April 15, 2015 by Born To Organize

While I Was Away

It was fun returning home from our blogging extravaganza to a garden bursting with new growth.

My blooming garden

After a week on the chillier east coast, I learned a few things. According to my calendar, spring arrived on March 20th, but the east coast remained in a deep chill. Those east-coast daffodils know a thing or two and chose to remain warm and cozy in the ground.

Here in California our daffodils shot up in February along with the hyacinths and other spring bulbs. Their east-coast cousins waited till warmer temperatures prevailed. I got to experience the joy of smiling daffodils twice in the same year.

Spring in Laurie’s garden: Forsythia, Daffodils, Dogwood and Redbud

What could be better than two springs in one year?

Just this: spending time with an extraordinary group of women, talking, laughing and preparing food, seeing the sites and sharing our stories and marveling at our good fortune. I spent over a week nestled in a cocoon of dear friends, all met through blogging. It’s difficult to convey an experience this profound, without succumbing to the treacle of sentimentality.

I’ll let the pictures do the rest of the talking.

Georgetown: with Laurie, Boomdee, Pauline, (Yours Truly) and Julia. Julia of Defeat Despair graciously hosted us at her home and kept us updated on the status of the cherries coming into bloom

More bloggers = more fun. Lunch at Clyde’s in Georgetown

A brief stop in North Garden, Virginia, welcomed with open arms by Shelley who blogs at Peak Perspective.

Time in Radford, Virginia hosted by Laurie of Life on the Bike and Other Fab Things

An afternoon at Draper Mercantile

Washington D.C. with Lisa, Pauline and Boomdee

Note: Just for fun, I created a travelogue using the site Traveller’s Point. I included the destinations, who joined us and when, links to their blogs and more. WordPress does not support embedding, but you can view it at this link if interested.

The Traveling Bloggers:

Boomdeeadda

The Contented Crafter

Defeat Despair

Gardening Nirvana

Life on the Bike and Other Fab Things

The Blog Connections:

March 30, 2015 by Born To Organize

Monday Morning Musings

Sweet Pea

I really should be in bed, but instead I’m tapping away at my keyboard. It’s 12:21 am meaning it’s officially Monday here in San Jose, California. I’ve become much more aware of the time zones since blogging. Five minutes ago I had a brief exchange with Helen who is starting her day in England. On this side of the pond, I’m about to head to bed.

Blogging allows for an intimacy I never would have imagined. Unlike Facebook which can feel superficial, bloggers open themselves up with a genuine honesty and desire to connect. The very nature of blogging is about sharing of yourself and engaging with those who stop by to read and comment. Chances are you’ll go have a look at what they’re up to, and the exchanges that follow captivate, educate, entertain and enthrall.

In a few hours, my dear friend Kelly will board a plane to Washington, D.C. I’ll be joining her and others at the end of the week. We’re kindred spirits, soul sisters, and the best of friends. She’s the friend I didn’t know I was missing till we met. Now it feels that I’ve known her for a lifetime. Improbably, we met through blogging.

When I get off the plane Friday evening, Laurie, will be there to meet me. It will be the first time we meet in person, yet it feels completely natural that she’s picking me up and that we’ll all head to her place later in the week for a few day’s stay. I met her through blogging as well.

I’m counting the days till I can wrap my arms around Pauline. She’s flying all the way from New Zealand, a long and exhausting flight. We’ve had intimate conversations via Skype and look forward to long talks and even deeper understanding in our time together. Yep. She’s a blogger.

Julia’s life is about defeating despair. Her optimistic spirit carries her through some very dark days, yet she’s opened her home and her heart to us all. We share a mutual love of books as well as the joys and sorrows of raising children whose heart beats to a different drum. We all want to be understood for who we are and to be loved unconditionally just the same.

Just five more days and I’ll be descending on D. C. Extraordinary experiences await.

March 16, 2015 by Born To Organize

Oh, The Places You’ll Blog*

*with humble apologies to Dr. Seuss.

It’s day eleven of Blogging University: Blogging 101. With two weeks down and one to go, I’ve learned a lot.

