buzzville

Catalina sights

The timing may not have been perfect, but the weekend certainly was... my in-laws invited us to share a weekend with them on the island of Catalina (off the coast of Long Beach) this past weekend. It was the first visit for most of us, and it was truly remarkable. After the hour and 15 minute ferry ride Friday morning, we checked into our hotel and had lunch. We took a short walk down the Green Pleasure Pier

and then got tickets to go on an "undersea tour" on a boat with seating and large windows below sea level. This was definitely worth doing - we saw a ton of fish (including the beautiful, bright orange Garibaldi), and Brynne says this was definitely the highlight of the weekend for her.

The small town of Avalon has what you might expect - souvenir shops, ice cream parlors, jewelry boutiques and small art galleries, seafood restaurants, etc. What we didn't expect is that the town is overrun with golf carts! Apparently, the wait to get a standard-size vehicle to the island is many years, so all of the local residents get around via golf cart. We spied every possible make and model, even those outfitted with the latest in child safety (!)

Brynne spent Saturday with grandma and grandpa, so Jerry and I took advantage and did some hiking. We started with a loop on Chimes Tower Road and Stage Coach Road. The views were spectacular, as were the wildflowers on the hillside.

After lunch we took the tour of the famous casino, which includes a mini pipe organ concert in the spectacular theater and a walk upstairs to view the incredible ballroom. It's a fantastic building, filled with stylized murals and elegant furnishings - a great piece of architecture that would most likely never get built today.

After lunch, we walked from town up to the Wrigley Memorial and Botanical Garden. The garden has a spectacular display of succulents, cacti, and a number of endemic plants. At the top of the hill is the Wrigley Memorial (William Wrigley Jr. - of chewing gum fame and preservationist of Catalina island) - a great spot to frame a view of the valley.

It was fun to look at the different architectural styles in town - from bungalows to Victorians to more modern (and sprawling) estates. Evidence of the pottery tradition established by the Catalina pottery company is virtually everywhere, and original pieces are fetching astronomical prices in the antique and gift shops in town. We were particularly impressed with some modern tile work on the stairs of the Avalon Hotel

and the creative underwater scene recreated using succulents and tiles in the otherwise "dead" space along the street under the main floor balconies:

I think this would be so much fun to do in our back yard somewhere... the wheels are spinning!

All in all, we had a wonderful and restful weekend, and there are even more pictures!

Coming back to work on Monday was exciting because I was looking forward to a visit from Laura of Loloko fame and her lovely family - Jan and Austin (hi!). Laura and I corresponded before superbuzzy opened, and she was full of tips and suggestions and overall support. She is just as sweet and generous in person, and I'm so glad we were able to meet during her trip to the area. Of course, Loloko is a wonderfully dangerous shop, full of more Decole goodness than I can handle! 

Building a better garden

In the summer of 2006, we tore out basically everything from our backyard, save some lawn, a Japanese magnolia, and a Japanese maple. We were removing years of neglect and overgrowth, and plants that were either not water-wise, or not designed for homeowners who can't spend every waking hour working in the garden. The plan was to tear out what wasn't working, mulch everywhere, and leave the yard relatively bare for a year to make sure we had wiped out as much of the invasive and spreading vegetation as we could (eek! the trumpet vines and ferns and bulbs, oh my!). We saved up a fair sum the following year, with the intent of being able to do a full garden renovation - planting, hardscaping, water feature, the works!

Not surprisingly, unexpected things happened in 2007 that depleted our savings. Isn't that always the way? Save up for a vacation, but the car needs a new transmission... save up for a new sofa, but the water heater dies. I guess I should expect this by now, but I continue to hope that these surprise financial hits will cease. The result of all this is that we have had a largely bare and dreary back yard for the better part of 2 years. And so we formulated a new plan: tackle small, discrete areas systematically that so that we feel as if *some* progress is being made. The hope is that our initial space planning will guide us through mini-projects that we can afford now.

