Vintage Postcard

I will assume, by looking at this site, or this site, that this postcard dates pre-1915.
Too, the stamp called for is one cent.

I enjoy collecting postcards, especially with beach-themed illustrations or photographs.

In other news, I bought wood today to lay my own floor.
I wanted bamboo because it's environmentally friendly, but considering cost, I couldn't find a floating style within my price range.
I didn't want oak, but I settled for red oak because of the price (there was an automatic rebate, so I got $150 off).
Too, it was less expensive because it's a light to medium wood, while the trends today are for cherry or dark woods.
My brother is going to help me install it.
Pics soon!

Video Sunday: Drake's Wish

My friend debs has a 17 year old son with cancer.
He composes music, and was having trouble with writing (pain in his arm and hand).
Several doctors blew it off as growing pains until debs finally insisted on further testing.
That's when they discovered a tumor wrapped around the nerves in his neck.
Several specialists were required during surgery to ensure there was no nerve damage, but this required fusing some of the vertebrae in his spine, and left him without upper body strength.

To make a long story short, in this last year, rather than sitting around bitching and whining, this family has embraced the positive.
They have, literally, taken the reins of life and enjoyed the ride.
Granted, one can't gloss over the details.
Of course there have been difficulties, such as debs' daughter experiencing panic attacks, and debs basically checking out emotionally at her job.

Drake's cancer is in remission now, and hopefully the future will be bright.
Ironically, this tragedy has brought some amazing experiences to this family--moments they will all cherish forever.
For example, Make a Wish granted Drake his wish--a trip to London to attend a Parkour school.
Parkour is sort-of an urban obstacle course.
A challenge to body and spirit.
It is the notion of getting from one point to another by crawling over and upon anything in between, such as buildings.

Drake's Wish:

Fall down and go boom

Ugh.
Fatigue has returned.
I was supposed to start a swimming class this week, but I put on my Speedo, took one look in the mirror, and that was the end of that.
I looked like a bowling ball.
I dropped the class.
Yes I know no one else in class really cared.
Yes I know swimming would help me look and feel better.
But I couldn't go. I just couldn't.

Last night I came to a client's house to watch a dog and two cats.
I have been here many many times before, so it's comfortable.
I had been painting all day, was behind doing stuff, so brought a load of laundry with me.
No big deal, right?
Well, I knew the lint screen on the dryer would be full, so I emptied it.
When I went to replace the screen, something on top of the dryer went down into the screen holder (on top of the dryer).
Aaarrgghhh, now the dryer won't work.

I called my brother to see if I could take off the back panel of the dryer.
He suggested I call a repair man.
Of course they aren't available today.
The cost of the guy to come out and look at the dryer equals the amount I was paid to watch the animals.
So I left that on the counter, and I'm sure I'll have to pay more.
So much for extra work to make extra money.

On top of that, my hormones are all askew, and I cry at the drop of a hat.
Lovely.
At least it's nice and sunny outside, and I got reimbursed from insurance already on the gum surgery I had a few weeks ago.

Problem is the tissue is not healing normally, so now I have to have a biopsy.
I also have to have blood tests to find out why there was such dramatic bleeding during surgery.
I'll be glad when this is all resolved.

Collage with Jewelry

I am fascinated with the idea of using costume jewelry in collage and/or mosaics.
I don't know what it is about jumbling trinkets together, but I absolutely love this form of art.

Way back in the 80's, my then boyfriend's mom had framed a Christmas tree-shape made of jewelry.
I guess the idea just stuck with me, because I would love to make something like this (this amazing wreath especially appeals to me).

Nimue's grandma made one of these framed tree shapes--isn't it great?!
She says this is a craft right out of the 1960's.
Read more here.

Family Fun has a tutorial for a Trinket Tree.
This project reminds me of memory jugs.

