some outdoor work and a new project takes off

at least on day a week this time of year we spend quite a bit of time outdoors working on things

like mowing the yard, which was what I was doing yesterday while the DH installed this lovely gate between the little shed next to the house and the new fence of last summer's building escapades

nice looking gate

now we're having the debate about painting it

we need to paint the shed before the cold weather comes again, so we could do that then

or not

for right now I'll just admire how nice it looks

once the mowing was done I made the resident Labrador very happy

I pulled out the new wading pool I bought for her

(we have had one of these in the past, but a couple of years ago the old one died and we just never got a new one for her last year)

she hadn't forgotten

as soon as I put it on the patio, before I even had the hose turned on she was sitting in it

it's fun to see her having a good time -- the old dog playing like a puppy

after the mowing the entire yard got watered

it takes the better part of the afternoon to water the entire back yard

after that was done, the robins came in to feast on the worms that come to the top

this one was sitting in the grass for quite a while during the time the DH was grilling our dinner

the robins in general are pretty tolerant of us being as close as about 3 feet away and long as we don't seem to be a threat (which means we tell the dog to leave the birdies alone!)




last night's dinner included the second harvesting out of the garden -- and the first off the broccoli plants

this is a different variety that what we can get in the grocery stores here, so even though it looks like it would be too strong to be tasty, it wasn't

I just put it in the steamer while the DH grilled the meat and everything was ready all at once

YUM
even though I had spent quite a bit of time in the yard, I did get a lot of work done in the studio too

the zebra bracelet is rolling right along as I'm working the alternating black and white beads up the other side of the piece now

and I confess, I'm getting close to that "are we there yet" thing that happens with every piece that is going well -- even though I'm enjoying seeing it come together, my brain is already thinking about the next piece I want to work on!

since the printing out of the flower sketch in giant poster size was successful yesterday morning, I spent time taping all the pages together and creating the pattern for the cone flower piece

by the end of the evening I had attached the first layer of pieces to the base

because these are the "background" this required just basting the pieces to the base along the edges

today I'll start adding the next layer of color -- the very back layer of "petals"

I need to keep myself on schedule with this piece if I'm to have it finished in time to be turned in by August 15!

today I need to get the front lawn mowed (which fortunately doesn't take as long as the back) and we need to pick up some groceries and a prescription, but I should be able to get back in the studio this afternoon

if I go get busy now!