Day Of The Wanderer

Strawberries!

2009-06-02T15:40:00.009-04:00

As I mentioned before, our strawberry plants went insane. Went from having 4 to 40+. I even gave a few away. The June Bearing variety are ripening up nicely, while the Ever-Bearing still has a little more to go.

Here are pictures of the patch and the first picked berries (5/25/09). And boy, ARE THEY GOOD!

Before & After!

Now here are pictures from today, a week later:

And just as many will be ripe enough to pick tomorrow! I love summer!

We put a net over the patch due to only getting one half-ripe berry last year, before some creature ate them all*. We have a rabbit under the tree, but I have a feeling it was a mole last year that had a hole near the patch. Along with Grammie's plastic owl, these seem to be successful against curious critters this year.

*Well, it would rip it off the plant, and then leave it with a bite mark- not even eating it- just to mock us!

The Return of the Garden

2009-06-02T15:19:00.011-04:00

It's gardening time again, so I suspect that will push me to keep up here!

Let's keep this post basic! Here is what the garden has done BY ITSELF over the winter and spring:

-The strawberries came back in full force. Strawberries are really a weed that we actually like! We planted 4 plants last year. There are over 40 now.
-The sage bush has taken over the entire herb area. It will definitely be getting cut back this fall! Thyme doubled in size, but is over shadowed by the sage.
-The blackberry bush has also gotten much bigger.
-The spinach that did not survive at all last year, is nice and hardy now!
-The lettuce that bolted while we were on vacation left its mark with some nice fresh Spring lettuce for us!
-Cat nip survived winter in their tiny pots are are regrowing now.

On Memorial Day (May 25) we planted more goodies!

In addition to the plants listed above, we now have:
sweet basil, small yellow onions, red Chieftan potatoes, eggplant ("little fingers"), orange bell pepper, red bell pepper, Tokyo long white onions, broccoli ("Packman"), zucchini, rainbow swiss chard, and a roma tomato plant.

It's been a week since we planted them and they are really doing well- especially with these on/off storms!

June 1

The sage flowers are really pretty and the honey bees love them too. I cut some stems and brought it in as a bouquet!

Close ups:

Broccoli, red leaf lettuce, swiss chard, strawberries (more in next post).

And just for your reference, the layout plan:

Tilly

2009-03-07T14:02:00.004-05:00

Tilly, in all her recent Tillyness.

2009-03-01T19:41:00.002-05:00

Hello everyone!
I have been back in the States since November.

I have been busy with my chocolates and just became an instructor in a science program.

Writing and such

2008-10-29T21:20:00.005-04:00

This time last year I had my novel completely outlined, eager to start my epic tale of revenge. This year, well, I'm trying! I'm taking a little different approach listing things that I like and attempting to make a story out of it. So expect a story involving Bigfoot and time travel. Actually I think I'm going to do a light-hearted story that could read like an 80s kids movie (yknow, back when they could swear and shoot guns).

Now I was going to put a picture of the garden now, but I can't seem to find it!
It is overrun with greens! The cosmos are past their prime but managed two tiny pink buds. I can see the carrot top greens sticking out! Not sure if an actual carrot will appear though. But in terms of weeds, there are plenty of red and blue mini flowers accenting the chaos.
My indoor basil is doing OK though! I put in a little Halloween accent to help them stand up strong.

I am going home in a few days. The tentative plan is to come back to Japan after the New Years some time. It's sad to leave all my new friends!

It's that time again

2008-09-28T19:10:00.003-04:00

It's the end of September (and Happy Birthday to ME!). Which means I have one whole month to outline and prepare for the impending madness of NANOWRIMOOOOOOOOOO (read it in an echo-y voice).

www.nanowrimo.org

NaNoWriMo, if you forget, means "National Novel Writing Month" despite it being an international sensation. The goal is to write at least 50,000 words in the month of November- a noble feat!
Last year, I successfully accomplished this with my novel called Shadow of the Vultures.