Today’s assignment is to

publish a post based on your own, personalized take on a blogging prompt.

The prompt is

Places: beach, mountain, forest, or somewhere else entirely?

Where Am I?

When daisies pied and violets blue
And lady-smocks all silver-white
And cuckoo-buds of yellow hue
Do paint the meadows with delight,
Love’s Labours Lost (5.2.900-4)

In 1989, single and unencumbered, I flew to Europe with a backpack and stayed for two months. I traveled mostly by train, but also by bus and boat. The best days were those spent on foot, exploring small towns, large cities and everything in between. I covered ten countries in all, including most of the British Aisles as well as France, Belgium, Germany, Spain and Switzerland.

I traveled on a shoe string, working from a copy of Let’s Go Europe. Staying in youth hostels made the trip affordable and fun. I met travelers from around the world and in addition to their good company, I learned about other places to stop along the way.

It seems a life time ago, and of course in many ways it is. I’ve since married and had two boys, started a small organizing business and moved to San Jose. When I look at this photo, though, all the memories come back. Photographs, much like music or a certain smell, have a way of transporting you back in time. I remember buying the dress I’m wearing and the sweater to go with it. Those comfortable, ubiquitous sandals carried me everywhere. It was a thrill to step foot in this aging town and to learn more about its history.

A woman I met at one of the youth hostels snapped this photo on a warm, July day. Then we explored the sites together. We were still buying rolls of film in those days and developing them at a nearby drug store. It was here that I bought the first of many travel patches that I would later sew on my backpack.

Of course lots of the memories are lost with the years. Sometimes I want to peer outside of the photos edge, to see what might be there. I remember arriving but not departing and I don’t remember any of the meals. I wonder if I’m really that close to the river’s edge or is it simply an artifact of the camera’s lens?

What I do know is this: Traveling alone on another continent was one of the most enriching experiences of my life. There were times when I was lonely, cranky and scared, but they were far outweighed by the interesting people I met along the way and the tremendous sense of independence that comes from finding your way in a distant land. I wouldn’t change it for the world.

Can you guess where I am from these clues?

August 25, 2014 by Born To Organize

Butchart Gardens: A Canadian National Treasure

Fuchsia housed in the former aviary

It’s hard to overdo the superlatives when describing Butchart Gardens. Magnificently creative and stunningly beautiful gardens attract a million visitors a year. Spending time among the flora was one of the highlights of my recent trip to Vancouver Island.

I spent the day at the gardens with fellow blogger extraordinaire, Boomdeeadda and her cousin, Sherri, also a blogger at Smackiland . We spent hours wandering the gardens, snapping photos, and laughing like school girls. Laughter is contagious when in the company of good friends. Looking back, it’s hard to say what was so funny, but we belly laughed throughout the day, making the garden experience all the richer. I highly recommend it. Even the bus ride back to our hotel was a hoot, but I’ll leave that story for another day.

Sunken garden and a couple of happy bloggers

According to our brochure

The Butchart Gardens cover more than 22 ha (55 acres) on a 53 ha (130 acre) estate. It began from an idea Jennie Butchart had to beautify the worked-out limestone quarry which had supplied her husband Robert Pim Butchart’s nearby Portland cement plant.
The gardens continually expanded over the years to become the world-famous Sunken, Japanese, Rose, Italian and Mediterranean in existence today.

You can read the full story of Jennie Butchart’s creative vision here.

In addition to the gardens, we enjoyed a high tea in the Butchart’s former residence.

Butchart home, tea room and menu

We rounded out the evening with a magnificent fireworks display viewed from one of the lawns.

Trees on fire? Nope. Just an amazing fireworks show

What a day!

Here are a few additional photos (I took over 100!):

Near the garden entrance

Eryngium (Sea Holly)

One of an extraordinary display of Dahlia

Napa, California Earthquake

As many of you know, Napa, California experienced an Magnitude 6.0 earthquake early Sunday morning. We felt the shaking as far south as San Jose, but the epicenter was 104 miles (167 kilometers) away. One young child was seriously injured, but so far no fatalities. Other reported injuries were minor. I’ve attached a link with earthquake footage, charts, articles, etc. If you watch the first video, may I suggest you do so with the volume on low or off.