Two weeks ago we decided to attack the so-called "parkway" - that suburban strip between the street and the sidewalk. Rather than a dull and useless patch of lawn or (gasp!) the dreaded lava rock, we decided to go forward with our goal of planting southern California natives that attract wildlife to the garden, while still maintaining a clean, modern look to go with our wanna-be Eichler home. The first weekend was spent removing 300 square feet of existing concrete pavers that were too nice an invitation to weeds. We piled these high in the street where they were repurposed by some neighbors. We weeded and pick-axed roots from the full strip, placed weed barrier fabric along the full stretch, and then piled mulch on top. That weekend's work led to a very sore Monday morning for all of us!

Last weekend was the fun part: planting! We went to 2 of our favorite nurseries in Carpinteria: Island View Nursery and Seaside Gardens. We loaded up the car with our top choices, had a quick lunch at Esau's (yum!), and headed home. Unluckily for us, the weekend was not only unseasonably hot, but just plain hot for our area any time of year. We knew we'd have to limit the work to early morning and that we'd need a bit of energy to get us through. We got up early Sunday morning, and I made my first Dutch baby. We had a pile of gorgeous strawberries from the farmer's market, and I kept reading about Dutch babies - seemed like a great excuse to try it out! I was a bit bummed that none of my cast iron skillets was large enough to use, but we had great results with a glass baking dish:

It was so easy to make, and so delicious! Buttery and flaky, with powdered sugar and fresh sliced strawberries... definitely a winner! Plus, it's made with stuff we usually have on hand, so it's easy to whip one up without a lot of planning and prep. I used this basic recipe, and I think it's pretty funny that some places are selling a "mix"... I must be missing something!

Once we were well-fed, we set out to work. I dug and planted while Jerry worked on the new drip system. We planted a variety of native groundcovers, with a few flowers around the base of a tree: manzanita (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi 'Tom's Point' and A. sp. 'Emerald Carpet') California lilac (Ceonothus maritimus 'Frosty Dawn'), hummingbird sage (Salvia spathacea, aka "hummingbird crack"), California poppies (Eschscholzia californica), and blue-eyed grass (Sisyrinchium bellum 'Arroyo de la Cruz'). The results are wonderful, and I can't wait to watch as the groundcovers fill in and the flowers bloom. Here are some tiny peeks:

California lilac blooms

poppy and blue-eyed grass

manzanita with tiny, pale pink, bell-shaped flowers - so sweet!

It feels so good to make some progress - no matter how small - with our yard. I can start to dream about the little outdoor refuge we are going to create for our family and the critters that let us share this bit of space with them.

spring ups and downs

Seems as if the past days have been a bit like our weather - from perfectly sunny and warm to cold, blustery and overcast. The ups and downs are wearing on me a bit, as I tend to be a pretty middle-of-the-road kind of gal. We had a lovely farmer's market morning, full of deliciousness:

(we are *so* lucky to live in strawberry-land... yum!)

And from there I did our taxes - a definite down. Seems as if all the planning and pre-payment just never quite works out perfectly... I haven't given up yet - we'll see how next year goes!

After taxes, I needed to do something rewarding and positive... set up the worm bin! I had purchased the Can O Worms vermicomposting bin ages ago, but had never allocated the time to set it up and get the worms. First, we assembled the bin and placed the cardboard packaging in the bottom of the lower level. Then, we soaked the coir brick (included) in water until it had expanded, and then we broke it into bits. We spread the coir fibers into the first feeding level, and as you can imagine, Brynne was a huge help!

Then we gently placed our red wiggler worms (and the material with them) on top of the coir layer.

As instructed, we didn't cover them up immediately because their dislike of the sun makes them immediately work their way into the coir and helps speed up the "settling in" process. We then loosely covered the worms with a layer of damp newspaper strips. All done! We've been feeding them all of the things you would expect (strawberry stems, banana peels, veggie trimmings), plus some (to me) more unexpected items: coffee grounds, tea leaves and bags, peanut husks, starch packing peanuts, soaked egg cartons, etc. We've only had them for a few days, but I'm really excited about it - feels as if we have 1,000 new pets!