As for this year, well, I don't know! Do I want to try a comedy? Something light and fun? Or do I need that intense driving force of a strong storyline to keep me going? I have a month to figure it out!

NEW garden

2008-08-19T09:50:00.001-04:00

*I have also put this up in my Japanese blog, but I will chronicle it here! Garden <3!*

I was sad to leave behind my first garden at home, which was blooming readily and giving us many goodies to eat.
So I took it upon myself to have another one! We have a rare and lovely little plot instead of a plain balcony behind our apartment.

So I bought a little shovel and rake and put all my energy into making a nice little area.

I know it is a little late to plant things, but since weather is a little milder here, I'm hoping for the best. In the meantime, I have also planted some of them indoors to keep them growing.

In the garden I have: Cosmos, Marigolds, Morning Glories, Mini tomatoes, Mini carrots and one potato.
The indoor pots are: Cosmos, Marigolds, Mini tomatoes, Mini carrots, and basil.

It's been 3 days, and the Cosmos have 4 sprouts indoors and one in the garden. It's very exciting!

Also in the garden, there is a little brown lizard that hangs around, comes and goes. I see him about every two days and then he scurries off. I've named him Willy.

Japan

2008-08-19T09:47:00.005-04:00

I have moved back to Japan for awhile! I will still be updating this with interesting things and personal projects (curtains, bags, and napkins to come!).
To read about my strictly Japanese adventures & pictures, please go here:
http://jhenninjapan.blogspot.com/

Garden chaos

2008-08-19T09:34:00.009-04:00

One day you have a gorgeous garden:

And then you go away for two weeks and this happens!

The lettuce grew about 4 feet high so they were ruined, the spinach all died, the top part of he basil and all the yellow marigolds were infested with Japanese beetles. But NOT the orange marigolds! They were untouched! So make sure you have normal orange marigolds to not have Japanese beetles!

However our green beans were all long and yummy, the eggplants were growing, nice big fragrant red onions, the potatoes were ready to dig up (as noted by them flowering and then dying), and our summer squash must have been some giant contest-type because These suckers were between 3 -4 lbs! Thankfully I was able to give away a few!
We also have many Roma tomatoes (some red, most green), 3 red peppers (still green), and a few clusters of light pink blackberries.

Oh how they grow! 2 weeks difference:

Mom has informed me that we have one blackberry ready to eat! I am jealous! And I miss my garden just as it's giving us so many goodies!

Garden, week 5

2008-07-04T13:48:00.003-04:00

The garden is really doing great with all the rain we've been getting every night.
We have been eating a lot of the fresh herbs and leaf lettuce, and mom got her first red tomato on her plant. My Roma tomatoes continue to grow, but no color yet.
We have also introduced Grammie's big plastic owl to hopefully keep away whatever is eating the strawberries!

There is even a little eggplant starting!

Also:
more blackberry flowers
there are 5 tiny little rods of summer squash
ANOTHER potato plant has appeared from the compost pile. We will replant it somewhere less disruptive.

Christine

2008-06-27T00:18:00.005-04:00

Christine is our dog. She's from the humane society and has been part of our family for 12 years. She is (probably) a German Shepherd/Greyhound mix. But I think she is secretly a dingo!

Christine

Dingo

You decide!

Garden

2008-06-27T00:01:00.010-04:00

I haven't forgotten about my garden or you! I have been at the Outer Banks!

Ok! Garden!

June 9:

June 23:

Look at it go! You can really see all the lettuces big and scrumptious and the potatoes at the back left really shot up!

In the passed three weeks:
Something ate all the riping strawberries!
All the beans are up
Both potato plants are sprouting
Eggplant has a few little blooms
Thinned summer squash. 2 have flowers
Thinned spinach. It's trying hard to be sumptuous again
Onions going strong
1 head of lettuce died. the other 2 are flourishing
all 6 leaf lettuces are gorgeous and giant
herbs are amazing. made sage & thyme biscuits today
Blackberry bush had one flower. The branch was broken off! Rabbits?
Blackberry bush has many new little flower sprouts
Pepper plant JUST revealed its tiny little flower bulbs
Roma tomato plant growing a bunch! none red

BONUS: A mystery plant started growing by the strawberries. It looked an awful lot like the potato plants next to it, despite only planting two potatoes. Realization: The strawberry plant is on top of the former compost hole. I guess a potato escaped and is now growing!! wow!

