Its Blueberry Season!

This morning we went out and picked a couple buckets worth of blueberries at Anderson Blues, North of Corvallis off Hwy 99.  We went back to the same spot we did last year.  We were too late in the season to pick the Spartan blueberries but the Dixi ones we picked were just as delicious.

 Stalking Emma through the blueberries like a paprazzi

 What a lovely stick Charlotte

 Char kept running away so Oz sat down to keep her entertained like a good dad

 Picking some Dixi blueberries

Yay! Fresh blueberries!

Garden Journal: July 3rd

 Yesterday I FINALLY got to play in the garden and get everything ready for the summer.  I have been so busy lately I haven't had time to barely even water.  Good thing for me its been raining all spring.  Pictured above are a few containers that I revamped by removing all the spring bulbs that have died back for the year and replaced them with some plant the hummingbirds will enjoy.  The smaller pot has hyssop, coral bells and a purple sweet potato vine.  The large container has cape fuchsias from last year, million bells and multi colored lantana.

I reorganized the patio area in back and put my orchids outside for the summer to help them rebloom in the fall.

 The gnome corner.  I moved a blue-green plant stand outside and bought a plastic top for it to use as a bird bath.  There is a momma and baby scrub jay that have been visiting the back yard and taking baths in the fish pond.

The Japanese maple is still doing great in its pot.  In front the lilies are budding up and should be blooming soon.

 Earlier this spring I added a border around my fish pond and added some really interesting flowers such as this geum plant that is up front with peachy colored blooms.  I also have a pineapple lilly and a white cape fuchsia.  Everything is growing fast and filling in this spot.

These are last year's lights.  I moved them because we kept tripping over them and now they light up the pond area at night.

Super Villian Convention

Calling all Super Villains!  Last weekend to celebrate a friend's 30th birthday we dressed up as villains for a super villain party.  In this photo we have the Hamburglar (Whitney) Cruella Deville(Rachel), the Queen of Hearts (Brandy) and the Wicked Witch of the East (me).

We are dressed to impress!

There was even a part of the house to get our villain mug shots! 

We had to keep Charlotte away from Cruella, she kept eyeing her black and white coat, naughty!

I had a really hard time sitting down in my outfit.  The girls had to help me from choking myself with the roof of the house.

This will do, a cat scratcher to sit on, perfect!  (this is Oz dressed as Bad Santa)

Off with their heads!

Cute little mail man, I mean evil mail man...

A family of trouble makers!

Uh oh, the Hamburglar is at it again!

Update: Pond Life

Its been almost three months since I put my wine barrel fish pond in the backyard. It has really been flourishing since I put it all together. The water lily is especially taking off. There are about four or five more shoots still coming up from the bottom. I'm not sure if it will bloom this year, it doesn't quite get full sun in this spot. And surprisingly the creeping jenny is still going, even though it is not really a water plant. The corkscrew rush had to be removed. I'm not sure if it got too soggy or if it was just unhappy that Charlotte kept taking it out of the pond to swing it around the yard.

Yesterday I reconfigured a few things about it. The water had turned so green from algae growth that I couldn't even see the goldfish any more. So in the morning I carefully removed the plants and the goldfish and held them in a cooler while I removed the old water and sprayed out the container. I also made a net like fixture around the pump because the lily pads are delicate and break if they get under the water fountain.

A close up of one of the lily pads. It just rained this morning so it was covered in rain drops. And, happy to note, all of my goldfish are still alive and thriving!

D.I.Y Mailman Costume for Pets

Last weekend Charlotte and I attended a costume party, a Super Villian Convention if you will.  Charlotte was dressed as a mailman (a dog's own super villian).  This was a very easy costume.  The only thing I had to buy was a little boy's button down blue shirt from goodwill.



Here is the boy's shirt after I cute the waist and arms to fit Charlotte's body.  I rolled the sleeves to hide the unfinished hem.

 Using tan fabric I had on hand I fashioned a very simple sling bad and added a cuff from the little boy's shirt to add a decorative label to the bag.

 Then I added three envelopes and hot glued them to the bag.  They were addressed to Miss Cat Woman, Mr. Big Bad Wolf and Mr. Sharekhan from the Jungle book (all Super villians).  Then I used some puff paint to add a U.S. Mail logo to her bag.

Theres my sweet girl!  Her outfit was very simple.  It only took me an hour from start to finish.  (plus a few hours for the puff paint to dry.)

Coming up:  photos from the rest of the super villian party.  Stay tuned!

Guest Artist: Gina Hoppe

A friend of mine, Gina Hoppe, is an amazing artist and I FINALLY am getting around to featuring her on my blog.  Gina just graduated from OSU in Animal Sciences with minors in both chemistry and art.  Gina just got accepted to study veterinary sciences in Dublin, Ireland starting this fall.  So, as her friend and fellow artist, I am promoting her very talented skills and asking everyone to please check out her etsy site for original block prints and encaustic works.  Click HERE to go to her etsy page.

This is one of Gina's encaustic abtract giclee Prints

Gina dabbles in a variety of art techniques including wood blocks, lithography and encaustics.  Encaustics involve layers of melted beeswax and pigment that mix together in unique textures.  She also has a series of prints from collages that she made when she studied abroad at sea last spring in 2011.  She took inspiration from many of the places she visited including Vietnam, India and Ghana.

Please check out the artwork of a very talented woman and help support her on her future endeavors in Dublin!  Thanks for reading everyone!

Dogs in the City

I have a new favorite show on Wednesday evenings on CBS.  Its called Dogs in the City and its about people in New York City that have issues with their four legged friends.  The host, Justin Silver, helps the owners fix behavior issues with the dogs as well as with the owners.

Now I myself think I have a very well behaved dog but even I learned some great techniques on how to get Charlotte to heel more effictively and to release when I want her to drop the ball so we can continue to play fetch.

There are a lot of very adorable dogs on this show.  Definitely tune in if you have a dog or just enjoy an easy, upbeat show to watch in the evenings.