The trinket tree also makes me think of Outsapop's spraypainted toys for craft projects
Which in turn makes me think of this bowling ball turned into garden art, made with painted plastic lizards (note the base is an old fire extinguisher).(how-to of similar bowling ball projects)

Along the same line, good ideas include collaging jewelry onto frames, boxes, and magnets (a trash to treasure project).
One commenter on this forum says,

"Get yourself a framed mirror and glue them all around the frame then, for a cohesive look, use acrylics in old gold, antique silver, and brass and paint the pieces. I try to really pile on the jewelry (sometimes forming a base with foil)to give it some depth. What I love about doing this is that it can very much be a project that is ongoing as you collect more jewelry to fill the frame. I have also many times added "found objects" like nuts, bolts, screws, coins, small plastic toys, chains, etc"

But back to jewelry.
I was at Rogers Gardens on Saturday, and was blown away by the beauty of Margaret Larkin's Jewelry Trees.
There is really only one word to describe these: Stunning.

I only have a couple of blurry cell phone pics, as I thought for sure she'd have a website (but I can't find any information on the artist).
I was so positive there would be a website, I didn't even read information about her at the store (if anyone finds a website, please let me know).
These are entirely composed of costume jewelry--usually in a color theme of silver or gold, but also whimsical christmas-themed ones.
Each one sells for several hundred dollars.

I Destroy Things...

Remember the little guy and his sister that were dumped at my mom's house?

Well, they are fat and happy now...and incredibly destructive!
They've shredded curtains, a garment bag, and the bottom of a mattress (so they can crawl up inside and sleep).
They climb into cupboards, atop high places, and knock over everything in their paths.
They are as cute as cute can be.
Brats, but cute.

We ended up naming them Oliver and Minnie (the name Violet didn't stick, but Min did).

This originally was a palm tree-shaped scratching post with carpet-covered coconuts and fronds, and a sisal-covered trunk.
Evidently it was really fun to scratch off the rope, then keep scratching until the cardboard base collapsed.
The funny part is now they love it even more.
Now it is the favorite sleep zone.
Whatever.

Californians: Please Vote Yes on Prop 2

Absentee ballots are already being mailed out, so I really want to encourage those of you in California to vote YES on Proposition 2.

Read the facts here.

In essence, the propostion says "It is cruel and inhumane to confine animals in cages so small they can’t turn around or stretch their limbs. All animals deserve humane treatment, including those raised for food."

Farm animals deserve adequate living conditions, not confining cages along with unethical, inhumane practices.
Treating animals with respect also helps prevent disease.
Factory farm techniques aim to make money with disregard for proper animal care and in turn our health (read about Mad Cow disease and you'll get the picture).

Support your local farmer and demand proper animal welfare principles.
Vote YES on Prop 2.

Shopping

Ferris Wheel at the Irvine Spectrum mall.
(click on image to enlarge)

Yesterday was one of those magical days.
I met my friend debs at a park-and-ride.
I left my car in the lot, got into her car, and she handed me an iced toffee mocha.
Really, could there be a better beginning?

We drove about an hour north to visit Rogers Gardens (I'll blog about that later), then headed to the mall in Irvine.
Remember recently when I blogged about shopping and how it just wasn't fun anymore?
Well, it's all different when I'm with debs.

We beelined it to H&M.
That store isn't currently in San Diego, so I didn't know anything about it (note one is supposed to open later this month in Fashion Valley).
Wow, it was so much fun!
First of all, everything is so inexpensive (it's sort-of the clothing version of Ikea).
I ended up with two wrap-style scarves, two light-weight shirts, a tank top, and a camisole top, all for less than $100.

We stopped and had dinner at The Corner Bakery Cafe--yummy potato soup with half sandwiches, then shared a mini banana bundt cake with a to-die-for maple frosting.

Nothing like good old-fashioned conversation and laughter to charge the batteries.

(pretty great image for a cell phone, huh?!)

Not this again...

In my experience, guys (yes, that's sexist, but usually true) who mess around with computer programs never seem to be able to leave well enough alone.
I wish they would instead live by the adage "if it ain't broke, don't fix it".
First Yahoo, then eBay, and now Flickr.