I ate my first strawberry and found a rock shaped like Ohio. I also found a hunk of quartz that looks like a potato (not pictured).

Garden

2008-06-03T10:55:00.006-04:00

Hey remember this guy from April?

Well it was time to put it to use. Here is the layout plan:

So last Monday we started planting!

Every Monday I will take a picture to watch its progress.

Week 1 Progress:
2 strawberries turning red
3 roma tomatoes started
4 green beans started to come out of the ground

You can't really tell from the photos so far but they are certainly getting stronger and growing!

Travelin'

2008-05-22T12:03:00.003-04:00

I returned last week from a long tour of vacation!

I first drove to Cincinnati to see some friends.

We ate at Shanghai Mama's twice.

Then I flew to Orlando to meet up with Nick & Aileen (from study abroad), her fiance Rich, and Ed flew out from Japan to come play too! Aside from Nick and I, everyone else is English and we had fun showing them the joys of American life such as:

IHOP

and

GUNS!

(Video of me having a whale of a time with an AK 47)

and also car the games Padiddle and Slug Bug (not shown).

We went to Universal Studios thanks to Nick

I turned into a Raptor

I went with Ed to visit my aunt and uncle

We passed the Florida Natural plant. Smelled like fresh oranges and blacktop.

We went to my friend Buster's house for some Rock Band and pizza.

The next day, Buster took us to Epcot.

We also drove to Cocoa Beach and went out for Cinco De Mayo. We also went to Wet N Wild, did a lot of putt putt and watched too much Cash Cab. There were also drug dogs and room lock downs for some group of touring teenagers that stayed in the same hotel.

After Florida fun time 9000, I flew over to Memphis (where my plane hit a little bit more than "bumpy" weather, gulp) to spend a few days with my Tennessee pals.

We hung out, had a pizza party and wore Batman masks. We also went to the Chattanooga Aquarium & IMAX.

So, it was a very good time!

No Attachment to Dust

2008-04-18T18:11:00.003-04:00

This is a great short "story" from Zen Flesh Zen Bones, one of my favorite books.

"Zengetsu, a Chinese master of the T'ang dynasty, wrote the following advice for his pupils:

Living in the world yet not forming attachments to the dust of the world is the way of true Zen student.

When witnessing the good action of another encourage yourself to follow his example. Hearing of the mistaken action of another, advise yourself not to emulate it.

Even though alone in a dark room, be as if you were facing a noble guest. Express your feelings, but become no more expressive than your true nature.

Poverty is a treasure. Never exchange it for an easy life.

A person may appear a fool and yet not be one. He may only be guarding his wisdom carefully.

Virtues are the fruit of self-discipline and do not rop from heaven of themselves as does rain or snow.

Modesty is the foundation of all virtues. Let your neighbors discover you before you make yourself known to them.

A noble heart never forces itself forward. Its words are as rare as gems, seldom displayed and of great value.

To a sincere student, every day is a fortunate day. Time passes but he never lags behind. Neither glory nor shame can move him.

Censure yourself, never another. Do not discuss right and wrong.

Some things, though right, were considered wrong for generations. Since the value of righteousness may be recognized after centuries, there is no need to crave an immediate appreciation.

Live with cause and leave results to the great law of the universe. Pass each day in peaceful contemplation."

Worms

2008-04-15T16:56:00.002-04:00

I haven't taken food scraps out to the compost heap for awhile, so I decided to that this afternoon as well as pull out some weeds.
Well! I found many worms hiding in those roots! I'm sure they didn't like being disturbed, but once they realize their new homes are in compost piles I'm sure they will be in worm heaven!

I also sang a song to my compost piles:

"Microorganisms
Eatin' you up
Microorganisms
yum yum yum yum"

I'm gonna make millions.

