DIGGING

There's a Camillia bush stump in the way.  Darrell and I made an attempt at digging it out, but it was too much for us.

I decided to go hire some day-help from the guys that hang out in front of Home Depot.

While there I purchased some red bricks to solve a problem up by the garden shed.

Jose was a very hard worker.  He had that stump out in about an hour.

I then put him to work digging out the two fir tree stumps flanking our front porch.  We've been hoping they would rot and go away, but of course they haven't.

Jose spent several more hours on that and got them out, too.  He saved us so much work and pain.

It's out!

It is looking so good.  That is the jig Darrell made for me.

RAKING AND SORTING

I started in on the back part by the garden shed.  There was alot of raking and shoveling of those horrible 1-1/2" washed rocks.  I've been screening them and separating the dirt from the rocks.

The rocks then go up by where we park our trailer and the dirt goes into the garden.

STILL GOING

I've had a head cold since last week, but I'm feeling a little better.  Definitely don't feel like sitting around doing nothing anymore.  So, I'm back at it.

Started working on the rear part back by the garden shed.

Went to Home Depot and ordered the pavers.  There will be three pallets delivered on Thursday.  I better get to working.

MOVING ROCKS

Lots and lots of little rocks, lots of mud...

Making progress though.

Don't know what the wires were for, they are dead.

KEEPING ON ROCKING

There was a liner under the old 'stream' bed.  It was covered with rocks of all shapes and sizes.  My goal is to get that out of there.

There's still a puddle of water at the bottom, along with all those rocks and lots of fine mud.

I'm tired of dealing with the mud.  I was amazed at how difficult it was to puncture it so the water would drain out.  It all didnt, and I ended up just pulling the liner out, mud, rocks and all.  Yuck.

Should I or shouldn't I save the fern?  It's roots go all over and even down into the water at the bottom of the pond.  I'm afraid if I move it to the front yard with the rest of the ferns under our Cedrus tree it won't survive, its too dry there.

MOVING PLANTS

Done with my work week, it's back at it.

There are some plants living between the sidewalk and the patio that have to be transplanted.

I'm moving the daylillies and Lavender to the front of the house, and I'm putting the Firecracker plant on the other side of the patio.  The  Red Poppies will go into a pot.

Good luck plants, I hope you survive.

I moved a few more rocks, here's what the pile is looking like.

There are a lot of smaller rocks that lined the 'stream' bed.

I keep finding heart-shaped rocks.

MOVING ROCKS STILL

I've gotten most of the big rocks out of the way for the widening of the sidewalk.

I'm taking it slow and easy, trying not to hurt myself too much.

Most of the rocks gone from that side.

The bigger picture.

Now I have to wait a week, while I go back to work.

MOVING THE ROCKS

First step is moving the big rocks out of the way. 

I got a shovel, a dolly and a great pry bar.

I've started moving the big rocks.  Hi Bentley.

Got a few done.

I'm stacking them on the patio, out of the way.

So far, I've only had to ask Darrell for help with one of them - a biggy.

I'm putting the fist-sized and larger rocks into those green bins.  There is a huge amount of them, too.

NEW PROJECT - OUR BACK YARD

Our backyard has been in need of help for a while now.

I needed a project to keep me busy, so I'm going to tackle it.

I keep thinking I'm too old to do this, but I'm not getting any younger, so I better stop putting it off.

The impetus for this is my want of a bird sanctuary, particularly a bird bath.

There was a 'stream' with a little pond here when we moved in, but it never worked because it leaked and wouldn't hold water.  So we've never turned it on.

My plan is to make a bigger pond with a place where birds can come and bathe or drink.

And while I'm doing that we really should re-do the walkways.

So, here are the before pictures...

Looking from back deck towards the patio

The walkway along the shop

The walkway along the shop and the Japanese Maple

Standing at the corner of the house looking at the back deck.

Standing on patio looking towards back of house.

See all those rocks under the tree?  That was the original pond.  See all those  little rocks in the open area?  That's where the new pond will be.  All those little rocks have got to go.  We've always hated those little rocks - and they are everywhere.

After alot of talking with the husband about what we wanted and what we were willing to do, I've come up with a plan.  I even took measurements and put it on paper.

Here we go...

DAFFODIL ETEGAMI

I picked a few of the newly planted daffodils that are now on Lucy's grave and painted a little etegami....

I have a vintage stereo set-up in my studio with my Zune that has my selection of just good music (1000's of songs), everything from Beethoven to Led Zepplin.  I just set it to play randomly.

While I was painting this, it randomly selected "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds".

DAISIES ETEGAMI

After I decided I was finished with the Valentine's Day bouquet painting, I separated all the flowers and made a much smaller arrangement, and put them in water since they were starting to droop.

I couldn't resist doing an etegami of the daisies.

