the back yard

We got a new fence in the backyard!

If you remember that old collection of wires that used to separate our yard from the neighbors, then take a look at this.

There's no question about it, that is a fence.

action shot...

Strawberries on the shelves <3

This grape vine is doing really well, climbing right up the trellis all on its own.

And of course our tomato harvest.

Check out the overexcited fellow back there in the corner. That is a plant with ambition.

And also in unrelated news I installed a light in the garage.

Which let me tell you, makes a huge difference in terms of usability. It almost seems like a place I might do stuff, now.

the birds and the beets and the flowers and the cat

Let me tell you about these pictures.

Two separate families of birds have decided that the ledge inside our front porch is the perfect place to build a nest.

It is adorable. But they also get really freaked out whenever we enter or exit the house. You win some you lose some.

Speaking of winning some.

Oh my goodness. (And there's another beet in the garden still that puts this bunch to shame.)

The roses are doing pretty well:

We had to replace a couple of them, but I think we still ended up with a good variety of colors.

Also, a while back Chloe had to wear this collar. You might have seen this scene before on Annie's blog but the picture... well,

Yeah.

the front yard

So, the picket fence in the front yard has been done for a while. After that was finished we planted a salsa garden there for the tenants.

Cilantro makes a rather effective ornamental, except for the fact that it's an annual. The tomatoes and tomatillos and peppers seem to be doing well too.

And then more recently we also added some stepping stones. 

These stones are really cool, they're basically pieces of a sandstone that formed a stream bed, and they have fantastic colors and textures. We got them from a place called Bourget Brothers in Santa Monica, which has a fascinating collection of...rocks. Maybe someday we'll put some ground cover in there too.

mural

Here is the mural Annie painted in our living room!

It looks so great.
(also that's our new tv <_<)

our windows

We had a window guy come by this morning to talk about replacing all of our (terrible) windows. We'll have an estimate by Monday. We'll have another company coming by next week.  This is exciting!