Don’t get me wrong, I love to paint.  I like to paint just about anything. This week however, EVERYTHING I have tried to paint has gone south in  a big way.  Peeps, I am ONE BIG HOT MESS!  So in the middle of just about the biggest mess ever, I decided to quit painting for the day.  I’d rather be gardening!

I know that a lot of you will think I am crazy but I am at my best outside.  Utter, inner peace!  My sisters and I joke about being like a lizard on a rock, we love being in the sun! Add to that the satisfaction of seeing all your hard work bloom and I am truly in heaven!  Hear the Angels sing!!

The weather here in Texas the past few days has been wonderful.  So I figured it was time to do some cleaning and planting.  I started on the patio.

After much sweeping,planting and wiping away the winter grunge here is what I ended up with. My own little oasis in the back yard. This is where I spend all of my spare time until the Texas weather becomes too hot.  I am truly here every day!

Of course I would  have some crowns since it is the Queen’s retreat! I just found these two metal ones at World Market.  I am in Lurve!

It was then on to the Koi pond.  I love hearing the sound of moving water – especially when it gets hot.  I planted a few Zinna’s, Periwinkles, Prairie Verbena.  Now I just need for all of the Lily’s and Hibiscus to bloom and it will be fabulous!

Here are my Lily’s in bloom from last year.  Pretty, no?

The clematis is going crazy!  I love it!  As you can tell by my rain gauge we had almost 4″ of rain earlier this week! Yikes!

And last, but not least I worked in the vegatable garden…. My son built this last year and it was so awesome to be able to just walk out and pick your own veggies.  I love how home grown tastes so much better than what you buy at the grocery store!  This year my Hubs came up with this neat iron trellis to hang the netting on. Practical AND cute too!  My kinda garden stuff!

I still have a ton few things to get done before the summer heat gets here.  More planting, fence repair, the pool area, re-stain the patio.  And some day it is my dream to build a pergola over the patio and outdoor kitchen area.

My list is kind of endless!  Which is a good thing since I’d rather be gardening… at least I would right now1

until next time…