Busy Bee

2008-04-15T14:45:00.003-04:00

I want to keep this updated with my happenings, so I'm going to be more dutiful about it.

-My food blog gets a heap of hits and my food snobbery only grows.

-My chocolate business is doing pretty well actually! Since putting it online in February, on average I get an order every-other-day and I am slated for doing favors for TWO wedding receptions this summer!

-Mom and I started cleaning out the garage, which has been weird, but I found a couple of trash bags of brand new ball caps. I have no idea where Dad got them all from, but some were given to Goodwill and the rest were successfully sold on eBay.

-I'm going to be quite busy from now through August. I'm going to Cincinnati, Orlando, Memphis, the Outer Banks, and Napa Valley.

My best friend Aileen and her fiance are coming from England and we are going to Orlando to meet up with our good friend Nick whom we also studied abroad with together. And to top it all off, my boyfriend Ed is coming out from Japan on his spring break to be with all of us at the same time! I haven't seen him in almost 4 months. Haven't seen Aileen & Richard since Jan 2006 and Nick since March 2005. It is going to be one mad vacation, I can tell you that! Can't wait!

Garden

2008-04-15T14:38:00.002-04:00

I've decided to start an organic mini veggie garden. So I did the hard work and it's all ready for some seeds! I've even started a compost heap.

While I picked up leaves, Yoda hung out with a toad.

Cat Fun Time!

2008-04-15T14:26:00.002-04:00

In the past couple months, I've made two cat related items.
1. A cat bed
2. A giant cat toy

I used old pajamas to make the cat bed... which is also reversible!

I originally made it for Yoda, but they all enjoy it.

Yoda

Kashmir

Tilly

Zeus

Zeus is a little too big for it

I also made a cat toy out of an empty bag of Basmati rice and an old t-shirt covered in catnip. Just rolled it up and stuck it in!

Zeus loves it the most because it is much bigger for him to play with

Choco-A-Go-Go

2008-02-07T23:10:00.000-05:00

Ok, I really need to update this more, I know! I update my food journal a lot, so you should go there =)

Anyways faithful readers, I wanted to share with you my latest endeavor:

http://chocoagogo.etsy.com

I've taken my specialized chocolate making out into the online world!
I launched it on Tuesday, and there have actually been orders, so that is very exciting for me!
Soon, I hope to put up some photos from our UK trip! But until then,

Quote of the Day

2008-01-27T08:44:00.000-05:00

Who: Mom and little kid
Where: Public toilet

Mom: Ok, all done yet?
Kid: Yeah! I had to go a lot!
Mom: Ok, well, wipe your butt, I don't need to know how much you went.
Kid: A lot! Four... Forty-four poops!

Stimpy

2007-12-18T10:31:00.001-05:00

On summer when I was eight, I decided to make Stimpy. All I had to go by was memory. My sewing and memory has gotten a little bit better since then!

Holidays

2007-12-17T11:43:00.001-05:00

Apparently I forgot to mention I am going to England for the holidays.
I believe because it was a surprise for my mom and so, thusly, could not post about it. We are going to stay with my boyfriend and his family (and are very thankful for the invitation!). I haven't seen him in almost 4 months, so it will be horrendously wonderful to be with him again.

Post Corssing #3

2007-12-03T15:41:00.000-05:00

Today from Finland!

It says "It takes one step to begin even the longest journey."

Thanks Jukka!

Tilly

2007-11-29T18:46:00.000-05:00

Ain't she great?

PostCrossing #2

2007-11-29T18:35:00.000-05:00

Italy!

From Francesca who lives in Rome!

50000 word winner

2007-11-29T15:49:00.001-05:00

Sorry I haven't posted much this month, I have a ton to post about too!
I've just been too busy trying and succeeding for my first NaNoWroMo win!

I hit 50,000 words today, a day before the deadline. The story itself isn't even complete. I've been working on it feverishly today, everything from here on out is quite exciting.

