October 27, 2015 by Born To Organize

Decorating for Halloween

This is my favorite time of year to decorate. It’s fun cobbling things together, letting my creative juices flow.

My 15-year-old son also loves to decorate using over-sized lawn inflatables. Between the two of us, we draw lots of passersby, though with the under five set, my son is the reigning champ.

My friend Marcia poses with the dragon

That’s Boomdee on her recent visit, checking out the dragon after dark.

Our home office and kitchen both face the street, so part of the fun for me is watching others enjoy the decorations. Neighbors stop to comment and occasionally pose for pictures with the giant cat or dragon. My next door neighbor runs a daycare, so those children run and play between the inflatables in the late afternoon as they wait for their parents.

Occasionally the inflatables annoy one or two dogs, which makes me smile. It’s hard to imagine what must go through the dog’s head when he sees a towering dragon suddenly appear on his daily walk. Lots of barking ensues, but by Halloween, even the dogs have sorted out real from pretend. In short, it’s a lot of fun outside my window this time of year.

Here’s what we’ve been up to.

Throughout the summer, tree rats feast on our oranges, then drop the hollowed rind to the ground. Most of the fruit decays, but several simply dried leaving a hard shell. One of them reminded me of Edvard Munch’s famous painting The Scream. I started collecting the hardened rinds and created a display.

I used one of my glass vases, some dried moss, old bits of Baby’s Breath flowers and the dried oranges. I topped it with a spooky spider for a “decadent” display. I used a burlap remnant left over from Fran’s bunting project as a table runner. You can read more about that here.

Dried Orange Arrangement inspired by The Scream

Rearranged Deck Furniture

Every year I haul out this old, plastic skeleton. The head is long gone, so I improvised with a plush pumpkin, a rain stick and my garden hat. That’s my doppelgänger this year. She has her feet up and an elongated neck from slumping too much on the couch. I seem to need an inordinate amount of sleep lately, so when I sit in the evenings on the couch, it’s not long before I fall asleep.

Skeleton Gardener

Indoors, I decorated a side table with several of my autumn and Halloween treasures.

My friend Stephanie made the chalk art as a gift for last year’s birthday.

That gorgeous art canvas is the handiwork of Boomdee’s fellow Urban Girl, Lynette. Boomdee convinced her to part with this beauty and brought it all the way from Canada for my birthday.

The Halloween card is also a gift, along with the bewitched cat. It’s pretty cool having a birthday and Halloween in the same month.

Halloween-ready side table filled with personal treasures

Do you remember this?

Last season’s pumpkin shell

When I turned my compost pile, a shell from last year’s pumpkin rolled out in near-perfect shape. The crown is missing but no matter. I brushed away the dirt, wiped the surface with a soft rag, and painted on a bit of sparkle. Good as new. I filled the opening with a handful of green yarn and this toy ring. It’s my pumpkin send up to Sesame Street’s Cookie Monster.

The shell of a pumpkin, rescued from the compost pile

This little clay pumpkin is a favorite. My son made this in art class a few years back. He did a nice job reproducing the details of a real pumpkin from memory.

My son made this clay pumpkin one year in art class

The clock is ticking. Halloween is just four days away.

Do you like Halloween as much as we do?

October 26, 2015 by Born To Organize

Lemons on my Mind

Dwarf lemon tree sits on our property line

As life in the garden prepares to rest, the lemons are coming into their own. Our dwarf lemon grows along the side of the house, so I see the changes whenever I come up the drive.

April, 2015 Baby dinosaur?

The fruit formed earlier this year, slowly growing to full size. Doesn’t it look like a baby dinosaur? As the temperatures cool and the days grow shorter, dark green gives way to yellow.

Lemons with potential

This pair of lemons hides a spider’s web

I prune the tree a couple of times a year to keep it compact. Otherwise it grows into our respective walkways that separate the two homes. I was initially concerned that all this pruning would be hard on the tree, but I’ve since read that keeping it compact will help maintain a manageable harvest. Now I’m completely at peace with my pruning regime.

I’ve fallen out of the habit of drinking lemon water each day, so as I write this I’m reminded of a good habit I need to resume.

