Napolea Grande , Edible Cactus

A friend introduced me this cactus plant that is edible, packed with nutrition and easy to grow cactus plant that can be seen around the neighborhood, mostly in Mexican homes. She gave me a plant so I can try it myself. She gave me two big pear shape leaf or paddle, thick, spiny and green to plant in my backyard. Since each have several paddles, broke them into more paddles to make an experiment and make sure it will grow, knowing cactus need little care. The two became 4, spread it around and wait for new leaf to grow and try it myself.




Freshly picked cactus in my garden

Harvesting and preparing the cactus is the challenging part, with it's fine hairy spine called glochids around it, if not careful could prick the skin and the green nubs that grow on the aeroles, a mole like swelling found on most cactus. Make sure to use a rubber gloves when harvesting and during the preparation. I use a knife to remove the spiny hair by slanted action, cutting each glochids one at a time or a green scrubbing pad will do the trick in removing the fine like spiny hair on the cactus while on a running water. They are slimy and boiling the cactus lessens the slime.

They are usually ready as young as they are, crunchy, tender and fresh. You can see the glossy green sheen poking out full of spine when they are very little, like 2-4 inches long, about 3/8 inch thin and eventually the spines gaps wider as cactus grows longer. Sometimes, I let them grow a little longer like 4-6 inches long or longer but not to the point where it becomes hard to eat because it is pithy. As the cactus grow bigger, you will notice that the color changes into a darker green and less sheen.

Cactus are low on carbohydrates, high on fiber and packed with vitamin C. The slimy stuff dripping off each leaf is called mucilage, may look gross, but it also may help manage the symptoms of diabetes and help lower cholesterol.

Use it whenever you like it, raw or a la carte. Barbecue it together with tri-tip, add to your omelet , make a salsa with it, of course, always sans spikes.

The fruit of SILENCE is Prayer The fruit of PRAYER is Faith The fruit of FAITH is Love The fruit of LOVE is Service The fruit of SERVICE is Peace

A Mouse in my House

A day of surprise...

While sorting the clothes according to colors, before loading them in the washer, I heard the sound of a heavy fall! I was still holding this heavy denim jacket with my hands and look around to see if something fell on the floor and found nothing. Then I heard this tiny sound scurrying in the tub. A mouse jumps, trying to escape but failed. Oh no! A mouse in my house! My first thoughts were the words – hate, angry, and mad. I hate mouse, angry with mouse and mad with a cat. How can a mouse survive and exist in my house when we have two cats. I feel frustrated thinking it is the cats’ responsibility to keep mouse out of the house. Life is so full of surprises; I had an encounter with a raccoon too.

Finding a way out

At that moment, watching the mouse trying to escape was a learning lesson to me. The mouse see me eye to eye, must be wondering what a giant I was in size, but did not lose faith to escape. He sees the enemy in me and went around the tub to check if there is a way out. He stays still a few times, trying to think, to escape or to fight? He jumps as many times as he can and a few times landed on one arm rest of the tub, halfway the tub, jumps again for escape but ended up back on the bottom of the tub. Had the mouse jump from the higher end of the arm rest, he would have escaped!

My heart feels for the mouse

The mouse got my attention and felt sympathy. Maybe the mouse would be a good surprise to my daughter. The mouse changed my thoughts from anger to hmmm… might be a good idea to do something with the mouse, instead of spoiling my day because of a mouse. So, I went to look for a container to trap the mouse in. It took me a few minutes to capture the mouse. The last thing I would do is to let the mouse crawl on me and escape through me. Besides, I do not like the feel of a mouse crawling on me.

Capturing the mouse

I got this plastic container, 12 inch deep and 6 inch wide container and uncover it. Holding the container upside down, aimed for the mouse with the opening pointing down and trap the mouse, holding the container with one hand next to the bottom of the tub. I had a hard thick paper twice the size of the opening to slide it under the opening for temporary cover. What a perfect plan! I missed the first time and got out of the tub immediately for fear of the mouse. A giant fears a mouse? But is true! The mouse was smart too! So desperate to escape, he ended up hiding, squeezed into the jets! I needed a stick to poke him out but instead cling tightly. I have to change my plan and the second time, I aimed it with focus onto the jets, poke him with a stick and got him in, slide the thick paper under subsequently pick up the lid to cover the container tightly. I recorded a video to see what a mouse would do when caught. It was a desperate cry for escape.