Flickr just got a "new and improved" Home Page, and honestly, it SUCKS.
Pages and pages of complaints in the forums, yet the powers that be don't seem to give a rat.
One of the very best things about Flickr is was being able to view comments on your photos as well as additional comments to photos you had commented on.
Now it's all jumbled together with comments on your contacts' photos.
It's a big stupid mess.

I don't see myself hanging around there much longer, which is a shame, because Flickr is how I load images to my blogs.
If I delete Flickr, the pics on my blogs disappear also.
Too, I get a second audience on Flickr, more comments on photos and illustrations, and I belong to groups that pool interesting images (especially in vintage advertising).
So now what do I do?

I will have to research other photo sites like Shutterfly and see if they are comparable.
But bottom line this means either deleting my blogs altogether, or I'll be going through almost three years of blog pages (my first images were uploaded via Picassa), and inputing each image in again.
Aarrggghhhhh...hours and hours.

Anyone else having this problem?
Any suggestions?
Note my computer is old and won't always load just off itself.
Flickr resizes images so that isn't a problem.
It's all so irritating.

Refinished Plant Stand

You know how you start throwing stuff in a drawer, and you mean to get back and organize it, but you never do...and all of a sudden it becomes "the junk drawer"?
Well, that's kind-of what my mom and I did with empty pots for plants--we just put them out by the front door, and pretty soon it was this unruly mess


Well, I found a wrought-iron tiered plant stand at a garage sale for $10.
It was completely rusted, but still sturdy and attractive.
(excuse the poor quality of this photo)

Note that the rusted plant stand to the left was a freebie find in an alley.
The kitty statue in front was a $3 find at the same garage sale as the tiered stand.

I decided to bring the stand back to life with black paint.
I used a Rustoleum spray in a hammered finish.
Had the patina on the finials been even, I would have left it alone, as that verdigris can be so pretty.
But the brass was more dark and dirty than anything, so I painted it in a metallic sage to give the piece contrast.
(click on image to enlarge if desired)


So now the front entry looks a lot more organized!


Note the little snail planter on the wall was a garage sale find for $2.
The frog statue in the large pot hides the broken piece quite nicely.
The frog was another freebie alley find.
It was painted in chipped white paint, which I covered in a faux stone finish.

Pretty good, huh?

Ummmm....candy...

I've got a huge sweet tooth.
Always have, always will.

That makes October an especially fun month.
My friend Scott is a Jehovah's Witness, so he doesn't celebrate Halloween (how sad, that's my favorite holiday!), but he says he loves this time of year because he can buy candy corn.
My friend Leslie feels the same way, and picks up bags of Brach's in every flavor--caramel candy corn, regular, and chocolate.
She then pours them all in a bowl together and we get sick from gluttony.

I was thinking about my favorite candies, and I keep coming back to old-fashioned varieties.
I love flavored Tootsie Rolls, and Blue Raspberry Tootsie Pops (the one pictured is a Pomegranate flavor).
The Caramel Creme are the round versions of the stick-shaped candy called Cow Tails.
The little peanut butter bars stir up some kind of childhood warm-and-fuzzy feeling for me.
They sort-of taste like Clark bars (remember those?), or 5th Avenue bars, or Chick o Sticks without the coconut (ummmm...Chick o Stick....).

Do I care that it's a ton of sugar and the dreaded corn syrup? Uh...no.
Do I care that this time of year is the busiest for dentists because fillings get pulled out and all that stuff? Uh...no.
Candy is fun and frivolous and nostalgic.

When I was a kid, I used to roller skate over to the little mom and pop store and buy Pixie Stix. It's cool those are still around.
Remember Razzles? Lik-a-Maid? Those little candy dots stuck on paper? O'Henry?

For my friend debs' birthday recently, one of the things I bought for her were pig-shaped gummy candies by Fred Ferkel out of Germany.
I sent away to Germany for them, spent a ridiculous amount on shipping, but they were fun and flavorful and worth it.
A week later I found them in the Cost Plus World Market down the street from my house!
Go figure.
Cost Plus is actually a great resource for candy though.
That's where I bought the chocolate-coated licorice (yum).
They carry a bunch of old-time candies like Mary Janes, Good and Plenty, and the little honey-flavored chewy things that I can't remember the name of right now.
Henry's Market carries big malted milk balls with a peanut butter filling (omg).

