The Beautiful Old Barn

When we drove by this beautiful old barn, I snapped a few drive by shots. I mentioned to Nathan that it was one of those things that I would love to take 20 pictures of. So he went back. And I took 20 pictures of it.



I really love old barns like this one. They are so classic. They have so many stories to tell. I remembered my own stories of being in barns. I remembered the smell of hay that goes along with being in a barn. I remembered how scratchy that hay feels on bare summer feet and legs. Nice memories go along with barns.





Truth be told, after I took my 20 shots, I then took 23 more.



I could have easily taken 43 more.



Living the life in sunny Florida.



A PS to this post. My MIL recently sent some beautiful pictures like these and told us that my FIL had wanted to take pictures of old building and make a book with them. She said perhaps I could pick up that project. I think it's very likely that I will do just that!

The Tower

The tower of morning glories in my garden, taller than anything, even the bananas. The ladder is shown for scale.























From below:

Lupines at Sunrise

Lupines at Sunrise, originally uploaded by ParsecTraveller.

The wildflowers are in peak bloom across much of California. These lupines were no exception - fields of the flowers coated hillsides in Las Trampas.

Sorry for the recent hiatus - been very busy!

Destiny or Delusion?

In March I read about a Meyer’s Lemon tree in bloom at Zanthan Gardens, learning that MSS brought it inside only in the coldest winter, and that the butterfly-magnet blossoms smelled really good. This description intensified my desire to grow a Lemon tree, but I thought they were too expensive and didn’t actively search for one.

In April, Philo was looking for lumber, and I was bored and looking for trouble, tagging along to the big box store, cruising the garden section as I entered the building. It must have been Destiny when I stopped in front of a batch of newly unpacked little trees. These trees were small, “produced in Texas”, and labeled “Improved Meyer’s Lemon. They were tagged at only $14.88 so owning this lemon tree was affordable. In addition to the lure of the beautiful glossy foliage, there were even a few tiny lemons developing on one branch, proving that this particular tree had borne flowers.

We put the pot on the patio near the Rosemary where we could see it from the breakfast room, watching the tiny lemons grow slowly, so that by June they looked like medium size limes. There were also a few more blossoms, creamy and fragrant.

It’s nearing November now and my baby tree has held onto most of the fruit, even through the drought. The lemons are now turning yellow.

This little tree pleases me whenever I look at it, and whether or not the fruit turn out to be as delicious as the tag promised, they’re beautiful.

I should now be thinking of a place inside my house where the Lemon can get light all winter, but since last Saturday I’ve been envisioning a different future for my tree.

Over at Digging, Pam has been posting a photo journal of last Saturday’s Garden Conservancy tour. Philo & I went to several of the gardens, including that of Deborah Hornickel. Deborah’s garden is wonderful and dramatic, with interesting plants and great design – she was featured in a recent issue of Cottage Living Magazine. If you go over to Pam/Digging's Post you’ll see Deborah’s huge Meyer’s Lemon tree, planted outside, sheltered by the southwest-facing wall of her house. The lemons are enormous! Deborah told me that hers was just a small plant similar in size to mine when she took a chance and set it into the ground 5 years ago.

I really want to try this! Although it’s not exactly a blank area, there’s a perfect spot on a Southwest-facing wall at the back of our house. A large Nandina that was planted by one of the previous owners is there now, and we neither like nor dislike this Nandina – it just came with the house. Luckily for me, Philo was quite taken with the lemon at Deborah’s house, too, and he’s willing to oust the Nandina so we can plant our Meyer’s Lemon tree there. There’s an overhanging eave for ice protection, and it’s close to the back door – increasing the chances that we won’t forget to water it, and can quickly cover it with a blanket on a cold night.

A new batch of blossoms opened last week and are now turning into another set of tiny fruit, which will need months of sun and water to turn into juicy globes. I don't know what will happen if they get too cold and I don't know if the lemon could come back from the roots if we have a mini-ice age in Austin. But I’m ready to take a $15 chance on something wonderful. Do you think this plan is crazy, or would you also plant the Meyer's Lemon outside?

There's Bugis for cheap shopping thrills and souvenirs in Singapore

I have been back in the Netherlands and currently suffering a light jet lag. I slept straight for 14 hours but was awakened when the Dutchman joined me in bed. I was startled at first. I did not know where I was? And I did not know who this man is beside me in bed! Oh dear me, lol.



Then I remembered I am home. I am with the Dutchman. This is what happens when you travel to different countries and staying in hotel rooms and other people's houses.



My last leg of my South East Asian trip was Singapore, and since this city was the most fresh in my mind, I have decided to post an entry about our shopping afternoon there, just the day before I left.



