The Lily: A Luza Story Years ago when my mom, Luza was still with us, she gifted me a beautiful lily. The same type that she carried in her wedding bouquet. ❤️💕❤️The lily faithfully grows every year and blooms on her birthday at the end of February. That’s just like her to give me a beautiful way to remember her. We put bricks down in this ...
Garden
Life is in Session
I have been fully intending to do a recap of 2017. But like many of my other good intentions, it hasn't quite gone the way I intended. My answer to the "well, why not?" question remains the same: Life is in session.I have a friend who says that often and I have since adopted the habit of explaining why things do or don't get done. Why do ...
The Lazy Cuban Girl’s Guide To Gardening
My first disclaimer is that if you happen to know any Cuban girls, you know for a fact that we don't tend to be lazy in any meaningful way. Second disclaimer - this post is about my own personal gardening choices and no one else's. Now that we've established that I'm the only Lazy Cuban Girl here, let's continue, shall we? I love color in my ...
Veggie & Herb Garden Starter Package Winners
As always, I'm grateful for all of you who take the time to enter my giveaways. Plus it makes me feel like I can show my gratitude by offering you something of value.I appreciate that you don't all live in a climate conducive to growing veggies and herbs, so I acknowledge those of you who entered the giveaway and are feeling excited to get your ...
Hello, Summer Garden! – A Giveaway
California is fickle. It can be 100 degrees one day and back down to 65 the next. It's been a relatively mild Spring and we are now barreling towards summer and that means Outdoor Entertaining Season. Can I get an "Amen?"Eric and I have been planning a Big Birthday Bash. It should have taken place this weekend. However, ...
How Does My Garden Grow?
The weather here in Southern California has been phenomenal lately. Seriously. It has been the most perfect Spring so far. Very mild. Low 70's with a delicious breeze and then cooling in the evenings. (Go ahead. Take a moment. I'll wait until you're over your jealousy.) As the days grow longer and the weather gets so super inviting, ...
Picket Fences, Roses and Contentment
When we moved into our home twelve years ago, it was the Eyesore of the Neighborhood. Many of our new neighbors told us so. They didn't even blush when they said it. "Oh, you're the new family that moved into the Eyesore of the Neighborhood." (Okay, so maybe that wasn't a direct quote, but you get the idea.) The house had ...
Lessons from the Garden
My roses are blooming.All of them. All at once.And although they look very beautiful,and some are quite spectacular,they require my attention. Right now.And it feels like quite an overwhelming task. But I'll grab my pruning shears and go through each bush, dead-heading as I go. It's quite a big job when they're all going ...
The Cocoon
Eric found the cocoon on May 27th.We had never seen anything like it before. It looked to me like a jade earring with perfect gold flecks. It looked so, so surreal. "What is that?" We quickly asked Señor Google better known around here as Cuco. =D A Monarch. Shut. UP! It took a few weeks for the thing to begin to turn transparent and ...
The Sprinklers
We have an old house in an old peanut-butter-and-jelly neighborhood. Our neighbors tell us that before we moved in, this house was the Eyesore of the Neighborhood. (I know. Sad, but true. I'll dig up some "before" pictures of the house one day and blog about it.) Slowly and tenderly, for the past ten years, we have worked on This Old ...
