a new year

between the autumns of 2012 and 2013, i lived in china. although I've been back for a long time now, i still think about time in relation to that year i spent away from new york. i think that i thought that i would have accomplished a lot more than I have during the year+ that i have been home, but maybe i am being too hard on myself. or maybe not. (it's a common complaint among those writing dissertations, no doubt.) at any rate, it's now 2015, and time again to think about the expectations that i want to set for myself. i'm going to be teaching and writing, and also thinking about whether or not this scholarly life is one that i will pursue. after all, i have a lot of other interests that have nothing to do with academia or ngos, as this blog so clearly shows.

anyone who knows me knows that tidying is one of these interests. i was always very particular about keeping a clean house, but this book really took it to the next level for me. i've already made it the topic of far too many conversations. but it seems like an apt topic for the threshold of a new year, doesn't it?

yesterday, i packed up the holiday decorations and tucked them back under the stairs. the living room feels tidier without them, but i am itching to cull away a bit more. maybe it's sarah's influence, or all those minimalist rooms i've been seeing on remodelista. god knows hhh and i love our tchotchkes, but i'm hoping somehow that 2015 will be the year we decluttered our lives. we're off to a good start, i think - hhh spent the better part of our holiday break in california sorting through the debris of his childhood (although i think he would say "treasures"). have you ever sorted through an entire lifetime's worth of mementos? i wouldn't recommend it. (i have never seen such so many pez dispensers in one place before. nor snapple caps from the 1990s.) to prevent this fate, i'm going to be more deliberate and mindful of the things i buy and keep. the housing works up the street should also expect to see me hauling bags to their door with increasing frequency.

some of the holiday trimmings.

but hhh's great purge also unearthed some delights. among them: pencil sketches by his grandfather (including this incredible likeness of queen elizabeth), his first book (written when he was 13 in 1990, about a father who goes off to war in iraq), and a misshapen wooden carving of his adolescent hand made in shop class, which i insisted on bringing back. after all, home wouldn't be home without the things that remind us of those we love.

so, with that in mind, it's back to decluttering - but remembering that there is room for the most precious of tokens. (but you really gotta be careful here.)

have a wonderful 2015! xoxo

summer forever

there's something really lovely about the overgrown greenness of late summer. everything is filled in and climbing everywhere...

my neighbor's climbing vines are coming over the wall (free plants!).  i think these are clematis? 

the climbing hydrangea is hanging in there, despite its scale infection. the polka-dots are so hardy and cute (and cheap). 

i'm growing a baby fiddle leaf fig. it's thriving! but i'm a little concerned about it transitioning to the indoors. i hear it's finicky. (not sure what that other gorgeous tropic thing is, but it'll have to come inside too.)

still willa's favorite corner. she spent hours sunning herself there this morning. 

julie brought me all these terra cotta pots. all lined up for the next planting season...

where i read the sunday paper and ponder an alternate career as a gardner. but first i put out the cushions, which i was too lazy to do for this photo.

summertime

this is what summertime looks like around here, at least on weekends. during the week, there's still construction in our neighbor's yard, so all the cushions get put away and it's pretty dusty out.  let's start with the patch of fake grass...

looks good, doesn't it? hhh had a lot of doubts, but he's a convert now. :)

this is the shady part of the yard. there are ferns, hydrangea, a rubber plant, and some ivy. 

a tall planter with coleus and korean feather grass.

all the furniture is from ikea. it's pretty beat-up but is definitely good value.

the climbing hydrangea is fighting a scale infestation in the corner. scale is really gross. :(

this is how the yard was arranged for hhh's birthday bbq a few weeks back. there some small pots of thyme and polka dots on the table.

another view of the picnic table area.

willa enjoys the fake grass too. she loves how warm it gets. 

yardwork

it's an incredible fortune to have outdoor space in new york city. the yard, which is roughly the same size as my last studio apartment in astoria,  really sold us on the place. even though i knew i'd be leaving soon for china - and be gone an entire year -  i couldn't help but dig in (ha!). my obsession with plants grew quickly, now that i had all this square footage to work with. 

previously, i channeled my energies into much smaller gardens.

that first summer, i planted a butterfly japanese maple, a profusion of ferns, a few hydrangeas, clusters of coleus, some ivy, a few herbs, and called it a day. i had no idea which plants would grow back the next year and which wouldn't. if there are plants in the photos i haven't mentioned, it's because i no longer remember their names. i didn't know what i was doing, but i still had a good time.

this is what the yard looked like our first summer here.

i also had a 2x2 patch of herbs (citronella, parsley, mint, basil, and rosemary) right by the door. 

and then, i went to beijing and winter came. while i was away, i did a lot of pinning in lieu of planting. and now, it's almost spring again. i am so excited. technically, it's already spring. but there are no leaves on any trees along my street, so i'm pretty sure spring has not yet come to my part of brooklyn. in the next few weeks, i'm going to be taking it to a whole new level. stay tuned.

it's been a brutal winter.  

now, it looks like this. no snow, but still pretty barren. 

okay, so it wasn't as if i did no gardening at all while in china. an old instagram from my beijing sill.