According to Why You Should Start Your Day With Lemon Water:

it has myriad health benefits, from helping your immune system to offering an antioxidant boost, explains Amy Myers, MD, author of The Autoimmune Solution ($21, amazon.com)

“Lemon is packed with vitamin C, which can help boost the immune system,” Myers tells Health. “It’s refreshing, and it tastes good,” she says.

On top of that, “lemons are very high in bioflavonoids that destroy harmful free radicals that damage blood vessels and cause inflammation,” osteopath Vicky Vlachonis, author of The Body Doesn’t Lie ($20, amazon.com), tells Health. “Plus, the invigorating smell just wakes you up.”

Soon I’ll be able to harvest my own lemons at home. I’ll pick up some lemons at the market till the harvest comes in.

This one didn’t make it…

Sometimes lemons split on the tree. Factors include temperature fluctuations, humidity, heavy rainfall, dry soil though over-watering is more harmful than a drought

…but these are right on track for a brilliant yellow harvest.

Turning yellow

October 20, 2015 by Born To Organize

California’s Subtle Fall Show

The New England states are known for their color this time of year. Vibrant reds and golds brighten the skylines and bring tourists near and far. I love it there, and long to visit every year.

California on the other hand puts on a subtle show.

Here’s a peek from my backyard as the garden folds up shop for the approaching winter.

The Fringe Flower is covered in fuchsia blooms this time of year. They remind me of miniature pom-poms. I love their brilliant color.

Loropetalum chinense or Chinese Fringe Flower

Polka dot plants are commonly grown indoors. I bought a few for my fairy garden three summers ago, then transplanted them when they got too large for the area. Little did I know that they would come back year after year, bigger and better than the last. In mid-October they start producing these tiny purple flowers. They’re hard to photograph against the busy background, but they catch my eye in the morning, autumn sun.

Polka dot plants (Hypoestes phyllostachya)

These brilliant white anemones produced a fraction of their usual blooms this year. They tolerate a lot of conditions, but they don’t like droughts. They generally bloom profusely in August, yet here they are blooming in mid-October doing their best to survive.

Anemone hupehensis sports a visitor

That’s an Orb Weaver spider, hanging out on the flower. He’s bathed in the traditional fall colors but that’s nothing new. He’s the same color year round, but seems to show up in our garden around this time. He’s not camouflaging at all, but I guess if you’re the biggest spider on the block, you can show off on the tip of a white bloom whenever you want to.

Orb Weaver Spider

Our Japanese Maple Acer produces rich red seed pods and variations of amber leaves. It’s one of two deciduous trees in our yard. I look forward to the color changes every year.

Acer palmatum ‘Bloodgood’ or Japanese Maple

Japanese Maple Acer palmatum

And finally, here are my raspberry vines, dying back for the winter. I missed those warm, fresh berries straight from the vine this year, along with fresh tomatoes, sunflowers and summer annuals.

Raspberry vines dying back

Some of you are heading into fall this month, and others are ushering in spring. What color heralds the arrival of your new season?

October 19, 2015 by Born To Organize

Ms. California Drought: Costume on the Fly

I’ve been on again, off again with a Halloween costume this year. My foot surgery was tentatively scheduled for October 9th. That would have put the kibosh on the whole month. I eventually landed on a November 4th surgery date, so the costume was back on.

We’re invited to a few parties each year and we always have a blast. The first party was last Saturday so I needed something quick and easy. I like to put together a costume that’s topical and usually make something up.

For the third time in six years, I started with this lettuce-green slip.

Thrift store find: lettuce green slip

I bought it at a thrift store several years ago for my Lady Gaga inspired vegetable dress (the year she wore real meat (GAG) to the VMAs.

2010: Lady Gaga inspired vegetable dress

A few years later I used the slip again in my Year of Trash costume. I collected things throughout the year that couldn’t otherwise be recycled and made it into a costume. It really makes you think.

2011: My Year of Trash Costume (That’s my sister Sharon as a gruesome witch)

Lindy loved the raffia. She played in it, on it and around it all week

This year, the green slip is the foundation for Ms. California Drought. I found six-foot bundles of raffia on sale at a local craft store and used it to form the dress. I hand stitched the narrow ends to the bodice, then machine stitched the lengths around the waist. I used a few single strands of raffia to sew the loose ends to the dress and to attach my bra the night of the party. I used a length of wide ribbon for the waist and called it a dress.

