Tomato Goddess

I wrote in an earlier post that I fake it at gardening. I don’t have a particularly green thumb. But it’s not a black thumb either. Perhaps more like light mint green with an ashy undertone.

However, maybe that’s changing? The last few weeks I have been more interested in my garden than during any other time in my life.

It might be my age (I’m having a ‘big’ birthday soon.) Or maybe it’s because I’ve been going through some emotional stuff lately and thinking about flowers and the myriad colors of green in the pots on my patio makes me feel happy.

Whatever it is, I remembered something that happened many years ago when I was still young…single, not yet a mother, living in a tiny apartment in Belmont Shore. My mother and both grandmothers were still with us, and I still saw the world as a shiny place.

My parents had gone out of town for a week. I don’t remember where, but I like to picture them in Hawaii, at the Hale Koa on Oahu, where we have gone and continue to go as a family.

My father entrusted me with his beloved tomato plants. I planned to go several times during the week to water them and check on the house.

Make the best-laid plans…and the Universe scoffs.

Work blew up in my face that week with a crisis communications situation that had to be handled ‘yesterday.’

Even more importantly, my grandmother, who also lived in Long Beach, developed a health problem and I spent many hours on the phone with her, running between the office and her apartment, and taking her to the hospital.

By Friday night, I had not managed to make it to my parents’ house even one time. After stopping by Community Hospital to see Granny, I crept up the front porch and put my key in the lock with a shaking hand.

The weather had been unseasonably, blisteringly hot. I dreaded to find out how the tomato plants had fared scorching and neglect. When I reached the area where Dad had placed his tomato cages, it was too dark to see the vines themselves.

Muttering a prayer under my breath, I dragged the heavy garden hose over to the end of the yard and sprayed everything within reach. The water arced over my head. Tiny droplets rained down on me in my work clothes and leather pumps.

As I drenched the foliage and my self, the smell of the grass rose to my nostrils and I begged the saints in charge of Tomato Health to intervene and save the precious sprouts.

Whether miracle or just plain luck, my dad swore the tomatoes that year were the most delicious he had ever grown.

The Lady is a Tramp

The weather we’ve been having lately in Southern California reminds me of the Frank Sinatra song The Lady is a Tramp.

There’s the verse that ends with:

She hates California, it’s cold and it’s damp
That’s why the lady is a tramp

It’s been SO chilly here that I haven’t worn short sleeves out of my house more than once this spring. And my hydrangeas are complaining, too. (That said, I love California for many reasons. And I’m not a fan of hot weather, either, which is why coastal California is great for me. I guess I’d love for the weather to be a breezy – not windy – 72º.)

We finally had our first bloom last week. It’s blue and I wish it were even more blue, verging on purple. But that looks like it might not be a possibility. I found an interesting site on hydrangeas with an article about trying to change their color:

http://www.hydrangeashydrangeas.com/colorchange.html

first hydrangea of the season

Hydrangeas are my favorite flower for several reasons:

Ø They come in beautiful colors, and sometimes several colors on the same bush
Ø They don’t make me sneeze!
Ø They grow well with very little work
Ø They look beautiful on the bush and used as cut flowers in arrangements
Ø They are lacy and spectacular without being fussy

Crafts and Party Favors

My family and I attended Unique LA this past weekend. A GREAT event held at the California Market Center’s Penthouse event space.

Admission was $10 and included a little canvas tote bag. Many of the vendors were giving away things like vitamin water, samples of their baked goods, small bags of chips, etc. Very good value for a special event!

My daughter and I also enjoyed making crafts for free with directions and materials provided by crafters/authors.

The first stop was Lisa Engelbrecht, an amazingly creative an amazingly creative and avant-garde calligraphist. She wrote my name on a placard, using glitter ink and a pen that holds multi-colored ink.

The placard Susan Engelbrecht made

Second stop was the ‘corsage’ table. We made a fabric flower that you can wear as a brooch, attach to a hairband, or make into a necklace. I decided I’ll make mine into a hat band.

Third stop was our favorite: Jeannine Stein, author of Re-Bound and Adventures in Bookbinding, provided instruction in how to make an ‘explosion book’. This is a book made from three pieces of card stock folded so they nest together, bound between two decorative covers. When the book is folded, it is a small square. When you untie the attached ribbon and pull apart the pages, it is similar to several ‘cootie catchers’ glued together on the diagonal.

Explosion books can be used as small scrapbooks, greeting cards, or notebooks – the only limit is your imagination.

We had so much fun talking to Jeannine and decorating our books. I bought Re-Bound, and she included a kit for making a ticket-stub book with it as part of the show special.

I like the explosion books so much I think I’m going to make them as favors for party guests for an event I’m having in a few weeks.

I’ll talk more about party decorations in my next post; I got a LOT of great ideas at the Unique LA event.

Faking It

I fake it sometimes.

