Basket Artist

Baskets made by Michelle

Shortly after we moved to our new location, I found out that my next door neighbor is a basket artist. I was very intrigued by it. When I hear basket making, I tend to think of South American or Southeast Asian women in small villages making baskets by hand for generations to make money as a living. I know my next door neighbor doesn't just make baskets to pay her bills. This is one of the most expensive places to live in the world! 

Baskets made by Michelle

A few nights ago, as we were taking out our garbage, Michelle, my next door neighbor invited me to her pottery and basket party on Sunday. Finally!  I would have a chance to check out her baskets! I was very much looking forward to it.   

Today I went over to my neighbor's house in the afternoon, and I was amazed by all the beautiful baskets.   Some of them were made by her, and some of them were made by village women in  Guatemala. Michelle works with Mayan Hands, a fair trade organization, to help Mayan women support themselves by selling baskets and other handmade items directly to the consumers. Michelle, being a master basket weaver, actually has traveled to Guatemala to teach the women basket weaving techniques. Wow! I guess someone has to teach Maya women how to make baskets. Nobody is born with that knowledge. 

Baskets made by Mayan women in Guatemala

I got Michelle's permission to take photographs so that I can show them to others who love handmade baskets. I want to help Mayan women, too!

Baskets made by Mayan women in Guatemala

My Air Plant

Tillandsia a.k.a air plant

Almost a year ago, one of the children in school handed me a little plant as he came to school in the morning. I thought it was cute and put it in a little cup of water thinking that it would grow some roots. Someone in the office told me it was an air plant that simply grows in air. What? I immediately started Googling it. I became fascinated by it. It was growing a little baby plant within the plant.  I eventually broke it apart when it got bigger so I could give it to someone else. Unfortunately I was told the baby air plant didn't survive.

It is now growing another baby plant as you can see a little bit in the photo below. I can't wait for it to get bigger.  I would like to have multiple clusters of them. I would like to create some terrarium gardens and hang a few around the house.

October 5, 2015

Fallfest 2015

Volunteering for Fallfest has to be one of the best secrets of San Francisco. Where else can you volunteer a few hours for a great cause and get to sample some of the best appetizers from some of the Bay Area's top restaurants? For wine drinkers, you also get to sample wine. I just drink coffee and eat gelato. Gelateria Naia was there entire day passing out different flavors of gelato.

Look at all the mini cannoli!

In addition to food and drinks, there were cooking demos, live bands, silent auction, BBQ contest by different fire departments, Blue Angels flying by, and people watching. You know who go there to show off their dresses or their bodies. It's always fun to see some outrageous outfits.

Best sample dish!

Of all the small plates I sampled, I loved the roasted pork in a spicy middle eastern flavored sauce with potato salad the best (see photo above). It was a very generous portion, too. Most of restaurants gave less than half of this serving. It was so good that I had to go back for a second sample.

I also got to see Chef Tim Archuleta from Ichi Sushi doing a sashimi cutting demo. He made it look easy.

It was another perfect day volunteering and eating in San Francisco. I just loved it!

Sashimi cutting demo

Cracus Revisits His Rescuer

I came across Animal Refugee Shelter website on November 1, 2014, when I was looking for a dog to adopt around my area. I had already stopped by Berkeley Animal Services and didn't find a dog that was a good fit. I found a very cute and playful large labradoodle, who I adored, but I knew that I wasn't going to have enough time to devote to another large dog.

I found a few possible dogs on Animal Refugee Shelter and The Milo Foundation websites. I stopped by Animal Refugee Shelter first, and there I found Cracus. It's been almost a year since I adopted Cracus. I found out that his shelter was having a community BBQ today and wanted to bring Cracus for a quick visit.

Cracus appeared to be a little nervous when we got there. Perhaps it was from all the dogs' barking. Cracus barked a lot when I saw him behind bars on November 1st, 2014. He was happy to see Blythe, who runs the shelter. He put his head on her lap. I wish I had taken a few pictures.

I recently had a conversation with a woman in her 20's. She bought a male Akita/husky from a breeder a few years ago and has not get the dog neutered. She told me that she isn't able to board her dog at any dog boarding facility because he's not fixed. I asked her whether she's planning on breeding her dog. She said no. I asked why not get the dog fixed? She said that is cruel, and she will not abuse her dog. That was an interesting point of view because I feel it's a much bigger abuse when unwanted pets are euthanized. I asked her what if he gets out and get a female dog pregnant? She said he is not going to get out. She also insists her dog is very gentle and has no aggression. I couldn't say anything else to make her see that getting our pets fixed is the responsible thing to do.

Just look at all these dogs waiting for homes.

Even More Passion Fruit!

Another year has gone by and now the entire arbor is almost covered by passion fruit vines. Some of them have extended to the top. This was what I had hoped for. Even though I have moved to a smaller location, the original Sand Village Farm is now occupied by my parents, so I still get to go pick all the passion fruit I can ever eat. I thought of propagating some to my little backyard, but there is no reason to grow the same fruit. My kiwi vines will need a few more years to reach maturity to produce fruit.

In the meantime, I am thinking of growing a couple dwarf fruit trees. Perhaps a mullberry tree and some gooseberries. I will be working on my little backyard garden in the upcoming months.

The wrinkled ones are the sweetest!