Friday Favorites: Evolution

As newlyweds, Chris and I often ventured on creative (read: free) dates to the local pet store. We’d wander through the isles, crunching stray cat food underfoot, and inevitably fall head-over-heels in love with nine puppies, seven kittens, a few parakeets, one or two lizards, maybe even a rat. Our lovesick voices jumped two octaves as we cooed, “Hi puppy(/kitty/itty bitty lizard/fuzzy cute thing)! Hi! You’re cute! You want to live with us, don’t you?! Hi puppy wuppy. Oh, that’s a good boy. You’re a cutie.”

We eventually succumbed and bought a “pet.”

Sparky was a sophisticated red beta fish who lived in a vase with coordinating red glass rocks. And floating atop his house was our first green house plant.

Although non-reactive to our coos, Sparky was a resilient little thing. One Christmas break we brought him to Colorado to meet the family. Having no convenient transportation devices, we were forced to remove a blade from the nut chopper and secure him in the glass jar. The method worked until Chris unloaded the trunk and tipped the chopper, draining Sparky’s water and leaving him flopping helplessly against the glass walls.

Dying fish in hand, we hurdled the hedges, jumped down four stairs and barreled through our front door, frantically searching for bottled water. Sparky lay gummy and tired in the bottom of the jar until we drenched him with a giant swig of water. We stared at the horizontal floating fish for five minutes until he regained his bearings and began his usual routine of swimming…and pooping.

Did I mention that he pooped ALL THE TIME? His lovely vase was more often than not murky and filled with smelly floaties, which was good for the plant and bad for the fish parents. I regularly promised my life away to get out of cleaning his vase. (I’m still paying.)

Eventually we ditched the plant to control the odors.

That didn’t help.

Then we ceased showing love and affection.

Then Sparky died.

And Chris flushed him.

We had a (tiny) hole in our hearts and instead of filling it with Sparky 3.0 (we did get a 2.0 -- HIS name was Isabelle), we'd walk around the garden store, falling head-over-heels in love with every columbine, begonia and orchid we passed.

We are now the proud parents of four African violets, a Christmas cactus, two jade plants, a bonsai, a spiky African green thing, several planters of assorted pansies, allysum, dahlias and geraniums. Oh and lots of basil.

But no fish.

Evolution from fish to plants is my favorite.

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Shades of purple

We planted a "garden" on our patio this weekend full of dahlias, geraniums, alyssum, pansies and daisies in assorted shades of lavender, periwinkle, royal purple and burgundy. Next up...basil!
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We were out of the country

Chris' mom has been planning an exciting trip to Japan so we decided to join her. Or did she join us?

While you enjoy a photo recap, I'll be kimono-clad, munching on sushi and fanning myself with chopsticks (Why must I always fan myself?).

We began with a deductible meal at Bangkok 54, which put us in the spirit for our trip. Maybe you haven't heard, but Thai is practically Japanese. I mean, we used chopsticks! (P.S. Best Thai food in town!)

Unfortunately, due to horrible allergies/overall crummy stomach and head issues, I was unable to participate in the first outing. But you won't be surprised to learn more of these were involved. See?
Linda took pause to contemplate the meaning of life (and pose for pictures) in the lush Japanese gardens.
Feeling at one with nature, Chris and Linda wandered through magnolia fields (I wasn't there, but since this was a Japanese trip and all, I'm betting they were lotus flower trees).
And took pictures to make other people wish they could sit under a (lotus flower/)magnolia tree on a cozy bench and daydream (about Japan).
Day 2 began with a stroll through fiery tulip fields.
Very flame-like and Japanese-ish.
Next, we admired a forest of fanciful Japanese cherry blossom trees.
(Hey, how did President Jefferson get to Japan?)

Anyway, we also enjoyed the sweet aroma of (Japanese?) crabapple trees.
Then we stood at the shore of a large lake and posed by a tower for a few more pictures.
Overall, a very peaceful, fragrant, floral and Japanese weekend was had by all!