Gardening, I mean. I wish I were a true gardener. My grandmother was one. Her yard, no matter where she lived, always looked like Disneyland…Beautiful color combinations, no dead plants. Gorgeousness everywhere.

The Huntington Beach Education Foundation (http://www.hbef4kids.org/) hosts a home tour every year to raise money for the Huntington Beach City School District. This year, it will be held on Saturday, May 7.

I can’t wait!

Every year I look forward to going to this event to see the wonderful homes featured. A couple of years ago, one of the homes on the tour was actually a garden.

The house is located on the Newland hill. Seems the owners built a condo complex that shares a driveway with their small private home and large garden. I’m not very good at estimating size, but I think it’s around six acres.

Each portion of the garden felt like its own world. There was the food garden with an espaliered apple tree, something I had never seen before. There was an enchanted round ‘room’ that would have been perfect for a tea party. The little garden shed looked wonderful for hosting a small meeting of elves.

My friends and I were enchanted by each section. We turned each corner and found something completely unexpected.

I can only imagine the amount of time and effort that goes into creating something so beautiful.

As for my garden, I spent one afternoon last week planting in pots flowers I bought at Lowe’s. I wanted the Easter bunny to feel welcome in my courtyard.

Sometime around Christmas, I planted some iris bulbs. I had forgotten about them completely until one of them bloomed last Monday. I’ve included a photo of it here. I am inordinately proud that one of my gardening projects worked.

Holiday Decor

One of the things I love to do is decorate for the holidays … pretty much ALL the holidays!

This week, I got ready for Easter:

Easter decor on back hall table

§       In the back hallway – a ceramic bunny embracing a large ceramic egg (this item is from my grandmother) and a tiny Easter tree.

§       On the foyer table – a ‘Spring’ sign set against the backdrop of a plate and complemented with a vase of hydrangeas. I love how the colors, which are not necessarily a standard combo, set each other off!

§       On the dining room table – my pretty favor from Bunco last week, which is a darling glass vase and place card holder, along with a jumping bunny topiary and a small wooden bunny cutout, all on a metal tray.

Dining room centerpiece

§       On the couch – two pillows made of fabric printed with Faberge eggs and trimmed with purple fringe, and two smaller purple velvet pillows.

§       The gate and front door sport spring wreaths with ‘Happy Easter’ signs I bought at the 99¢ Store. The bunny in the photo is from Pic-n-Save before it became Big Lots.

I like transitional cottage style and a bit of kitsch. I’m wondering if people who live in very contemporary houses have room for seasonal décor, or if it’s just too cutesy for them.

If you are a fan of contemporary or modern, and particularly if you decorate in these styles, how do you handle decorating for holidays?

Guest [Bath]Rooms

My friend Sharon has the most beautiful guest bathroom…utterly clean, comfortable and lovely to look at.

The tub gleams under overhead can lights; the rest of the bath is bathed in indirect – and flattering – light. The tub enclosure is tiled in rustic-style, neutral-colored tiles (about 8×8″), which are offset by the gleaming white porcelain of the tub itself, and the sleek glass of the enclosure.

When I attended an event at her home recently, there were plenty of hand towels including paper hand towels. YAY! Don’t you hate to use a cloth towel that has been used by other people? I always feel like it’s so unsanitary and just downright yucky.

One time, I went to a party at a friend’s home. She is a very good hostess, always making her guests feel welcome. I leave her home feeling like I’ve had fun and great food. However, one time I went to her house and she did not have a trash can in her powder room. This can be a real problem, especially for women at – ahem – certain times. I won’t go into details, but I was glad to have taken my purse with me into the restroom…

Before we were married, my husband used to belong to a very chi-chi city club. The ladies’ room there was downright glamorous. Each stall was its own little room, with its own cache of sanitary supplies. The sink area was stocked with linen hand towels which were used only once, after which visitors put them into a heavy-duty wicker basket. Their soap and hand lotion were just fragrant enough, and they also had hair spray on hand. I always felt very pampered after I made a visit to that petit coin ["little corner"], as the French say.

I think all guest baths should have:

• soap
• a candle
• matches
• extra rolls of toilet paper
• a nice (and very clean) wastepaper basket
• paper and cloth hand towels and
• hand lotion.

Hidden out of sight, but easily findable by guests in need, guest bathrooms should also be stocked with:

• some air freshener (I like the all-natural citrus kind, which doesn’t set off people’s allergies)
• extra wash cloths (new and high quality)
• sanitary supplies for women
• new toothbrushes
• travel-sized tubes of toothpaste
• antacid
• pain relievers (Tylenol, Advil, Aspirin)
• band-aids and
• a few tiny lipstick samples in case your friends find themselves without.

Remember that your guests are away from home and might need something that they don’t normally carry in their pockets or purses. Just as you would supply overnight guests with necessities, stock your guest bathroom with the things they might need while at your home for a shorter visit.

My dream bathroom has a Venetian mirror and silver-tone touches. To see an example, please visit:  http://bit.ly/eQLyF9