2015, Halloween Costume ms california drought

2015: Ms. California Drought and her Minion for the night

I used a length of burlap and my rubber stamp letters to print Ms. California Drought on the sash. I gathered a bunch of dried flowers into a bouquet, used a burlap plant cover for a purse, and within a few hours, my costume was party-ready

Do you celebrate Halloween? Are you dressing up this year?

October 15, 2015 by Born To Organize

The Lone Pumpkin

Isn’t she a beauty?

The Lone Pumpkin, 2015

This humble pumpkin grew from a single plant, self-seeded in a dry patch of dirt in our drought-parched state. Annuals are generally thirsty plants, with shallow roots drying quickly under a hot sun. I watched this plant wilt at the end of each day, only to revive the following morning with seemingly nothing to draw from but a bit of morning dew.

Please don’t laugh, but I’m easily attached to the things that grow in my garden. Each plant, flower and tree touches me in some way. So when that humble pumpkin plant first appeared, I tried to turn a cold eye to the possibility that it would not survive the season. As our reservoirs drop further and further, I can no longer casually open the bib of a hose. We make every drop count. Once or twice I poured a glass of water at the roots, then stopped. If the plant had made it this far without my help, I reasoned, then I would just step back and let nature sort things out.

Of course me being me, I could only ignore this humble plant for so long. It formed fruit, only to be snapped clean from the vine a few days later by a rat or squirrel. Oh well, I sighed.

My humble plant was not deterred. She formed another piece of fruit, this time surrounded by a ring of volunteer tomato plants. I whispered on the air for the squirrels and rats to eat the tomatoes first. I started checking for nasty squash bugs. They show up when the fruit forms and quickly lay waste to the crop. No sign of them anywhere.

The lone pumpkin grew to a modest size, nestled in the care-taking arms of those tomatoes. Firm and dark green, she grew to her full size.

A ring of all volunteer tomato plants surround the loan pumpkin. That’s Slinky in the background

The vines started to show the tell-tale signs of the season’s end. The hollow stems yellowed and the leaves turned ashy and crisp. If you hold a dried pumpkin leaf in your hand it crushes into a powdery dust. They let you know that Autumn descends and our job here is done.

Pumpkin leaves decay as the plants energy goes to the fruit

I saw orange! My lone pumpkin turned orange. Little bits of color appeared and the pumpkin continued to thrive unmolested. Somewhere in time, I’d fallen head over heals in love with her. Now fully vested in her complete fruition, I did what any self-respecting gardener would do: I drove to the local drug store and bought a pair of extra-large pantyhose.

Pumpkin safely ensconced in pantyhose

Why?

Rumor has it that rats and squirrels don’t like the texture. I can’t say that I blame them. It worked.

I quietly harvested the pumpkin in September and let it harden off for three days under my watchful eye. Once indoors, free from the protective hosiery, I gave it a quick polish and a quiet welcome. You made it, humble pumpkin. Thank you for your lessons and gifts.

Addendum:

After clearing the dead vines, I asked Mike to dig down in the area to see if the plant was accessing some ground water. He hit hard-pan! Not a drop to be found.

Cleared pumpkin patch, digging for signs of water

October 13, 2015 by Born To Organize

Celebrations: Anniversaries, Birthdays and Boomdee Comes to Town

Life is full!

Mike and I celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary September 23rd.

Celebrating at Santana Row

Then Boomdee (aka Kelly or Petals) came to town.

My favorite photo of our week together

I had a birthday…

Cards from dear friends are the best part of any birthday

Then hosted a gathering of friends.

Good friends gathered around the table

I ate too much cake and homemade flan but enjoyed every morsel. By the way, peeking out from under the plate is one of my gorgeous new dinner napkins also known as serviettes. Kelly meticulously hand-stenciled them as a birthday gift. Please check out Kelly’s Korner for the full reveal and tutorial. They’re stunning!

Bunny’s delicious flan

We road a steam train up a steep grade through the redwood forests, traveling on a narrow-gauge railroad.

Roaring Camp & Big Trees Narrow-Gauge Railroad

We visited the historic Ainsley home in downtown Campbell.

