fff feb 20
glorious gazanias along the Tracks at Brea
Happy Lunar New Year, friends! Roomie and I were blessed by neighborhood citrus, both the bumpy easy-peel satsumas and the red-orange of an unnamed super-sweet tangerine perfect for juicing. We sliced up bánh tét, fried them up, and served them beside a couple of eggs for brunch. (that’s dưa món in the jar, pickled daikon and carrot thing my aunt made) A happy new year, indeed.
Sometimes we three friends have different expectations of what we’ll do together when we meet. I was thinking we’d sit around and talk and then go out to dinner. Roomie was thinking we’d utilize Anna’s pittosporum expertise to advise us in our pruning efforts. Anna had heard us talking previously about a walk at a nearby trail and may be dinner afterwards. As it turned out, we did chat over cups of tea, then walk the Tracks at Brea (about 3 miles round trip), try a new-to-us taqueria specializing in birria tacos (thumbs up all around), and then coffee and dessert at our place. A delightful time was had by all.
Mom wanted to go out for lunch on our Mom Tuesday. On the way, she and Dad told story after story about their adjustments when we first came to the States. She recalled going to pick up my youngest brother only to find out he was in detention for doing a cartwheel on the way to class. She thought and thought about carts and wheels and just could not fathom what a cartwheel could be and what that had to do with her son. Dad told about how he found a listing for the house they would eventually buy, having really no idea about what to look for in a house (we’d been in the States about a year by this time). He didn’t know about flood or fire zones, schools for us kids, etc. He liked the slider windows, the clean kitchen, the smaller yards and put in an offer on Father’s Day. My parents borrowed the $5,000 down-payment from the company my dad worked for. Budgets were so tight that they scrounged around the house for change to buy gas. So many things that they freely laugh about now but worried over at the time. Many blessings as we all looked back at those first years.
In my Wednesday Bible study, we always begin with a time of worship and prayer. It was so encouraging as woman after woman thanked God for answered prayers, for benign results, for recovery, for new life, for time with their families. We’re currently in John 14-17 looking at all the ways Jesus encouraged His disciples before His departure. This is my favorite verse in that set, “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” John 16:33
And then it was my parents’ 60th anniversary. I hadn’t realized that when we came to the States, they’d only celebrated nine years together!
Bonus Faves: 1) While there were some downed trees elsewhere in our city during our windy rainstorms, I’m thankful we had only a couple of downed umbrellas. My rain gauge says we got around 2.6″. The official count for my city is 14.86″ for our rain year (starts in Oct), or about 186% of “normal.” There is nothing like that brisk crisp air after a good rain. 2) Finally sharpened my kitchen knives. Why do I wait?? 3) Grok helped me deal with the death throes of the Fusion drive in my 2017 computer (I’d already transitioned to SSDs, but the system crashed twice trying to access the Fusion). 4) Filed taxes.
fff feb 13
mixed containers of succulents, fuchsia, geraniums, and impatiens before the rains
Some weeks are like a whirlwind with appointments and shopping and visits and pick-ups/drop-offs… it was that kind of week. Many of these are Fave-worthy, but here are five:
1. Roomie’s brother and sister-in-law were on this coast for a reunion with their college friends. They stopped in to see us as well as roomie’s younger brother and their mother. We had a sweet lunch together and some easy conversation.
2. With Lunar New Year right around the corner, Mom wanted to get shopping at the Asian markets early. We made a ton of stops before sorting through all the things she’d been saving for me, passing along fruit from one aunt or friend, sharing condiments for something or other. Whatever carrier bag or tray I bring my stuff in (some ready-made soups she likes) is always returned piled high with bits of this and halves of that. Love it.
3. While Mom and I take a break from making our own bánh chưng (square ones, like in 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019), we ordered some bánh tét (log shaped ones) from cousins of my Dad’s. They’d said the order wouldn’t be ready until after New Year, but then called to say they were ready. Thankful Mom and I both had the afternoon free to navigate our way to a new location for pick-up.
4. Thankful the school principal was able to move our instrument center delivery date due to the expected rain. While the units are meant to withstand being outside, I was hoping not to be dragging it across the school campus in the rain. Anyway, it gave us time to do some final refinements and smooth away any rough spots.
5. And, yes, we did get a bit of rain (0.5″ according to official records; 1.3″ according to my rain gauge). Everything grows better with rain. Doesn’t hurt that we had some sunshine in between. So thankful.
