Ever try that toothpick-in-the-avocado-pit trick?

I have composting worms in three bins in my backyard. I used to blog about them. The other day I was harvesting some worm castings (aka poop, humus, black gold, etc) to amend my soil in the backyard and I came across this avocado tree, happily growing under several inches of worms and rotting food. So many times I've tried to force a seed to root in a glass with no success. Now I know that I can grow avocado trees in my worm bins. They are indeed my lovely and productive worms!

Korean gas station food. The best.

This is basically the entire restaurant.

Bibim bap: Korean for delicious.

Random wall.

This woman is standing in the gas station half of the building. The wall with the picture of The Ramones is the beginning of the restaurant. (I wonder what, if anything, is in focus in this picture?)

It's a tiny space that occupies what is usually devoted to car repair bays in a typical gas station at a busy intersection. There is seating for about 12 people if they are all squeezed together. A couple -- she's Korean, he's standard-issue American -- started the business in a food truck in No. Virginia and graduated to a space inside this gas station a few miles from me in Wheaton, MD. It's called Seoul Food. Nice story here.

The food was outstanding and the ambiance was fun. It's not a place to linger after eating of course -- people hovering waiting for a seat. They probably do a lot of take-out business. I loved the walls and general décor. Reminds me of my cluttered and randomly "decorated" home. I'll be going back for the food a lot!

Yellow bunting for the Pope

Here in the DC area we're all atwitter about The Pope coming from Tuesday through Thursday. I am. Atwitter I mean. I'm not Catholic, never was, and I'm not even a Christian. But like a lot of other people who are neutral on the subject of religion I'm a Pope fan.

As the visiting days approach, the local twitter is mostly about traffic: How many roads will be closed and when, how many residents will be restricted to walking to and from their homes since cars can't come and go, how many businesses will be forced to close for chunks of time, that sort of thing. Federal employees, a huge (yuuugh) part of the DC workforce, are asked to telecommute if possible. Or take the days off as vacation days if possible. Meanwhile there are thousands of people coming into town today and tomorrow (and Tuesday and Wednesday) and they'll all be confused by the city, and they'll all be crowding up around Francis while he moves from place to place in the city.

So the message to those of us who live, work, and play in the DC area is STAY AWAY. And that's exactly what I'll do. I may like the Pope but not enough to try to see him.

The Monastery above is 10 blocks or so from a church where the Pope will deliver (is that the right verb?) a mass on Wednesday. Since this Monastery houses Franciscans (as in St. Francis), there is a small hope that Pope Francis will at least drive by.

I 'work' here a few hours once a week, in the office doing officey kinds of things. So I feel a little attached to the papal visit. I hope it all goes well here, in NYC, and in Philadelphia.

[See the blue mailbox? It's going to be removed before Wednesday, per the Secret Service, which has been all over the neighborhood looking for possible bomb-hiding spots. Thanks bin Laden.]

A wine glass of African violets.

I ran out of little flower pots earlier this year and used an old wine glass for a leaf  I'd rooted in water. That single leaf produced two plantlets which I'll separate and transplant soon. But not too soon since they seem very happy in this smallish wine glass. [Zazzy: this is my answer to your question about what to do with your violets. I say leave them alone as long as they stay healthy looking and produce flowers. Some of my violets have been in the same pots for years and they smile at me every day.]

Another attempt to get organized and decluttered.

Here's the 1-2-3 of this book:

The process takes 6 months. You start with your clothes, all clothes. Put your tops in a pile. Starting with off-season clothes, pick up each item and ruthlessly toss it into a discard box (actually more than 1 box but that's a minor detail) unless you have worn it recently or can honestly say that it ... brings you joy. Then you do the same thing with piles of (1) skirts/pants, (2) shoes, (3) accessories.

Do the same with (1) books, (2) your papers, (3) miscellany, and (4) sentimental items.

I only read half of the book (it was overdue at the library) but I might give it a try. It's so very rigid and that might appeal to me. I've already decided to completely ignore her advice about books. I'm not normal about books and I'm not ever going to be, so the books stay. [By the way, she recommends having a tiny number, fewer than 30 I think she said. Snort. As if.]

Hi to Margaret, Zazzy, Peggy, and Kitt for saying hello!

Oh, and there's this. Makes me laugh every time I see it. So juvenile I know. Keith has a new album out.

Swallowtails in my garden.

These are not very good pictures, but I figured what the hell. I haven't blogged in a long time, these pictures were sitting in "draft" mode, so here they are. From July.

 

[I played around with the settings on this blog a month ago. But I stopped suddenly, leaving a possibly off-center layout. I might fix it, or not. Not tonight for sure. I might remove the list of books next to the posts.]

 

Hello to my handful of readers!