Post Crossing #1

2007-11-13T13:15:00.001-05:00

Today I received my first PostCrossing postcard (part of my 101 challenge). It was from a 19 year old girl from Germany. The front is Die Frauenkirche zu Dresden which means "Church of Our Lady" (located in Dresden).

Neat huh? =)

Fabulous Food Show

2007-11-11T13:15:00.000-05:00

I love the Fabulous Food Show. It's at an exposition center so it is a giant place filled with free samples of local vendors. Food Network stars were also there. I saw Duff and Jeff from Charm City Cakes.

They're just as fun in real life.

There was even a big wine and beer tasting area. The lady forgot to give us our tasting tickets when we gave her our entrance ticket. She was hesitant about giving us some when we realized we didn't have any.

Great Lakes Brewing Company
A green company and great reason to visit Cleveland!

I would say about 85% of the samples were vegan too. I was pretty sick of all the pasta sauces and salsa samples by the end of it though (there were A LOT!). Other samples (I had) were: jams, natural nut butters, apple butter, pumpkin butter, dandelion tea, granola, apples, coffee, chips, pears, Bavarian nuts, various salsas, marinaras, dipping oils, fresh grape juice, dressings, pepper dip and pinjur (from Trader Joe's) and such. There were more things like cheeses and junk, but go to the website to see everything.
Ohio apple farmers (see previous post) had a selection of apples they were coring and giving out as a healthy treat! I had a fuji apple. I also received some cereal samples and grapefruit Jelly Bellys to take home.

Some beautiful cakes and a Fall/Winter chocolate sculpture.

And if that weren't enough food for one day, Mom and I stuffed ourselves on various Thai tofu on the way home. Phew!

Week 11/05

2007-11-11T13:14:00.000-05:00

NaNoWriMo begins

2007-11-05T00:18:00.001-05:00

So far this year I am keeping up with the daily recommended word counts. I will try and keep it updated daily at night (fingers crossed) in the section to the left! I have been going to local meet-ups and it really is helping me! Plus I've met more goofy people which is a plus =)
Please refer to my previous NaNoWriMo post if you have no idea what I'm talking about!

Week 10/28

2007-11-02T10:22:00.000-04:00

Swap #1! Singapore

2007-10-30T13:20:00.000-04:00

This was my first swap and was very excited to do it with Kai Shi from Singapore (read about her end of the swap here!).

I will try to describe it all from left to right. She sent me:
Lovely tourist postcards, as well as Grandparent's Day postcards and children literacy bookmarks!
A "Happy Virus" notebook & mini "Natural Cheese" notepads. Hahaha!
Teas: green tea & Lychee, Lime & Passionfruit infusion. I am looking forward to that one!
Sweet palm seeds. They are the clear things in the front. They are squishy and that makes it a little weird! But they look really sweet and good, I will keep you updated!
Candies: Milky box of chocolates and M&M look-a-likes in the foil
Buddhist CD. I CANNOT wait to listen to it! I am so excited about it!
Buddhist bookmark! Awweessooommmmeee
Pencil: Has a jewel on top!
Cute stickers of pink people and food
Chips: Crispy Seaweed and Oki Doki BBQ stars. I can't stop laughing about the Oki Doki chips!
Bangle bracelets. And they actually fit my tiny wrists without falling off! =D
A super cute lollipop hair barrette. Serious. Freakin' awesome cute
Gorgeous yellow travel bag set. I kept pulling a smaller one out from each one! Another and another and another!! Hahaha
And paper lanterns! Pink and green, on either side of the box

And Tilly loved the Singapore Post box the most.

Week 10/21

2007-10-29T09:54:00.000-04:00

Blood Type Awesome

2007-10-24T18:27:00.000-04:00

Donate blood is #2 on my 101 things to do list.
This was my first time donating blood. I even got vegan cookies with my OJ afterwards. My goal is to give at least twice, but I think this will become a life long habit.

Photo 1 & purse

2007-10-18T14:53:00.000-04:00

One of my goals to do in 1001 days is to take an "artistic" photo every week. I decided I'll post them here!

