Miniature Orchids on Mounts

Haven't blogged in a while, but now that the weather is warming up here in the lovely South Bay my orchids are taking off. Recently I took to mounting my orchids, and I also acquired about twenty or so miniature orchids.

Here you can see the orchid mounted to a piece of apple wood. I bought a bag of apple wood chunks from Home Depot for around $3.00. I put a pad of sphagnum moss under the orchid and then secured the orchid and moss to the wood with fishing line.

In April, when I bought the minis, I took out every single one of the minis that were potted up in bark or sphagnum and I mounted them. Despite chilly weather and wind, I didn't lose a single orchid. They are all growing outside on my balcony and we live near the beach. I alternatively have some growing in rocks to compare progress.

See how small the entire plant is, but it is already blooming? That's the beauty of minis. They also have wonderful substance and color. When they become specimens (fingers crossed), they should put on a spectacular display but also not take up my entire balcony. Like a firework in my balcony.

They are all taking very well to the mounts. As summer rolls through, I will go ahead and post more pictures of this plant and the others to show their root development. It's really awesome.

In the background there I have bottles of kombucha doing a second ferment. That's going to be a whole other topic.

Microwaved Cheese

Yesterday was my first day back on "Body by Roy", which is basically a low carb diet.  I've always had a hard time keeping my weight down because I LOVE TO EAT and also drink.  I was a chubby kid and a chubby young adult too.  I didn't seriously lose weight until I discovered Body by Roy.  Roy Jimenez, a great attorney whom I used to work with, introduced the diet to me.  I hadn't heard of low carb until then.  That was in 2008.  I was getting married in September of 2008, and I started Body by Roy early in 2008. 

I basically did not eat any carbs at all, and cut out sugar.  I didn't exercise that much, maybe only 1 or 2 times a week.  I went from being 145-150 lbs. (I'm 5'3") to 125 pounds!  I dropped to a size 4.  I added more exercise to the regime because I just loved the results, and I went to a size 0-2 because I really toned up and I was down to 115 lbs at my lowest point.

Anyway over the last two years I started having drinks during the week.  And I started eating carbs again.  At first it was just a few crackers here and there, then some bread, then I was back to having desserts.  I've gained weight and I'm almost 130 lbs. now.  It bums me out because my wardrobe doesn't accommodate this size.  I'm not at my biggest, and I'm not at my smallest.  I'm in between, and so my "small" clothes are tight, and my "big" clothes are too big. 

I'm not about to get clothes to fit this size.  So, as of yesterday I am going back on Body by Roy.  I've said that maybe a dozen times over the last two years, but this time I have the blog to report to so I will be more accountable.

One thing I really miss when doing low carb is crunchy food.  I love chips and snacks like that.  Luckily I recently discovered an easy way to make a snack out of microwaved cheese!

Here's a picture of what microwaved cheese looks like.  You can make microwaved cheese by using American cheese singles.  The above cheese is using the regular processed American cheese.  I break up two slices into 6 pieces each, for a total of 12 pieces, and I arrange them in a circle on parchment paper.  I microwave them for 1 minute and 10 seconds in the really powerful microwave.  It takes different times in different microwaves.

What you are looking for is for them to puff up and turn a little brown, like in the picture.  They're ugly, but they are crunchy, crispy, and delicious!  They taste like Cheez-its.  They are super low carb and great for dipping.  You can see in the picture that I have a glob of peanut butter that I'm going to have with the cheese crackers.  Super yummy.

The low carb diet is the only diet that ever worked for me because I can't stand giving up tasty food, and there is still so much delicious food you can enjoy even when dieting.  Oh, and once a week, I have a cheat day when I eat whatever I want.  I try to plan it for a day when I'm eating out or having a special night.  So, here's to day two back on the diet.  :)

Turbo

Here are two pictures of my desert tortoise, whose name is Turbo.  Turbo is named after the Porsche I would like to own one day.  For now, I own the fastest desert tortoise in the world.  In these pictures Turbo is just a few months old.  You can tell in the first picture she is pretty small, about the size of a doughnut hole.  Turbo will only eat green leaf or romaine lettuce right now.  She did not hibernate very long this winter because she is kept inside with me, and it never was consistently cold enough.  She's an easy and fun pet, growing up pretty fast.

Paya

Here is a video of Paya, my 4 or 5 month old bunny, dancing with me.  There are a couple of different theories about why bunnies do this.  Some say it's amorous behavior, some say it is to claim the rabbit (or person) whom the bunny is circling.  Paya has never done anything particularly amorous to me, though sometimes he licks me, but he is a very sweet boy. 

Bunny story

Here's a funny story I heard from Terri, a nice lady I used to work with at Judge Takasugi's court chambers during law school:

Terri's friend was asked to bunny sit over the weekend.  The bunny parents dropped the bunny off at the front porch of the bunny sitter the morning of the weekend.

The bunny sitter overslept.  By the time the bunny sitter woke up, the sun had come up and warmed up the front porch of the bunny sitter's home.  Unfortunately, the poor bunny died of a heatstroke.

The bunny sitter was distraught and very regretful.  The bunny sitter went to a pet store and bought a bunny that looked virtually identical to the dearly departed bunny.

When the bunny parents returned, the bunny parents did not notice anything amiss.  The bunny parents thanked the bunny sitter and took the bunny home.

Six weeks later, the bunny parents called the bunny sitter.  They were very angry.  They said, "Where's our bunny?!"

The bunny sitter nervously replied, "What do you mean?  I gave you your bunny."

The bunny parents quickly retorted, "That's not our bunny!"

The bunny sitter again nervously replied, "That's your bunny.  What do you mean?"

The bunny parents exclaimed, "Ours was a MINIATURE bunny!"

The end.

The morals of the story are:  bunnies are very important to their bunny parents.  Replacements do not suffice.  Also, bunnies come in all sizes.  They also grow up very fast.

Doughnuts

Apparently Friday, June 3, 2011 was National Doughnut Day.  I wish I broke ground on my blog on that day as that would have been very apropros.  Anyway, National Doughnut Day is the first Friday of June of each year, succeeding the Donut Day event created by the Salvation Army in 1938 to honor the women who served doughnuts to soldiers during World War 1. 

I used to spell the word "donut", but I now see that the correct spelling is "doughnut".

My obsession with the visual artistry of doughnuts all started with the artwork of Terry Romero Paul.  Her beautiful, mouthwatering pieces can be found here: www.trpart.com

Happy belated National Doughnut Day!