About a week ago, I came across a submission on the front page of Digg for a raspberry buttermilk cake.  Even the name sounds quite delicious, doesn’t it?  The author said the recipe was quick and easy, yielding an everyday cake that was divine, especially for berry lovers like myself.  With raspberries on sale this week at Ralphs and almost all the other ingredients on-hand, I just had to make it.

Consider this a word of warning: the recipe probably is quick and easy—if you have an electric mixer. I, unfortunately, do not . Do you have any idea had much work it is to whisk together butter and sugar until pale and fluffy? Plus this was only the beginning of the whisking and beating (and in my case, cursing)! Was it worth it though?

Yes.

Here’s my raspberry buttermilk cake as it was baking and then fresh out of the oven.  I did not use as many raspberries as they did:

It looked so fluffy as it was baking.

The top became sweet and crusty from the sprinkling of sugar.

During baking, the cake swallowed up the berries and they became barely visible in the finished product.  It doesn’t quite look like a cake, does it?  In fact, I would say it reminds me more of a muffin than a cake, especially when Tim asked, “Where’s the frosting?”

Well, I love muffins, especially those with a crusted sugar top, and this was just like that! I often yearn for a crusted top New England blueberry muffin but haven’t been able to find any out here.  Now I’m happy to say that I can make my own! Woo!

Another sweet treat for me today was the blooming of my Spider Lily (aka Ismene aka Peruvian Daffodil) plant.  My last gardening update detailed the aphid attack on my ranunculus and the hearty growth of my Ismene.  I’m sad to report that my ranunculus lost the battle; there were just way too many aphids for us to fend off.

On the bright side, this morning I remarked to Tim that my Ismene plant had a bud on it and that I was wondering when it would bloom.  Well this evening, as I was lounging on the sofa watching TV, I just happened to glance outside and something white caught my eye - a flower!! Where did that come from?? It happened so fast and I’m a bit disappointed that I missed the different stages of blooming.  All I know is that it was a closed bud this morning and now it’s in full bloom!

That flower was not there this morning. Looks a bit like a white daffodil, doesn't it?

Yeah, a spider has 8 legs, but who's counting?

So in essence, I made two things today. :-D   Yeah, it’s a bit more work than going to the store and buying a muffin, er, cake or a bouquet of flowers, but it’s a lot more rewarding reaping the fruits of your labor.  Sometimes, the simple pleasures in life is all you need.

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It’s been a few weeks since I updated regarding my balcony garden.

This was my ranunculus on April 3:

Green and sturdy.

Here’s what they look like today, about 3 weeks later:

What in the world happened to my ranunculus!!?

They’ve been like this for about a week now.  At first, I thought it was the heat wave we had and that they were wilting as a result of the nearly 100-degree weather.  I was more diligent about watering and moving them out of the hot sun.  However, it’s been cool for a few days now and still no improvement so I decided to look closer.  There’s a weird white film on the leaves, soft and cottony.  What could be going on? Is it smog from the L.A. air? Exhaust from living close to the 101?  I got closer…EEEEEEEEEEEEEEK!

My ranunculus plants are covered in aphids! Aphids! APHIDS!  For some reason, my first reaction was to run around screaming AAAAAAAPHIDS as if I was saying AAALLLLLLLLLVIN.  I was astounded.  Plus, I’m not a big fan of insects so I was a tad freaked out and therefore proceeded to actually freak out.

Some pics of the aphid infestation:

A cluster of aphids on a ranunculus leaf.

Aphids were plentiful on the underside of the leaves also.

Ranunculus stems aren't safe either.

New growth gets pounced on quickly.

It’s a mess and I should have paid better attention earlier.  These tiny green insects, which feed on the sap of plants, are literally sucking the life out of my ranunculus.  A Google search revealed that ranunculus, in fact, are a favorite target for aphids.  Greaaaaaaaaaaat.  Why couldn’t I have planted something simpler? Grrr.

A bit more research also revealed some suggestions for getting rid of the aphids.  What I’ve done so far is to set my water bottle to stream (instead of spray) and physically squirt many of those buggers off the leaves and stems.  I was kinda hoping maybe the force of the water would kill them, otherwise, what’s to keep them from just crawling back on?  I tried to do the underside of the leaves too, but was a bit wary of actually touching the leaves with my finger in order to turn them over.  Yes, they’re tiny but I would still freak out if they ended up on my skin!