"Sunny Smile"

VALENTINE'S FLOWERS 2015

Here's this years Valentine's Day bouquet.  

Can't say I'm in much of a good mood, but I figured I'd soldier on and get it done...

I don't really like it, it looks amateurish.

But I'm done.

Hopefully, next year's will be better.

LUCY MOVES ON

We have been very priveleged to have had Lucy in our lives these last few years.  She came to live with us in November of 2008.   She left us today. 

  We will miss her terribly...

Our wish is that her next life be a happy one, one she deserves. 

She was a great dog.

LEXINGTON QUILT TOP FINISHED!

Yea!  

Sewed the rows all together today.  It's officially a finished quilt top.

It's too big for my design wall, so it's draping down onto the floor and getting officially covered with sawdust.  [Sawdust wafts up to my studio from my husband's woodshop below.]
It is 7 blocks by 7 blocks, the blocks are 14" square - that makes it 98" square.

What was I thinking?  It's going to be a bear to quilt.

GOT ALL THE ROWS TOGETHER

BUS MATRON BEGINNING

Wow, it has been a very long time since I've painted.  I'm glad I got the urge this morning.  This is an acrylic painting done on one of the many 10" by 10" pieces of hardboard that Darrell cut for me.  In fact, this may be the first one I've actually painted onto.

I don't like the smooth surface of hardboard (Masonite), so I've been stalling I guess.  Plus I don't know who to paint...

This morning I decided I had to paint this lady (I had covertly taken a photo of her on the bus the other day).  So, I covered the board with strips of newspaper first.  It made for great texture in which to apply the paint.

I'm not done, I'll have to let it marinate and go back and fix it soon.

SHARP SCISSORS

My favorite pair of Gingher scissors - I've almost worn the finish off of them, but they are still very sharp and functional.

It says sharp!  ( I hope ) in Japanese.

DREARY DAY

It's a wet, drizzly dreary day - perfect for sewing.   And for the first time in a long time, I actually felt like working on the Lexington Quilt.  Maybe it was the coffee the husband bought for me this morning.  Anyway, I made great progress in the morning.  I was surprised how much I got done.

When we got back from our errands I went back upstairs and finished sewing the last of the curved seams.  Can I get a HALLELUJAH!!

No more curves, it's all just sewing the blocks together now!

CAULIFLOWER YUM

A DELICATA SQUASH

I though I'd go back to the watercolor paper again, just for fun.  I don't see a big difference in the way the paper takes the ink from the Kozo.  The thing I don't like about watercolor paper is the texture - it's bumpy.  I'll keep looking for the right paper.

I glued this to heavier stock, also.  I smeared my chop in the process.

AN APPLE

My new favorite apple is the Opal variety.  There were a limited number of them available last year, and I only got a few.   But, they seem to be more available this year.  Get an organic one - they are so sweet and delicious.  

Opal

This was done on the Kozo paper, too.  I might be getting a little more used to it.  The Kozo is very thin, almost see through.  I glued it to a sturdier stock so I could mail it.  That worked good.

A SQUASH

I tried some Kozo printing paper, hoping it would bleed a little more than the watercolor paper I've been using.  It didn't, except for when I went over the 'e' a second time.

This is a bad rendition of a Butternut Squash, in case you were curious.  I'm blaming it on the paper.  The Kozo didn't want to take the watercolors either.  It bled very slowly and mixed all of my beautiful colors into one solid yuck.

This one is going in the reject pile.

AN ORANGE

After I made this one, the book I ordered about Etegami from Japan arrive.  It's a lovely little book, one of the only, if not the only, written in English.

After I read it, I realized I've been doing a few things wrong.

So, the next ones should be better.

TOO LOONIE

MY CHOP

I spent the afternoon making a chop.  A chop is a signature stamp. 

Darrell cut some 3/4" square dowels for me from several different hardwoods.   He set me up with his Foredom high speed drill and a lot of burr bits.  

I am happy with the results.  The one I like best is from the Bubinga, a very hard and dense wood.  It was my second attempt.

Test strips using watercolor.

ANOTHER LOON

I went to Daniel Smith today and got some sumi ink.  I think it is blacker than the watercolor black I was using yesterday.   The rest are just watercolors.   I tried out a couple different papers.

ETEGAMI - MY NEW INTEREST

I'm starting the New Year off with a new interest - Etegami.

If you look on the internet you will find almost nothing about Etegami.

As far as I know - it is making little 'sketch', loose and simple of everyday items and maybe adding some interesting words about it.  It is made in the form of a postcard, then immediately mailed off to a friend.

Do an image search and you will be enthralled just like me.

I first heard about it from a barenforum friend who lives in Italy.  He belongs to a group that exchange cards regularly and it just sounded like a lot of fun.

START THE NEW YEAR SEWING

Didn't do much but at least I did some...