Gorgeous New Mexico!

Oh my gosh, today has been THE BEST day!! The weather has finally turned here in New Mexico, and it is GORGEOUS! Sami and I hit Lowe's and Home Depot looking for a fountain and plants. We've been shopping around for a fountain and a bench and we scored BOTH today! Woot! We are totally getting rid of the front yard and are going to xeriscape and do a lot of rock, brick, and stone work - patio area, new sidewalks, steps on the side of the house where people often park - I can't WAIT to get going on it! We have 3 trees in the front yard. We are going to pull up all of them and plant two new ones. The front brick work will also have two or three large round built in stone planters. Don and Sami have done a lot of price comparing and drawing up of designs. Hope to get started on it as soon as soccer ends (which is this weekend!) :)

Anyway, Sami and I found lots of pretty plants, a concrete bench that I fell in love with, and a pretty new fountain.

A few pictures.....

The fountain....



We have a courtyard and i loooove sitting in my courtyard or eating dinner in it and listening to the sound of water. :)

A new plant (to us) that I planted by the front door. It's about two feet tall and can get up to six. Love the color! We have a new red umbrella for our outdoor dining table, and I think the two reds will look lovely in our New Mexican courtyard. :)



Spanish lavendar...LOOOOVE this stuff!! I always had "regular" lavendar until a few years ago when I saw this kind at a friend's party. I planted some on the side of the house and it has done beautifully. Have a new one now in one of the courtyard gardens. It gets big and fills in quickly. :) My froggie is there temporarily just watching me garden. heh heh



A calla lilly! I've never tried to grow one, but Sami LOOOOVES lillies, so we now have four different varieties in our gardens! lol Hope I don't kill it!


One of the garden areas out front....the bench on the left is the new concrete bench I got at Lowe's today. LOVE it! And it was a BEAR to get home! The store computer said they had 7 of them, but NO ONE could find them! lol I and several other peeps looked for at least 30 minutes. I finally spotted a pallet of them WAY up on a shelf. The only way I knew it was my bench was because of the item # on the outside of the plain cardboard box. The peeps working there were amazed at my determination to FIND THAT BENCH! lol I may go back and get a second one tomorrow! :) Oh - that yellow plant in the pinkish planter is an experiment as well. Never planted it before, but it likes full sun and this corner is the sunniest. Hope it's happy there! :)



My vinca in this garden is in full bloom....I just want to lay down in it! :) It always looks so cool and inviting to me.


And finally....my little fat bird that I got at Walmart this winter.... :D




We planted a lot more flowers than I've shown....dahlias, snapdragons, daisies. Still need to find some alyssum to edge all the gardens with. I planted some basil. Will try not to kill it this year! I have a very green thumb, but I have a heck of a time growing basil. Haruumph!

I'll post more pics as we make progress on the actual yard area!

Any other vamp fans out there? :)

Saw this wine at the liquor store today and couldn't resist! lol It was pretty yummy! :)

Etsy goodies!

I've FINALLY got some art up on Etsy. I was satisfied with the photos I was able to take, so I took the plunge! :)

Here are the first three.....more to follow!

Happy Birthday!

Today is my 49th birthday!! One more year to the BIG 5-0!! I can't believe it - I still feel 20! :D

Yesterday, my 17yod surprised me with a beautiful garland in "my " colors ~



Today she and I went to see Coraline at the theater. It was GREAT! I had heard good/bad about it and was expecting something a lot darker. I loved the animation and the characters. :) Afterwards we went shopping at a funky used clothing store down by the university. THEN, she surprised me with a trip by the dorms to pick up my son! Woot!!!! :) He came home for a few hours and then she took him back to the dorms on her way to Bible study tonight. Don came home with a dozen GORGEOUS pink roses. We munched on cheese, bread, and my fave wine. It's been a great birthday filled with the love of my family and friends! :) xoxo

Huge Rubber Stamp Sale on Ebay!

My good friend Becky is selling a TON of very cool, VERY eclectic rubber stamps over on Ebay. Click HERE to go there...I see some Michelle Wards stamps, some Tim Holtz, some Zettiology, and lots more!! Go take a looksee! :)

Experimenting....

 

I'm experimenting with two things.....a setting on my camera that I just found and Picasa 3 that Sami downloaded last night. Soooooo fun!!!!! Here's a shot inside my china cabinet that I took a few days ago. LOVE IT!! :):)

DIY Light Box

Sooooo.....today I made a light box for photographing my work. I've wanted to get my work up on Etsy, but have not been happy with how a lot of my photos came out. I made a light box using some poster board, one of those 3 sided foam core boards that kids use in Science Fair projects, and two clip on lights. MANY thanks to my friend Betty for getting me started on this!!! I set things up tonight and just played around a bit. I have a LOT to learn! lol Mostly I need to really learn all the settings on my camera! Anyhoo....I photographed one of my recent paintings......



Sami, my daughter the camera whiz, said she'd help me with photographing stuff. :) What's NICE is that I just took this pic about 6:30 in the evening. No more having to wait for daylight! yay!!! Bear with me as I learn this stuff! lol