Campus buildings

I've been spending a lot of time on campus lately, what with finals and all. Some of the buildings are quite photogenic, and the greenhouses in the Environmental Horticulture building have a certain dilapidated charm to them. Here is Wickson Hall, where I have my office. This plum tree has such a distinct strong, almost musty smell to it. We have one in my yard back home in NJ, so it was really nice to have a little reminder of home every time I went into the building.

This is the gorgeous new Plant Sciences building. It has a conference room on the third floor that has a wall of windows 10 feet high, and a balcony which you can see in the picture. In the spirit of the building, there are rows of crops planted out front, you can see the swiss chard and chives.


Here's the Environmental Horticulture Building, it's basically a square of one-story buildings with a courtyard in the middle and a bunch of temporary buildings sticking off the sides.



Finally, the greenhouse that I work in, scent-less roses and all. There are seven houses, all connected through this hallway.

Spring has sprung!

It's true folks. Although here in Davis it feels more like summer has sprung. It's been almost 80 degrees out lately. The telltale signs of spring are almost past: the early blooming trees are starting to lose their flowers and leaf out; the daffodils are shrivelling and the cannas are coming up; and I finally put my down sleeping bag back in the closet (for me, that's a big step). The funniest indicator of the new season is the fact that every day as I bike home I get hit in the face with more and more bugs. I'm going to need a windshield soon, seriously.


(This picture was taken on my cross-country drive from NJ to CA to start grad school. I have about six pictures of my car covered in bugs, way too many for a normal person to have. I was amazed at the different colors of the bug guts, what can I say?)

I played with Marshall in the yard again today and thought I'd share some photos.


He stole a sock from Matt's room and we played with it for a bit.


We also played one of his favorite games, "Bite-Era's-hand-as-hard-as-you-can." I tire of that game rather quickly.


Finally, I tired him out. That is, until he started racing around the yard in huge circles five minutes later.


In other news, last week I got so stressed out that I scheduled a massage for myself, to take place one half-hour after my take-home exam was due. Just knowing it was coming up was worth the money, and I scheduled it through the health center on campus so I didn't really expect anything. I went to get it today and much to my surprise, I got one of the best massages I have ever had, and it was only $1/minute! Granted, I've only had two others in my life, but this one was just as good if not better than those, and it cost so much less! I am definitely going to take advantage of this while I'm here, there's no where else that I could get the same quality for that price.

Besides the obvious, the best part about a massage is that you learn so much about your own body. For instance, I learned that my flat shoes (read: no arch support, sorry Dad!) were causing little tense knots in the small of my back. And all the note-taking and reading I've been doing has caused the muscles by my clavicle to get tense. She could even tell that I was right handed by the differences in tension on either side of my body. What power, to be able to deduce things about a person simply by running your hands over their body. She also told me that I had great energy, which is flattering, but she didn't elaborate so I have no idea which muscle told her that.

Finally, I passed an amazing house with a gorgeous garden the other day and I just had to stop and take pictures. The other ones came out blurry for some reason, but here is one that made me laugh. She even beautified her fire hydrant!

It's over

Well, I finished my exam this morning and handed it in; now it's out of my hands which is the only thing I really care about. I'm far less confident about this one than I was about the midterm, so that means that I will probably be doing the extra credit project that's due on Thurs as well.

But the only thing on my mind right now is this:

My new Cat (and a poem)

Well I'm smack in the middle of a five-day take-home exam for my graduate-level statistics class, but I need a reprieve. So here's a little update on some goings-on here in Davis.