Earthquake Report, Napa Valley

September 26, 2013 by Born To Organize

Final Score: Pumpkins, 8, Squash Bugs, 2

Things got a bit dicey in the pumpkin patch last month. Nearly a dozen pumpkins grew happily on the vine until disaster struck. A rapidly producing colony of squash bugs moved in and things turned ugly. If you have any doubt, take a look:

This pumpkin never stood a chance

Instead of leaving the orange pumpkins on the vine to harden, I harvested all but two and set them on the patio thinking I would wipe them off before bringing them indoors. The next day, the squash bugs found the harvest! Eek!

I brought the pumpkins inside one by one, wiping them down with the first thing I could get my hands on: my son’s lip balm. (Desperate times call for desperate measures). I didn’t want to bring garden pests indoors, so I figured the coating would put an end to anything I missed.

Polished pumpkins

We’re big on pumpkins around here: we grow, harvest, decorate and carve them. It’s been a family tradition for a decade. I also enjoy saving seeds for the next season. This year I gave a few starters to friends, and passed on some seeds to an adorable pair of three-year-old twins that walk by the house with their dad. They planted the seeds and grew pumpkins of their own. I’m delighted.

The pumpkins hung out in the living room for several weeks, but as October approaches, it’s time to bring them center stage. I created a display on my iron bench combining an eclectic mix of drying lavender, three pumpkins and a refurbished fairy garden. Check back next week for the fall upgrade.

DSC_0013-001

I love October. It starts with my birthday, ends with Halloween with plenty of goodness in between. Just when I thought it couldn’t get any better, this Boo season brings a special visit from Boooooomdee. She told me to expect her on the whisper of a dandelion, but I think she was teasing. I’ll go to the airport to fetch her just in case.

Boo season, here we come!

June 22, 2012 by Born To Organize

Miniland Wonders: Bonsai meets Legos

Can’t you just see the job description: ‘Lego builders wanted, must play well with others. Patience and math skills a plus.’

Without further ado, today’s blog is brought to you in pictures. All of the models are built from Legos. The trees and flowers are real but pruned to scale:

San Francisco, California

New England

New England meets Bonsai

Star Wars Episode IV: Tatooine

Las Vegas, Nevada

Historic Ferndale, California
(This one’s for you, Bonnie)

Not pictured: Washington, DC, New Orleans, New York and Southern California. There is also a Star Wars Miniland, featuring scenes from all six episodes.

Blending The Two
A. Bison
B. Golden Goose
C. Elephant near succulents
D. Bison close-up
E. Dragon tail

What’s Growing at LEGOLAND

Native Wildlife
(That lizard tried to impress me with push ups)

June 21, 2012 by Born To Organize

LEGOLAND: Our Miniland Sendoff

We’re happy to be home with stories to share and a plethora of photos for the scrapbooks and Facebook. I love traveling but I’m happy to come home, too. I miss the garden and our cats and this time my husband and older son who stayed home. It was a great trip. We laughed a lot, shared some nice meals and enjoyed the novelty of a theme park based on Legos.

Our day drew to a close in the midst of the amazing miniature village known as Miniland, filled with incredible scale models of the real and the imagined. Here is a quick peak at Miniland from the top of the hill. More pictures to follow tomorrow.

Miniland: The Long View

June 19, 2012 by Born To Organize

LEGOLAND: Green Amid the Bricks

We’re here in sunny Carlsbad for a few days visiting LEGOLAND California. My youngest son is 12, so this may be our last visit. He commented early in the day that he thought there would be more “mature people” in the park. Like me, he remembers the good times we had when he was younger. He’s been cutting his teeth on daredevil roller coaster rides back home, so finds the rides here rather tame by comparison. That said, it’s a wonderful place to bring children. Several rides are interactive, allowing the rider to participate. LEGOLAND is airy and uncrowded with several outlets for spontaneous creativity. Water figures prominently throughout the park. They’ve added a separate water park since we were last here, which we plan to explore tomorrow.