Ainsley House 1925 English Tudor home in Campbell, California

On Sunday we Skyped with Laurie and Pauline, covering topics both serious and mundane. It was good to catch up.

Kelly and I enjoyed full days and unscheduled nights, with time to relax, have a cup of tea or a glass of wine, and to put up our feet. What a joyful week.

In a flash, it was time to put Boomdee on a plane, as we made plans for a visit next year.

Next up: Edmonton, Alberta Canada. If my surgery goes well I’ll have an honest to goodness bounce in my step. Planning the next visit makes the goodbyes a little easier.

Blogs Near and Dear

I’ve missed your blog and look forward to catching up with you in the next few weeks.

September 29, 2015 by Born To Organize

The Reveal: Teen Bedroom to Restful Guestroom in Ten Days

In case you missed yesterday’s post, you can catch up here.

I’ve been turning my teenage son’s bedroom into a guest room over the past ten days. He’s away at college and Boomdee is coming to town.

Boomdee’s needs are simple: coffee, toast, and a sea of aqua. I’m pretty sure she’ll love this room since she unwittingly helped decorate it. If you’re a regular around here, you’ll recognize several small touches as well. It’s a bit of a bloggers hall of fame.

Without further ado, here’s the reveal.

Completed Guest Room

Guest Room Alternate View

Touches of green, blue and pink worked well with the existing yellow walls. It’s a cheerful room. William Morris says “Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.” I share this advice with my clients and try to live it day-to-day. As I pulled items from different rooms it all came together seamlessly.

The benefit of an adjustable closet system is that it’s easily reconfigured when needs change. Growing up, the boys needed shelves to store games, books and toys. To covert the closet for guests, I simply removed the shelves and reinstalled a hanging bar. The back of the closet needs a bit of TLC but I didn’t have time to paint. Instead I papered the damaged wall with a roll of gift wrap.

Closet: Shelves removed exposing damaged wall

Transformed closet

This simple solution, though cheap, proved to be more challenging. The narrow opening of the closet and the cramped quarters inside made it a challenge. I used 3M spray adhesive and regret it. It’s too sticky to use on thin paper and made re-positioning nearly impossible. We used one roll for the top 80%, and an entire second roll just trying to align the pattern for the bottom 20%. Lessons learned. That said, I like the way it turned out. I just don’t think I’ll do it again.

Blogger Hall of Fame

The spirit of blogging touches almost every room in our home. It was fun bringing all my treasures together in one room. Here’s the line up:

A: Photo album of our blogging trip to DC (Life on the Bike)
B: Dear Opl by Shelley Sackier
C: Play In the Garden by Sarah O’Neil and The Good Life, also by Sarah O’Neil (Sarah the Gardener)
D: Vintage mannequin a gift from Marlene at In Search of It All
E: Craft it Forward heart pin from Diane at Garden Sunshine
F: Boomdee, Boomdee, Boomdee
G: Postcards of Pauline King’s original art (The Contented Crafter)
H: Postcard from Julia at Defeat Despair
I: Crafting goodness from Petals at Boomdeeadda
J: Creatively clever doodle art calendar by Robin Gott of The Forsyth Sagas

Before and After view from the window

gurest room facing door view before and after

Before and after view from the closet

Guest room closet details

A bit of vintage

One of the many things we have in common is our love of vintage. I picked up a handful of vintage air mail envelopes from my friend Donna’s Greenhouse Supply booth at Antique Row. I wonder if Boomdee will write a letter and send it back in time?

Shopping bag decor: whimsical decorating for a song

I picked up a couple of aqua gift bags, then added photos and ephemera. The postcard is a gift from Julia at Defeat Despair. It’s a collage of photos from our blogging get-together earlier this year in DC.

How could I resist? An aqua trash can in the shape of a petal.

An aqua-colored, petal shaped trash can. Be still my heart. The chess board does a great job hiding old phone lines that one day must go.

Customized train case, a birthday gift from Boomdee.

The little bird is actually a pen, nesting in a small ceramic bowl a classroom art project from my youngest son.

Ikea bench covered with a charming tea towel, also a gift from Boomdee.

