Tiny Feet

A baby girl is expected to arrive in April 2014!

-吴碧芙

Meet Harvey

Harvey

We decided to get another bird.  So Harvey has been with us for 1 week. He's originally from Sioux City, Iowa, and he enjoys eating, peeping, and sitting still.  He is 4.5 inches tall (excluding crest) and 11 inches long (including tail).  He doesn't mind being touched or pet, and he's not a biter.  If he wants you to stop petting, he gives you a slow-motion, gentle nibble.

-吴碧芙

War on Bugs

We have holes in our basil, zucchini leaves, and the marigolds were killed off.  I replaced the marigolds with zinia.  Now the zinia are being eaten, too.  A few days ago, I sprinkled cayenne pepper on the basil, to no avail.  I saw the earwigs last night when I went out with my flashlight.  I'm ready to get these creeps!

The first items on the list are to be sprinkled or sprayed directly on the plants.  Although, Sevin says it can be used on vegetables, I don't put anything on my vegetables that has so many warnings on it, so Sevin is going only on the zinias.  The homemade spray is using this recipe that I found online after a helpful neighborhood garden store manager told me about it.  Apparently, dish soap kills bugs.  Here is the recipe, since it took me so long to find it:
Concentrate:
1/2 Tbsp. Dawn liquid dish soap
1/2 c. oil (the cheap stuff)
Mix together:
4 tsp. of concentrate
1 pint water
The directions say to spray leaves and undersides of leaves.  Also, it's best to spray on cooler days (< 85 degrees).

Non-organic poison powder

Homemade bug spray

The other strategy is to make some traps.  The earwigs will come for the beer or tuna juice (yum!) and will stay because the oil will trap and drown them.  A video from an entomologist shows exactly how to do this and how it works.

Beer

Earwig death trap

-吴碧芙

Ka-Blamo!

I swear this wasn't there yesterday!

Roscoe's Garden

We planted a little perennial garden around Roscoe's final resting place.  I chose flowers that are as bright and flamboyant as Roscoe was and, hopefully, hearty enough to bloom again for years to come.  So far I have planted four different flowers:

Echinacea (Coneflower) Generic "Mix" but this one is red

The tag says "Shasta Daisy" but hmm... 

Gaillardia (Blanket Flower) "Arizona Apricot"

Rudbeckia (Black-eyed Susan) "Moreno"

In memorium

Roscoe, appox. 2001 - 2013

Honeymoon

We just got back from our big trip to NYC, New York state, and New Jersey.  

Sunday was the first day, in which we went to the City for a walking tour of the Lower East side, complete with noshes (such as pickles, halva, and fried plantains...to name a few).  We found dinner at a little place called Eatery, and then we went to see Avenue Q, which was light-hearted and hilarious. Most salient feature of the show: Bad Idea Bears, whom I quote: "You need to do something for you. Buy some beer! Yeah, buy some beer!"...and..."Why don't you play a drinking game? They are a recipe for fun."

Monday: We went to Central Park and generally walked around the City.  We also had high tea at the Russian Tea Room, which was a lot of fun and kind of over-the-top.  Our server had a delightful Russian accent, and we enjoyed a wide array of finger sandwiches and pastries...the best scones we had ever had.  We also walked on the Highline and had pizza from a restaurant with a coal-fired oven for dinner.

Monday: Central Park

Monday: Dan in Central Park

Monday: High Tea at the Russian Tea Room

Tuesday: We went into the City for lunch at a ramen cafe and shopped around Soho before going to our cooking class entitled "Vegetarian Dinners for Everyone."  We learned to make four dishes: Ratatouille, Moroccan tagine with couscous, Farro with roasted vegetables and goat cheese, and Smoked black bean and butternut squash soup.  We were introduced and reminded of some good ingredients to use at home, smoked paprika, fancy sea salt flakes, golden beets, and fennel.  We also learned some useful techniques to use at home.