Next, I mixed a natural pesticide solution and sprayed it all over the leaves.  If this doesn’t work, I may have to walk down the street to Home Depot and buy a bag of lady bugs to help eat the critters. ::sigh::

On the bright side, my Peruvian daffodils aka spider lily aka Ismene, which on April 3rd looked like this:

My two Peruvian daffodil (spider lily) bulbs are sprouting.

Now look like this:

Going strong, unlike the ranunculus.

Here’s hoping that my other plants stay healthy and that my ranunculus make a speedy recovery.

This was my ranunculus flower box on March 19th:

The 5 bulbs I planted have started to sprout!

Here’s an updated picture taken this morning:

Kids grow up so fast these days!

And pretty soon I hope to have a lovely bunch of ranunculus flowers, like these:

Ranunculus by Zo-Be Designs on Flickr

My other bulbs have also started to sprout:

My two Pervuian lilies (spider lily) bulbs are sprouting

It has a thick, pale green sprout.

My other pot has also sprouted, but I don’t remember what I planted here:

These unknown sprouts will be a nice surprise.

And finally, another pot I planted at the same time shows no signs of life

Hoping that maybe they're just late bloomers.

It’s 2:49 a.m. I’m sitting on the loveseat in the living room with my laptop balanced on the seat’s thick arm. Penny is using my feet, which are up on the loveseat, as a pillow. She’s got a heavy, fat head.

I’ve been up for hours, as usual, reading the news, catching up on blogs, and clicking through humor sites. I’ve always been a night owl, but ever since I got laid off, I’ve really been taking advantage of not having to get up early. I tend to stay up now until 4 or 5 in the morning and get out of bed around 11 or noon. Though often, I’ll have to get up earlier than that to walk the dogs. I’m more awake now than ever because I fell asleep earlier for a good part of the evening after taking some allergy medications.  Allergy season is starting off with a bang here in Los Angeles and, as is the case every spring, I am suffering greatly.

Enough of the boo-hooing, I really need to get back on a “normal” schedule, but nothing is motivating me to do so at the moment. I wish I could say I was accomplishing a lot during these quiet, deserted hours but I’m basically just wasting time until I resign myself to bed out of exhaustion. I actually haven’t been motivated to do much lately, which is a bit frustrating since I now have all the time in the world. I’m probably dealing with a bit of depression and that usually results in me getting really apathetic and lethargic. Well, at least I’m self-aware so that’s a start.

I haven’t been completely inactive though. The “garden” I’ve started on my balcony is moving along, slowly but surely. A few weeks ago I planted some ranunculus bulbs and was excited to see that all 5 have sprouted!

You can barely make out the first one, but it's there!

Growing something from the ground up is so simple yet very rewarding.

You can do it little guy!

In addition to the ranunculus bulbs and the already-grown ranunculus plant on my balcony, I picked up a fern from Home Depot.  It wasn’t until I got the fern home that it hit me: I find ferns to be very creepy.

Mr. Creepy Fern

How are ferns creepy? Well consider that they haven’t changed much for millions of years.  These ancient plants dominated the landscape back when dinosaurs ruled the Earth and almost seem like animals themselves.  They don’t reproduce the same way most plants do, no, not with pollens and seeds.  Instead, they coat their undersides with what looks like egg sacs and each little spore is capable of developing into a separate organism which in turn can grow into a new fern… something about that really disturbs me.  Plus, if you ever looked at the underside of a fertile fern leaf, the spores do look rather nasty and makes you think the plant had been infected by some insect or something.  Plus, new leaves don’t really sprout, they unfurl from a tight curl… ::shudders:: why did I buy a fern?!  I’m glad it’s outside where it can’t attack me and impregnant me with its spore.  But it is pretty to look at, so I guess it’s all good.

I also picked up a plant at the 99 Cents Only Store.  They get in little potted plants now and then and 80% of the time there’s a tiny stake in the dirt with some vague description like “Asst. Ivy” or “Cactus.”  The plant I bought was the healthiest plant there, which isn’t saying much since the rest were either wilting or dead.  But hey, for 99 cents, you can’t expect quality care.

Unfortunately, my plant didn’t have a stake nor any other labels.  I had no idea what it was, but I knew it was a flowering plant because I saw little buds on it.  I have never seen a flowering plant at the 99 Cents Only Store and was really excited to see what it would turn out like.  Well, two days later it bloomed!

What a great buy for only 99 cents!

