014 by Born To Organize

Bloglovin

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February 7, 2014 by Born To Organize

Fairy Garden Valentine

Cake and flowers await

“Brick Wall” ribbon

Tiny fountain made from small colored pebbles and candle holders

Darling Deer from Boomdee

While pulling weeds in the garden, I bent my ear to the earth. I heard the faintest whisper. Garden fairy voices carry with the wind. You have to listen intently to hear what they are saying.

“We love Valentine’s Day,” they breathed.

You don’t have to tell me twice. I got to work on the fairy garden with little time to spare. The day of whimsy is in one week. February 14th is also a full snow moon so I’m expecting magical happenings in the world of imagination.

I’ve dedicated one of my kitchen drawers to fairy garden building materials. To the uneducated eye, it looks like a drawer full of junk. Look again and you’ll see tiny fencing material, tables and chairs, a small fountain and a dance floor. Magical trees, hearts and flowers live in that drawer, too. When time and inspiration strike, I forage through plastic lids, discarded wrappers and pieces of ribbon and then I get to work.

I challenge myself to use materials on hand, pulling together a bit of this and that. I’m never sure how things will turn out, but always have a great time with the process.

Fairy’s eye view

Fairy Garden Frivolity

I’ve dedicated a page on my blog to fairy gardens. You can see seasonal versions by clicking here.

Valentine’s Day Giveaway

There is still time to enter the Valentine’s Day Giveway. Simply follow this link and leave a comment there including the word ENTER. Deadline is midnight Sunday, February 9th.

Valentine’s Day Giveaway

February 6, 2014 by Born To Organize

There Goes the Lawn

Jessica at ‘Growing Up in the Garden’ did a beautiful job conveying much of what I feel about maintaining a lawn in semi-arid California. Enjoy!

Growing Up in the Garden

I have always secretly, or not so secretly, wanted to do away with the lawn in our backyard. This is not to say I have not enjoyed it over the years. It has served as a good picnic location, a runway for leaping over sprinklers, and as a soft place to land while practicing cartwheels. But, alas, it is so hard to justify in Southern California’s semi-arid climate. Now, with the a severe drought looming, it seems almost absurd.

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February 4, 2014 by Born To Organize

Rain Glorious Rain

I woke up to a bracing shower Saturday morning, when Lindy knocked over my water-glass. She’s normally nimble-footed, but that particular trip across my nightstand lead to an invigorating soak. The water doused my pillow, the bed sheets and of course me.

Sunday morning I woke up to the real deal: rain dropping softly on our parched state. It didn’t last long, but was wonderful nonetheless. Everything above and below looks refreshed. The sky seems brighter, the garden greener and the nearby hills are visible once again. February is off to a great start.

View from the deck

Rain is in the forecast over the next two days. Gathering clouds outside my window are a welcome view.

Cloudy skies, happy birds

The Little Free Library weathered its first storm. Books are coming and going, but staying nice and dry behind closed doors.

Little Free Library

What’s the weather up to in your neck of the woods?

My favorite weather is bird-chirping weather. ~Terri Guillemets

January 29, 2014 by Born To Organize

Drizzle, Fizzle

Our ‘chance of rain’ was a tiny drizzle in the middle of the night. San Jose saw 0.01″ in the past 24 hours. No puddle splashing for me today.

On the bright side, the garden looks refreshed. The fog, mist and drizzle freshened up the foliage so that’s something.

Here’s what I saw on my morning rounds.

I mentioned a random bulb growing out of the bottom of the vegetable bed last week. The lovely Narcissus made her debut yesterday.

Narcissus

I need to prune this four-in-one fruit tree but I’ve been putting it off. It’s grown tall so I need a ladder. Two years ago I fell off the ladder trying to cover the tree with netting, and I’ve been nervous about it ever since.

Raindrops on tree buds

I see little blueberry buds. Sweet!

Blueberry buds

Succulents need very little water. I haven’t watered these plants in months.

Flowering succulent

Silver drops

Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass [as if], it’s about learning to dance in the rain. Vivian Greene

January 28, 2014 by Born To Organize

Cloudy with a Chance

chance of rain

I’m trying not to get my hopes up too high, but I’m a hopeful person by nature. The local paper says “Chance of Rain” over the next three days. It’s cooler today; breezy too with clouds coming and going. It feels like rain for the first time in weeks. I’m ready!

Here are the current stats for San Jose:

Rainfall month to date: 0.01″
Normal month to date: 2.63″
Season to date: 1:57″
Normal season to date: 7.64″

According to International Business Times:

California is facing a severe water crisis, and experts fear it could get worse. Climatologists report that the 2013-2014 rainfall season is well on its way to becoming California’s driest period in more than 400 years. The country’s most populous state is entering its third year of record-low rainfall, and now scientists are raising the alarm that “megadroughts,” which haven’t been seen in hundreds of years, could be just around the corner.

By all accounts, the weather is off kilter around the globe. We’re desperate for rain, while others have too much. The east coast has record lows, the Canadian prairies have an early and heavy winter and New Zealand is only now seeing true summer days.

Is this the new normal?

Meanwhile, please enjoy the talented Gene Kelly, singing and dancing in the rain in one of my favorite movie scenes of all times.

January 27, 2014 by Born To Organize

Tracking Hummingbirds

Hummingbird in winter

About three months ago, I decided to take part in a survey that tracks global hummingbird migration. The tricky part was recording the date two weeks after the last siting. The collected data helps researchers around the world better understand and protect hummingbirds. I’m all for that.

Guess what?

The hummers never left. In late fall we had an early and unusual frost lasting five days. The birds remained. Trees dropped leaves and still the birds remained. I worried that they were cold.

Then a few weeks ago I noticed our cat Lindy with her eyes glued to the sliding glass door. She had an eye-level show of a hummingbird splashing around in the frigid fountain outside. Stunned, I remained with her, eyes transfixed, until the little bather flew away. I missed the photo-op, but enjoyed the show. I had a good laugh at myself for worrying that they were too cold.

In late March, Mike and I plan to attend a workshop on Hummingbirds through the Los Gatos Birdwatcher. It’s a two-hour class, with a two-hour field trip the following weekend. I can’t wait. It will be fun to learn more about the birds specific to our area. I’m looking forward to the class and to sharing what I learn with you.

You can read about hummingbird migration at World of Hummingbirds.
The Los Gatos Birdwatcher is one of my favorite shops. They also offer workshops and services.

On a sadder note, I planned to link to the Phoebe Allen webcam in Southern California. Phoebe’s been nesting in a rose-bush several times a year since 2007. Last winter, several of us had our eyes glued to the nest as she went about the business of raising chicks. It was incredible. Phoebe laid a brood in late December, but disappeared on January 8th. A bird rehabilitater is raising the chicks till they fledge.