January 5, 2015 by Born To Organize

My Crowded Kitchen Windowsill

When we remodeled our kitchen over a decade ago, one of the biggest perks was our expanded kitchen window. The designer suggested bringing the window down to counter height, then extending it out. I would have all that room to garden indoors.

Our Kitchen Window, Before and After Remodel

Since then, my kitchen windowsill has gotten a little crowded.

Avocado Pits

My youngest son started growing avocado pits again, after finally succeeding with this one.

Growing Avocado Plants

It looks leggy but I’m under strict orders not to trim it back, even with my plausible explanation that it will fill out if we do. That’s okay. I live with two teenage boys, so I’m used to being the one that doesn’t know anything. I’m not complaining too loudly. It’s nice to see him show an interest in plants again after a brief hiatus.

Christmas Cactus

I re-potted three “Christmas Cactus” last year after covering clay pots with up-cycled Petra Paper. The pots held up well. Two of the three plants are flowering now, but the third and largest hasn’t bloomed for a few years.

Fuchsia Christmas Cactus

Covered Petra Paper Pots

A bit of research revealed this: I actually have two Christmas Cactus and one Easter Cactus. They flower at different times. I love Google!

Easter Cactus, left; Pair of Christmas Cactus, right

The Easter Cactus is nearly twenty years old, so I wonder if the plant’s flowering days are over? Expecting it to flower in December, however, is pure folly.

Hyacinth Bulbs

Hyacinth are one of my favorite flowering bulbs. They’re both beautiful and fragrant and come back year after year. I bought a new variety known as William and Kate this year, and planted three of them indoors. The rest of the bulbs are in a garden pot just outside the back door.

William and Kate Hyacinth (I don’t know who’s who!)

Hyacinth bud

I’m also planting some Paper Whites indoors this year. I’ll write more later this week.

Windowsill Transformed:

Here’s my windowsill this morning after cleaning the counter tops and window:

Kitchen windowsill with plenty of room

Here it is again with our indoor garden in place.

My Crowded Kitchen Windowsill

Additional Reading:

Guide to Houseplants: Easter Cactus
Christmas Cactus Care: This article is informative and funny. My favorite quote:”Nobody wants to be the descendant that killed grandma’s Christmas cacti. My suggestion – give lots of stem cuttings to your relatives. It’s always best to spread the pressure around.”
Petra Paper Pots: Covering clay pots with up-cycled Petra Paper

December 31, 2014 by Born To Organize

Happy New Year!

We’re enjoying a quiet new year’s eve celebration at home this year. San Jose is experiencing heavy winds and below average temperatures, so it will be good to stay in. The winds pulled our Snowman inflatable out of the ground along with the air-pump, stakes and electrical cord. It all went tumbling into the neighbor’s yard. I haven’t heard the wind howl like this in years.

The pretend skating pond in the fairy garden could be the real thing as our temperatures drop to freezing. I can’t complain too loudly as our neighbors to the north have it worse.

Fairy Garden Ice Skating Rink

Fairy Garden Aerial View

Happy New Year

Christmas Selfie

We receive an amazing number of cards from around the globe this time of year. The novelty of turning the cards into an eclectic dress on my dressmaker’s selfie has been a lot of fun. I’ll definitely do it again next year. I promised to share another picture when the dress was ‘done.’ What do you think?

All dressed up with Christmas cards

I ran out of tiny clothespins so I had to improvise towards the end. Just an excuse to go back to the craft store for more.

How do you plan to see in the new year? Or perhaps you’re reading this an it’s already new year’s day.

Wishing you joyful tidings and wonderful connections in the year ahead. Thanks for being here.

Me, Myself and I

December 30, 2014 by Born To Organize

Word of the Year

I love the idea of choosing a word of the year. Unlike new year’s resolutions which seem doomed to failure, I like the transformative qualities of a single word.

This past year I chose serendipity, or serendipitously, the word chose me. You can read about that process here.
According to Wikipedia,

Serendipity means a “fortunate happenstance” or “pleasant surprise”. It was coined by Horace Walpole in 1754. In a letter he wrote to a friend Walpole explained an unexpected discovery he had made by reference to a Persian fairy tale, The Three Princes of Serendip. The princes, he told his correspondent, were “always making discoveries, by accidents and sagacity, of things which they were not in quest of”.

As you know, once you focus on a word, theme or idea, you find examples of it everywhere. All year I noticed serendipity at play. It was energizing, so much so that I’ve decided to elevate it to word of the decade. I’m not letting that gem go!

2015 Word of the Year

I’ve chosen connections as my word of the year.