Another Boomdee Treasure: I covered this worn IKEA bench with a bird motif tea towel, then tacked the corners to keep it in place.

I trimmed these IKEA lamp shades with postage stamp Washi tape from my stash. The stamps work well with the travel motif.

Foot warmer

Never mind that the heat wave continues. The mornings are cool so a gal needs a place to warm her toes as she slips out of the bed to rustle up some coffee and toast.

I added Washi tape to the top and bottom of the lamp shade. The bird quote is a page from the same calendar used for the bunting/banner

You guessed it: another gift from Boomdee.

The perfect nightstand.

I found this table at an import store for under $90. It’s lightweight, easily movable and slides over the top of the bed, the perfect table for this cramped space.

I’m hoping for a chance to dance in the rain this winter

I’m ready. I’m ready to dance in the rain. Truly.

Room with a view: succulents line the fence

Boomdee arrives midday tomorrow. Her room is ready. Crazy fun times lie ahead.

September 28, 2015 by Born To Organize

Ten Day Challenge: Teen Room to Guest Room

I’m a fool for home redecorating and makeovers. For as long as I can remember I’ve enjoyed the “before and after” transformations offered up in magazines, home design shows and even in my neighborhood. Then I joined the blogging world and found an even bigger neighborhood. Oh my goodness. I’m having so much fun.

What’s even more inspiring is seeing transformations unfold from do-it-yourself bloggers. In most cases they have a small budget, big ideas and a can-do attitude.

I discovered Serena’s blog through Leilani’s blog via Boomdee’s blog and so it goes around here. It’s like a never-ending game of telephone where someone whispers in your ear, then you turn and whisper in someone else’s ear, and before you know it you’re trying to keep up with dozens of amazing bloggers.

Serena and Leilani inspired me to dip my toe into a ten-day room challenge of my own.

The goal: Turn my son’s teen room into a guest room by the end of September.

The motivation: Boomdee’s coming to town.

The challenge: One cranky left foot (you can read about that here) and my busy life.

The catch: Since my son’s move to the dorms is seasonal, I assured him that any changes would be temporary.

With that in mind, I’ve left the three main pieces of furniture in place. I can easily remove the decorative items and bring the room back to neutral.

I’ve been teary off and on since my son moved out. Spending time in his room is helping me connect to his youth, honoring it and letting go. I discovered forgotten treasures including photos, snippets of writing and a box of smashed pennies from family vacations. Lindy’s been keeping me company. I’m sure she’s wondering where he went.

First up, the big clean. Moving out is messy business. New items arrived for weeks, destined for the dorms: by mail a heavy box of textbooks and an extra-long mattress pad specific to dormitory beds. We picked up a desk lamp, laundry supplies, school supplies and extra socks for those busy weeks when he can’t do laundry. Here it is, piled up on moving day. It looks like cleaning my kitchen counter was a low priority that day.

My college-bound son left a pile of things he no longer wants, so I’ve been having fun passing them on through my Buy Nothing Cambrian group. One happy six-year-old is now the proud owner of a Star Wars wallet. I love that.

I sorted, cleaned and recycled my way through the room.

Mike flipped the mattress so I could vacuum the bed frame which also needed a quick repair. Once it was all back together, I added a mattress topper and covered the bed with our king-sized duvet cover.

Bed frame cleaned and repaired

The duvet cover has all the colors I wanted to feature in the room, and it’s large enough to act as a bed spread for the queen-sized bed. I found a turquoise pillow at an import shop on end-of-summer clearance. It’s the perfect color to pull together the blanket and spread.

Duvet cover and velveteen pillow

My son is a minimalist, so his walls were spare; he had a piece of artwork from middle school and a poster passed on from a friend. I rolled them up, put them in the closet and pondered ideas for quick and affordable decor. Somehow it all fell in place. Serendipity!

I decorated all three walls for about forty dollars. The packet of decals came from our local Target. They were originally destined for the long wall next to the bed, but it wasn’t large enough to fill the space. Instead Mike carefully laid it out on the wall above the desk. This is wear the bum foot became a drag. I really wanted to put up that decal, but instead sat back and [impatiently] watched while he expertly put it on the wall. It looks shiny in the photo, but in person it looks great.