Somebody got a surprise

Anyway, when my daughter came home, she was eager to see what the surprise of the day is, closes her eyes and waited patiently. The moment she opened her eyes, she was jumping with joy for she had been wishing to have a pet mouse. Ask her why, they are so cute is her answer. She named the mouse Brownie. We fed the mouse a spider and was happy to finish it all. However, the container turned blurry the next day and we decided to let the mouse go. The mouse was cute but needs to be in the right place. She had a full day of fun with Brownie and it was another day in the life of a mouse in my house.

Watch the video!

An encounter with a Raccoon

It was first day of fall, morning cold and quiet but not promising a fall weather this week as it will be warm on Friday from the weather forecast. I just got off my car from school, walk a few steps leading to the front porch, busy searching for my keys inside purse when something caught my eye.

Underneath the orange tree

It was so still and quiet as my senses alerted to what is in front of me. My eyes focused on a spot, a rhythmic movement, up and down, like heavy breathing and wonder what is going on. The sun shining through the orange tree leaves made it somewhat normal, nothing unusual to the surroundings as I see it everyday walking the same path before entering the house. When my eye caught something, camouflage with the grass and dirt underneath the orange tree, a raccoon lying down as if sleeping.



That is what I thought at first, a raccoon taking a break from whatever reason. This is the first time in my whole life, so close to this creature and it was exciting at the same time fear came to my mind. What if it sensed my presence and attack me? I have not much knowledge with raccoons as I am a city person.

Quietly, I took a few steps to check if the raccoon was sleeping. It sure does look like sleeping, eyes closed but the heavy breathing was somewhat unusual. I may sleep and breath heavily but never really see myself doing that because I was asleep. Just a funny thought to make myself relaxed.

Raccoon In action

Then it moved its head around as if she sensed me, opened her mouth and showed teeth like an inch length and half inch thick on the top part attached to the gums. Those were big teeth! Her eyes were soft and droopy, design with a black fur around the eyes which contrasts sharply with the surrounding white face coloring. While staring at the raccoon, it seems like raccoons wear a bandit's mask, making the animal gain a reputation of mischievous one. The slightly rounded ears are also bordered by white fur. It has short legs compared to their torso and it's bushy tail with rings around, the alternate shades of black and gray line for camouflage purposes maybe. That was the reason why it was hard to spot the raccoon right away as I walk in, my reasoning in my mind...



I must have disturbed the rest time of this raccoon, it stood up and steady itself before taking a step, wobbly and limping. As it stood, it has the height of a cat, even a bit taller than a cat. The middle part which is the stomach seems to be less bulgy but the claws were far more bigger and stronger than a cat's claw. It started walking away from me, not looking back, just keep going looking for a new place to hide and maybe die. The raccoon must have been hurting and starved for days by the look of it. I wonder if it came by the orange tree a few days ago and just never noticed it was there.

The raccoon that came by the orange tree, I never saw again. It must have went somewhere the bamboo trees to hide, away from me. It chose to wait, alone and hold on till it is time to go.

I decided to ask my friends about raccoons and gathered some ideas about this cute furry animals that came by one day and here is what I have come up with.

Raccoons as food, pet and fur

Raccoons maybe a pest to some but is edible for eating. There are a few recipes that calls for raccoon but barbecuing might be the best way to eat it. Barbecue is always a good way to try something different. Although, I have never tried a raccoon myself.

Some even want a raccoon as exotic pets. Raccoons are cute, furry and endearing. But raccoons have rabies that is a lethal disease caused by an agent infecting nerve cells, carried in the saliva and transmitted by bites. This is something to consider when planning to domesticate a raccoon as exotic pets.

The fur of raccoons is used for clothing, coats and caps especially during winter season when it is extremely cold. The tail is also use as an ornament and they can be expensive. Just think about how many raccoons killed for one coat?

