On Saturday I had the opportunity to learn Ikebana, the Japanese art of floral arranging. This is way more than just putting flowers into a vase! There are detailed patterns of varying skill level, each one adding complexity. This is an old art form that dates back to the 1400s. Tomoko has been going to [...]
I happened to look out the window this afternoon and saw what I thought was a grasshopper on one of the flowers. Grasshoppers have been turning my plant leaves into Swiss cheese, so I went outside to go squish it. Instead what I found was a praying mantis! I’m no National Geographic photographer, but I [...]
I came home for lunch today and noticed a flurry of activity among the flowers. There were butterflies and bees surrounding the salvia, getting every last drop of nectar and pollen! As I was walking back into the house I noticed something white on top of a coneflower. Upon closer inspection it was a spider [...]
These are but a few of the many iris blooms that covered our front flower garden this spring. They started from 9 rhizomes that my mom gave me and now have multiplied several times over! The crazy multiplying aside, these are the easiest and most fragrant plants that I’ve ever had. This fall or next [...]
After raining most of the evening and almost the entire night, we awoke to see this sight in our backyard this morning. Our sump pump is still working virtually non-stop around the clock, emptying the basin about every 30 seconds. So far, no water in the basement! I didn’t take this picture until a couple [...]
When we started eating more raw food it didn’t occur to us that there would be waste from stalks and stems and peels. Eating fresh fruit every morning, salads at lunch and dinner, and snacks of fruits and veggies in between means way more kitchen waste than we’re used to. At first we threw it [...]