Wall decal from Target

The bird print above the bed and to the right of the lamp was a happy find. While waiting out my phone repair appointment, I wandered into a little shop called Azuca. There it was: a lightweight, wood panel with this charming print and the quote We are birds of a feather.

Washi tape, wall calendar page and wooden art

Before I fully realized it, the room was taking shape. It has a sense of travel and flight, with birds figuring prominently. The colors complement my premier guest, the delightful and sophisticated Edmonton blogger nicknamed Boomdee. Little did she know that so many of her gifts would later help decorate a future guest room. Wait till you see all the treasures!

Which brings me to the third wall. I’ve been saving my gorgeous 2014 wall calendar, featuring the artwork of Katie Daisy. I love turning calendars into new treasures. After removing the coils with a pair of tin snips, I punched holes in the top of the pages and threaded them with vintage seam binding. The colors work beautifully in the room and each saying warms and uplifts. I used one of the pages as a compliment to the bird panel.

Katie Daisy calendar wall bunting/banner

Please stop by tomorrow for the “reveal.” Gosh that’s fun to say.

Meanwhile, if you love makeovers as much as I do, then you’re in for a treat. Check out:

Keeping Up With Mrs. Smith: Sewing Room Makeover Reveal
Thrift Diving: Sneak Peek: My Sunny Family Room
The Contented Crafter: A Very Blue Room

September 24, 2015 by Born To Organize

If Slinky Had a Thought Bubble

When I was sorting and editing photos this morning it hit me: Slinky needs a thought bubble.

Here’s what I think it might say:

My appetite is back You gotta love that thyroid medication.

or perhaps…

Finally that miserable heat wave is over. I thought it would never end.

maybe she’s thinking

I never miss my morning sun bath. I love vitamin D.

My shiny black fur looks like chocolate in the morning light. Is that why she keeps pointing that flashy thing at me?

Wouldn’t life be interesting if we were all walking around with our own thought bubbles? I’m sure there’s a Halloween costume idea in there somewhere.

What would your thought bubble say today?

September 23, 2015 by Born To Organize

Unremarkable Achilles Tendon

That was the good news.

I met with my doctor last week to review the findings of my foot MRI. Now that I know what’s going on, it explains why all the other interventions weren’t working. In medical speak, I have a:

near-complete tearing of the peroneus brevis. The tearing begins just posterior to the lateral malleolus and extends the length of the tendon to its distal insertion on the base of fifth metatarsal. Impending complete tear/rupture cannot be excluded.

There is an approximate 2.4 x 0.7 cm conglomeration ganglion cysts abutting the periphery of the peroneus brevis at the level of the lateral malleolus inferior tip.

and finally, the partial tearing/longitudinal split tearing of the peroneus brevis tendon demonstrates prominent intrasubstance cystic dilatation of the tendon measuring approximately 4.2 x 1.2 cm throughout the length of the tendon from the lateral malleolus to its distal insertion. Findings likely represent prominent intrasubstance ganglion cyst formation within the torn tendon.

Did you get all that? I think Google Translate should add medical terminology to their list of translatable languages. I really struggled to understand the report. In short, I need surgery

I’m already feeling emotionally vulnerable getting my son off to college, so the tears bubbled up. It was a lot to take in

Dr. Sheth wants me to have surgery yesterday and I want to have surgery never, so we’re trying to come up with a compromise. I’m getting a second opinion on Monday, but I don’t expect a radically different approach. After leaving Sheth’s office with my report, I stayed up till 2 am researching the specifics. My stomach did a few cartwheels after viewing the more graphic images so I finally turned away form the computer and carried my weary bones to bed.

I’m worn out from months of dealing with the escalating pain, and now the added burden of wearing a pneumatic walking brace. I have a pitiful case of Feeling Sorry For Myself.

In lighter and brighter news, Boomdee is coming to town! I can hardly believe it. Just one week from today, she’ll swoop down from the great city of Edmonton, bringing her special brand of joyful effervescence. We’ll talk for hours and we’ll laugh and sing. Seriously, we sang the Boomdeeadda song into her smart phone on one of her prior visits. You can hear our musical debut here. We’ll stay up too late because there is always one more thing to say while I’ll do my best to slow time. I. Can’t. Wait.