Garden Variety

We're coming up upon the second anniversary of the garden re-do. I thought I'd share some pics of the front yard. I must say, it's come along after the horrible freeze that left me wondering if everything was going to have to be replaced.Our view as we drive up to the house.
Every flowering plant is a yellow, red or orange color of some sort. Lantanas.The one pink. The bouganvillea like the one at my parent's house. If any of you are in my home town and go by there, could you tell me if it's still there. I've heard the new owners have made some changes. Lantana and Palo Verde tree.Mexican Bird of Paradise and Century Agave. I was trying to capture the layers of color and texture of the plants. I found another 5 agave pups sprouting. Let me know if you're local and want one/some. They're free to a good home.Mexican Bird of Paradise and Popcorn plant.
Desert Marigolds, agaves and Lantana. It took several attempts to have any success with the fickle, native Desert Marigolds in the garden. Some of them had to get replaced a couple of times. Once some bloomed you could say I "bombed" the garden with the dead heads. They sprouted eveywhere. These agaves have been dwarfed but they're hardy and I'll pull some of the marigolds from this corner at some point. I'm contemplating "bombing" the neighbor with the dirt yard...I'm not sure if I'm doing this right. I pulled some spearmint and am drying it. The herbs are growing like crazy!We were so excited when we saw pink!The pink was "allowed" as long as it contrasted against the blue wall. The blue has faded in the desert sun but it's still super vibrant. Just the way I like it.Imagine these as foot tall sticks. That how the Orange Bell started out the spring once they got their winter death trim. They've shot up and almost obliterated the illegal, butt ugly fence next store.
I absolutely love this! A recipe called for green onions. Went out into the backyard planter and pulled some. Cashew Chicken for dinner last night.
Thanks for visiting our little casita. ¡Hasta luego!
Marissa

Whaaaaaat's Up!? The Garden Edition

Ok, I can write a really looooooong post or save some stuff for more than one. I tell you, when it rains, it pours. It seems like I have little to say and then there's plenty.

To begin, a belated Happy Thanksgiving to all. Ours was quiet. This year the Chicklet went to dinner with her father for a couple of hours and I had dinner with the hairy ones. I bought a turkey breast for the Chicklet and I to make our own dinner. We have to wait until Sunday to spend the day cooking. We've managed to stay busy!Here's Maica enjoying a little appetizer. What is it with my dogs and grass chewing? Paint some spots on them and I have cows. The girls are napping right now. We just came back from an hour's long walk in the neighborhood. The days are so beautiful and the sun feels so good.Over the weekend I noticed that shadows of tree branches were dancing around in my bedroom. Then it dawned on me that they were my trees from the the front yard. Yippea!

I can be standing in my room and look out and see the blooms of the Mexican Honeysuckle pictured above. I love looking out and seeing color, lots of color!Here's the view from the other window. The fountain planter is somewhere underneath there. Once the irrigation was running properly, the basil plant exploded! I've replanted cilantro and mint and hope to have the same kind of success as the basil. For now I'm keeping my co-workers well stocked with basil deliveries.I'm full of anticipation with these babies. I pulled out some small agaves and replanted them elsewhere. These Dawe's Aloes took their place and were recommended because they bloom in winter and spring. Both plants are full of buds and I'm looking forward to the bloom.Everything is looking bright and beautiful in the the garden but the nights are cooling down and we've had some freeze warnings. There are some plants that are going to need to be covered. Pruning is off limits for now. The Popcorn plant has taken over a big spot in the yard. The recent rains brought out the flowers, big time.Here's Kenny!!! (The Sharkskin Agave). He's growing slow and steady. Not as quickly as some of the other agaves and the Lantana that is creeping and crawling it's way around him. I was not a fan of Lantana but I can't argue with the explosion of color. Good job of twisting my arm goes to Ray, the Designer Man!One more front yard shot. I forgot the name of this agave. It was a non-sanctioned-by-Ray plant. He warned me that the original plants would grow and fill up the yard and he wasn't kidding. He did leave me some holes. (Or what I perceive as good spots to add something to). I am in love with the pinkish bouganvillea. Grow, bloom, grow, bloom! My heart smiles everytime I drive up to our house.Canine territory-the backyard. Due to a beetle infestation, the melon plants had to go. The eggplant is thriving and now it's spilling our over the planter. Then lookey, lookey what we found...We planted peppers and tomatoes and lost all those to the summer heat. Or so we thought. One of the bell pepper plants pulled through. I took these off the bush yesterday and one of them went straight onto veggies pizzas for lunch. It still seems somewhat miraculous to plant it, grow it, and eat it from our own garden.Yellow Bells. I thought we would be swimming in them but we have only one plant in the back yard. The other seven are Orange Bells. Equally lovely but it makes these more appreciated. Freia had her head buried in these yesterday and there was no getting a good picture of her. Maica isn't posing. She's focused on a bird that wandered into the backyard. Maica has taken to jumping the fence again. She sprung over twice last week. Luckily, she comes back when I make my way out to the alley to corral her. Crazy pooch!