Happy first-freesia-bouquet-of-the-season, friends. And a happy Lunar New Year to you!
fff feb 6
recovering Bearss lime tree with new sprouts and, apparently, blooms
Yes, it’s Friday again! Time for Faves.
Roomie and I were due for a coffee visit with Anna but wanted to try a new spot. Our first choice for good plain coffee had lines out the door and no seating areas for long chats. Our second choice wasn’t too far away and specialized in Middle Eastern coffees with cardamom and cinnamon flavors. I tried an iced marib (iced coffee with a hint of cardamom). The shop was packed with small groups of friends and family visiting over drinks and treats (rose milk cake, walnut baklava, pistachio filo…) and plenty of outdoor tables. Good, deep, intense, heartfelt, rich conversations. What a blessing to be together.
Our unusually warm end-of-January weather tapered down to the high 70s, allowing mild temperatures for some invisible gardening: feeding the roses, citrus trees, acid-loving plants (hydrangea, blueberry, and gardenias), setting out seedlings. A bit of organization among the fertilizers doesn’t hurt either.
In my narrow kitchen built (realistically) for one cook, I resist buying small appliances. However, there’ve been a few rice-cooker-meal recipes floating around that I wanted to try (kind of like this one for Hainanese chicken, or mushroom rice, or Chinese sticky rice, or miso chicken with mushroom) that don’t work as well with cooking rice on the stovetop. Then someone offered a cooker up on my buy nothing group. I set it up temporarily in the garage and tried regular jasmine rice (nicely done), sushi rice (perfectly evenly cooked), and sticky rice (perfect). I think it’s earned a spot on my counter.
Every once in a while, my Wednesday appointments pile up. From my morning Bible study group, I drove directly to my folks’ place to take them to an attorney appointment. From there, we ran an errand or two and then I took them home. I had exactly 30 minutes to get back across town to a class leadership meeting. Thankful everything fell into place and that I and a driver making a left did not meet! Thankful for the very kind soul at the restaurant where Mom ordered a dinner for Dad and couldn’t find her credit card — he kept saying, “I gotcha; don’t worry.” Yes, he did just waive the cost of the meal, even after I held out my credit card then Mom when she found her card.
Juuust as we (finally) finished the instrument centers that was started last year, project leaders are planning for this year’s day of service. There are typically 21 local schools (mostly elementary) whose principals submit project requests which are vetted through the district’s maintenance and operations teams. Then several volunteer school captains manage 3-5 schools each, coordinating with principals, parents, and volunteers from the community and churches. I was asked to be one of these captains and was (quite a) bit nervous about taking on so much responsibility. But the organizer had another option: Would I like to be the plants person? Visit schools, review projects, order plants, organize delivery dates/volunteer deliverers? This was more my speed and I happily accepted.
Other “bonus” faves that are not insignificant: 1) Mom and Dad finalized some legal stuff that helped me to determine next steps for mine. 2) M-sister and I had a very helpful session looking over some paperwork and uncovering some gaps that should be addressed. Plus, it was just a nice visit! 3) Had a long and ultimately productive conversation with my cousin who’s dealing with distressing issues in her world. 4) My favorite pruners have seen more than 20 years of hard labor (15 of those pruning well over 70 roses). But the little rubber thingies had disintegrated and I had to make sure my palm was no where near the handles when pruners were in use or palm would get pinched. I didn’t even know if the rubber thingies were sold or what they were called. But looking them up with a photo led me to ordering the right things (“rubber cushion” or “rubber base end cap”). Here’s to another 20 years (with a lot fewer roses).
Happy weekend, friends. Below are the first blooms of my scented geranium, ‘Little Gem’.
fasten-ating
For the annual city-wide, volunteer-driven service day, our fellowship class usually works at a local elementary school’s garden. Last year, we were also asked to convert a somewhat mish-mash area into a sensory garden that the special ed kids (mostly TK and kindergarten) could explore. We’d come up with ideas like a planter with hard-to-kill scented plants (rosemary, mint, lavender), a planter with wooden plants, flowers, and bugs, a sandbox at the principal’s request, a couple of instrument centers.
We were still at the planning stage when there was a pivot. The district decided to use some of their grant funding to install artificial turf. Their head groundsman was adamant that no sand or dirt get near that turf since cleaning it out would be impossible. We did have permission for the instrument centers that would merely rest on the turf. On the official work day in late April, the focus was on removing everything from the area: pavers, plants, everything but the tree.
