just an ordinary goddess…

On Sunday my dear friend Boychik came up from San Diego to visit and to introduce me to his new boyfriend. CuteFilmNerd and I ended up double-dating for the day, starting off eating at My Vegan in Pasadena (thanks to the aforelinked recommendation in Friend Polarbeast’s restarurant blog), then we hied over to The Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens. We only had time for a brief overview of the gardens, which means that CuteFilmNerd and I will have to go back soon to see even more (and take even more photos). Mind you, I’ve been to the Huntington several times (my first time being a kamikaze film shoot in ‘92 with the filmmaker I was dating at the time [I also spent the day there with my dear friend Linda and my mom the first year Linda visited the U.S.]) , but it never stops being gorgeous. I’m sure there are still parts of it I still haven’t seen.

Naturally, I took photos, starting with the parking lot:

Here are my favorites (there are many):

And, of course, the narcissist and her honey:

(Obviously, I am putting my new-to-me camera to good use. Thank you again, Michelle!)

I don’t subscribe to no “Cat Picture Friday” or “Tasty Tuesday” or “Flower Pr0n Monday.” Why? ‘Cause I’m a rebel, baby. I don’t let no day dictate what I can post and when. Calendars can’t hold me down, you know it’s true.

So I’ve decided I’m just gonna post whatever photos I damned well feel like today. ‘Cause, baby, that’s just the way we rebel girls roll…

For today: my attempts at growing herbs.

A couple of months ago I bought a bunch of herbs from Trader Joes (a basil plant and a trio of oregeno, rosemary and thyme) and from the Hollywood Farmers’ Market (dill, sage, catnip and a Big Boy tomato plant). Unfortunately, soon after replanting the farmers’ market plants into pots, the outside of my (not very big) apartment building was painted. I knew it was coming and brought the plants inside, but I had no idea that what was supposed to take three or four days was actually going to be stretched out over the course of three weeks. Nor could I foresee that would be the exact time that we’d get a heat wave. In my apartment, heat waves translate into barely bearable temperatures inside – our central air is completely useless against a huge second floor room with very high vaulted ceilings, especially when the only air outlet for said room is a vent that is approximately 2′x1′.

As a result, the only plant to survive was the basil plant. Unfortunately, it’s not looking too good right now:

It still smells wonderful, but I have to figure out why so many of the leaves are so pale.

A few weeks ago I finally went back to the Hollywood Farmers’ Market and I purchase more plants, all but one of which was repotted this past weekend.

Tomato plant. I forget what kind it is, but it's supposed to be ideal for container gardening.

Garlic chives. I love garlic. I love chives. I had no choice.

Dill is a must. I get high from the smell of dill. Yum!

Sage, rosemary and pineapple sage.

Arugula. After a while I''ll repot this into a wide, shallower pot, since there's not much of a root system to arugula, but I definitely want a lot.

My poor cilantro. I was told that it needed some shade, but it wasn't doing well, so I moved it into the only place I get any sun (which is where all but the arugula is). I'll repot it if it gets healthier.