Tuesday: Lunch in Brooklyn at Chuko Ramen (cra-mazing Brussels sprouts appetizer plate)

Wednesday: The plan was to go to a Chinese hot pot restaurant in Flushing Queens for lunch.  I should mention at this point that I had motion sickness for most of the trip.  I got it on the plane, the bus, the subway, and the taxi.  By Wednesday, I was feeling sick just thinking about taking the bus, but I really wanted the hot pot.  Enter Aunt and Uncle Bad Idea Bears, whom I quote: "Borrow our car...Driving to Flushing is so easy...Just take the Cross Bronx Expressway, and then you'll be there...It would be a great adventure...You don't want to be on the bus for 1.5 hours, do you?...Besides, it would be so much fun to drive...YAAAY!"  

So I drove and Dan navigated to the hot pot restaurant in Flushing.

Wednesday: Hot Pot

Thursday: We borrowed the car again to go upstate to Woodstock and Rhinebeck.  We had pizza for lunch in Woodstock.  The weather was beautiful, and we just enjoyed walking around the area.

Friday:  We visited the Roosevelts in Hyde Park.  We started at Eleanor's cottage and went to the FDR presidential library in the afternoon.  We could not get reservations online for the CIA before the trip, so Dan called in the morning.  Somehow he was able to get a reservation for the last table for lunch service.

Friday: Eleanor Roosevelt's cottage at Val-Kill

Friday: Reserved the last table for lunch at the CIA (whole wheat crepes with quinoa chili filling)

After lunch we went to tour the FDR estate and presidential library.  The presidential library is under construction, so we could not see FDR's wheelchair or Eleanor's knitting needles, or any other possessions or memorabilia.  Our tickets will be honored for free admission in the future, but I'm still disappointed that I didn't get to see the knitting needles on this trip.

Friday afternoon: FDR presidential library and grave sites of FDR and Eleanor Roosevelt.

-吴碧芙

Cowl Mania

	L to R starting with top L: Clever Cowl, Blended Cowl, Fuyu Cowl in grey and "Bonsai," (middle L) Fuyu Cowl in natural and "Dragon Dance," Maurice Cowl, Maurice front view, (bottom L) Marice back view. I have been making a lot of cowls lately.  I never really wanted a cowl before, but something suddenly changed, and now I can't stop making them.  The most recent is Maurice, by one of my favorite designers.  I actually bought the pattern--also something I almost never do--as part of a trio (The Short-Row Stripes Cowl Trio).  The second and third cowl patterns have not been released yet, but after finishing Maurice, I have nothing on my needles.   To be clear, these are not all for me, and one has already gone to its intended recipient. -吴碧芙

Birdhouse in your soul

Recently Kavi has become a usurper.  For three years, Roscoe was the only one who would dare sleep in the fabric birdhouse my mom and I made for inside their cage.  For the past month, Kavi has been sleeping there every night.  If Roscoe is clever and gets to the house before him, Kavi sits on the perch below and bites Roscoe's tail.  While Roscoe is happily eating popcorn, Kavi sees the window of opportunity and captures the coveted spot. 


So we decided to make some cage improvements over the weekend.  We got small amounts of nice-looking fabric, and I made a pattern out of newspaper.  Cut.  Sew.  Iron.  Repeat.

It turned out to be kind of a rag-tag compilation because I hate the amount of precision and technique needed in sewing.  It doesn't hang straight.  It pulls in weird places.  I thought the sewing machine would break from sewing through multi-layered parts of the house.

But it turns out that birds don't care about technique, whether seams are straight, or whether the colors really go together.  I'm not planning to show this as a 4-H project or anything.  Birds just care about whether or not it functions, whether or not it's scary, and whether or not it will collapse while they are inside.  I guess it works, it's not too scary, and it appears structurally sound because Roscoe slept in the new house last night, while Kavi slept in the old house.

...And the order of the universe was restored.

-吴碧芙