Meanwhile, roomie and I were researching instruments that were a) affordable, b) weatherproof, c) kid-safe, d) not too loud, e) didn’t require a team of builders. These turned out to be very challenging parameters (check out these cool but wildly expensive options). In May, this was the inspiration (a unit no longer sold) and initial instrument choices we’d shared with the principal. By August, I’d gotten some funding and, more importantly, a volunteer to build the frame.
By the fall, we’d purchased the instruments and began talking about materials and dimensions and my builder volunteer started refining his ideas. Another guy from the same fellowship wanted to join in the fun. One of his first jobs was purchasing parts for the aeronautics industry and he loves tinkering. A perfect add. Builder guy had access to a pretty amazing woodshop where we met to plan exact placement and consider fastener options. The fastener piece was still a bit vague, but we decided to move ahead with what we had.
Once frames were built, they were brought to our place for staining and sealing. The guys started it and roomie and I finished over the next few days. That took a bit more care and time than you might expect — there are a lot of sides to these things! We also had Santa Ana winds and then rain and high humidity into the mix.
Finally time to attach the instruments. Again, the parameters: a) weatherproof, b) kid-proof, c) allow instruments to sound properly (free enough but secure). After quite a lot of discussions and trials, our purchasing guy went on an exploratory trip to a hardware store and came up with eye screws, tiny drawer pulls, key rings, and cable-and-crimp system. Any hitches (ouch! those sharp ends of metal wire sticking out of crimps), were solved by our creative guys (angle grinder took care of those sharp ends). So thankful to have these two!
Here, we’re about 90% done attaching instruments. We ran out of crimps and time for this session, but the path ahead was clear.
The last challenge was how to secure the metal mallet so that it would not swing about when not in use or when the units were being moved. We considered a section of PVC, bamboo, or galvanized pipe, but purchasing guy said he wanted to check in his workshop at home. He’s a bit of a magpie, collecting odds and ends for his found-materials art. He brought a jar of jumbled electrical conduit parts, among which we found some zinc conduit couplings that seemed perfect for the job.
But what’s the best way to fasten it to the frame? Just about this time, a young guy came into the shop with a project of his own (turns out he was one of the guys who help build it some years ago and the grandson of a friend of ours from way back). To help us along with our project, he threw together a jig to hold the conduit so that he could use a drill press to drill a small and then larger hole to accommodate some hardware.
And with this last bit (except for one minor touch-up), we were officially done!
“What’s our next project?” asked our builder guy. It’s been such a productive and fun collaboration requiring some creative and inventive solutions. We’ve all enjoyed working together. Maybe we should start another project…
fff jan 30
iochroma didn’t get a winter haircut this year and still blooming away
Seems incredible that we’ve already reached the end of the first month of 2026. All the more reason to pause to remember and be thankful.
We’ve had so many new faces at plant share for the last few gatherings. It’s been terrific to meet them and enjoy how they light up when they see what everyone brings to share. Our group administrator has also encouraged those who don’t have plant things to bring snacks instead. I opted for plants: rooted strawberry runners, flower seedlings, scented geraniums, alstroemeria, African blue basil, iochroma cuttings, succulents, yellow salvia. Some were things I’d grown for sharing; some were things that were no longer working for my garden. Everything went to somebody! Neighbor contributed some of the swag she gets from work, too. I picked up a couple of small terracotta pots and coleus cuttings.
I’d met a new friend last fall, intending to get to know her better to prepare for our interview at the October fundraiser. I contacted her again this week in anticipation of continuing our conversation around volunteer opportunities for our aging class. Many of the projects we’d been doing are labor intensive and we’d like to have options for our older folks who want to help out. So we arranged to meet again this week, along with roomie and another volunteer coordinator. Fantastic fun conversations with lots of laughs and ideas and plans. We went so long that I was very thankful when my woodshop buddy texted to say he’d be delayed a half hour. There was juuust enough time for roomie and me to run home, throw something together for lunch, load the truck with all the things, and drive up to the shop.
That turned out to be the first of three sessions roomie and I had at the woodshop where we’re working with our builder guys to finalize the instrument centers we’d been plugging away on for months. I’ve so appreciated the collaboration as we solved a variety of problems that came up. We’re on the home stretch and it feels great!
And here’s this week’s not-fave/fave. Roomie’s had pain that’s been building over a few days until she decided she needed a trip to urgent care. So thankful we could get in fairly quickly, get seen by a doctor who gave her a shot to reduce the pain enough for her to get an adjustment from her chiropractor. Thankful the chiro could treat her in between his existing appointments. And thankful, indeed, that she’s on the mend.
