Daffodils

This last week we have been enjoying 70 degree temperatures and the daffodils seem to enjoy it. These are a few images from the front yard.

All wrapped up

Out for a peak

Enjoying the sun
I enjoy photography in addition to all my other hobbies. I got back into photography when digital cameras got to the point of having enough pixels to do fairly large prints. I have an Olympus C7070, a high end point and shoot. It has lots of manual capability so I can do lots of different types of images. I like to do macro photography of things going on in my yard. Stay tuned for my yard this year.

Thank you for stopping by.
Mark

head coverings by my talented bro!

As promised here are the pics of the head coverings Mark sent to me... aren't they cool? The brown one is made of, I'm not sure, almost a velour? but thinner and is very soft and almost shines different colors in different light. The purple one is definitely velour, right Mark? (shows how much I know my fabrics) and is really really soft and very very cool. While I wasn't feeling particularly glamorous at the moment, i at least have eyeliner and mascara on...

Thanks Mark!

New projects

Well I’ve been busy starting my new projects. I know someone who may be lurking out there that will be happy to see me back on my teddy bears. I have four cut out and in the preliminary assembly stage. These guys and girls take me about 13 – 15 hours each. Each one is slightly different, you can see from my photo from Jan 23, 2009 post that they are all from the same family but each is slightly different.

On a bad note I found out that the woman that promoted the Albuquerque Teddy Bear show each May is giving up promoting entirely, this includes the one she did in Austin, TX. I still plan on doing the November Doll and Teddy Bear show but nothing is planned between now and then. With the economy as it is I may be better off to lay low for a while. I’m thinking of opening an Etsy shop. If any of you have any thing to say about that endeavor please let me know.

I have been working on head coverings for my sister, Pam. If they look good on her I hope she will show them off on this blog, no pressure Pam. :-)

I have also started working on the yard. Spring is not here yet officially, but the temperatures here in Albuquerque have been in the 50’s to near 60 and some of the plants and trees are starting to put on buds. After 20+ years of cutting grass I decided to go with a Xericscape which is gardening in ways to reduce or eliminate the need for suppelmental irrigation. Here you can see my front yard looked like before Xeriscaping.

Below you can see my front yard as it ended up last year the first month after taking out the lawn.

Since we live in a high-desert environment Xeriscape is the way to go. As of today we have only received a trace of precipitation since the start of the new year, with continued dry conditions forecast for the next week. My Xeriscape is different than most of the landscaping here in that I put in a small portion of very Xeric plants and a larger portion of low water plants. Most people like to do rocks, rocks and more rocks. I am a plant lover so the area includes 40+ plants and shrubs in the front yard. I hope to include photos of this year’s progress. Stay tuned.

Thank you for stopping by.
Mark

The unveiling

The time has come for the unveiling of my latest creation. I promised that I would have him finished by this Sunday. He gets formally introduced to his new owner on Valentines Day. First you can see a photo of the real cat.

I got overall impressions so I had an idea of what he looks like. But I had to email my friend to find out what color eyes he has so I would at least get the eyes close. You saw those in my last post. And here he is.

I would have named him but I think his new family can have that job. He’s 14” long from his rump to his nose and has a 7” long tail, not quite full-size, but close. I put floral wire in each of his legs and tail so he is posable. You may have noticed slight differences in his position between the photos.
The really neat thing is he doesn’t eat so there’s no need for a litter box, he doesn’t bring in mouse presents, doesn’t get you up in the middle of the night to go outside, and he doesn’t claw the furniture :-) On the bad side you won’t hear him purr or wrap himself around your legs.

As you can see here there is already a potential discussion between our Babee and this new kid on the block .

Thank you for following along. I hope to get some photos of the happy family.

Mark