Gardening

The truth is I don't like gardening.  Maybe it goes back to our days in Ithaca when I thought I would grow so many zucchini that I would have to sneak them onto a neighbor's porch.  We got three and bugs got the rest.  Going to Farmers' Market was much more satisfying.

The one part of gardening I do enjoy is pruning so when we returned from a year away to find dead camellia bushes, I happily hacked them down.

 The stumps stayed there for a year until a friend was giving away succulents.

I was finally motived  to dig them up.  The pair of scissors did not get clean, even in the dishwasher.

This is what came out the bottom.

Too many peach and cherry pits in my fancy-schmancy compost screen.

Even though I don't like gardening, I do like composting and was excited to use stuff from the bottom instead of only putting things in the top.

The rain barrel was put to use, too.

This is the result.  I don't think it will last since this area gets almost no sun and the only water is from rain or when I think I give them some.

This is the next project.  I have a call into the city, which allows each household to have three large junk pickups each year.  I am hoping they'll take away items hidden behind the bushes (non-functional folding table left by tenants, enormous pallet that came with our fantastic picnic table, an old door). Next I will the prune (hack!) the bushes so the beautiful stone wall can be exposed.  Stay tuned.

LA County Fair

I love the fair! I know people complain about the cost, but were lucky to have free tickets and free parking from our neighbor who works at the fair.  People complain about the heat, but we went when it was only in the 90's, found the shade, and looked for the misters right next to the fans.  People complain about the unhealthy food, which is funny since no one makes you eat it.  We bought Dr. Bob's ice cream, which is hardly a health food (16% butterfat), but is made by our neighbor and tastes fantastic.

Our first stop was Heritage Square where people can weave, spin wool into yarn, and make rugs from rags.  You can also watch a blacksmith, visit an old school house, and see brooms being made (including a copy of the Nimbus 2000).

Next up were the animals - a nursing mama pig and piglets, a variety of chickens, and a chance to feed the goats.  We skipped the milking demonstration and instead visited the well-hidden bee display, which were next to the gardens with eggplants, grapes, and sad-looking cucumbers.

The theme is Fahrenheit 451.
Sorry you can't see the menu or the little firefighter rainboots at the bottom of each of the table legs. 

My friend had never seen the competitive table setting display so we had to visit there next.  Themes included a table set with only things from the 99 cent store, a fancy dinner while camping with washcloths as placemats, and a election theme.  I have never seen anything like it anywhere else.

We walked over to the Millard Sheets Gallery and saw some of my favorite artists, including the woodworker who one year let A. help carve a horse and the next year let A. ride it!  This A. was entranced by Crispin Gonzalez, a artist from Claremont who was using the potter's wheel.

 A favorite part of the gallery is the art project at the end, which is different every year.  This year we had a chance to make a mosaic to keep or one to add the to the wall of community art.  I made the square with orange, pink, and green tiles and thought I was surprised to see another 3d tile right by mine.

We finished with a ski-lift type ride.  I forgotten that last year I had vowed never to do it again.  It is SO scary, but somehow I managed to take a picture without falling off.

Three-plus hours and $20 later, we found our car and went home satisfied.  Can't wait for more of the same next year.

Dreams

I visit my childhood home each year, but haven't lived there full-time since June 1989.  Why do all my dreams take place there?  Even when they involve current events, they take place in Cleveland Heights.

Last night I was dreaming about cycling to the pool in the dark, and instead of being on Foothill Blvd. here, I was clearly on Cedar Rd. because I went by St. Ann's.  My parents' jelly cupboard is often in my dreams, too.

I'd love to hear where your dreams take place.

In the beginning

Twenty years ago today David and I had the following conversation.

D I lived in Cleveland.
J  Me, too.
D I lived in Cleveland Heights.
J  Me, too.
D  I went to Roxboro.
J  Me, too.
D  I lived behind Steve Soltz.
J  He is working for his dad now.
D  I was friends with Phil Hoyt.
J  His family moved to New York.

A few more like that.

D  I invited Elana Clavner to my birthday party because we had the same birthday.
J  Your birthday must be May 25th!

Then David knew I wasn't making up all the other stuff.  We got together to talk about the good old days and now we are living happily ever after.

Daily Bread, II

What are those specks in those otherwise delicious looking buttermilk biscuits?  Remember when A. was studying the food of early humans?  I finally used the flour as part of dinner.  Nobody seemed able to taste it, but at least it was visible.

As an added bonus I now have the use of my Tupperware container again and I have the satisfaction of using something up.  I still have buttermilk left despite two batches of biscuits and my first attempt at homemade ranch dip (meh).  Must be time for pancakes.

Cell phone

I vowed to start carrying a phone more often, even though I feel no need.  It is a lot like an answering machine.  For ages we didn't have one and I imagined all my friends were calling, but were unable to leave a message.  Once we got an answering machine, I had to face the truth that no one called.

No one calls me, but can be useful to call other people, as I have learned from experience and my new ex-pat friend's blog.  Even more useful is the ability to take pictures for this blog, since we received a hand-me-down phone with a camera function.

This is looks a lot like my phone, but maybe this is the modern version?  A Danish colleague of David's was amazed at the ancient phone we had been using and when he upgraded we go the old one.  After we were both traveling at the same time we decided it was time to have two phone that mostly sit in the drawer, but get used a little more than in the past.  (Did I set the record for world's longest caption?)

A few times today I wish I had had the phone or a camera with me.  For the second time I saw a dilapidated jalopy (is that redundant?), but it has beautiful plates from 1929.  Maybe they were repainted?  Sorry, no picture.

