Remodeling the yard

I guess it comes under the term remodeling, or maybe landscaping, or decorating, because we are almost at the decorating stage. As my friend Gail says 'Success is in the details'. Unfortunately Mark and I often debate 'the details' especially when there is an over budget 'detail' I would like to add.

But a visit from Gail and Judy Tuesday yielded some very good ideas. Normally I would approach these slowly, but since the idea of tile on either side of the gate entry would need to be addressed one while the tile guy was still available and two before the stucco guys came, time was of the essence.

You may recall that the sides of the fountain were originally planned to be stuccoed. Mark convinced me that the Balboa park fountain this design was based on was stucco. I let it go until I saw the result at which point I was clear the sides needed tile! Another trip to the tile store, another visit from Manny (our most excellent tile installer).




So here is the now finished fountain. The tiles are from Tierra Y Fuego in San Diego and the fountain is featured on their website here.



And here is the coordinating tile on either side of the gate. Next up stucco, gate and finally the bougainvillea towers that will surround each of these plants. They will form a canopy of bougainvillea flower at the top of each structure.



Now it's time for my fifteen minutes of garden work, followed by a full day of shipping, kitting, illustration and....ok I'm sure Im in denial here....but sometime soon I also need to fit in my proposals for next years Bead and Button. Do I continue to offer the always popular Crystal Collage or 'retire' it? I think I'll let the Bead and Button team decide. I will offer Carousel, my spinny bracelet, the new Dream Keeper Vessel ring and the as yet unnamed geometric necklace with the St Petersburg chain. Given my book schedule I think I will keep it simple this year.