Snap Yo Beans

Today I picked snap beans from the garden outside my little house on the prairie. The little suckers are really hard to pull off the vine. Next time I'll bring scissors; scissors and a face net because flies buzzing around your face while you tug beans off their vines are REALLY annoying. These are the beans right after they were picked:

This is what the beans look like when they're opened up. I'm not sure how snap beans are supposed to be consumed (shelled or de-shelled) but I went ahead and opened them all up in case the shell is not edible.

Twenty minutes later this is what I get:

Let's just say I'm thankful I don't have to rely on my de-shelling skills to make a living

The Great Indoors

I salvaged a few branches of Salix Tortuosa (corkscrew willow) from the arrangements displayed at a party two weeks ago because I noticed they started sprouting roots after sitting in the water for just one night. The branches are now gathered in a vase in my room. I plan to take care of them until they grow enough roots to be planted down. One day, when I open my own flower shop, I'll have corkscrew willow branches at my disposal.

A view of the roots through the blue glass vase:

Leaves sprouting out from the branches (these were not there when I purchased them).

6/22/11: The start of my corkscrew willow trees.

Treasures from the yard

I am sad to announce that the lone blueberry I've been waiting on to ripen has disappeared. I am not sure who/what the culprit is but the next time that little plant bears fruit (hopefully more than one), I'll make sure to set up barbed wire around it.

In the mini orchard on the side of the house, we have some avocado plants (trying to fit in with the rest of the neighborhood). This one has 3 fruits that are still hanging on (down from about 219). Baby avocados are so fragile! This image was taken on 6/15 and I haven't journeyed to the mini orchard since then so I'm not even sure if these are still there:

One day while exploring the mini orchard, TT exclaimed excitedly "Wow giant lemons!"
I had to crush her excitement and tell her these are actually grapefruit:

On yet another day while digging around in the yard, I saw something white in one of the planters under the patio. Initially I thought it was a mushroom that had sprouted overnight (some mushrooms are unstoppable). I bent down to take a closer look and found it was an egg. The nest from which (I'm assuming) the egg fell was hanging loosely in the wisteria vines above, tattered and abandoned. The egg felt light and hollow so I knew there was no longer the potential for a baby bird. I felt a little sad for the short-lived glory of the now-dried chick but I was also very excited about my find. Naturally, I showed everyone I could find around the house that day. Check out my egg!

 I placed the egg on a mini orchid plant for safe keeping. A few days later, I found my egg, crushed and hidden in a vase near the orchid plant. Mom had crushed it when she picked up the orchid to move it (for the first time since it was brought into the house). And she conveniently forgot to tell me she was the one who broke it. :( times indeed. At least I got some pictures and a few cool videos of the mini egg spinning while it was still whole.

6/15/11 Edible goods

We have so many zucchinis, we don't know what to do with them:

Strawberries have managed to escape the scavenging rodents roaming our yard but they're far from being ripe enough to eat: 

Beans from my aunt in Vietnam (they look so yummy!):

Bean blossoms:

Mong Toi next to the beans:

Mints galore!

Fuzzy squash climbing up its custom-made trellis: 

This is how I climb:

Will you be my friend? 

Snap bean seeds from The Home Depot looking good enough to eat!:

Onion flower:

Tomato forest (can't find the tomatoes anymore):

Jalapeno Heat

Tonight my left cheek (on my face) started burning as I was making food. I thought some oil had splashed up but my face was not oily. It got worse the more I touched it and after 10 minutes of unbearable pain, I sat down to think of reasons why it was burning so badly. Then I realized I had chopped a jalapeno earlier and hadn't washed all the pepper oil off before rubbing my face. Even after 2 washes with soap, my hands still carried the invisible sting (I found this out because my mouth started burning after I flossed). My face looked something like this:

I learned an important lesson from this experience: stay away from fresh jalapenos. If you must chop peppers, use a glove and throw it away once you finish handling the peppers. And whatever you do, do not rub your face! Or floss after handling peppers with your bare hands.

However, should you forget and you end up with plump lips and inflammed cheeks, you can use cold milk to cool it off (thanks TT and dad for the milk and aloe vera!).

Love this song

The Transformation

And now for some art...

4/27: Armed with my paints, brushes, and new-found inspiration, I picked up the once cast-aside and unfinished painting of the beach scene to create a new beginning. I found my inspiration while browsing photos online (aka facebook stalking my friends). The photo I selected was taken in Santa Catalina, Panama (some of you may find this looks familiar but I've left out a key component of the original photo because I'm still chicken poo about drawing people). I've turned the beach painting on its side so now it's standing vertically:

I printed out the photo on an 8.5x11 sheet of paper and hung the photo upside down next to my canvas (which I initially started painting upside down as well). I find this technique helpful as it takes away any distractions I may succumb to that will make my painting un-proportional. If the image is upside down, my eyes will perceive it more as a collection of colors and shapes rather than a landscape that I'm trying to replicate.

White, yellow, and green acrylic paint was used to create a base (and cover up the previous painting). Brown was created by mixing red, blue, and yellow with some white.

5/3: This was the day I turned the painting upright again. I was satisfied with the proportions of the painting and I felt confident I could finish it without becoming cross-eyed. This was also the day I realized I need smaller brush tips. The branches are not as defined as I would like them to be because the smallest brush I had was not very small at all and acrylic paint doesn't drag very far because it dries so quickly.

5/10: This is usually how I start my painting process. Five globs of paint on foil-lined palette

I resolved to finish the painting this day. The only thing left for me to add are the leaves in the foreground.

Paint paint paint and ta da! The finished product:

It will be stored at The Kevbox until the curator wants to get rid of it. This painting holds the record for taking the longest time to complete: 3.5+ years since date of commission

Happy June!

This is my favorite month of the year. In celebration of June, I'm going to focus on things I enjoy:

-leisure reading
-creating art
-rest and relaxation
-being outside
-taking pictures
-sleep
-more posting!

I hope you find some time to do things you enjoy as well. Speaking for myself, I often get caught up in my daily routine and am so focused on completing those tasks that I don't think about doing things I actually want to do. I am allowing myself one month of the year to focus on these things. Mental vacation, here I come.

Have a happy Thursday everyone :)

PS: have I shown you the gopher Dad caught?