To connect is to:

bring together or into contact so that a real or notional link is established.

For my part, I like the idea of bringing people and ideas together in a positive way. The notion that a whole is more than the sum of its parts is appealing. The amazingly unexpected connections made through blogging gives me hope. Life is good. People are good. I will look for and make positive connections throughout the year.

How about you? Do you set your intentions for the new year? Do you choose a word or a mindset or a series of goals?

Please share in the comments below.

December 29, 2014 by Born To Organize

How to Catch and Lose a Rat in 10 Easy Steps

Step 1:

Approach the living room and immediately note the cat’s suspicious behavior. Kitty is facing the entertainment center with the attentiveness of a hunter with cornered prey.

Step 2:

Listen for the tell-tale scurrying of a mouse or rat. Yep. No mistaking that sound.

Step 3:

Call for back up. In this case I asked my son to close the cat in a room and keep him there till further notice.

Step 4:

Search under and around the 400 pound entertainment center, flashlight in hand, nerves on edge. With my son’s help, roll up the carpet and maneuver the heavy furniture away from the wall.

Step 5:

Note the beautiful markings on the healthy, brown rat dancing a jig on the wires. Shudder. Estimate the size of the rat, just for fun. (Six inches of rat, plus another six inches of rat-tail.) Let’s call it an even dozen.

Step 6:

Realize you will not sleep tonight knowing an enormous rat is running loose in your house.

Step 7:

Watch the rat drop down from the wires, and attempt to hide under the entertainment center. Thinking you have him cornered, look up, then down, only to have him disappear like a rabbit in a magician’s hat: here one second, gone the next.

Step 8:

Plop down on the sofa, chin in hand, nerves frayed and ponder your next move.

Aside: at this point my husband walks through the front door, takes one look at me and asks ‘what’s wrong?’ A mere nod of my head toward the rolled up carpet and displaced furniture is all he needs in the way of an answer. Yes, we’ve been through this before.

Step 9:

Re-locate the rat. Employ two adults, one teenager, a pair of flashlights and your wits.

Aha! The rat has managed to circle the entertainment center, crawl up the back, through one of the holes for the wires and back to his nest. Apparently he’s been here awhile. Could this be our kitchen rat at long last?

Step 9(a):

Photograph the rat through the hole in the entertainment center (Hey I write a blog you know).

The back-end of the receiver and the back-end of the rat

Step 9(b):

Tape three of the four potential exits closed with cellophane tape and cardboard. Cover the fourth opening with long, narrow plastic bags originally used to cover the newspaper. Add a cracker for good measure.

How to build a failed rat trap

Step 9(c):

Stand guard at the back of the opening hoping the rat will exit through the hole, into the bag so I can spirit him out the back door. Meanwhile my husband Mike gingerly removes the stereo receiver.

Step 9(d):

The rat has two options: One, exit into the bag, or two, fly out the front of the cabinet. He goes with option two. Mike grabs the rat between two gloved hands, the rat squeals, and a startled Mike drops the rat to the floor. He makes a run for it. (The rat, not my husband).

Mouse the cat is hot on the trail. Wires and rat droppings everywhere. Ugh

Step 9(e):

The three of us watch as the rat makes a break for it. He avoids the open door (of course) and runs under the book shelf instead. Thinking that clearly we have him cornered (and we do), we also realize there is a ‘secret compartment’ left by the builder between the wall and the cabinet. The little compartment is cozy, rat-sized and available.

Aside: We’re all exhausted at this point and decide to regroup.

Step 10:

Watch gratefully as Mike wraps tape around the lower half of the bookshelf and sets the live trap. There is only one way out and that is into the trap. Now we wait.

One way out. Mike sets the trap. Mouse supervises

December 24, 2014 by Born To Organize

Welcoming Christmas in the Fairy Garden

I thought I spotted Santa in the fairy garden! On closer inspection I realized it was a pair of reindeer and a bag of toys. Santa must be down at the local coffee shop, getting his fill before the big night. The reindeer lingered to see if they could spot any carrots growing in the curb garden. Sorry fellows. I’ve been a lazy winter gardener this year.

A couple of reindeer in search of a carrot

Boomdee sent this charming little Christmas sign all the way from Alberta, Canada. Isn’t it adorable? It will be welcoming the wee visitors for years to come.

All decked out for the holiday

The miniature cyclamen is back in business, preferring the colder weather to our summer heat. The baby tears revived as well and are filling in nicely. I added a pair of hypoestes also known as polka dot plants for a bit of white contrast. I’ve never seen this white variety. They’re usually pink.

