Picket Fences, Roses and Contentment

When we moved into our home twelve years ago, it was the Eyesore of the Neighborhood. Many of our new neighbors told us so. They didn't even blush when they said it.

"Oh, you're the new family that moved into the Eyesore of the Neighborhood." (Okay, so maybe that wasn't a direct quote, but you get the idea.)

The house had been a rental and for a quick sell they slapped a coat of paint on it and put in some turf. There was not a thing to be seen growing in the front yard except that slab of green sod.

In spite of the size of the house ("freakishly small"), it had four bedrooms that we desperately needed and the price was right. We would have to work with the Slab O'Sod front yard.

Eric painstakingly cut, painted and installed a real white picket fence. We took our time choosing and planting our roses. We were so grown up now. We had roses that had REAL names. For sure that was a sign that we had "arrived."

When spring comes to our freakishly small home the roses practically sing with color and fragrance. I walk up and down the fence line, deadheading, trimming, smelling, and admiring. And I photograph them. Every. Single. Day. No, seriously. Because every day they seem to get much more beautiful than the day before.

Look at the red climber that shoots up 15 feet and is so thick you can't even see our roofline. It's called Stairway to Heaven and has its own story. (<--If you look back at this old post, you can actually compare how much its grown since then, but that' s not important right now.)

The Disneyland roses start off a beautiful orange color. Orange roses? I know! Slowly, they open up to reveal a fantastic blend of orange and pink. I can't get over them.

I have classic red roses, too. Classic-drop-dead-gorgeous-Cuban-woman-lipstick-and-nail-polish RED.

I kind of wander around my garden like a loon. At this time of the year, even the corners around the yard that I've practically ignored are springing back to life with so much color and beauty that it takes my breath away.

When I say, "practically ignored," I mean "put down in this spot and forgot about it." I picked up this purple, climbing geranium a few years ago to train up on the fence but never got around to the actual planting. (Shut up.) And yet, it continues to reward me. As if to remind me that just showing up is sometimes enough.

So I stroll around the front yard of my freakishly small cottage-like home and I sigh contentedly.

It feels to me like I'm cooperating with God as I look around and feel His presence as I remember the words in Genesis:

"The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good." ~Genesis 1:12

As my land continues to produce, I look around and with a sigh of contentment, think to myself, "This is good."

This is REALLY good.

Lessons from the Garden

My roses are blooming.

All of them. All at once.

And although they look very beautiful,

and some are quite spectacular,

they require my attention. Right now.

And it feels like quite an overwhelming task.

But I'll grab my pruning shears and go through each bush, dead-heading as I go. It's quite a big job when they're all going crazy at once.

I'll spray for bugs, and I'll cut some of the more beautiful ones to bring inside to create a centerpiece.

Once again, God is using my garden as a metaphor for my real life. I have to stop all that I'm doing and pay attention to the beauty that is right under my nose and metaphorically tend to the garden that is my life.

If I don't, I'm going to miss it.

Taking some time off from blogging to enjoy my garden, my husband, my kids, my kitchen, my family. I'll be back in a week or so. With stories. And opinons. And giveaways! But until then, I need to get the pruning shears and get to work.

If you want to connect with My big, fat, Cuban family, the relajo continues over on Facebook.

I also share a slice of my life every day on Instagram. I'm Smrtqbn.

Marta's Birthday Month®

I know.

Everyone else celebrates their birthDAY. And some clever folks even celebrate Birthday Week, which I did, too, until I said to myself, "Self, we should try to see if we can drag out this birthday celebration stuff for the entire month of May."

No, I don't really talk to myself that way....or maybe I do, but that's not important right now. ;-)

And so I scheduled coffee with friends and mani-pedis and saw movies and went to fun places and ate fabulous meals. And I celebrated. And celebrated. And it all made me happy.

So here's a recap of the fun stuff I got to do in the month of May, which will henceforth be known as Marta's Birthday Month®.

For starters, I got to bake in the Nestlé Kitchens in Glendale. I know. Shut up. I was beside myself with excitement. (More of that story plus a generous giveaway from Nestlé coming up later this week.)

Lucy and I went up to Universal City Walk and had dinner at one of my favorite restaurants, Buca di Beppo.

Then we got to attend a preview-screening of Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. (Thanks, Disney Pictures!)

We saw it in IMAX 3D. Here we are looking appropriately nerdy in our 3D glasses. (Totally enjoyed the movie, by the way. And this is now the 2nd photo of me in 3D glasses that I've posted on my blog. Is this going to be a trend?)

