Back Door Kitchen Gardens

All these pictures are from houzz.com.  I realize my days of gardening strenuously and vigorously are now a thing of the past.  I'm trying to come up with a way to create a low-maintenance, easy access style kitchen garden.  So I got some books from the library and found these pictures online.

Modern Landscape design by Las Vegas Landscape Architect Sage Design Studios, Inc.

Traditional Landscape design by Philadelphia Landscape Architect Burke Brothers Landscape Design/Build

Modern Exterior design by Portland Architect SRM Architecture and Interiors

Mediterranean Landscape design by Austin Architect Rick O'Donnell Architect

Modern Landscape design by San Francisco Landscape Architect Huettl Landscape Architecture

  Patio, garden and Bocce Ball court

Eclectic Landscape design by Portland Maine Kitchen And Bath Robin Amorello, CKD CAPS - Atmoscaper Design

Traditional Garage And Shed design by Seattle Landscape Architect Banyon Tree Design Studio

  An idea for dolling up the shed.

Mediterranean Landscape design by San Francisco Landscape Contractors Frank & Grossman Landscape Contractors, Inc.

Modern Patio design by San Francisco Landscape Architect Huettl Landscape Architecture

Eclectic Porch design by Portland Maine Kitchen And Bath Robin Amorello, CKD CAPS - Atmoscaper Design

Another idea for dolling up the shed.

Traditional Patio design by Other Metro Design-build Witt Construction

Traditional Landscape design by Atlanta Landscape Architect Bellwether Landscape Architects

Asian Landscape design by San Luis Obispo Landscape Architect Jeffrey Gordon Smith Landscape Architecture

Traditional Landscape design by Santa Barbara Landscape Architect Margie Grace - Grace Design Associates

Contemporary Landscape design by Other Metro Architect Carolina Katz + Paula Nuñez

Contemporary Landscape design by San Luis Obispo Landscape Architect Jeffrey Gordon Smith Landscape Architecture

I like the stone right next to the house and no plants.

Contemporary Patio design by Other Metro Architect Osborne Architects

Contemporary Landscape design by San Francisco Landscape Architect Curtis Horticulture, Inc.

Modern Landscape design by San Francisco Landscape Architect Envision Landscape Studio

  I like the "pond"/water feature in this one.  And the one below.

Contemporary Landscape design by San Luis Obispo Landscape Architect Jeffrey Gordon Smith Landscape Architecture

Contemporary Landscape design by Austin Architect Root Design Company.com

Contemporary Patio design by Portland Architect SRM Architecture and Interiors

What to do with all that yard I have in the back?

Traditional Landscape design by Portland Landscape Architect Scot Ragsdale Landscape Design

And this would be nice farther out in the yard.  Now it is all lawn.

Traditional Landscape design by Portland Landscape Contractors Landscape East & West

Japanese Garden Ideas

Traditional Landscape design by San Francisco Landscape Architect Richard Kramer

I like this fence.

Traditional Landscape design by San Francisco Landscape Architect Richard Kramer

Lower maintenance than a pond, a rock stream.

Modern Landscape design by Austin Architect Urban Jobe Architecture

Nice benches.

Asian Landscape design by Santa Barbara Landscape Architect Margie Grace - Grace Design Associates

Lovely Buddha.

Asian Patio design by Los Angeles Design-build HartmanBaldwin Design/Build

Very Nice passageway.

Asian Landscape design by San Francisco Landscape Contractors Home & Garden Construction Group

Another nice fence/wall option.

Asian Entry design by San Francisco Photographer Ali Atri Photography

And another fence/gate option.  For the very rich.

Asian Landscape design by San Luis Obispo Landscape Architect Jeffrey Gordon Smith Landscape Architecture

Ohhhh la la.  Succulents in pots. How...succulent.

Christmas Decorating

 Sam's in charge of putting up the snow village.

 I used a cheap Big Lots vinyl round tablecloth for a tree skirt after having a 26" square piece of plywood cut to fit atop a low table as a Christmas tree stand.  Jojo and Milo are keen to pee on anything new in the house and that includes a Christmas tree and presents.  This is a pee proof arrangement.  The tree was decorated completely by the children.

 

Details, details, details...

Quilts of Years Past

This is Sam's I-Spy quilt I made for him in 2002.  And below it is a picture of the back of it.  Sadie and I ran outside and used clothespins to attach it to the dog pen chainlink fence to take a picture.  It was getting dark and a cotton picker was picking cotton in the field next to us.  It had its lights on because it was getting a little hard to see.  There is a rosemary bush growing by the pen and we kept knocking it as we worked and could smell the scent of rosemary.  I asked Sadie to check her ipod to see what the weather was going to be and suddenly, it began to sprinkle.  All that came together to make an odd little memory.

 

I call this quilt "Pearl Harbor" because of the fabric on the back of war planes and the Hawaiian feel of the fabric on the front.  Jojo chewed a little hole in the center, his loving contribution.

This quilt I call "Haiku: Early frost on Koi Pond" because that's what I kept thinking of when I made it.  The fabric on the back reminded me of bubbles in water.  If I had to do it over, I would have probably use something a little more subtle than that bright orange inner border.

This was the first quilt I ever made.  I think I did it in like 1990 after attending a class.  I wish I'd added some lighter colors to give it sparkle, but oh, well.  It's a crib size quilt.

This is Sadie's nap quilt, another I-Spy.  I pieced it and Drue handquilted it.  As a toddler, it freaked Sadie out because it had bugs on it and she wouldn't sleep under it.  In fact, she didn't even want it on her bed once she saw the bugs.  So much for the sentimentality of handmade gifts for one's children.

This is the back of the quilt.  I bought a bunch of this fabric for backings because it was so cheap at the time.  It reminds me of Hawaii, though I've never been.

I'm taking the Big History: The Story of Us All quilt to work today to work on the binding.  I'm monitoring a computer lab and when no one shows up or doesn't need help, I can do a few stitches.

Hand Quilting

 

I've never handquilted a quilt top. I'm thinking this is going to take close to forever to finish, but I like the way it looks.

 JoJo in camoflauge.
The kitchen on a less than stellar cleaning day.