March 21, 2008

I've got gardening on the brain bigtime. Our backyard is a big disaster area. The previous owner did an amazing job renovating the interior of this house, but he should be arrested for what he did to the backyard. The backyard had been paved and he jackhammered all the concrete, which is nice, but then he buried it under about 3" of dirt and grass. I don't like to have anyone walk in the backyard because it's a total liability. Someone might twist their ankle when they trip over a bit of concrete chunk jutting out of the grass or impale themselves on something sharp. It sucks. I feel like I have a room of the house that I can't use.

This week is my Spring Break and the weather is great, so Pat and I have finally started working on the yard. I'm a little overwhelmed by the amount of work, money and time that it's going to take, but if we can tackle it in small areas at a time, it's going to be amazing. To keep myself motivated, I surround myself with images of what I'm trying to achieve in our garden.

I'm really big on metal planters- they're easy to plant, you can move them around on a whim, and you don't have to bend down so far to tend them. They look great too.

I hate, loathe, and despise our 6' wood fence. These tall, thin rusted steel plates (behind Antidote on Studewood) give privacy and make a great backdrop for greenery. I need to make sure I can do this, according to our neighborhood's deed restrictions.

I just discovered Corsican mint and I think I'm in love, and I've always loved fig trees for their beautiful leaves and of course, the figs.

Another metal container- a water trough- this time used as a water garden with horse tail reeds (spotted at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center). The other image gives a good general idea of what I'd like to do- soft gravel, shady trees, planters, and a water feature.

Succulents just plain rule and you can find many more varieties these days due to their popularity. I want to include a vegetable garden as well as accomodate Eleanor's sweet desires in our garden plan- a living teepee made from bean vines (also seen in the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center) seems like a good thing to have in our garden.

March 6, 2008

I like being busy and life is really, really busy right now, so why am I so stressed out? I went the the ultra fabulous wedding of my dear friends Kate and Willy in Marfa, Texas last weekend, the Spring Show opened on Tuesday (our big student art show and one of my students won first place- woo!), and I have another out-of-town wedding coming up this weekend. I'm also in the process of moving my classroom into another building and working on finishing a few new pieces for the art faculty show next week. Man! I need to take some serious chill pills and just enjoy the ride. Seeing as how I don't really have any chill pills or even know what they are for that matter, I'll have to keep watching this cute little thing that my buddy LL pointed out to me. It's a bit like an audio chill pill, but watch out, the whistling will get stuck in your brain, but it's kind of nice I suppose.

Peter, Bjorn and John- Young Folks

February 17 , 2008

I think it's time for another...

February 9, 2008

A thousand pardons if you've seen this already, but You Suck at Photoshop.