Baby tears and cyclamen

White ‘polka dot’ plant

In case they’re looking for some exercise, I’ve added a small ice-skating rink. San Jose doesn’t get that cold, so like our local hockey team, the San Jose Sharks, we made our own ice.

Fairy garden ice rink (we have to bring in fake ice and snow)

If I’ve timed this right, it’s still Christmas in the southern hemisphere and almost Christmas in the north. Merry Christmas!

December 23, 2014 by Born To Organize

I Got It! I Got to Have a Gott!

If you follow Shelley Sackier’s weekly musings at Peak Perspective you’ll know why I’m excited. If you don’t, go take a peek. You’re in for a treat.

Shelley writes brilliant and entertaining prose with wit and charm.The equally talented Robin Gott provides the doodles. They collaborate across a continent, producing weekly gems that make you smile and think. I want to be like them when I grow up.

As readers, we voted each month for our favorite doodle. The best of the best made it into his 2015 calendar.

Robin Gott: The Clever Doodler

On November 22nd Shelley published Gotta Have a Gott announcing

“the grand unveiling of the crackerjack cartoon collection of Peak Perspective’s illustrator extraordinaire—Robin Gott. We’ve been ballyhooing this exciting event for ten months, and have decided that for this first year Rob will create and put FIFTY calendars up for sale.”

Gotta Have A Gott!!!

Rob studied art in London, but currently lives in Sweden. He says:

“I’ve more or less escaped from the production line process of animation, and I’m just having fun drawing for my own amusement.”

Lucky for us, I say!

Shelley’s bio includes this gem:

“My experiences are prolific, my hopes still abundant and my realizations wishfully profound. It is what we make it.”

She makes you glad you stopped by.

Happy places to visit:

Robin Gott: Doodles, Scribbles and the Alexander Technique

Shelley Sackier: Peak Perspective

Things to do when your calendar is through

December 22, 2014 by Born To Organize

Winter Solstice in San Jose

Sunday we honored the shortest day of our year. It’s winter solstice in San Jose.

Do you know what that means?

It means that spring is only three months away!

Seriously though, you have to look a bit harder for signs of winter in California. We’ve had a few weeks of back to back rain storms, a welcome break from the drought but temperatures remain mild. Most of the deciduous trees are bare of their leaves but others remain evergreen.

Here’s a peek into the winter garden. It asks for little and gives a lot. Nature is like that.

Cosmo buds, no sign of slowing down

Cosmo in bloom

Hummingbird in the Chinese Pistache tree

Stripped bare of its leaves, but covered in buds waiting for spring

I’m on the ‘every other season’ plan. All the seeds that forgot to come up last year are sending out little beacons of green delight. That’s a California Poppy on the right and to be determined seedlings on the left.

Statice in bloom

Zinnia. The plant looks shabby, but the flowers continue to bloom

Unidentified planted objects

The Mexican Sage reminds me of a purple caterpillar

Lemon scented holidays

Here is a shot of the little tomato that could, a self-sown seedling growing from a crack in the steps. Yep…tomato plants in December.

Self-sown tomato making a go of it out of the side of the concrete steps

During this hectic time of year, I hope you can find a few moments to enjoy what nature has to offer.

December 16, 2014 by Born To Organize

Dressing-up My Selfie for the Holidays

Earlier this year I bought a ‘selfie’, commonly referred to as a dressmaker form. I kept her busy throughout the month of October, patterning and draping my Under-the-Sea Halloween costume. You can read more about that here and here.

When the fun was over, my selfie took a month off. She hung out in a corner of our room wearing a rarely worn velvet wrap.

Now she’s back for the holidays, all dressed up with a new purpose. She’s in charge of displaying our Christmas cards. I found inspiration for this idea on a Pinterest board of dress forms. If you follow the link, you’ll see an antique dress form wearing a tulle skirt and a peplum sporting the word Noel. I love the simple elegance.

My Christmas Selfie

Braving the long, holiday lines at our local fabric store, I bought a few yards of tulle and a packet of blanket binding. I also bought sheets of silver tissue paper for the bodice. Safely back in my car, I vowed not to return to a fabric store before January. A week or so later, I set up my sewing machine and whipped up a fancy pretend dress.

Tissue paper bodice, left. Lace shell bodice, right. Seam binding bow at the waist.

Though my dress form is modern and functional, it was fun dressing her up in a vintage vibe.

The ‘dress’ continues to evolve as projects like this often do. I wasn’t thrilled with the way the tissue bodice turned out, so I covered it instead with one of my summer lace shells. I added bits of my birthday gift wrap bling (from Boomdee) around the neck and bodice. A small hair clip adds additional sparkle.