Bugis Street or Bugis Village

Website: Bugis Street









Singapore is a multi-cultural city and country. Everywhere you go they have signs in 4 languages like this at a construction site in front of Bugis: English (so everyone can understand each other, glad its not written in Singlish though!), Mandarin Chinese (74% of Singaporeans are Chinese, although other Chinese dialects are also spoken), Malay (well, Singapore was once a part of Malaysia) and Indian Tamil (another rich history from the past of Indian traders coming to Asia).











It is easy to get to Bugis by car, bus or MRT. Check the website link above for more information.



Some Bugis information and history



Bugis Village is the answer to all our cheap shopping thrills and souvenirs in Singapore. There are more than 800 shops here and is the largest shopping location in Singapore.



The area used to be frequented by hookers and transvestites in the 50's through the 80's. It's near Geylang, another area popularly known as the haven for the other darker side of night life. Things have changed since here at Geylang and Bugis, the area is now home to Singapore's biggest retail happening sans the upmarket signature brands unless you do not mind the quite looking very real work of imitations.



Interestingly, the place is also very local. There were some tourists shopping and passing through, I noticed, but not in big numbers. Bugis is clearly a local thing. Now you have been tipped off!



Trivia: Did you know that Bugis name came from the Buginese people of South Sulawesi, Indonesia? They are a seafaring people who moored their boats in the area and traded with Singaporean merchants.











The mother bought some stuff for the employees back home whilst the father acting as the poor shopping bags carrier, haha. But other than that, my mother likes markets like these. Like mother, like daughter I guess.











Okay, someone was brave enough (not me!) to come to Bugis shopping in flowered blue pants and towering high heels! Respect.









A conundrum!



I can't figure this out, but I simply love to browse and take pictures of local markets, especially if they are outdoor markets, farmers markets, street markets and markets housed in traditional buildings. Modern malls and expensive shopping centres do not interest me that much, although I do go there to buy stuff, sometimes to eat and meet people, but the excitement to visit a local traditional and sometimes kitschy market and partake in the experience is just different. I cannot compare the joy and contentment I get from this than going to a modern shopping mall.



Its a conundrum I suppose because I do rarely buy stuff at these markets, and when I do, I buy just one or two, while at malls and shopping centres, I do buy most of my stuff that I, for example, will really wear or use.



And if you have no appetite for shopping? Bugis have takeaway food and 'hawker' food stalls too! =)







They are selling fresh fruit juices but my favourite is chilled soya milk =)









Got so curious so bought a stick. They are fried chicken fingers wrapped in seaweed wrappers. They were... mwah.







From the same store we bought egg tarts but they were not near to the egg tarts in Macau. The Macau egg tarts were also not as par as the real egg tarts (Pastel de Nata's) in Portugal. At least I can say, I have tried them and can compare them to the original ones.



When you are in Singapore, do check Bugis Village or Bugis Street out!

A Symbol of My Heritage

One of the prerequisites for participation in the Summer .. Genea-Blogger Group Games is to create a flag that represents your ancestry, heritage, or personal expression. These flags can be created at WeAreMulticolored.

This is my flag. Bold, simple, clean lines. It turned out rather nice, if I don't say so myself ;-0 (Can you tell, I kind of like it?)

• The colors Red, White and Blue signify the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and the United States of America. The first two are the homelands of my earliest known ancestors. The latter is my homeland.
• The Red and White colors also represent Switzerland, as does the small White Cross in the center of the flag. Switzerland is the homeland of my Phend and Wiseman ancestors.
• The two large crosses symbolize my parents while the four stars stand for their four children.
• The four blue sections represent my four grandparents and the ocean their ancestors had to cross to reach this country.
• You'll notice that the four "arms" of the large white cross do not extend to the edges of the blue background. The eight "notches" created as a result, symbolize my eight great-grandparents whose paths crossed and merged at just the right moment in time.
• The tips of the red cross, which extend to the edges of the blue background, represent bridges that symbolically span the ocean as well as connect the generations.

In addition to Swiss, Dutch and English, my heritage also includes a considerable number of "Pennsylvania Dutch" ancestors, one or two Scots-Irish, and probably some other (as yet unknown) nationalities.

Going to Mt. Taylor

The other day we went to Mt. Taylor, just to the north of Grants, NM. We had not been out there for about 10 years and had forgot just how far it was from our home in Rio Rancho. And how long that desolate road full of nothing was between here and there. Here are some photos of the highway and the 'nothing' we saw on the way. There were a few interesting rock formations in some areas. It seemed there were as many big freight trucks as there were regular cars and pickups.