This quarter I've been taking an "internship" at the Botanical Conservatory on campus, though it's more like a volunteer position with an instructional session once a week. But I love it and it's really nice to have some hands-on learning amongst the classes. Plus, I worked in the conservatory at Longwood Gardens last year and it's refreshing to be working in one now that is smaller and more personal. While I was at Longwood I had the opportunity to work with the orchids and my teacher was the fabulous Marie, a volunteer who could run the place if they let her. I learned a lot, and when the director at the Davis conservatory found out that I knew how to divide orchids, he set me to work. So last Wednesday I had the joy of tackling these babies:

If it looks like a disaster, that's because it is. Holy cow. They hadn't been divided in four years (ideally they should be divided once a year)! I had to soak them to loosen the roots, and some of the pots had to be broken so I could get the plants out of there. But after about three hours, here is the finished product:


Three nice specimens for the conservatory (in the clay pots) and two plants for the sale next weekend. And one for me. Of course.

It's a Cattleya skinneri var alba, a genus known by orchid enthusiasts as a "Cat." And I hope I have enough light in that window so she will bloom and I can show her off at a later date.


In other news, I've been re-reading a book of poetry that I first read in college; "Pity the bathtub it's forced embrace of the human form" by Matthea Harvey. Here's a poem that resonated with me for various reasons:

(bottle tower)

Dear nine-thirty: is there any word
for the way the peony blossoms bend over
& rest their soft faces on the petals piled up
in the grass? Tar cools & tires dull you.
The puddles are milky & grey. There are
daughters who die before their mothers, men
mute with mistakes, birds with broken necks
stuck to the sidewalk. The woodpile is full
of the blank faces of owls. Today I want to live
without looking. Give me that & I will give up
the rest. Fat green buds bursting to split into
pink. Trucks piled high with glittering tar.
The way the rain makes the ground give up
its heat so that I feel it at my knees &
the grass starts to smell like the sea.

- Matthea Harvey

CSA: Community Supported Awesomeness

My latest CSA box, along with some gerbera daisies from the greenhouse. The list of contents includes: Broccoli, Carrots, Red Russian Kale, a Leek, Salad mix, Potatoes (I don't know what kind), and Organic Mandarins. They all deserve their capital letters. As usual, I would appreciate some input on what to do with certain of these vegetables. Kale? I know you can steam it or stir fry it, but that's the limit of my knowledge on kale. Also, I now have about a pound of carrots and I'm going to make carrot bread and carrot muffins, but does anyone have a good side-dish recipe (read: not so sweet and dessert-like)?


I'm sorry about the pictures on the last post, I fixed them so now you can see my works-in-progress. Also, here's a little pic of the view from my office on campus. Pretty.

Projects: Finished and Un-, Good and Bad

Well I've been a busy little bumblebee. I made some more pins at the craft center out of fabric and origami paper (already folded, you can see the creases).

I also made the Lemon-Scented Quinoa salad recipe that's been in my "Projects" sidebar (I'm taking it off because I did it, and the link will be in this post instead). It was not very lemon-scented. It was actually pretty bad. Maybe I did something wrong, but I don't think so. I'm now on the look-out for more quinoa recipes to try. Also, I bought tahini for the recipe but I don't know what to do with it. Do I store it in the fridge or the pantry?

I'm taking an enameling class at the craft center and one of my projects is nearing completion. Here is a photo of it in-progress. It's going to be a little papaya pin, complete with tiny black seeds and everything. Stay posted for pics of the finished product. Enameling is basically a method of covering metal with glass. You apply the glass as a wet sand-type substance, then fire it in a special kiln. It's incredibly satisfying because there are a bunch of little steps to it and after every step the piece looks different. A very different process from knitting or something like that which slowly takes form.


I'm also in the process of weaving another scarf/table-runner. The first two I made with a Finnish Bird's Eye pattern which I'm doing again this time. I know very little about patterns, so if there's interest I can go look up the pattern but I don't know it off of the top of my head. But it's basically a series of diamond shapes with smaller diamonds inside them. Very pretty. More pictures when there is actually something to show.



Finally, I made a wonderful batch of snickerdoodles this afternoon, substituting a cup of whole wheat flour for some of the white flour. It actually gives it a slight crunch, a little bit more texture and it's a nice complement to the massive amounts of sugar in the recipe.

