happy birthday granny

Today would have been my Granny's 86th birthday. It's been six months since she passed away, and I miss her so much. But I'm also constantly reminded of her by some of the most random things, which always make me smile. I like to think those reminders are her way of telling me "hi" :)

Watering My Cactuses
My cactus farm started with one tiny cactus Granny gave me when I was 12, and we were leaving El Paso to move to Connecticut. That one tiny cactus survived in Connecticut (inside the house, obviously), and then came to California, where -- especially since I've moved into my house and have a ton of outdoor space -- it has multiplied and multiplied and multiplied into more than 30 cactuses living in planters and pots and now permanently in the ground in my front and back gardens. I call the original cactus (below) "Mama Cactus," even though some of her "babies" are now bigger than she is. If you even need some plants that don't need a lot of water, let me know. The "baby" cacti are multiplying now too :)

I also love that the bigger members of the cactus family bloom in the summer ... as a pretty pink-purple flower. Purple was Granny's favorite color. The blooms only last for one day, which I think makes them even more special. Here's a bloom from the cactus in my front window-box from late July:

Mixing Ketchup and Mustard

When I'm running errands in Northridge, I am sometimes tempted to stop at Wienerschnitzel across the street from my alma mater CSUN for a corn dog (and the best french fries on the planet!) When I was a little kid, Granny taught me to mix my mustard with my ketchup. It's a little sweet, and a little spicy. In other words, the best condiment ever! And the one time I've been to Wienerschnitzel since February, I had the mustard ketchup mix on my corn dog, and thought of her.

Looking at the States on the Back of Quarters

Granny was not a coin collector. But I do think she was trying to find all 50 states on the quarters at some point in the late 90s-early 2000s. And while I don't think I ever gave her any of my quarters, I do subconsciously always flip them over to see what state they have etched on them before I spend them.

Her Purple Tea Set

I've only had tea from her purple-flowered china tea set once (because I'm a klutz and don't trust myself) but I see it when I open that cabinet and always think of her. The dress I picked to wear to my cousin Josh's wedding in June had purple flowers on it that reminded me of this tea set, and therefore Granny :)

Hummingbirds

Granny loved hummingbirds. When she moved from her apartment into assisted living, she dispersed her huge mug collection amongst all the family members (filled with candy) that Christmas. I got her "New Mexico" hummingbird mug... mostly (I think) because it was purple. But I have that sitting out on my counter, still filled with candy. And whenever I catch an actual live hummingbird out at my feeder, it makes me think of her.

Happy Birthday Granny! I love you!   

pretty pain

I moved my mini cactus garden this spring and I think it now gets a lot more sun, which is the only reason I can come up with for why, for the first time ever, it sprouted NINE cactus flowers at once last week. I saw the little buds forming a while ago, but never thought they would all flower at once. So pretty... purple turning to pretty in pink :)

Here's the stems and buds the night before opening:

And then here are the eight cactus flowers that opened the next morning... one over there on the right was a late bloomer ;) 

a new, succulent view

I'm not a big Pinterest person. I just don't get the obsession some people have with looking at photo after photo after photo taken by strangers and then sharing those strangers' photos with others. But I have been on there three or four times in the year since I first created an account and have some boards, mostly filled with images of cool ideas for my house and garden. 

One of those ideas was this cute wall garden I "pinned" to my "loveliness" board of pretty garden stuff about a year ago. 

I originally thought I might use this idea to decorate the gray stucco walls of my back patio. But then, at some point a few months ago, someone mentioned (sarcastically) what a lovely view I had outside of the window above my kitchen sink. (The view is of the half cinderblock, half wood wall giving my neighbors and I some privacy from each other.) 

That side of my house is a barren wasteland... the ground is a cemented-in a brick path allowing access to the one working electrical plug I have outside, and my tankless water heater mounted on the side of the house. To improve the kitchen window view, I first thought maybe I could grow jasmine or bougainvillea out of a big pot and have it crawl up and cover the wall. But both of those plants love sun and need lots of water... and watering in the barren wasteland will be a chore. 

Then I remembered that cute wall garden and realized there are some plants that don't need a lot of water :) 

Via the blog of the photo's original "pinner," I found out you can buy latches to hold terra cotta pots on a wall, so I ordered some from Vat 19, "Purveyors of Curiously Awesome Products." Then I wandered into the Burbank DoIt Center to kill time while friends were shopping in second-hand stores nearby and found cute green and blue painted pots on sale to use with my latches. 

These things sat in my garage for about a month until yesterday when I finally had time to go to Home Depot, where I bought six small catci and succulents. I put them all together and now this is the view from my kitchen window!

I'm hoping these plants will be able to survive mostly on rain and early morning mist because, like I said, getting water to that barren wasteland will be a pain. And sadly, my "brilliant" idea of watering them by squirting water out the kitchen window from the faucet's hose isn't going to work. Couldn't make the angles and squirting distance mesh at the same time. I did make a faboo mess all over the window sill and counter though. Live and learn ;)