Landscaping

Over the weekend my sister, a friend and I got down to business and laid sod in our front yard and the little patch of land between the sidewalk and the curb. It was HOT and I really hate sweating but overall it was fun and educational. I learned a whole lot more than I ever wanted to know about manure! Here's a few shots of the yard before we got started...

This is how it has looked for the last few weeks. Just dirt and a butt load of leaves that we had to rake (I use the word we loosely cuz our friend that was helping us, Ruth, did most of the raking).

This after Ruth raked and after we manured the lawn and tilled it.

Our first couple rows.

Ruth cutting the curve.

The section out by the street with our little crepe myrtle tree.

The other side of the lawn.

Here, in the front section we are planting native plants and grasses. Since we are in the middle of a drought we thought it wise to plant things that take minimal amounts of water. We also have some rubber mulch to lay in that section. Rubber mulch is a wonderful invention! It's made from recycled tires and since it is rubber you only need to mulch once instead of every year. Plus it won't get moldy or hold in any bacteria which is a blessing for dog owners!

A couple of the plants we're planting. That's about it for the front, at least for now.

In case you were wondering, in the back of the house, my tomatoes are really starting to make me happy!

The one on the bottom is my original tomato plant. It's just now starting to ripen...I can taste the salsa already! The one on top I got from someone on Freecycle. The tomatoes are teeny tiny. I think they're grape tomatoes or something like that. They're smaller than cherry tomatoes. These are all being given away as they ripen because they're not exactly salsa material and neither my sister nor I actually eat tomatoes in any other way other than salsa or pasta sauce.

So, my foray into the world of gardening isn't going as bad as I thought it would even though our grass is already struggling to stay green. All thanks to the help of good friends and one very green thumbed mother.

Scrapbooking

A week ago Saturday (that's how behind I am on my posts) I attended a 12 hour marathon scrap booking event. A friend of ours is a consultant for Creative Memories and she and another gal hosted this shindig at the Azusa Library. It was a fun day filled with chatter and laughter and lots and lots of romantic comedies - there was a movie theme with red carpet and "paparazzi".

It's amazing how little you can get done in 12 hours! I didn't even do a page an hour - I think this is due to the fact that scrap booking is not my first craft of choice. I have this annoying need for symmetry that does not lend itself to successful scrapping. Therefore, I work very hard to arrange things asymmetrical enough to look like I'm not OCD but also in such a way that doesn't have me tearing it apart to rearrange it. That's what takes me so long, I think.

Anyhoo, enough about my neuroses. Here are the seven pages I actually did get done...

The top three are from a visit to New York a couple of years (yes years) ago. We went to Tarrytown where author Washington Irving lived, wrote and is buried. It was very cool, if you're into his work, we went to the Old Dutch Church and the Cemetery there that was his inspiration for the Legend of Sleepy Hollow. We also went to his cottage where they give tours. If you're a history and/or literature buff I recommend it. The bottom four are from my book about, well, me. It's not nearly as narcissistic as it sounds. It's mostly filled with pictures of family and friends, only a very few of me. :) And that's all I got done...in 12 hours! Having movies on in the background really does not help my productivity since I'm addicted to the darn things. It was all about the Chick Flicks...Mamma Mia, Legally Blond, 13 Going on 30, Grease, 27 Dresses, I think that's it. Fun!

Here are some shots of some of the ladies that were there...

All in all, it was a fun, productive day in an air conditioned room away from the summer heat.

I'm already feeling it!

I think I just did something I might regret later...I deleted my Google Reader. I immediately got a cold sweat and wanted it back as soon as I hit delete! Is there some sort of 12 step program for people like me?

I became so dependent on my reader that I stopped going to the individual blogs themselves consequently not leaving very many comments at all. And aren't the comments a huge part of why we blog? And aren't my lovely comments another huge part some of you continue to blog? :) Ok, maybe not but I figure this is why I'm feeling a little less "connected" than I used to. So, NO MORE READER! Now if I can just bring myself to delete that other thing that takes up all my time and keeps me from visiting other people's blogs...my facebook account!

Restaurant review - Tamarind

My sister and I were searching for someplace to eat tonight and came across this place at the Chino Spectrum...

As the sign says, it's Pakistani and Indian Cuisine, which I am a HUGE fan of.  So, I pull into the parking lot, practically on two tires that's how hungry and excited I was.  And I gotta tell you, it's unfortunate that this little gem is where it is.  It's a bit hidden at the far end of the shopping center between a vitamin shop and a sushi place so it didn't get much traffic when we were there.  In fact, we were the only ones there during our whole meal.

The interior is trendy and comfortable...

And the food....YUM!!!  We shared the Tandoori combo platter, samosas and garlic naan.  With the samosas (which were the only disappointing part of the meal because they were so small) our server brought two sauces.  One was a little bit sweet while the other was not, it was spicy and good enough to drink from the little tiny bowl it was served in.  (Rest assured I did not do this even though I thought about it more than once)  Here's a pic of it after I, uh, I mean we finished with it...

Sorry for all the blurry pics - it's the only kind my little phone knows how to take.  Anyway, I loved this stuff (I have no idea what it's called) so much that I asked our server if it was possible to buy a pint of it to take home.  She was so sweet - she gave us a bunch to take with us without charging us.  

So, if you're ever in the vicinity of the Chino Spectrum you have to go to Tamarind!  Also, if you're lucky enough to be there when the owner is there, well, let's just he's easy on the eyes!