I also wanted to take pictures of succulents.  I am ready to redo another part of the yard and am looking for inspiration.  I am always inspired by Charlotte's blog and yard, which you can see here.

Tonight I went to an orchestra orientation meeting and remembered to bring the phone so I could take a picture of a new-to-me little library.  It was a little dark and I was a little late so you can't see in from this photo, but it is made of a dorm frig.

A small frig with a new life as a little library.

It can be found in front of 437 Harrison Ave, Claremont.

Weather

I know people get sick of weather posts, but it is such an obvious topic when it influences so much of the day.

This photo was taken last night.  Hot inside, hot outside.

Someone in the family strongly prefers Celsius to Fahrenheit.
She helps me to remember the general conversion with this ditty.
Thirty is hot.
Twenty is nice.
Ten is chilly.
Zero is ice.

 This was the morning version.  Cooler inside and out, but hardly cool.

Tradeoffs

I am willing to walk a fair distance if it means I can park the car in the shade.  My motto could be, "Will walk for shade."

In order to play video games my nine-year-old had to do a bit if housework.  "Will vacuum for Wii."

Would he do this at home?

Life's little joys

I never had a car until I married into one and we lived in Denmark without a car, but it is convenient to have one. (Except today when I stopped to put gas into it and pressed one to put money into the machine and then pressed one to pump gas, but unfortunately pressed that I was at pump one when I was at pump nine.  I immediately zipped inside to explain the error, but had to wait while someone bought lottery tickets and turned in lottery tickets worth three dollars - so sad.  But I digress.)  Not only is it nice to have a car, it is so nice to have it in a garage.  I know I could manage if I had to scrape ice or if I had to get into it after it baked in the sun for hours, but I love not having to deal with that.  Every other year or so we have to have the automatic opener tuned up and today the guy showed up about 90 minutes late, but it turned out okay because I lot done during that time (including repapering the medicine cabinet shelves, which has been on my to-do list since June).  I need to be more vigilant about removing spider webs from the bottom, sides, and interior of the garage door, which I promise to do.

Another great thing about a garage is that it provides a great place to play chess.

Celebration

On our neighbor's porch swing
(in honor of becoming engaged on David's porch swing)

Our nineteenth anniversary was last week, but as we discussed plans this summer we realized we wouldn't have much time to do much more than have lunch together.  We had been high bidders on tickets to the Hollywood Bowl and even though we were attending in August, we decided to call it our celebration.

Parking is a problem so we drove to a park-and-ride lot between here and there and took a shuttle to Hollywood.  With our tickets came all sorts of snacks so we had a yummy dinner before the concert started.

Not a great picture, but it gives you an idea of our location.

We were in the fourth row after the fancy seats, but we could see plenty because there were several enormous screens projecting the concert.  It felt very Hollywood.  

It felt even more Hollywood when the pianist, Yuja Wang, came out.  This dress was eye-catching and much discussed, but not nearly as much as the dress she wore when she last performed in LA.

Since it was my first visit to the Hollywood Bowl I didn't realize that the orchestra was dressed informally because it was a warm night, but I learned that and more from the review of the concert.  The conductor, Gustavo Dudamel, was also without a coat and tie.  I may have thought the screens were hard to adjust to, but a significant benefit was being able to see more of the conductor than just his backside.

On the musical side, the first surprise was when everyone rose as the conductor came out, but not for him, but because the first piece was The Star Spangled Banner.  It sounded great!  What we had been expecting was Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1.  As soon as I heard it I felt eight years old, reminded of the record my dear friend Daphna gave to me for a birthday present in the third grade.  I had to listen as soon as I got home.

It was a great celebration - doing something we don't usually do and doing it together.  Here's to many, many more celebrations.

Art

Hanging out at the Pomona Arts Colony for their Art Walk tonight falls into the category of things-that-I-wonder-why-I-don't-do-more-often.

Highlights include seeing this mural in memory of Karl Benjamin, which I had read about in the Claremont Courier. 

We toured the Abandoned Fabric 2012 show by Sumi Foley with musical accompaniment by her husband,  John York.  We were surprised to run into friends, but none of us bought any art.

I like this stencil outside the dA Center for the Arts.

There were food trucks, people of all ages, people in all outfits, and even a group of vocal evangelists trying to save our souls.  I know the teenager in the family would vote to skip it next time, but I am looking forward to another visit.

Daily bread

My fourth grader has been learning about the diet of early humans and had a chance to thresh and winnow some amaranth.  He brought it home has been making a couple tablespoons of flour for an undetermined project.

Convocation

 Yesterday's convocation opened Pomona College's 125th year and I got there in time to hear the fanfare written for the occasion. 

I also got to see the professors in their cap and gowns, which is my favorite part.

These photos show the set-up for the performance art that was scheduled for after the ceremony, but even though I stuck around for a while I didn't see what happened next.  I did hear a rumor that they were going to be naked, but I guess that was not approved.  Sorry I can't tell you more.

Little libraries

Two years ago I had written about a book-swapping spot in Denmark (read more here) because it was a new concept to me.  The next year my favorite Claremont blogger wrote about two little libraries right here is town (more here and here).  Today the pool opened late so I was cycling in the daylight and discovered another book swap spot.

I have no idea how long it has been here, but it made a good morning even better.

I didn't have a book to leave, but chose this book because it looked like a passport and I thought I could leave it in my swim bag in case of reading emergency.

Food in the neighborhood, part two

I am grateful to my friend for teaching me about passion fruit.  I saw them out on my run (location undisclosed) and went back to retrieve more.

There isn't a lot in each capsule? pod?, but the flavor is fabulous.