Funny how some sweets can only be appreciated as an adult.
I never cared for candy corn or Good and Plenty when I was a kid, but I do now.
I used to participate in a candy swap--it was fun.
I got some amazing things sent to me from the UK, like licorice pinwheels.

What are your favorites?

New Drapes!

I bought draperies for my bedroom yesterday.
This is really a big deal for me because I don't often make purchases this large (a couple of hundred dollars), and I've never bought any kind of window treatments before, so it's exciting for me.

I wanted to take advantage of Columbus Day sales, so I headed over to Joann's and considered this gorgeous lemongrass-colored silk.
The lovliness doesn't really come across on the scan--the sheen, the cripness...

After 50% off, it was $12 per yard.
That was do-able (I needed 10-1/2 yards for a sliding glass door and a small window), but I figured I'd go back to Home Fabrics and see what they might say.
I'd rather support Home Fabrics anyway.
Joann's, especially this particular location, is scattered brained.
Just to get a 1/4 yard sample took over an hour.
It was ridiculous.
I'm not fond of the changes made to the layout of the interior either.

Anyway, the assistant manager, Jake, at Home Fabrics in La Mesa was so incredibly helpful.
For less money than any other place I checked, I got drapery rods, a lightweight fabric to sew into sheers, and pre-made panels in a simple neutral (whew, that saved me some serious time--I had planned to sew my own tab-style panels, but these are fine. And easier).
My God, the sheer fabric was only $3.99 per yard!

Jake helped with color choice, with telling me what hardware I needed, how to sew the sheers (they have how-to leaflets they give to customers at no charge), how long and full the drapes should hang, and honest-to-goodness customer service.
I would not have even gotten close to that at Joann's.

When I showed Jake my bedding colors and paint swatches, he stood back and said, "that's a whole lotta green".
Hmmm. I guess I had better break it up a bit and bring in one of the neutrals.
A beige/yellow was perfect.
Jake said it should feel "aaaahhhh".

(note whatever that spot is on the corner was on my scanner and not the curtain itself).
The beige fabric has what Jake called a "slug" slub (thanks kt), meaning lines of texture--kind-of a faux silk look.
Granted these are both polyester (eeww), but it really is a lot more practical.
Poly can be washed, it isn't as wrinkle prone as linen or cotton, and it doesn't absolutely have to be dry cleaned like silk.
This fabric is also light and simple to match the room, versus something heavy or overly dramatic.

I found a mosaic'ed shell rod at a thrift store--I thought this was a fun find for $6.50.
I purchased the other three rods to match the nickel finish (a simple metallic ball finial on the longer rod will be fine).

Home Fabrics was having a sale too, but in typical Barb fashion, every item I chose was full price.
But their prices really are amazing (geez, I sound like an advertisement. Like I said, I'm just kind-of excited).
I guess I'm excited because the project is all mine.
My space, my stuff, my research...

I got out to my car, reviewed the receipt, and realized the cashier had forgotten to charge me for the long rod ($24.95).
I wish I could tell you I didn't hesitate, but a small flick in my brain wanted to take the value and run...
but I pulled the good karma and went back inside to pay for it.
I had to.

Of course I'll blog completed pics when I finish the room (which will hopefully be soon).

Garden Goodness

I planted my garden late, so my harvest is also late.
But it's so exciting to see watermelon growing!
I grew this from seed.


And it's delicious too.

This is Orangeglo watermelon.

The Perpetual Basil is doing well.
This is supposedly a perennial variety.
I purchased this plant as a tiny little thing from Kniffings Nursery.

Next to it, on the right, is English Lavender, and a zinnia just coming up.
To the left, my epazote isn't doing so hot.

The Italian Squash grew like weeds--these ones are about two feet long each.

The dark green variety is Costata Romanesco (known for its prolific blossom production),
and the lighter green is Tromba di Albenga.