We’re traveling with friends who are easy-going and fun so we’re enjoying each other’s company. It drives the boys nuts when the moms stop to take photos. If you’ve spent time in the company of a 12 year-old you know that annoying them is easy. It’s an adolescent right of passage.

We took pictures anyway! Here are a few highlights of the day:

Miniland: Las Vegas, Lego Style

Tall grasses line the edges of the lagoon

Rock Concert: Singing Rocks
We will, we will, rock you!

Tasmanian Tree Fern ‘Dicksonia Antarctica’

Trivia for the day: 53 million LEGOs used to build models throughout LEGOLAND California.

April 15, 2012 by Born To Organize

Bellagio Botanical Gardens: Flowering Whimsy

Charming Display Markers: Children's Clogs

It’s Las Vegas after all, a larger than life playground for adults. I expected over the top everything on my first visit to sin city, but was pleasantly surprised to find delicate blooms, charming displays, and happy children working their way through the Bellagio Conservatory and Botanical Gardens.

The Conservatory transforms five times a year, once for each season and a special display to commemorate Chinese New Year. The 2012 Spring Garden display is on view through May. Potent hyacinth were in bed with tulips, while mums lined the walkways. Larger than life wooden clogs housed flowers, with their miniature counterpart used as display markers to describe the scenes. I loved the bicycles, propped up against the landscape and the stunning floral reproduction of a Monet.

Bicycles at the Ready

The over-sized and somewhat silly swans seemed out of scale to the rest of the garden, but the artificial flowers and bees were fun. Whimsical hanging parasols had me mentally redecorating my bedroom at home. The overused catch phrase, “what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas,” needn’t apply to a beautiful set of floral parasols hanging from my bedroom ceiling at home. A gardener can dream, can’t she?

'Flapjack' Tulips

Chrysanthemum Ying and Yang

If only they were real

For My Room at Home?

Reminds me of me: I'm always the tall one in the bunch

I guess they meant "literally"

√ You can see some of the past Bellagio displays here.

√ For a time-lapse photo slide show of the garden installation click here.

March 27, 2012 by Born To Organize

Tea Time

Lisa’s Tea Treasures is a charming tea room and gift parlor in nearby Campbell, California. Designed to resemble an early nineteenth century English parlor, they serve “high tea” in cozy rooms where you ring the bell for service. Fresh tea brews at your table in fine china pots wrapped in “cozies.” Lisa’s is one of my go-to places to celebrate with my tea-loving friends.

Table Top at Lisa's Tea Treasures

I acquired my love of tea from my British father who not only drank it, but grew it on a tea plantation in Darjeeling. I have an album filled with black and white photos from his time in India, carefully captioned in his neat print. It’s a beautiful legacy from the man who died when I was nine. I wish he were alive to fill in the details of what had to be an amazing experience.

According to Wissotzky Tea,

“Tea is an evergreen plant of the Camellia genus. Its scientific name is “Camellia Sinensis) and it originated in China, Tibet and Northern India. The tea plant has thick leaves, dark green in color, and a strong thick stem. The tea flowers bloom in white or pink and have a delicate fragrance.

There are about 200 different species of the tea plant around the world.”

Assorted Teas Available in Lisa's Tea Salon

We believe tea originated in China, still a primary source of the world’s tea, along with India, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Nepal and Japan. Herbal “teas” aren’t really teas at all but a collection of flowers, stems, leaves and buds.

Visiting a tea plantation is on my proverbial bucket list. To see this plant, brewed and enjoyed the world round, would be a treat.

A few of my favorite teas:

Numi® Organic Tea: Super premium, organic and fair trade teas.

Celestial Seasonings: Sleepytime anyone?

Yogi Tea: Wonderful green tea.

Traditional Medicinals: I’m a huge fan of their Cold Care and Throat Coat teas.

Do you have a favorite?