Watch out!

© All rights reserved.

I like all his bandages.

I also accomplished another goal of learning how to use a sewing machine*. To accompany this I wanted to make a purse. A nice purse. I did make a purse, but it isn't up to my standards. Of course, as a FIRST purse as well as my FIRST sewing machine project, I think it turned out decently. I gave myself a C+.

*It's about time! I grew up around sewing machines, have hand-sewn numerous things, along with doing crafts of all mediums, etc. Actually, I haven't worked with metal, maybe I should put down welding as a goal!

Amy Sedaris

2007-10-18T14:38:00.000-04:00

Last night I saw Amy Sedaris at a free library talk. The place was packed and had to put people on the stage! It was very entertaining.

(The dress is modeled after Date Night Barbie's dress!)

Amy Sedaris recently wrote a book, but is most well known as Jerri Blank from the TV show Strangers With Candy. It's extremely hilarious and you should watch it.

Jerri

101 things in 1001 days

2007-10-18T14:36:00.001-04:00

I have slyly added this to my projects list to the side. I have not finished my whole list, but I'm starting to work on the ones I have.

So what is 101 things in 1001 days?
The Mission!

Why 1001 Days?
Many people have created lists in the past - frequently simple goals such as New Year's resolutions. The key to beating procrastination is to set a deadline that is realistic. 1001 Days (about 2.75 years) is a better period of time than a year, because it allows you several seasons to complete the tasks, which is better for organising and timing some tasks such as overseas trips or outdoor activities.

So, what would you do 1001 days?

Nanowrimo

2007-10-06T12:43:00.000-04:00

It's that time of year again to sign up for NaNoWriMo! NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month, which doesn't makes sense since people all over the world do it. But NaNoWriMo is snazzier than IntNoWriMo.

Starting November 1st at midnight through the whole month you are given a goal to write your own novelette with at least 50,000 words.

I have participated since 2003 (sans last year) and have never reached the goal for various reasons (didn't save correctly, too busy, I hated my characters...). I feel good about this year though and I am happy about my plot so far. 4th time's a charm right?

So sign up and let's become writing buddies! I plan to keep a current word count off to the side.

Because of so many people going to the site, you may get errors until they work it out. Just keep trying!

Autumn!

2007-10-01T11:10:00.000-04:00

It's definitely Fall!

Gimme Your Stuff!

2007-09-28T22:46:00.003-04:00

Two of my favorite things in the world have been combined: culture and stuff.
I think GimmeYourStuff is about to become my favorite website.

You sign up, list what you can give and swap with someone else in the world. So here are my lists! My past swaps are listed on the left.

NOTE: Right now I have moved to JAPAN.

Things to give from Japan:
Any type of magazine
Various fabrics
Sweet and/or salty snacks
Gum, candy, spices, etc
Chopsticks
Bento boxes
handkerchiefs
Folding fans
Phone charms
Touristy souvenirs (postcards, key chains, magnets, etc)
ANYTHING CUTE
Engrish items
Traditional or fun stationary
Stickers
Jewelry

MAYBE a funny/cool tshirt or random CD
Clothing and cds/dvds are usually very expensive, so please don't be disappointed if I can't find something on discount.
Lots of things, just ask!

Stuff I like:
Anything traditional from your country
Anything pop culture from your country
Local souvenirs and crafts
Things with non-English writing
Buddhist things
Food: Spices, candy, food packets Note: I am vegan. I do not eat animal products. So no meat, milk or egg please =)
Kitchen items and cookbooks/recipes
T-shirts
Magazines- cooking, cakes, fashion, bridal
Stickers
Cats
Cute things
Bags, purses
Scarves
Jewelry (bracelets, rings...)
Postcards and coins
Music and movies

Surprise me!

I love all international things, but would especially love to swap with Austria, Switzerland, Poland, Germany, Russia and/or Eastern European countries as that is where my family was from. =)

You can leave a message here with your contact info or you can email me webkitten138 AT hotmail.com