The Chicklet is bugging me to go out and check on a mural in the making. If it's being worked on, we hope to pick up some paint brushes and help out.

Happy Friday, everyone!
Marissa

Beautiful Sunday

Days like today are the reason why Phoenicians put up with Arizona Summers. What a gorgeous day to wake up to. Yep, and this is the face I wake up to.Yes, this one....
Or maybe this one....
Or this one....
We're getting closer...Here she is!
I thought after being up so late last night I wouldn't wake up to catch my morning shows but I did. Caught the last part of CBS Sunday then enjoyed listening to these guys banter. Don't ask me why but I enjoy watching then NFL show on Sunday mornings even though I don't follow sports.Took the Girls outside for fresh air and breakfast. Maica looks good out there.
The lantana is thriving. This one is right off the patio and has gotten a little extra water from washing down the patio. After getting the Girls squared away it was time to get dressed and get going. My one rule: Never leave the house without mascara AND when the chips are down, dress your best. I still have some tan left. It was going to be warm today so I put on a nice tank top with shorts and big, flirty earrings, that I don't often wear.

First stop: JoAnn's to look for copper alphabet brads needed for the Arizona Journal class. Would you believe they were all out? All but one JoAnn's in metro Phoenix has them at the moment. Geez! I decide a trip to Mesa wasn't on my agenda today.This is soooooooooooooooo wrong! Tapes whores, look out! JoAnn's is now carrying patterned packing tape. This was planted on that impulse aisle at the check out line. It worked. I own these now. My name is Marissa and I'm addicted to patterned tape....What's that screeeching sound I hear? It's Kelly K. heading to JoAnn's right now!

While in South Phoenix my next stop was Gardener's World. I had a coupon to buy a Lantana to replace the one the painters demolished. I bought "Radiation." In keeping with my warm color theme, it has orange blooms. I think the one above is a "Samson." I look forward to my honeysuckle looking this good. It's grown but doesn't have many blooms yet.Next stop: Half Price Books near Paradise Valley Mall. I was hoping to find Arizona Highway Magazines for paper weaving in the AZ Journals. I have a pile at school but I can't bring myself to cut those up. I don't think anyone is going to be able to get close to this Agave issue...Half-Price Books is a dangerous place. They have 2010 calendars which I usually don't touch before everyone lowers the prices in February or March. Well these are already marked down with a little more incentive with my teacher's discount...Um, yes, found this too. All the black pattern is embossed on the cover.There are some collages inside. Beautiful!Each page had a poem or a quote. Plus there's plenty of room to write a few legible lines every day. Last stop: The Big Box store down the street to pick up some dog bones. I was looking for knuckles but had to settle for these. Unfortunately, these are only going to last about a day versus a week for the knuckles.

Today has been remarkably easy. I could let the thoughts creep in but I haven't let myself go there. No, don't want to go there. The one thing I don't wonder is "why?" I think I know why and it has little to do with anything I could do. It's about how he feels about himself and what he believes he deserves.

Perhaps I'm still in a state of denial and expect the phone to ring when he realizes what a mistake he's made. Ugh! Can't do that to myself. The Chicklet didn't ask about the BF so that conversation hasn't taken place. At least we can take this situation and use it as a learning experience. How to handle getting dumped...When all else fails focus elsewhere. Plenty of that to go around. Art grades are due by the end of the week. The Chicklet has Girl Scouts tomorrow but wants to go to Borders for the Diary of a Wimpy Kid new book release. Kids after hours, not my top choice.Give me Yellow Bells moving in the wind and this eager, beaver, mug.
Marissa