San Franparrotsco

Well, I had hoped to get some good photos when I was in SF for G's birthday, but we were running around trying to solve the clues for the Treasure Hunt so that didn't happen. But right before the hunt we walked by a little park and we got to see the parrots of Telegraph Hill!


It was really cool because I've heard about them, though I haven't seen the movie. They are a flock of wild parrots that live up on Telegraph Hill and seem to come down to this little park to roost and eat seeds out of people's hands. I don't think anyone knows how they got here in the first place. Apparently the movie is more about a homeless musician who befriends the flock than the flock itself.


But they certainly were friendly. That's my hand. There were people standing around with huge trays of sunflower seeds and all you had to do was hold up a handful of seeds for about 20 seconds and they would fly down and land on your hand. They left tiny little claw marks all over my hand and wrist.


Here are a few nice pictures of SF that I took on a beautiful day in Jan. Pier 39 with all of the sea lions. There's the Golden Gate Bridge in the background.



And the view from Coit Tower. You can see the curves of Lombard Street if you look closely.

Bower Bird

This is my favorite store in town. The owner, Deborah Jory, kindly let me take pictures of it when I was there buying a gift for G. I was feeling kind of shy, so the pictures are not very well composed, I apologize. I just snapped what I could. I love the color scheme in there and the slogan of the store "Nothing that you need, but everything you want" is so, so true. So true.

This picture gives you a good idea for the color scheme of the store. All those pinks and pale greenish blues and bright whites. The color scheme of this blog was probably subconsciously informed by that store.


Here's a nice little corner with some knick-knacks. The white furniture blends into the background and displays the merchandise well, while still giving shape and form to the store.


Another little corner, this one is upstairs. The chicken wire and distressed white-washed cabinets are so fabulous, especially with those pink plates in them.


Finally, my favorite part of the store, the wall o' ribbon. I bought two lengths of ribbon a few months ago, but I really don't know what to do with them, any suggestions? I put them in my hair, but they require lots of bobby pins to secure. I can't put them on presents and give them away, they are too pretty and expensive. The first one is yellow and shiny with California poppies on it, and the second one is pale water color blue with little sparrows. I've told myself that I need to figure out what to do with them first before I buy more (although I did buy some adorable orange rick-rack when I was there last Saturday but I told myself it's for an apron I'm going to make for the tie-one-on blog. We'll see if that every happens.)

My Green Products

I'm always looking for ways to make my lifestyle more energy-efficient and less wasteful (ways that don't cost too much, I should say). Here are some things that I have purchased in an effort to do that:

• Dishwashing tubs - I bought these tubs from Longs Drugs for about $4 each. It turns out that they both fit perfectly into my sink! One is for soapy soaking, and the other for rinsing. I can do about two loads of dishes by filling these tubs up only once (I found that it helps if you do a bit of rinsing of the really dirty dishes before you soak them).

• Terracycle - I love this company. It started with two Princeton University Students who took compost from the dining halls at school and used it in vermicomposting bins to create quality slow-release fertilizer ("worm poop"). Then they started a recycling program to collect 20 oz. bottles, they filled them with compost tea from the worm poop, repackaged them and sold them as Terracycle liquid fertilizer. The company is huge now and they have recycling programs all over the country at schools to collect these bottles (they refund the school, so the money goes straight to the kids). Check out the website, it's truly inspirational.

• Nalgene/Sigg/Nissan Thermos - This one's a no-brainer. Bring your own container to school/work to refill with the beverage of your choice instead of buying a plastic bottle of water or another coffee cup. Most coffee shops (at least out here) will give you a discount for filling your own cup.

• Mrs. Meyer's soap - This is a brand of biodegradable soaps, including dish soap and laundry detergent. I like the "geranium" scent, though it's really more of a rose scent. I've had this little bottle of dish soap for about six months now and it's only half empty. Unfortunately, the dish soap can be pretty harsh on your hands, so I would stick to the laundry detergent which leaves my clothes smelling like roses!