The Winter Squash (this one Marina di Chioggia) spread out everywhere.
All these were purchased plants from Kniffings.
The pumpkin shaped squash is large and warty.

We haven't tried it yet, but I'm sure it will be amazing.

Not too shabby for cell phone pics, huh?

Oh, and if you want a yummy recipe for fried zucchini:
Cut slices (rounds) and season well, then dip each slice individually into a bowl containing an egg that has been beaten with a splash of cream (you really need a lot of salt or the zucchini tastes bland).
Then take each egg-coated slice and dip into a bowl filled with a mixture of flour, salt and pepper, paprika, and parmesan cheese (preferably freshly grated).
Fry in a hot pan of both olive oil and butter (the butter gives it flavor).
Serious yum. The pieces come out with a crust like bread crumbs.

I'm really pissy lately

Recently, I've been helping out in the cash vault at my work.
It's a nice change for me, the time zooms by, I work alone and can listen to the radio, and it's easier on the body.
I usually work six-hour shifts, but how late I work depends on how busy the store is, how many cash and check drops come in, if I make a mistake inputing, etc.

Okay, so California law requires that I take a 30 minute lunch.
This really bites in my situation, because if I get out of work on time, I make six hours pay.
If I take a lunch, I only get paid 5-1/2.
I want to just take some snack in the vault and munch as I work.
Nine times out of ten, it makes more sense for me to work through lunch even if I clock out, because I'll just be 30 minutes behind later, and there's a cut-off time to being allowed inside the vault.

So tonight I got involved in finishing up checks and finding a missing till, and forgot to sign out until after six hours.
So I'll end up getting a written reprimand, the second one this week alone.
Theoretically, I could lose my job if this continues.

All these laws are just so stupid.
For more than 20 years I worked six hour shifts with two breaks, and it was great. Now if any shift goes over five hours, we're required to take a lunch.
I understand that the employees regularly screwed out of regular breaks by their asshat employers are in need of intervention, but I work a union job and get a break every two hours.
So this really sucks for me.

There really should be a waiver for this kind of thing.

What's a girl gotta do?

You know that really uplifting, bright feeling you get when you wear new lingerie?
Or a new shirt?
Or new make-up?
Well, yesterday I went back to work after taking off a week.
I wore a brand new shirt, brand new boy-short panties (hello, under my jeans), and my new six-inch (plus) shorter hair, washed with my new top-of-the-line hair products, blow-dried (something I usually don't do), and straightened with big rollers since I don't yet own a flat iron.

Not one person noticed.
Not one.

Now don't get all psycho-babble on me and tell me I don't need to base my worth by the acknowledgement of others, blah blah blah.
I mean, it's nice to hear comments, okay?
Sigh.

On other news, I left my brand new frickin' phone at the beach the other day (actually, it fell out of my bag), so a new one is en route by mail.
Luckily the salesman made an error and signed me up for insurance, so it only set me back 5o bucks.
But 50 bucks is 50 bucks, and that kinda sucked.

The winds are starting up here.
It is a bit cooler right now, but the heat is expected to return next week.
I used to love that dry heat, but now I know wind+heat=fire, and after last year's too-close-for-comfort, I'm a bit more nervous than usual.
The electric company is now turning off lines in rural areas, however, as those lines that were whipped about in the wind were evidently the cause of several fires last year.

Today I finished painting a thrifted plant stand (always several projects afoot at once), and will have pics up soon.

Same old...

I am STILL working on fixing up my room.
This is taking a ridiculous amount of time.
More so in that I am often at someone else's house taking care of a dog, versus here finishing this project.

Too, it has all just been overwhelming.
Just SO MUCH STUFF.
One of my biggest flaws is continually adopting an attitude of
"I'll get around to that later..."
I mean, the intentions are good, but after awhile there are too many magazines to sort through, too many unfinished sewing projects, too many collectibles, too many letters to write, too many blogs to read, too many papers to file and organize...
it all becomes overwhelming to the point of my not wanting to do ANYTHING.