I was so pleasantly surprised at the results!  It has a pretty pink color and a soft, beautiful fragrance.  Unfortunately, it turns out I’m allergic to the flowers (what a surprise) so I had to take it from the kitchen window sill and put it out on the balcony.  I tried in vain to figure out what it was by Googling a few similar flowers. Gladiolus? Nope. Lilacs? No way.  I was clueless.

And then, the other night as I was washing the dishes, I wasn’t even thinking about the plant when a random word just entered my head: hyacinth.  Sometimes, life works in mysterious ways.  I have no idea how I came upon it, but I immediately did a Google image search for hyacinth and, eureka!, that’s exactly what my plant is. My subconscious mind must have pieced together some vague memories and suddenly made the connection.  Now I’m wondering how long it will last and if it will bloom anymore.  Seems like it’s just a one-stalk, one-time deal.

Okay, this blogging has succeeded in making me tired. I’m gonna try to take baby steps into getting back on a normal, daytime schedule.  Will try to get up by 10 and hit the gym.  Even though that’s only about 6 hours of sleep, I’m hoping it will make me tired enough later so I end up going to bed at a decent hour!

Oh, by the way, Threadless is once again having their $5 t-shirt sale.  I picked up a few.  From observation based on what sizes are sold out, it seems that men and large women are the biggest t-shirt wearers.  Women sizes L, XL, and 2XL are often sold out first.  I’m lucky to be on the opposite end of that spectrum.

Thanks to Jen of From Head to Toe for getting the word out about the NYX Cosmetics lot sale.  I first discovered NYX eyeshadows at my local Longs drugstore.  They have a great color selection and their shadows are of such great quality: smooth application, long lasting, and wonderful color payoff.  They rival many designer brands yet were only $3.99 each as compared to $18+ for many high-end brands.  Needless to say, I was a bit upset when Longs stopped carrying NYX, but because of this lot sale I am getting lot 3 which has 43 (FORTY THREE!) different shadows for only $1 each! OMG! My order was shipped today and should be arriving tomorrow.  Eee! So excited.  I don’t wear makeup very often but absolutely love owning eyeshadows.  It’s like owning little pieces of an endless palette of colors.

So after 2+ years of living in this apartment, I’ve decided to spruce up my balcony with some gardening.

My balcony isn’t anything special; it’s rather small, maybe 12′ x 4′, but it does overlook Hollywood Blvd and has a great view of the hills, the Hollywood sign, Griffith Observatory, palm trees and blue skies.  However, the bottom quarter of that view is of street lights and the Pier 1 across the street.  Not really pleasant to look at so here’s my solution:

Plants, plants, and more plants!  I was in Home Depot over the weekend and got a flower box, some dirt, and ranunculus bulbs.  Oddly, neither Home Depot or the OSH across the street had brackets for hanging a flower box over a balcony wall.  I would think it would be a common item, but I had to go as far as to describe exactly what it was I was looking for to a bewildered Home Depot employee.  No matter, they were easy enough to find online.

I still have to plan out the look I’m going for, but I figured I’ll hang 4 or 5 flower boxes to cover the length of the balcony and then have other potted plants scattered about.  Ross has some inexpensive and creative metal-frame sculptures designed to hold flower pots in a garden setting that would work nicely to stack different sized pots.  Speaking of inexpensive, the flower box I bought at Home Depot was about $8 and it was the cheapest one they had.  Today, I stopped by the 99 Cent Only Store and found great flower boxes and large flower pots for just 99 cents each!  Actually, they were 99.99 cents.  Because of the recession, the 99 Cent Store has raised their prices and added on the point 99.  It’s still a great deal though and I even found bulbs for just 99.99 cents.  The bulbs I had bought at Home Depot earlier were $4!

I’ll post some pictures soon, but here’s what I’ve planted:

• Ranunculus
• Crocosmia (Emberglow)
• Triteleia (Queen Fabiola)
• Ismene (Peruvian Daffodil or Spider Lily)

I also have some sparaxis (harlequin flowers) and freesia bulbs, but I need to get more dirt for them.  I’m really looking forward to the Ismene because it supposedly has a lovely, strong fragrance, and so does freesia.  The ranunculus, crocosmia, and triteleia will make excellent cut flowers.  I’ve always loved ranunculus since the first time I saw them at a local Farmer’s Market.  They come in so many great colors and look like thick, papery roses yet they are so hardy and long-lasting.

I need to incorporate some foliage into the mix, and maybe some cactus.  So many choices available, it’s so hard to decide!