Birthday bling makes the dress zing

One big bow at the waist for some added flair and then I called it a day.

christmas dress form ribbon and card-001

Tiny clothespins hold the cards in place

Originally I planned to use safety pins to attach the cards to the skirt, but instead I found these:

Miniature silver clothespins

Aren’t they cute? They are the tiniest clothespins I’ve ever seen and perfect for the job. They add a bit of shine without creating too much weight.

My teenage boys aren’t interested in Christmas this year, so I needed to find something new and different for me. Dressing up my Selfie did the trick.

I received a pile of cards in the mail today. I can’t wait to add them to the skirt. I”ll post an updated photo later this month.

Are you trying anything new this holiday season?

December 11, 2014 by Born To Organize

All or Nothing: Rain in San Jose

Over worked storm drains send rain water down the street (that’s our curb garden on the left)

San Jose received about six inches of rain last year, marking year three of our drought. A more typical rainfall averages 12 – 18 inches annually. With that in mind, you can appreciate how welcome our recent storms have been. Unfortunately, the past 24 hours brought rain in the other extreme. Here’s what Accuweather had to say:

A Flash Flood Watch and a High Wind Warning are in effect for the San Francisco – Coastal North Bay including San José. Moderate to heavy rainfall and high winds are expected with flash flooding possible across northern California.

Mid-day rainfall

The public should closely monitor weather forecasts and take precautions. Driving conditions may be very poor at times during this severe storm.

Stranded car. Police on the scene, help on the way

Several area schools closed for the day and we were all encouraged to stay home if we could. My husband worked from home and to my relief they cancelled a business dinner in the city due to power failures and flooded streets. I’m glad he is close to home on a night like this.

A few of the storm drains on our street backed up for a few hours, but otherwise it’s been okay. The North Bay, about two hours from here, took the brunt of the storm which continues till early Friday morning. It’s been an interesting day.

Downed trees and power lines are the biggest safety risk in storms like this. I learned something new today as well. After several years of drought, large trees shrink their roots in an effort to conserve water. When heavy rains hit all at once, trees are at greater risk of falling. I never knew.

This beautiful pine tree shades our garden year round and provides shelter and exercise for the squirrels. The tree grows in our neighbor’s yard at the corner of our shared fence. An arborist thinned the tree canopy just three weeks ago. At the same time they declared the tree healthy and in sound condition. What a relief.

Neighboring Pine Tree Gets a Trim

Californian’s enjoy moderate weather year round, so this is a big deal for us. Other parts of the country experience heavy snowfall, tornadoes, hurricanes and bitter cold. We simply suffer the occasional heat wave and of late, this confounding drought.

My hope is that the rest of the Bay Area weathers the storm as well as we have, and that we can appreciate this gift of moisture for our rain-parched state.

Wherever your are, I hope you’re safe, warm and dry. Cheers to you.

December 9, 2014 by Born To Organize

How to Revive Cut Flowers

I originally published this tip in October 2012. It continues to garner multiple views each week. I’m sharing it again in case you missed it.

Hat-Pin Trick

Hat-Pin Trick

Cut flowers, especially those with hollowed stems, often droop after a short time in water. Why? Because the stem is no longer siphoning water.

Simply insert a pin or needle all the way through the stem of a drooping flower, about one-inch below the bloom. Carefully remove the pin and return your flowers to a vase of water. Within an hour or two, your flowers should be standing tall. I’ve used this trick successfully over the years with Gerbera daisies, roses and tulips.

Gerbera Daisies Revived: The yellow flowers perked up; but the orange ones did not.

Rubber-band Recovery

If for some reason the hat-pin trick fails, here is plan B. Gather the flowers into a loose bunch and slide a rubber-band over the stems and up to the neck of the flowers. Wrap a second band around the bottom of the stems. Return to the vase, and enjoy your perky arrangement.

Rubber-band Recovery in Action

Edit your Collection

I don’t know about you, but I like to get as much “life” from my cut flowers as possible. Most mixed bouquet flowers have varying shelf-lives. Some blooms fade within a few days while others can last up to a week, maybe longer. Instead of dumping the entire bouquet, I change the water and return the flowers that still have life. As those fade, I’ll cut the healthy flowers down by a few inches and display them in a smaller vase. If I have nice greens, I’ll see what’s blooming in the garden and I’ll mix the two together. I make a game out of it to see how long the flowers will last.

Do you have any tips or tricks you’ve used to preserve the life of your cut flowers? Please share in the comments, below.