A NEW ADDITION TO THE FAMILY

Here he is....our new baby....BODHI.  He's 8 weeks old, Lab and who knows what else.  The shelter believes either boxer or hound...either way he's cute as could be and very teeny right now.  Probably won't get too big....too bad for me....I LOVE big dogs.  But there was no way I was passing this one up.  We have been looking for months.  It seems the only dogs out there to adopt are Chihuahuas and Pit Bulls...or a combination of the two, (with a little Rottie thrown in--I happen to LOVE Rotties, but our insurance will not allow them, or pits or sheppards)...so there you have it.  So a medium size dog is okay for us right now.  In  a year we will go find a friend for him and hopefully by then we will find a big one.

At the SPCA on our first meeting

Case and Bodhi's first meeting

Coming home from the vet's after his snipping....ouch!!

Just hanging out under a chair in the dirt

He's already so much fun running around in the yard.  Last  night when I put him to bed in the laundry room, he cried for ten minutes, nothing to harsh, then went to sleep for the entire night.  No accidents, no tearing up of paper, no poo, no pee...no mess what so ever....until I came for him at 7:30 AM. He follows my every footstep, and when I need a break he hangs outside with Ray while he's working....this is just so exciting!!
Have a happy puppy day xoxox june

GARDEN PROGRESS

Well it's finally coming together enough for me to start planting some things...still gotta a way to go, and it definitely will not be a complete creation this season....but it's still so exciting to see these changes and know that I will soon have the garden I have always dreamed of.  The first three shots are a reminder of what this space used to look like.  The kids who live in the back apartment we have, built this a couple years ago and it was really sweet. But the posts were loose and spaced too far apart and the mesh netting above was propped up loosely, it just wasn't substantial enough for what I wanted.  I originally had planned to reinforce the whole thing, but it just morphed into a whole new area.  And we couldn't be happier....enjoy!  

Just a  simple little garden of whimsey

The deer had free reign

This is the backside after the posts were taken down

This is that exact backside now....a garden shed, which will be covered in wood,  as part of the wall

Looking at this from behind to show the expanse of the fence coming up into the back of the yard off the back porch.  This area next to the shed will become the firewood cutting/storing area

These are the old posts we used to create our planter boxes....I decided it was easier to use container with the serious issue with gofers. but I really like the look anyway.

My big flower box...it's 5x12 foot.
The compost bin and container is behind

This is on the opposite side of the garden, which is now a
36 foot square.
This is the main veggie container and is 3.5 x 24 foot

I've added birdhouses along the back fence on both sides not only for fun and whimsy, as well as a bird haven....but it adds the height I need to keep the deer from jumping over.
 Loads of obstacles out here in the forest.

An over all  look....what you can't see is I have strung three strands of very rusty wire a foot apart on the top half of the fence, all the way around.  With the bottom about five feet tall, this makes the fence roughly nine feet protected....that ought to hold  those  dang jumping deer from getting to my roses!

 Now all we need to do is finish building a couple more containers...there's one behind the open gate that you can't really see that will be for all the lettuce/arugula/spinach etc and herbs.    You also can't see the little fairy tale gate I made in this photo...will have to get one soon, I'm very proud of the cute little thing. And this front wall just out of the photo is going to be the home of my greenhouse...yay!!  This has been a long arduous journey. Lot's of delays with the weather and such...but coming along now.  Will keep you updated as things grow (pun intended).

xoxo, juner

A GIFT FROM SPAIN

Well, I got a message that I had won a gift from  Noemi of "fuego, metal y color" from Salamanca Spain.  Noemi has a new esty shoppe full of beautiful hand made bracelets...I advise everyone to go check it out and give her a warm welcome to esty....hope everyone is having a great weekend...xoxo juner       

The bracelet came in a sweet little strawberry card folder with a polka dot ribbon, a note card was included and the piece was  wrapped first in cellophane then in pink tissue...
it was just lovely to unwrap.

It's tough to photograph, but it is a chain of dark mottled pyrite with a little cubic zircon
hanging from the clip.
I love it!!  Thx again Noemi.

OUR FIRST ROAD TRIP

So we ventured off on down to LA to visit with Ray's daughter who just moved into a new place of her own. We had an extremely wonderful evening with her boss's Donna and Paul.  They are eccentric artist who live in a loft full of art and personality...it was the highlight of our trip.  We also stopped by for a short visit with one of my very closest and oldest friends Patrick, who is also a tremendous artist as well....and a bit eccentric truth be told.  Then a couple days with my baby sister Elizabeth and a dinner including another sister, Cathy,(there are four of us).   The trip down was spectacular.  The sites were beautiful and lush.  We had the best time ever!   I know this may be a bit much, but it's a challenge to limit down the photos to share...everything was so gorgeous in this late spring.  So enjoy...you'll want to get down further to check out this artist loft, these photos don't do it justice.  It was so amazing to sit in this huge room, (15 ft walls) with so much art surrounding us...and the warmth of the small living area with sofa's and pillows under the loft space...what a place to live!  xoxo juner

The road down the 101...old mission style California

The little town of Pasa Robles

The coast drive down the 101

Vineyards along the two lane hwy, it's the best drive down to LA

The little old fashion town of Los Alamos

Los Alamos

Nearing Santa Barbara

More coast

LA in the heart of the city

Dinner with Paul, Donna, and Ray's daughter Kenzie...this is just a small shot of a much bigger room. The main space they live in is just off to the right of this, under the loft protrusion. 

From the front entry...they have a view of the entire city of lights...it's magic!
Here you can see the space under the loft, with the sofa's and views. The dinning table is over to the left where we sat and laughed and talked the night away.

Paul's art covered every available inch of this part of the loft....there are three floors,
this being the main part of the house.

Paul and his wife Donna are the owners of "The Wizard of Art" a school for children.

Mekenzie...a teacher at the school and very pretty.

Patrick with a couple of his latest mermaid creations to the left.

Baby sister Elizabeth, next sister down from me, Cathy 

My sister lives near Valencia....this is where the oranges come from.
great drive past all the miles of orchards.

The little city of Ventura on the Pacific coast

Ray looking very rugged and peaceful here.

The added romance that was part of this first road trip together...
.the rest is for us to remember to ourselves!
xoxox  juner