And we just happened to be in L.A. on the Clearest, Most Beautiful Day Ever. (Incidentally, that's the Warner Brothers studio lot in the foreground. Do you recognize it from the beginning of WB films? Note to self: Take the WB Studio Tour one day very soon.)

All that piratey fun happened on the night of the full moon. (Which was sooo amazing and here I was trying desperately to capture the magicalness of the moment with my iPhone 4G, which I love, but which couldn't quite do the Magical Scene justice, but that's not important right now, either.)

Sometime this month I also made my famous Arroz con Pollo, which happens to be my favorite Cuban food on earth. (At least, when I make it.)

And we went out to breakfast a few times. Breakfast, by the way, is my favorite meal to eat out.

My beautiful and talented friend, Tamera took me out for coffee and let me choose a bracelet from her awesome new jewelry collection. She has finally started blogging and sharing her awesomeness with the world. (Yay!)

You can find her online at Tamera Beardsley.com. Go visit her blog and be prepared to be totally inspired by her incredible creativity.

Close up of the bracelet. It says: Live out loud. Yes, that's my plan. Thanks again, Tamera!

As if things just couldn't get more festive, my gladiolus finally bloomed.

And so did my Stairway to Heaven. Jonathan is 6'2". The bush tree is about 15 feet tall and blooming prolifically, which just makes me fall in love with it every single day.

We celebrated my (actual!) birthday with dinner with close friends.

And my BFF, Pam sent me this gorgeous necklace from Lisa Leonard Designs that I may or may not have been secretly coveting. (Love you MORE!)

And her granddaughter, CJ made me this cute video:
"The birds are angry because it's your birthday and not theirs." Isn't she adorable?

We enjoyed another breakfast (did I mention it's my favorite meal to eat out?) out in the canyon close to us. Seriously excellent home cooked meals. Particularly breakfast. =D

Eric and the kids chose these beautiful climbers for the arch in my white picket fence. (Note: we have been looking for and not having any luck with finding a hardy climber to do what I want it to do, but that's not important right now, either.)

It's called Piñata. Isn't that apropos for a birthdaymonth gift?

My friend, Wanda got me these gorgeously intricate measuring spoons. I promptly announced that I would hang them in my kitchen, to which she replied that I must actually use them. Often.

I kind of have to work through that concept of actually using cool things in my real life. (Anyone else struggle with this? No? Never mind...)

Of course I got a pedicure. That goes without saying.

Plus I got lots of Birthday Love on Facebook. (If you don't already, please feel free to "like" My Big, Fat, Cuban Family on Facebook.)

All in all, Marta's Birthday Month® (Wait! Is that an oxymoron?) was a huge success.

I feel very loved and very cherished.

And I've managed to celebrate my fifty-six years in epic form.

Did I mention I lead a charmed life? ;-)

The Sprinklers

We have an old house in an old peanut-butter-and-jelly neighborhood.

Our neighbors tell us that before we moved in, this house was the Eyesore of the Neighborhood. (I know. Sad, but true. I'll dig up some "before" pictures of the house one day and blog about it.)

Slowly and tenderly, for the past ten years, we have worked on This Old House and turned it into our home. We lovingly call it Casa de La Loma.

When we moved in, the landscaping (if you can call it that) was just freshly laid sod that we had to hand water because they laid it right over the sprinkler system. (Did I mention it was the Eyesore of the Neighborhood?)

So every evening, Eric and I would go out and take turns watering the lawn. Holding a hose and just aiming it at grass had a zen-like effect on me, and I would work out in my head where I would plant the roses (that would all have fabulous names), and I would pray, and I would mentally design the white picket fence that my husband would one day build for me.  =D

"Maybe we should just get sprinklers."

We came to that mutual conclusion after dinner one evening when we were both tired and were making a rock-paper-scissors decision about whose turn it was to water the lawn. (By the way, I really just like to say the word, "sprinklers." It sounds whimsical to me, somehow.)

Anyway, we got sprinklers.

But we didn't get a timer for the sprinklers, which is a quick and easy set up in this day and age, but that's  not important right now.

(A timer! Why didn't we add a timer? *slaps forehead*)

Let me tell you why....

This forces us to go outside every day to turn them on, right?

Which is something we'd never have to do if we had a timer for the them.

And if we never went outside, we'd miss stuff like this:

And, I don't know about you, but I hate missing a really great show. ;-)

Uber-geek confession: I make everyone who comes over go outside and smell my roses. Is that weird?

"We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses." 

                                    -- Abraham Lincoln