So half my battle with my room has been going through stuff, making like piles, putting stuff elsewhere to make space, figuring out which stuff to donate, which stuff to toss...
Finally I just had to stop and throw stuff in crates and, yeah, ironically, get around to it later.
The cycle is evidently never ending.

Anyway, I have scrubbed and scrubbed, and that's as far as I've gotten.
I had hoped to finish weeks ago, yet I haven't even primered yet.
Sigh.
I should be able to primer on Friday.
I will be dog-sitting this weekend, but I may try to sew curtains while I'm there.

The colors I need for drapes just don't come pre-made.
I considered it.
I looked at Ikea and JC Penney and World Market.
Then I went to Home Fabrics, and the guy there was so helpful that I am going to go with buying fabric and sewing my own.

I initially was going to purchase vertical blinds, until I spoke with an employee at Home Depot who said that is "so apartment. Curtains are much nicer."
You know...she's right.
I used to have a client who had heavy, hideous, motel-looking drapes, which totally turned me off to fabric as window coverings.
But my stuff is simple, and sheers with a soft cotton over the top will be perfect.
Just simple tab curtains--I don't need fancy pleats or anything.

I get my stitches out tomorrow after gum surgery last week.
The experience was really not so bad--a good doctor makes all the difference.

I also got satellite tv installed yesterday--woohoo!
My mom and I have not allowed ourselves that luxury in five years, so this is a huge big deal.
And DVR too!

Funny, the economy has tanked, yet I have been spending more money than usual lately (I took a loan out of my 401K).
I have been living paycheck to paycheck for so long, this fear people are experiencing just seems like a "welcome to my world".
I'm not going to worry anymore at this point.

More soon...

Step one: hair cut (Before and After)

I posted recently about self improvement.
I started getting my aches and pains in check with the chiropractor.
Exercise--uh, not yet. But I do start a swim class at the end of the month.
New room as more pleasant environment--getting there also. That one has been way too slow a process.

So now comes appearance.
I have spent the last couple of years really working on the inside.
Emptying the baggage, as it were.
Now I'm really quite content, but I have this interior that doesn't match the exterior.
I've gained weight, I just haven't really cared anymore.
Granted, it has been a really tight year on funds (things like facials, pedicures, massages, etc, are a luxury) but still.

So that has to change.
It is more than time.
Step one--get my hair cut.

I hadn't cut my hair in ten months, and even then he didn't really do much.
I was fearing that I was starting to look like one of those "older" ladies--the granola ones with long scraggly hair and too many greys that sort of frizz around the head.
Eewww.
It's more than time I paid attention to how I feel and how I look and how I present myself to the world.

This time I chose an honest to goodness stylist--it was a treat to myself.
Before picture (you'll have to click on the images if you want to enlarge--Flickr isn't wanting to size these to fit)

My hair is longer than it appears here, in that it's hanging over the chair.
Those ends reached almost to my waist.
That's my natural color, but with too many greys for my liking.
I LIKE my natural color, and I hate to mess with it chemically, especially since it's such a tough shade to get right, but my hair has gotten more ashy as I've gotten older, and looks horrendous with grey.
People with black hair who get grey might look more interesting.
My hair with grey...not so much.

No one else seemed to notice the grey, but I sure did.
I usually just let it air dry, so that's natural wave.

First trim, to get the ragged ends off

Already a huge improvement.
I'm not a fan of rounded styles, and that's kind-of what I had before (you know, where the hair is kind-of a U-shape, and the middle back in longest).

After!

Shorter and darker than the picture may indicate.
Remember, here it's blow-dried and flat ironed.
He cut at least six inches off, perhaps more (it sure feels like more--that part takes some getting used to).
So no more twisting and tying it into a knot--it's not long enough for that anymore.
But that's okay. Really.
He matched the natural color underneath at my neck, then called it my "natural color kicked up a notch".
It's super shiny and feels really soft and healthy now. He also colored my brows a shade darker. The front has some layers around my face.
He initially planned to do long layers all around, then decided to take it slow and just do the front for now.
Gain my trust, as it were, since this is the first time he has cut my hair.
Today I'm going to experiment with letting it air dry and see how that looks.
I don't usually blow dry every day--just too time consuming.

