magic patio...

if you're friends with me on facebook (and haven't hidden me for prolific idiotic posting) you've heard me talk about my magic patio.   and you've probably seen pics also - i'm in love with this area of my home and spend as much time as possible there.

sometimes jeff and i will sit for hours just talking and enjoying beautiful weather... or warm nights... or early morning tea.    it keeps me from housework, that's for sure.  i'd much rather read and pet furfaces on the magic patio.

i don't even know why i named it the magic patio.  it just named itself really.

our close friend tzveta davinci was over for a picnic this past weekend, and she took a ton of photos - she saw our magic patio through new eyes - and i guess i was just used to looking at everything and got a bit blase (make believe there's a little umlat thingymabob over the 'e' please) like blah-zay.  and then seeing tzveta's photos truly showed me that this patio and surrounding gardens really are..

magical.

tzveta davinci (isn't that a cool name?)  - learn more about her and the magic inside her at www.meetmeinthespiral.com

i've been a lucky recipient of one of tzveta's spiral readings and i spent half the time having a ton of self awareness, a bunch of tears and a couple of true breakthroughs.  i highly recommend her...

enjoy....

click me! click me! click me!

when i say those words in my head, i say it like ron white, the comedian.   if you know him, you know what i'm talking about - his wife's dog dies and to help her he takes her to pick out a puppy and each one is yapping 'pick me pick me pick me'.  and the joke goes on from there but we're not here for ron white.  if you got here on an internet search for ron white - sorry.  but while you're here, would you like to take a course in brave girls university?

here's the link to follow - i hope to see you there - many amazing teachers, so much there it's beyond words - $24.95 per month - unlimited access to all classes...

brave girls university - check us out!

brave girls university + me = badassery!

last week i got a message from my friend melody ross asking me for my new address, which i gladly gave her because who wouldn't? LOL   imagine my surprise (ok, surprise is too light of a word - almost peed myself is a better one) when a gorgeous box arrived 2 days later.  i unwrapped it, and opened the box and it was filled with goodies...

and it also included an amazing proposal... to teach classes at Brave Girls University.  (and i thought i was going to pee myself before?????)

all the inner workings are being worked over at brave girls club.  i'm working on what i hope will be a life saving class. 

i just realized that i talk about melody and brave girls club like everybody knows who and what they are.... and if you do, excellent! and if you don't, i ask that you look up at the above tabs here on the blog - and click on 'about me'.  it explains bgc a little bit, but you need to experience it for yourself.   it took this ascared, low self esteem shell of a woman and helped build her into the woman you see today. 

www.bravegirlsclub.com

so some self discovery and odd bits...

so you may have noticed that i haven't been posting art prolifically (is spell check on? is that right??? first try???) as previously.   the main reason?   birdhomes.    i'm busy doing birdhome commissions all the time.  i will take a rare break in between coats of paint or glue drying time and will sometimes paint something for me.  just a small abstract or mixed media thing.   but nothing to write home about... LOL  so if you don't know about 'birdhomes' go here:  www.sandisbirdhomes.com      

and of course there's more than birdhomes to keep me busy.  life these days is a beautiful blur.  i'm trying to stop and smell the roses but there are so many roses i can't possibly smell them all...

the unpacking of the house continues, we have a backroom that will SOMEDAY be the meditation/second guestroom room.  but right now it holds all the unpacked boxes, treasures that we had to have but don't know where to put it type stuff and a huge garage sale pile.  oh yeah - another thing to add to my list this summer.......... garage sale. 

i have never been a gardener.   in my marriage my husband did all the outside stuff.  i had a flower box on the deck but that was the extent of my 'gardening'.

i am now a gardener.   now i get it.  now i understand. 

we have an amazing patio that we've slowly put together.  there is a garden that runs along the rock wall of the patio.(pics below)  i threw some pansies in there and added some flea market treasures as decoration.  and then the weeds came.  nobody really warned me about weeds.   i blame all of you for that.  weeds are the devil.  weeds took over this patio garden and i was so busy doing everything else that i wanted to do, they got the best of me. 

since i knew i was going to be replacing the thready pansies soon, i let it go.  i wanted to get the top layer of orange mulch out of there and add back in some good topsoil.  (which we have a pile of in our driveway) (a lot of it)  and thus my vacation week began.  i figured a half hour pulling plants, a half hour digging out mulch, a half hour refilling with topsoil... riiiiiiight.    2 days later it's finally done.  it was so rewarding!!!!  my first real garden. 

and i am so grateful for this life - i am happier than i can put into words.  i look forward to every single day, with jeff beside me, 2 amazing dogs, 2 crazy cats that live outside but love me anyway, a busy studio, a 'want to do' list a mile long... but don't worry - i find enough time to unwind on the magic patio.   i unwind quite a bit.  to my higher power and aa - god willing celebrating 6 years alcohol free this month, thank you.  please enjoy some photos of my summer so far!

repurpose, reuse, recycle...

something i try to do with all things in my life... including my paint brush storage.  jeff brought home a metal planter last year from a garage sale.  i hung it in the studio, filled it with pretty colored crushed glass sand and stuck the brushes in... it's perfect for me - they are within quick reach, yet not taking up space on a work surface. 

time flies...

it's been a while - we moved in february and the house/yard/dogs have consumed my time... but i do have 2 new birdhomes to show - one was a gift, the other i did just for fun in between commissions.   time flies is available for purchase. 

so....

so i made a new website devoted entirely to the birdhouses... still tweaking things.   have a look?

click me to see sandi's birdhomes!