Stencilicious!

Don't these cherries look radiant? I took this photo a couple of years ago when I first got my digital SLR and was delighted at the results. May your day be a big, fat bowl of succulent cherries.

But, wait, have you heard? My friend Mary Ann is going to be doing the most stencilicious online workshop on, what else, stencils! She has an incredible class blog set up with tons of information and her workshop is sure to be as fantastic and creative as she is. Check out her blog for some really rockin' stencil work. These are not your mother's stencils folks! There is still time to get a spot in class so go sign up here!

The studio is coming along nicely. I have some twinkle lights installed and a new ceiling fan that won't hit me in the head when I walk across the room. I also found the coolest little doodads at Cost Plus while shopping for wine yesterday. They are just the right thing needed to spice up the clean white wall surrounding my garden view window. I am also making modifications to this dreamy find to remove the light and make it a lovely hanging mobile with touches of silky pink, orange and turquoise ribbons. I will post another round of photos with the updates to my little art hideaway perhaps this weekend. Tonight is for making some art in the studio. Ciao...

Sundays are for Napping.

Unfortunately, no napping for me yet today.

On a completely random note, have you seen the outdoor Chihuly exhibit that is on tour coming to a town near you? If not, I highly recommend it. They have ours at the Desert Botanical Garden and it is viewable day and night (the sculptures light up at night). Here is a sneak peek:


We have gone once already and intend on going back on a not-so-crowded week night so we can get some really good photos. The glass was integrated in such unique and creative ways with all the funky desert plants we have around these here parts.

In other news, the farm animals are as chipper as ever. Would you like to meet a few?

This is Sir Charles Fuzzalot (we make all our own names for them...). He is the fuzziest burro I have ever seen. I wonder if he is not part horse, part burro as he is larger than all the other burros on the farm and has unique features.


And this dashing young black and white fellow is Baby Goat (he was, afterall, an itty-bitty baby when we first met him). Now he likes to play king of the hill with all the new babies. The have to keep a harness on him because he is a little frisky and can be hard to get ahold of when the vet comes to check on him. The one next to him is new and we have not named her yet. Suggestions?


This guy is Grandpa Goat (I know, not very creative but he is the oldest one in the herd). He has severe arthritis in his front legs so many times you will see him kneeling on his two front legs with his booty up in the air. The owners of the farm treat him twice a day with arthritis meds to keep his pain levels in check.


And this handsome fellow is Mr. Ed. He is the sweetest miniature horse and he LOVES carrots and apples.


And in our very own garden jungle, LuLu goes undercover so she can hunt birds. She burrows herself down into the giant lavender bushes and waits for birds and lizards to practically crawl onto her and then she pounces. We try to deter this behavior since the garden is home to a couple of dozen lizards and is a bird nesting ground for humming birds, finches, thrashers, wood peckers and doves. She did catch one of the finch babies last year (bad LuLu) when we weren't as attentive as we should have been.

LuLu was a stray in our neighborhood (we unfortunately have many strays). We do a catch, fix and release program with a local organization to cut down on all the breeding of feral cats because frankly it breaks my heart to see them all out there without a loving home and a lap to nap on. We currently have 2 former strays living indoors with us (LuLu and Zoe). When LuLu was a stray, she went to the vet to get fixed and the next morning when we released her she wouldn't leave our front door. So, we opened the door and she walked right in and has not left. Of course, she received a thorough check up, vaccinations, etc. before being released into the rest of the herd. She has been indoors now for about 2 years but she has a wild streak in her (hence the stalking of birds). We love her anyway...

In other news, my handsome and talented husband spent a good part of his day yesterday volunteering his garden expertise at a tree planting effort in Downtown Phoenix. Oh, why is that my husband with Phoenix City Mayor Phil Gordon?


I got a personal tour of the tree lined streets this morning and boy did everyone do a great job! Thanks to Mayor Phil for funding the effort!!