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Friday Favorites: Hobbies are sexy

Between the two of us, Chris and I entertain quite the hodge podge of hobbies:

- baking
- grooming bonsai trees
- discovering new bands
- playing guitar hero, halo, mario world...
- attending concerts
- researching new and interesting inventions
- politics
- hiking
- golfing
- rock climbing
- mountain biking
- shaving (really!)
- snowboarding
- playing the harmonica
- traveling
- gardening

Oh wait.

Those are Chris' hobbies. I'm not that cool*.

Behold Chris' amazing Christmas Cactus, which he recently coddled into blossoming. If I even thought about turning on the light in the closet where the cactus was "hibernating," Chris threw a spiked heel at my head (hypothetically speaking, of course). If I accidentally brushed up against the leaves, he chased me with a freshly sharpened spear** (non-hypothetically speaking).

The bloodshed paid off, though. I have never seen more amazing cactus blossoms.

Chris' crazy cactus-growing skills are my favorite.
*Well maybe I'm cool by association, right?!.
**I'm JOKING!

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well, it rained, what can I say?!

Remember this?

This weekend's game plan was to escape to the mountains and enjoy the Fall colors. Unfortunately, everyone in the free world had the same idea (absolutely NO hotel availability). Plus, it rained.

We were sad.

But there's this awesome sweetgum tree just outside our window -- we'll call it the Tree of Many Colors. Gorgeous, right? Maybe that whole escape to the mountains plan can be resurrected next weekend...
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INSPIRATION, husband edition

Guess the number of tiny trees we committed to (digital) film during our recent National Arboretum visit. Stumped? Well allow me to test a new blog gadget whilst answering your question. Consider this your first-hand glimpse into Chris' very own inspiration binder.



P.S. The picture of our Bonsai is solely meant to illustrate our gardening capabilities (it's not dead!). But give the tree a break -- it was a little under the weather in the photo but has since made a full recovery!

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oooo....bonsai

Lookie, lookie. I'm officially blogging on a regular basis. Why? Because I love you.

And because I loved our visit to the U.S. National Arboretum on Saturday. Did you know such a place existed? If you're a gardening or bonsai junkie like Chris or you just enjoy pretty plants and scenery like me, this is a D.C. must-see. Plus, with free admission and atypically light crowds, I can't think of a better way to spend a mild weekend afternoon (Note to Arboretum: Please send my endorsement check ASAP so I can invest in my personal garden.)

Besides yellow, guess what color I'm currently adoring?

Lilly ponds near the visitor's center were gorgeous. Did you know the water is dyed black to keep moss growth at a minimum? Yep, I'm a responsible visitor--I read the signs.

The Lilly ponds also housed a burgeoning population of hungry Koi fish.

We spent two hours wandering through the American, Japanese and Chinese bonsai gardens. My zen or feng shui or namaste or whatever feels much more aligned.

The curvature of this tree reminds of me of the azalea bonsai Chris created.
May it rest in peace.

The bonsais were nothing short of amazing. Check out this tree's dead white trunk, wrapping artfully around a sliver of living bark keeping the tree alive.

Here is Chris, posing seriously in front of the oldest tree in the collection. It dates back to the 1600s. I'm glad Chris dressed up for this photo; the shirt is classic.

My favorite bonsai was created by John Y. Naka, arguably the most famous and revered American Bonsai master. "Goshin" or "protector of the spirit" represents Naka's seven grandchildren (there is a tree for each child).

Self-portrait in front of another of our favorites. What a great shot of the tree!

My attempts at artistry.

Butterflies blanketed the herb gardens. We're planning a return trip in the near future since we didn't even begin to see all of the gardens and displays.

Look Chris, I DIDN'T KILL THE GERANIUMS

I promise, promise, promise to begin my series "Misadventures in Gardening" soon. For now, enjoy these lovely photos. The geraniums are happily adorning our patio - and despite Chris' absence, I haven't killed them (yet)! The other pictures are from my parents' yard.