Time for an Update

So I realize I haven't done a very good job lately of staying up to date on the fun and interesting things in our lives...Work has been busy, with a fair amount of travel for Greg. We had a week off earlier in July to spend time with family and to celebrate our 4th wedding anniversary!! The pictures below are some of my recent favorites.

(I didn't actually take this one, but I love it. Thanks Mom!)

Vacation pictures!

This weekend was very relaxing, with just a few hours of work around the house and yard. Saturday morning I noticed a couple of humming birds hanging out in the back yard and went out to take a picture. It was almost like a "where's waldo" in the lemon tree...I got a great picture, and when I showed Greg, he said. "Wow - THREE humming birds?!" I hadn't even seen the little guy in front!

We are both home this week, and have a little Patio Makeover going on. I recovered the cushions on our craigslist patio set, and last night we got a great deal on a gazebo at Home Depot. I'll post some before and after pictures later this week. I realized the reason I was so excited about this project is because it is like decorating another room! We have plans to add an outdoor rug, some potted palms, and little twinkly lights for ambiance!

Anchorage

These photos are a result of my desire to test the camera on my new iPhone 4 and the gorgeous mountains behind every view during my week in Anchorage. Unfortunately, I never made it to the actual mountains, so these are mostly from airplanes, airports and cars...

My collegue wanted to catch the earlier flight when our presentation ended at 3:00 instead of 5:00, so I've been at the airport since 3:30, and will leave at 12:30 am. Whoopeee!! At least I've got a great view (the last two pictures), and it will barely be dark by the time I board my plane!



Garden Stuff

Last weekend Greg and I accomplished a little project we've been talking about for quite a long time...see pictures below for how it turned out!


Before: Tidy sideyard providing no real interest. This view is looking toward our driveway (which is on the other side of the far fence) with the house on the left. Dining and living room windows are along this side of the house looking out into this little side yard.

 


After: Pretty, low-maintenance drought-tolerant landscaping that we can see from the entry/front room, dining room table and top of the stairs!

 

 Here are some closeups...I don't know the names of all of these yet, but I think we have some blue agave, prickly pear and coral cactus in there.

I am overjoyed with how colorful and healthy the garden is this spring and took a few minutes last weekend to capture some of nature's art close-up. Enjoy!

Lily

Trumpeter vine flower and resident ants

Purple Stattice - such a pretty flower dried or fresh!

The flower of an aloe-look-alike succulent plant. Little Miss Hummingbird really likes these guys

These are a variety of Ice-Plant found all over the place in SoCal

Fuller bloom on this one

Winner of  the award for best-smelling flower in my garden: Star Jasmine!

Another type of Ice-Plant. I love these lighter flowers, but didn't realize how crazy they look up close until I took this!

This is another succulent flower I have been pleasantly surprised by

I am headed up to Anchorage on Sunday for another Army Corps project. I will be back Thursday afternoon. We are looking forward to relaxing on Saturday and will probably spend the day outside :) Why not?!

My love to Pearl

It seems that the one picture of Pearl I intended to include in my last post was deleted and didn't make it in! So I said, "Here are pictures of the kitties" and then showed only Patrick. My bad. Here's to my sweet, quiet, pretty pretty Pearl...

Two of my Favorite Things

Greg and I celebrated one year in California this weekend. I can hardly believe it's been that long! We are happy, feel so at home, and cherish every sunny morning/afternoon/evening we get to relax together in our private backyard or pretty front yard. I've been taking more pictures lately (although you'd never know it from the amount of time between posts), and I'm finding out that most of my pictures are of cats and flowers/garden stuff. Come to think of it, these ARE two of my favorite things! And unlike Greg, who is my favorite of all, cats and flowers don't run away from my camera or make ugly faces to ruin a picture :)

Here are a few from around our house - Enjoy!!

One year here!

   

Greg and I before our dinner out to celebrate our first year in California.

 

It sprinkled a bit yesterday when I was gardening, but I wanted to get a driveway shot. This was the view that sold Greg on the house before we'd even stepped inside!

Here is my favorite corner of the front yard - Prolific apricot tree in the back, big palm on the left, Mandarin orange tree in the middle and three pretty roses in front!



Left side of the front garden

Middle of the front garden



Right side of the front garden



Veggie garden

Pretty stuff in the back yard...Nectarine tree has no fruit this year, but is healthy otherwise (frost!)

 

Blooming Bird of Paradise - truly an amazing flower!

  Now on to the kitty pictures............


CAUGHT! Here's a picture of Patrick sneaking around under our comforter. I love the look on his face when I whipped up the blanket and surprised him with the camera.

 

Always a sucker for a view

 

One of Patty's favorite new lounge spots - I think he enjoys feeling like he's hiding.



Being a bad kitty, Patrick jumped up on the top of our headboard to scope out the view. It's a NO for him to be up there ever since he jumped down on top of me from there when I was asleep. Rascal!

Ssshhhhh....I didn't have the heart to tell Pat his butt was too big to fit in a size 6.5 shoebox.

Patrick was really digging the smell of these roses I brought in the other day. He usually leaves my flowers alone, but these must have been especially fragrant.