nikkipolani

Thankful that our Easter luncheon went really well. We needed to make some adjustments to ensure roomie’s mom had plenty of space to maneuver her walker. It’s amazing how much furniture needs to be moved to accommodate an extended dining table. Roomie had her images of Christ’s appearances after His resurrection and we read verses around the table. Two of our friends joined — one of which was the nurse who’d helped roomie with her mom’s wound care. So thankful for these two.

With all the running around and errands and plant nursery hopping, I forgot to mention that the Ford Ranger surpassed 200,000 miles. While I had it in to get shocks replaced, the front desk guy noted that he had a car in that was 12 years younger than mine that had more miles than mine. For all the years I drove 50 miles each day to and from work, there were nearly as many years just putzing around town. So thankful for this amazingly reliable vehicle. When roomie and I first became roommates in the ’90s, we often wished one of us had a truck for all the hauling we were doing with church projects (we drove compact sedans at the time). We said whoever needed a new vehicle next was getting a truck — and we did in 1999. Maybe because it was so often used for such projects, our gracious Lord gave us a low-maintenance one.

You know how certain topics just converge over a short period of time? One of the audiobook offers I came across recently was for learning Korean. Some of my other reading lately has Korean protagonists. Then my Dad decided for our weekly outing to go to Korean for lunch, for a change. We had a great time together, now our second time at this restaurant. Below right are banchan (side dishes) that arrived before our entrees (bibimbap and soondubu jjigae).

My daffodils finally bloomed! They are the tiny kind that seem to do better in my garden. And also the passiflora (passionfruit vine) has begun blooming. These seem short lived, but more are coming. I’m growing the vine for its fruit rather than for the crazy looking flowers. We’ll see how successful I am at keeping it contained. Bonus: rain expected this weekend!

When a friend asked what my plans were for the day, I nonchalantly said I was going to email the volunteer project leaders with a heads-up for garden project-related deliveries. It turned out a bit more complicated to pull together the details from emails and conversations to nail down dates and timing for bulk mulch delivery by one guy, bagged mulch/soil by another, and plants by me and another guy. I thought a last minute review the next morning with fresh eyes would be best. Late the night before, one of the dates changed! So glad I waited before sending out 13 emails that would need corrections.

Hope you have a snag-free, relaxing weekend, friends.

Hellebore ‘Ice n’ Roses’

More than one of you has commented that it seems I’m busier than when I was working. I’m certainly feeling it with the various projects. Blessings abound and here are (at least) five!

One of the guys who helped with ideas and construction on the instrument center partners up with another neighbor for an art show. He likes to make whimsical art with found objects (palm leaf sheaths become elephant portraits, for example) and beverage containers and corks become scenes on panels made from repurposed pallets. She makes art with glass including these glass panels attached to open books. She etches animal portraits onto the glass. Fun to see and talk with the artists. I don’t normally have art up in the garden, but I was enamored with his turtle made from hinges, doorbell housing, and maybe some kind of escutcheon plate.

Even though the Santa Ana winds were whipping through the southland (30-35mph gusts), I had a few hours outside potting up seedlings, finding a spot for plants I’d picked up at plant share, taking down garden umbrellas before the wind did (one did get lifted and blown into neighbor’s side yard).

When the house internet went down for more than a few minutes, I tried the recommended resets but finally got the word to ask for a tech. Scheduling mix-ups left us with no internet for about 4 days. But I had prayed that we’d get an experienced tech who had everything he needed — and that’s what we got. It took him nearly 2 hours to complete the tests and replacement of our modem, ONT, and connection at the source. Bonus: he’s an avid gardener and we had plenty to talk about.

I spent a lot of time at school campuses this week, meeting up with project supervisors, photographing project sites, writing up details, calculating mulch and drop-off route. It’ll be a while before I get them straight in my mind, but am so thankful that my phone photos have the location in its metadata. Printed out school satellite photos helped pinpoint project sites and great for making notes.
Bonus: It’s easy to imagine creating a school garden, but experienced project leaders (and, increasingly, school staff) are moving away from plantings unless there’s a committed garden club or associated church group partnership. This means a much smaller number of plants I’m responsible to order and deliver — yay!

We are entering at least a week of 90F temperatures, so I’m going to celebrate these buds and blooms, hints of color to come before they burst open and fizzle out in the hot days ahead.
Oakleaf geranium, ‘Apple Blossom’ pelargonium, ‘Wynyabbie Gem’ westringia, unnamed salvia from plant share friend, unnamed cranesbill geranium from same plant share friend among ‘Third Harmonic’ alstroemeria leaves, cerinthe (self-sown seeds).

Enjoy your weekend, friends.