Fishs Eddy

Been up to my elbows in soap suds this afternoon as I was trying to remove the oiled finish on our teak dining table outdoors. Between refinishing the legs of my Craigslist chair and this table, I've had enough with stains for one year thank-you-very-much. I keep promising photos, but until I post them, go to Fishs Eddy and browse. I'm picking up the Carnival umbrella for myself and some other gifts for friends.

Aren't these "Nursery Glasses" cute?

monday monday

The other day my wonderful husband said (out of the blue) that he wanted me to buy a loveseat for our living room. In eight to ten weeks this will be delivered:

Also an update of the garden coming soon. Sweet peas and cabbage have all come out and more tomatoes went in.

Out with the old

My maidenhair fern couldn't hack it in my urns, so I switched them out today. Also put up these tiny bud vases for some summer color.

As you can see above, my failing rose is completely revived. I came back from a trip out of town to these colorful blooms. Unfortunately, my other roses aren't doing well at all. One has lifeless flowers and the other can't seem to make new growth. Suggestions?

Egypt: Part 2

These will be the last I share. Too many to keep curating...

1. Our breakfast room in the Mena House. 2. Boat ride on the Nile. 3. Shopping. 4. The view from our hotel room. 5. One of the major Mosques.

Egypt: Part 1

Apparently I never got around to posting pictures of our trip to Egypt.

1. The golden interior of the Oberoi's lobby where they serve Hibiscus juice upon arrival. 2. The largest heads of cauliflower I've ever seen. 3. I could just post another well framed shot of the Sphinx but thought you might like to see how crowded the sites really are. 4. The ten dollar camel ride. 5. A morning view.

I have a problem---

Dishes. I think I need more shelving.

Yard Update

It has been a while since I posted an update on the garden and backyard. Ignore the dead splotches of grass. I had pots in those spots, but the grass should come back soon.

This is the new flower bed I created. Before it was just a patch of grass (weeds) but I decided to connect the bed underneath the Oak with the beds that surround the patio. It's my "white garden" and should flesh out nicely as the plants continue to grow.

The second wave of foxglove are in bloom. These are the purple variety and I just think they look marvelous.

Last Week's Harvest

Joi Choi, Cabbage, and the first zucchini.

Banjo has a message...

eggs

100 % pastured eggs. Love the green one.

Next

I just learned that Steve Jobs was once let go from Apple. In that downtime, he created a new company which eventually brought him back as Apple's leader. Here's an excerpt he said about his experience:

I really didn’t know what to do for a few months. I felt that I had let the previous generation of entrepreneurs down – that I had dropped the baton as it was being passed to me. I met with David Packard and Bob Noyce and tried to apologize for screwing up so badly. I was a very public failure, and I even thought about running away from the Valley. But something slowly began to dawn on me – I still loved what I did. The turn of events at Apple had not changed that one bit. I had been rejected, but I was still in love. And so I decided to start over.

I didn’t see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life. ....

I’m pretty sure none of this would have happened if I hadn’t been fired from Apple. It was awful tasting medicine, but I guess the patient needed it. Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don’t lose faith. I’m convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You’ve got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don’t settle.

The company he created in that time was called, "Next."

More from Filoli

Filoli- The Gardens

Although the house is amazing, the real reason to go to Filoli is to wander the grounds.

Filoli

I have been meaning to visit Filoli for the past few years and finally made my way over this morning. I took far too many pictures to post, but here a couple to tide you over until you can make your own visit to this gorgeous estate.

The back entrance:

Could you imagine having to service all these rooms?

The walk-in silver closet/safe:

The ballroom's fireplace:

A view of a downstairs bathroom. I am in love with the wallpaper:

(Blogger and I are still at odds over justification and spacing. Apologies for the aesthetic incongruities)

An Experiment

I tired of the aging poppies and asylum in the front bed, so I ripped them up when the rain took a break today. I left the daffodil greens so they can keep storing up energy for next year, but planted some of my extra vegetable garden seedlings and seeds as an experiment: Cosmos Versailles Mix, Marigold Gem Mix, Horned Voila, Matina Tomatoes, Mammoth Basil, Red Belle Peppers, and Speedy Bush Beans. I may add some peppers and other herbs later. The front bed gets great light but the soil seems poor and is constantly attacked by burrowing animals. Too lazy to do real digging and amending, I added some fertilizer and planted in pockets of planting mix. We'll see what happens. Below are photos of the construction site.