Vertical Garden

Ryan and I were at Flora Grubb nursery this weekend to get inspiration for our spring planting.  We came across this vertical garden, which I cannot seem to get my eyes off.  It turned out they recently did a few installation across bay area including one at Flora's own courtyard and one at Bardessono Inn and Spa, a newly opened boutique hotel at Napa Valley. The view from the bed to the simple modern but yet serene courtyard especially appeals to me.



The bottom two images from Flora Grubb's website

Center of Tradtional Arts at Yilan, Taiwan

I've been really quiet at blog front due to a trip to Taiwan in January and the hectic work schedule. Upon return from the trip, I was immediately thrown into the craziness of work. I have not been able to sort through all the pics from this trip. Below are only a few ones taken at Center of Traditional Arts at Yilan. We had a great time visiting the center. One was for me to relive the childhood moments. But more importantly, it was for Ryan to experience the traditional Taiwanese arts. It's cute to see him playing dragon dance and Kung-fu even since his enjoying the performance at the center.

Remember those bottles on the bike? They had the tastiest ice cream in the world, at least that is how I remembered.
I love these old town streets. We happened to be there at sunset, which gave it such romantic ambiance.
Peeking through the window- traditional Taiwanese architecture
Ryan enjoyed this old-time sweet treat-candied tomato as much as I did as a kid.

Happy Holidays!!!

Things have been hectic at work/home as we were getting ready for the one-month trip to Taiwan and Maldives. But we still found time to enjoy the X'mas lighting at a neighborhood in San Carlos. It has become our holiday ritual for the past few years. I truly admire the amount of time, and efforts (and of course, energy bill) this two-block of neighborhood has spent decorating their houses to light up the holiday spirit, which is very needed for many families in today's economy.

Beach

These are few photos taken at Bodega Bay and Pescadero State beach in mid October and early November. Regardless of the low temperature of the water, the children were eager to jump into the shallow tide and to chase the freezing waves. To them, the beach offered endless play ideas- from simply exploring different textures, finding rocks, building castles, to pretending to be fishermen trying to catch the seaweeds and fish. It's enjoyable to watch their creativitity unfold.


What are daddies doing? Let's go boo them...

Let's bury your right foot first.

Little birds, come get some food here.

Is sun about to set? I'm not ready to leave yet. Let me go for another round!

Autumn Harvest

With chestnuts, persimmon, and pomegranate gradually making their appearances at the farmer’s market, we know it’s that time of year. With an enthusiastic fruit picker at home, we always try to arrange a visit to the farm during this season.

Thanks to Min’s suggestion. This year, we visited Gabriel Organic Farm in Sebastopol. We certainly were not disappointed with their abundant Fuyu persimmons. But best of all, we were pleasantly surprised to discover this mysterious fruits- pineapple guavas. We also have this plant in our yard but didn’t know what it was until this trip. The plant looks like a mini olive tree and the fruit yields very distinctive aromatic taste and smell. It somehow reminds me of the passion fruits. We cannot get enough of it. We ended up getting more of it than persimmons.


What is this mysterious fruit???

Mommy, please help....

A Weekend Afternoon

On a recent weekend, we visited a friend's newly renovated house and garden in Portola Valley. While Ryan was busy chasing Ole and Tera, we enjoyed the leisure afternoon with friends in a beautiful and relaxing garden .

Ole and Tera are certainly Ryan's favorite buddies now. Yesterday I asked who he would like to invite for his birthday party next year. He initial list only included aunty Denise and cousin Tony and quickly, he added Ole and Tera, two australian shepherd dogs....


Ole is mellow and easy-going.

Tera is sensitive and territorial. Just like children, they have their own personalities.

Awakening

I lately found myself in rage and frustration more and more often when disciplining Ryan. Often time, at the moment of heat, I turn to yelling and coercing for the convenient and band-aid solution. As I noticed he becomes more resentful and angry toward me, I knew my parenting style needs to take a turn.

But what really daunted on me was one day I told Ryan I was going to a “how to become a good mommy” workshop at his school. I asked him if he could guess what the counselor was going to teach us. He immediately replied “no yelling and no angry face”. As I was desperate in search of effective parenting/discipline techniques, I knew I found mine right at that moment – Self Discipline.



Ryan has been keeping all his treasures in this shoe box. The findings can range from pine cones, corks, leaves, dandelion to gems from school. This is the first thing he digs in every evening returning from school.