• Diva cup - This is a latex-free silicone cup that you use during your period. It's amazing, I haven't bought a package of pads or tampons in ages because I don't need to anymore! It's re-usable, so it cuts down on waste and money, and after you get used to it you forget it's even there.

• Bike - Davis, CA is the self-proclaimed #1 most bike-friendly city in the country. Driving your car downtown or to campus is almost impossibly hard (in terms of finding parking, plus it takes almost as long because of all the stop signs everywhere). I bike twenty minutes to campus every day and it feels like nothing now. In the first five months I lived here I refilled my gas tank once. Amazing. Plus, look at how cute my bike is!

• TerraPass - This is a carbon dioxide-offset program for your car, your home, plane flights, etc. You purchase a TerraPass (there are different levels, depending on how much carbon dioxide you produce) and the money goes to support renewable energy programs. It's a good way to reduce your "carbon footprint."

These are just the products that I have purchased myself, there are many many many other ways to reduce your impact on the world. The site Treehugger has an interesting set of articles entitled "How to Green Your (insert word here)" where you can learn how to make almost all of the aspects of your life a little more sustainable. And the blog Hippyshopper offers lots of examples of how to exercise "ethical consumerism." Do with this information what you will.

Fruit and Puppies

It's been a crazy week. The quarter is winding down (only three weeks left until break and I get to see M!) but I still had a midterm yesterday. I don't know why they can call it a midterm when it's given over 2/3s of the way through the quarter, but there you go. I think I did okay, although I was really not inspired to study for it beforehand, which is a hard thing to overcome. The fear of getting a bad grade was not enough to light the fire under my butt required to make me study. Ah well.


In other news, I picked up some kiwis on Wed. to put in the fruit salad I made for my shift at the Craft Center. I work a night shift and we do a potluck for dinner; this week's theme was "Breakfast for Dinner" and I brought the fruit salad. Nicole, a fellow volunteer, brought homemade wheat flour batter and her waffle maker. It was just heaven. Everyone who walked in commented on the wonderful waffle smell.


I also picked up a grapefruit so I could try this amazing candied grapefruit recipe that Carlene sent. I ended up grating the last grapefruit rind I had into the breading for some chicken I made last week, though it was a bit too tart and I had to cut it with a bit of grated orange rind.


Spring is definitely in the air here. Winter is supposed to be the rainy season, but it was fairly dry. Now that spring is around the corner the rain is coming in torrents; it's like I'm back in NJ, except for the lack of snow. This morning I allowed myself to sleep late (until 8 am, gasp!) and then I spent a little while with Marshall in the yard.


We played with the tennis ball, which is hilariously too large for his little mouth. The kids at the elementary school on the other side of the fence all know the puppy by name and they kept running by the fence during recess saying "Hey Marshall!" One kid even shouted out "Your dog is awesome!" That kid doesn't know about the peeing on the carpet and the slipper stealing and barking. But other than those things,I have to admit that this puppy is pretty awesome. He's adorable and he really has a mind of his own. He's learning quickly now too: This morning I said to him, "Marshall, where's your ball?" and we went to look for it together. When it came into view he ran up to it and grabbed it as though he knew that that's what we were looking for. Amazing. And he's only six months old. Alright, maybe that's a bad example, but he's a good dog and I like to give him the benefit of the doubt.


Tomorrow is G's birthday (my housemate) and we're going to San Francisco for this huge scavenger hunt that is held every year. We're in the novice division, but the clues are going to be hard anyway. We don't have high hopes about winning or anything, we're just going for the experience. It's being held during the Chinese New Year Parade and we had to come up with a team name that incorporated the word "boar" in honor of it being the year of the boar. G came up with "Boar is Not the Answer" and she's making us tee-shirts tonight. I'm really excited, and hopefully I'll take some good photos of the city to share with you guys. Have a great weekend!