A Little Gardening

Budget living sometimes means choosing between food for the soul or food for our already well-fed bodies, but today we threw caution to the wind and got both.

This morning we drove over to a new nursery (flowers, not babies) that has just opened up down the road. It was amazing, you walk in on pathways that wind around the nursery grounds, benches and fountains amongst the plants, each area kind of themed, like the Japanese garden area, and even a rock stream that you cross over on a little bridge. So calming and peaceful (except for the traffic noise from nearby Rosedale Hwy, that is.) The many waterfalls and the stream helped soften the highway noise, though. We weren't really planning on buying anything, but we saw a flat of these:

and couldn't resist the almost neon color of these ice plant flowers.

And we found more, at prices equal to or maybe even better than walmart or home depot, and with a much more knowledgeable staff to help you choose. The plants are suitable for our extremely hot summer sun and will also survive the occasional frost in the winter. So, I planted these, Keith being Mr. Boss Me Around and making sure I planted them correctly (argh). I admit, I'm lazy and will just dig a hole and toss that plant in there and hope for the best, but he wants fertilizer and mulch and all kinds of other stuff put into that hole before any plant can possibly go in there. So next time maybe I'll just let HIM do all the planting!

Anyway, our yard is starting to look better and better, slowly but surely!

Here is what our front walkway is bordered with, these were planted 4 or 5 years ago.

And, yes, I planted these WITHOUT EXTRA FERTILIZER OR MULCH OR ANYTHING and they did just fine.

Spring is Here and has Been for a While

I just saw on the news last night that it's still snowing and freezing cold in parts of the US. Well, not here in central California. We had temps in the mid seventies and even up to 80 on Friday this past week. Our trees and flowers are blooming. It's like one day there are bare branches and the next day the trees are full of flowers. This is the big tree in our front yard and the planter box and steps that Keith built.
This morning we went across town to Mimi's cafe for breakfast. We had eaten dinner there the other night and thought we should try them for one of our almost weekly weekend breakfasts. Their buttermilk spice muffin is delicious.
We stopped at the Barnes and Noble across the parking lot from Mimi's-hey they named a restaurant after our kitty!-and I picked up a book called Living the Creative Life-ideas and inspiration from working artists. I've been very uninspired lately and thought maybe this would give me a jump start on some new ideas. The jewelry shop on etsy was pretty slow this past month, although supplies were selling really well. I get real nervous when I don't sell much in the jewelry shop for a few days, thinking 'acckkk, it's all over with and I'll have to go back to work at wal-mart!'
I think it's going to get harder and harder to sell the jewelry, there are so many new sellers jumping onto etsy each day expecting to make tons of sales right away. A new listing gets buried in about 5 seconds. But, I'll keep trying and making new things and maybe this new book will get some creative juices flowing.