All Thumbs instead of Green Thumb

The other day the doorbell rang. It was our mailman, Mr. Kim, and, as he handed me my mail, he inquired where my plumeria was. The plumeria had been on the front porch since our move and it had not been a happy plant since being uprooted from Bakersfield.

It turns out that Mr. Kim is also a plumeria fan and he was worried that the poor plant had finally bought the farm. I told him that I had moved the ailing plant indoors since its leaves had begun to fall off. Mr. Kim informed me that he always brings his plumeria indoors as soon as the weather turns cold.


I'm sure I was just imagining the slight air of disapproval as the grilling continued--had I placed the plumeria in a warm place? Oh yes--I'd put it in the bathtub. Was it getting enough light there? I thought it was--it was under a window. Well, what about moisture? It is next to the shower and I mist it regularly.

We chatted a bit more about the beauty of plumeria and I was hoping he didn't ask to see the plant for himself. Is there a watchdog committee for plumeria abuse? If there is, I'm in big trouble. What I would never admit to Mr. Kim is this is how my poor plumeria looks now.

















Actually, I've not been having the best luck with plants in the new digs. As I have in the last 4 houses we've lived in, I've planted a Colorado blue spruce. It turns out that Mr. Kim also likes the blue spruce and complimented me on planting the 15 gallon tree a week ago. I was chagrined when he once again brought my mail to the door and pointed out that the new tree had fallen over in the rain-soaked ground. Sigh....I'm losing face weekly with Mr. Kim.

Mr. T., being the good sport he is, went out in the rain and replanted the tree. It was not to be. The next morning the tree had once again fallen completely on its side. And that is where it remains. I had told Senor Jacob, the gardener, that I wasn't entirely pleased with the shape of the blue spruce--I'd wanted something more along the line of Árbol de navidad--instead of the scraggly, free-form spruce.

I see I have some major image repair to do in this neighborhood.

Craig's List As Entertainment

As part of my BUY AMERICAN plan and keeping the money in the Homeland, I have been using Craig's List to search out things I need. Some of the more amusing items I ran across are listed below. But the best is last--this is a woman with a mission and a husband in the cross hairs!

Dishes, glasses, vases, bowl - $35

Thank you

ps--there is a set of mustard yellow dishes too--just are currently in the dishwasher :)

Ad for computer desk--can you see it from here??

Wanted: Franklin Mint Monopoly Set - Trade for Wine

I am looking for a Franklin Mint Monopoly set. I know there are still some out there! I am willing to trade wine from where I work at, the Simi winery in Healdsburg. I need the set to be complete as possible and in good shape. All the pieces, houses, hotel, etc need to be in good shape. I can get lots of different types of wines so I can please most tastes. If anyone knows someone who has one, I will also give a finders fee in wine as well if the deal goes through! Thanks!!

Will Trade Several Nice Things for New Cabinets

I'm desperate to replace my kitchen cabinets and bathroom vanities. They are honey oak, stock cabinets and I absolutely hate them. I've hated them since the day I moved in. I found cabinets I like that will cost about $3000 (an excellent price!!), but my husband won't let me buy them (even though he promised we could replace them as a condition of me agreeing to buy and live in this home...)

I want a plain style cabinet in maple or a similar wood, like shaker-style with the recessed panel and clean lines, in a medium to dark stain. I want the same cabinets in our two bathrooms and I want to cannibalize a couple of other cabinets to build a matching media cabinet.Here's what I have to offer in exchange (you get all of this):

An Excellent Compaq Presario R3240US Laptop with all the original manuals, CDs, and cords PLUS a leather laptop case in exellent condition, two sets of headphones w/microphones and two wireless optical mice.

A large set of Mikasa china in the Madeline pattern in excellent condition. It includes 8+ place settings and many serving pieces. IT'S BEAUTIFUL and I adore it (I inherited it from my great aunt Bette and added additional pieces that were broken during the '74 SF earthquake). (I wonder what poor Aunt Bette would think? I don't remember the '74 quake breaking dishes.)

You can have my old oak kitchen cabinets and bathroom vanities (10 cabinets total) and the countertops on the vanities which are in excellent condition - they are only 18 months old.

A certificate good for a one pound box of See's Candy. (To sweeten the deal???)

My eternal gratitude.

A little bit of cash.

I am a skilled seamstress. I'll sew or mend for you. (This is a desperate woman!)

I'm a damn fine baker. I'll make you some delicious desserts. (I bet hubby won't be getting any kind of dessert any time soon!)

I'm good with computers. I can help you set up, troubleshoot, etc.

Other stuff you need that I might have. (I bet the husband would top this list!)

I would suggest that her hubby make his life easier by getting her the danged cabinets!

I Can See Spring From Here

For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone;




It's February! January is gone and the winter is showing in the rear-view mirror.












The flowers appear on the earth;



Daffodils popping up all over and trees budding into blossoms!



the time of the singing of birds is come,


















and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land;


I think that's supposed to be turtledoves. I've spent a lot of time around turtles and never heard anything out of a turtle except a hiss.

The fig tree putteth forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grape give a good smell.







Well, it's not a fig tree but it is a brand new blue spruce--my very favorite tree. It is the first thing I have planted in the new place.

Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away.


The traffic of duffers and more practiced golfers has picked up. Our collection of golf balls has passed the 200 mark. Tuesdays are the best--it's Ladies' Day and that's when I find the pastel golf balls. The record is picking up 12 balls in one day.

Moving As A Life Theme

We are 2 months post-move so the timing is right to move "The Mama" from Bakersfield up to Santa Rosa as well.

Do I have a secret "thing" for movers?

Unfulfilled wish to drive a moving van?

In any event, the date has been set and in a week Mr. T. and I will return to Bako to pack up my mother and move her back to her own condo--the same condo we lived in the last year.

I wish we came with hindsight being first. It was only a month ago that the decision was made NOT to have her move back and so we held the Grand Estate Sale and sold off everything she had left in the condo. It had been rented as a furnished unit for the last few years and we had decided to rent it out as an unfurnished unit.

Estate Sales are gut-wrenching events when it's your stuff--or your mother's. The first wave of wallets goes through all your stuff, scattering the neat piles, having no regard for "things" that have years of meaning and associations packed in them--but the meaning is only for you. The second wave of bargain-hunters comes expecting everything to be marked down to only a few cents above giving it away--and it comes pretty close. That's the day you see the dishes, knick knacks, pictures, etc., being sold for whatever anyone offers.

And then the Junk Man comes. He swoops through the house tossing everything into his beat-up pick up truck, complains about taking the appliances and, in our case, even taking the toilet paper off the rolls in the bathrooms and hauling EVERYTHING away. So much for baubles and more hauled around for an entire lifetime. It is the demotion of personal to trash. It also hurts.

But I digress....after going through all that and disposing of all my mother's stuff, the decision is made for her to move back home. Of course! Timing is everything! The irony of now going out to other Estate Sales and haunting bargain shops to replace what she already had just 4 weeks ago is not lost on me.

Sigh.........and another move begins.