The robins are back! A few years ago, we had such a flurry of robins flying to our backyard that neighbors were texting to ask what was going on. The robins had just discovered all the dark berries on our Carolina cherry trees and were snapping them up as fast as they could. This year, they’re at it again, though the pace seems less frantic. I’ve yet to get a decent photo, but it’s been great to hear them flapping about in the trees — they are restless noisy eaters. And given the number of cedar waxwings, I’m guessing they eat berries, too. Bonus: Merlin app identified a few new-to-me birds nearby: Cassin’s Kingbird, Swinhoe’s White-eye, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Ring-billed Gull, Yellow-chevroned Parakeet, and Orange-crowned Warbler.
Happy weekend, friends. Hope you’re keeping warm and off the roads where winter has stormed in. We in SoCal are putting up umbrellas, pulling out shorts, watering container plants daily.
fff jan 23
centaurea ‘Blue Dwarf’ seedlings
Looking back over the Faves, it seems there was a lot of eating out, which seems most unusual. But first, the not-fave/fave.
How often a fave starts out as not-a-fave. Chula Vista aunt had driven up to visit my mom on a Friday, stayed over, returned home the next morning. Early that afternoon, she fell and recognized she had signs of a stroke. Being at the other end of the house and watching college football, my uncle didn’t hear her cry out. It was their dog who got his attention and led him to her. 911 was called and she was whisked off to the emergency room where she was diagnosed with an acute hemorrhagic stroke. She was closely monitored after several imaging tests were conducted. After two overnight stays and lots of neurological examinations, she was given the all-clear and sent home. We are so grateful for many of God’s mercies: that she drove two hours each way without incident, that she had an attentive dog, that she recovered without any apparent lasting harm. So thankful. Bonuses: There was, of course, a lot of driving back and forth by local aunt and uncle as well as brother and mom. We’re also thankful for their safety on the roads. I’d stayed behind with my dad. Mom had had dinner all laid out right when she and brother left; all I had to do was cook it for Dad and me.
Our foursome usually has a bring-your-own-lunch picnic at the park, but one of them recommended a restaurant at a local golf course where you can lunch on the veranda and enjoy the beautiful rolling hills. We were seated near the tenth hole and saw many many golfers send their balls (mostly) over the under-reconstruction lake. It was a sunny and warm day and the restaurant and course were very busy. A good time was had by all.
Roomie and I have the same doctor and managed to schedule our appointments back-to-back so we could save extra trips (this doctor isn’t close). Since we were fasting for this office visit, we opted to try out the nearby coffee shop/bakery/restaurant afterwards. Had a great cup of coffee to go with a hearty breakfast (chilaquiles for me, breakfast burrito for roomie; alas, we had absolutely no room for the fresh looking items in the bakery case). We had another errand to run that was near a new Barnes and Noble bookstore. The place was airy and bright with nicely displayed books. It was a beautiful morning to be out and about.
It had been months since we’d visited with the M-, B-, and P-sisters. M-sister decided it was time to get something on the calendar. We had a terrific unhurried lunch out together, getting caught up, telling stories, making plans. And we always end with, “We can’t let so many months go by without a visit!”
Once my aunt was released from the hospital, Mom had wanted to drive down to see her again. But with uncle catching a cold, aunt said, “Don’t come.” So Mom and I ran our usual errands including a trip to the Asian market. They happened to be having a sale on live dungeness crabs and Mom couldn’t resist. The rest of our errands were delayed while we each picked through our freshly cooked crab lunch.
And finally, a kitchen prep afternoon. Before aunt had her stroke, she’d brought up a big box of home-grown oranges to share. Local aunt also brought a big bag of her tasty but very seedy tangerines. Then some other friends visited Mom and Dad and brought them some extra produce. Mom never lets me leave her house without “shopping” her supplies and loading me down with about half of the bounty. The kitchen prep afternoon was well warranted. I squeezed the lot of citrus, made kim chi from the napa cabbage, and chopped up most of 3lbs of garlic for future meals. It was restful work accompanied by the atmospheric third volume of The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion (audiobook narrated by the excellent Genevieve Gaunt).
Spent a morning tidying my potting bench area, sweeping away debris that tends to get deposited there, planting more cuttings, misting seedlings, wiping down and washing out plant saucers, hosing out dirty birdbaths, collecting more things for the plant share. All under cloudy skies (the rest of the country gets ice storms and cold; we get sub-70s and overcast). Perfect for chores. Bonus: And then we got about an hour of light rain.
Hope you have some restful work or play or staring into the distance time this weekend, friends.
nikkipolani 
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