My friends said I looked ten years younger.
My mom greeted me with, "I thought you were going to get your hair cut".
Uh, HELLO!
Then she said it looked more like eight inches were cut off, but she didn't like the straight style.
Sigh...

Initially I had planned to donate my hair to cancer patients, but you have to give a bigger chunk--like 12 inches.
I just couldn't get myself to go that short.
Hair length has become both a part of my identity and somewhat of a shield.
The stylist actually said he cut 12 inches off, but I think he may have been joking.
It's possible though.
Maybe I should have mentioned I wanted to donate.
Too late now.

It really is a huge step in the right direction though.
I don't know why I waited so long.

From Folklore to Fantastic Fruit

Momotaro is a hero in Japanese folklore, sort-of an ancient Japanese version of James and the Giant Peach.
The popular tale teaches children the virtues of courage, teamwork, and generosity.
More info here.
(image by Storycard Theatre)

Momotaro is also the name of a Japanese pink tomato--just like the one I have growing in my garden.
My first ever home-grown tomato!
This is the best tasting tomato I've ever eaten.
And the plant itself has this amazing earthy fragrance.

I copied the following info from the San Diego Union-Tribune newspaper:
"Momotaro is a beautiful rose-pink tomato that features meaty flesh and has truly superb, intense tomato flavor; a fine blend of sugars and acids – truly scrumptious. The fruit is medium-sized and generously produced on hybrid, indeterminate plants that bear over a long season. The plants are easy to grow and quite disease-resistant. The large plants require staking or caging.

I strongly suggest that you sample Momotaro in your garden. I'll be very surprised if you don't really enjoy it.

Here is where you can now get seeds, and in one case plants, for Momotaro tomato":

TERRITORIAL SEED CO., P.O. Box 158, Cottage Grove, OR 97424; phone (800) 626-0866; on the Web at territorialseed.com. Also has Momotaro plants.

TOMATO GROWERS SUPPLY CO., P.O. Box 60015, Fort Myers, FL 33906; phone (888) 478-7333; on the Web at tomatogrowers.com.

NICHOLS GARDEN NURSERY, 1190 Old Salem Road N.E., Albany, OR 97321; phone (800) 422-3985; on the Web at nicholsgardennursery.com.

Note I bought my tomato plant at Kniffings Nursery, 14940 Oak Creek Road, El Cajon, CA 92021.

If you ever have a chance to hear Steve Goto speak, be sure to check him out.
He's considered THE tomato expert.

Texas tomato cages offer the most long-lasting support for your plants.

Photobooth Friday

Instead of a booth shot today, how about a video that starts in a photobooth?

Missy Higgins, Where I Stood

Save Trestles

A toll road through a state park? What?!
Stop the toll road!
While we do need to relieve traffic congestion, this is too high a price.
Let's investigate alternatives.
A toll road is a ridiculously short-sighted solution.
Save Trestles

A public service announcement of an earlier meeting about the toll road explains the situation well:


More info about the existing environment


Chris Cantore's video:


So far so good, but another decision awaits on this issue.
Let your voice be heard.

Just a quick hello.
No fun photos or inspirational comments...just hello.

I have a week off, spending time in Clairemont in one of my favorite houses with one of my favorite dogs.
The house could only be more dream-house were it sited near an ocean view.
Someday, perhaps I'll call something like this my own.

I am recooperating nicely after dental surgery yesterday.
The doctor wasn't able to do as many procedures as had been planned, since I exhibited what he called "dramatic" bleeding.
He asked me if I had hemophilia!
I'm visiting a new medical doctor next week to investigate.
But in the meantime, no bleeding episodes, no pain, no need for the prescription of Vicodin.

The Air Show is going on this week at Miramar (the Naval Air Station), and even here the military planes are flying overhead, their engines a huge WHOOSH as they sweep by.
It's exciting, and fills me with pride.
The one good thing that came out of 911 is a renewed pride in our military, and a reminder that these guys kick some serious ass.