Stinky Smell lingering around

A few days later, everybody in the house complains of a stinky smell, like something following each one of us and no way to escape from it. It was so strong by the front porch, where I last saw the raccoon. It is time to sleuth for the reason of such stinky smell. There, the raccoon lay just a few steps from the front porch, hidden under the bushy bamboo, covered with white chunky looking worm, squirming busily. There was nothing left on the raccoon's bony leg. His suffering ends...

Dodge Durango 98, frustrating wago

It is so frustrating when school starts but not your car. You get stressed and mad, not knowing what to do to get to school.

Started driving Dodge Durango 98 Model in the year 2006. It is a used one from first owner and I'm the second one. It exploded the first time we took it to a 20 minute drive since we bought the car. That was scary!!!


Dodge Durango 98 has many problems. One repair shop owner even said it is junk. Ouch! Made me feel like idiot buying a Dodge.

Year 2009, while heading to San Francisco Airport to pick a friend, the car started smoking like having barbecue. Something was wrong with it and have to turn back to home and get the other car. My friend waited for more than 2 hours and was fine.

After that, we brought the car to car shop, have it checked and radiator needs change. Well, it turned out that aside from the radiator, other parts need to be replaced as well and total bill was $1700. Ok. I am happy to get my life back, ops, my car back I mean. Days after the expensive repair, the car sensor malfunctioned and all lights are on in front of me. ABS, Brake, and all turns on all the time. Speedometer no longer work. That was a little scary to see the lights on while driving, thinking at all times there is something wrong with the car and ( cross my finger) will leave me stuck in the middle of the road when I do not know. Sure it did a few times cause me to wait for help because the car just won't turn over. It will try but die in a few seconds.

When it was time for DMV renewal, smog did not pass because sensor was not working. This is another car shop time. I found out that there are so many sensor in this car, which if it fails, cause so many problems just because the sensor failed. That doesn't mean something is wrong with the car but nobody can really tell, even the mechanic who is using high tech computers. I wonder if car makers are making it complicated to understand cars? I thought computers are supposed to help speed things up by diagnosing the problem. It doesn't seem to help at all.

Year 2010, the transmission failed? I do not know. This is what happens when the driver is not equipped with knowledge on cars. It makes me helpless and dependent to those who can understand cars. When I turn it on, it turns over but will keep at a low speed. If I try to speed up, the odometer works so hard that it almost gets to the red lines which scares me. This time, we decided to rebuilt the transmission for a total of $2900 including the sensor replaced with a 10,000 mile warranty and all lights in the front no longer stays on. Two weeks later, car won't start. Well, actually it tries to start and just die like the sound of someone dying. This time the tow truck has to come and tow it to the car shop, am hoping they can fix it with no more money to pay. It is a pain to keep paying for this car.

Have this really bad experience with Dodge Durango which the mechanic always tells me, Durango is a junk car. Ouch! What a mistake picking this car...

Garage Sale on the Main Street

Just hitting the road to get home when I spotted a garage sale on the main street with so many frames on display. It might be a good thing to check since I have been looking for frames for some pictures to display.

Outside their fence lined up big and small picture frames, different designs, shapes and sizes. First frame that attracted me was the real wood, oval shaped frame with a picture of painted flowers in a pink matte. It looked use but for $10.00, it will be a good buy. On the other side of the fence, clustered 3 pieces, 1 medium size and 2 small frames in metallic paint and also cost $10.00 for all. These are those common print for display mostly seen in houses. Well, I can change the print when tired of it, my thought. Then a frame with the last supper print is standing next with a Hecho en Mexico mark on back of frame is what I have been looking for a while, even thought of painting it myself but with nothing to copy with, it will take me years to paint one myself. I was grinning at myself at the moment because I was being ambitious, dreaming of becoming a famous painter one day. Or maybe I'll be famous painting houses someday, who knows??? Hah! It will probably take me years to do that...or maybe when I'm dead as most painters becomes famous when they are already dead.

Anyway, as I was loading all the frames, remembered that my husband was looking for a big frame for his motorcycle print and even went to the gallery to inquire how much it would cost him to frame that cheap print days ago. When I heard about it, told him to wait a little longer and I'll find him a frame in one of those garage sale and here it is, Perfect size for his motorcycle print.
For all the frames, I paid $39.00, seems high to me but better than buying at a gallery which might cost me 4 or five times more.