Cats, Dogs, Brides, and paperwork!

Hello Everyone...  I haven't forgotten about all of you...  I promise.  Just lots of irons in the fire!

Me being the procrastinator that I am waited until the last minute to get through tons of paper work for the US's big tax day.  I would so much rather do more fun creative things!  I did have help though...

Nipper was making sure my receipts were in order for the charity that my husband and I run called The Lucky Few.  I sure hope the IRS (for those of you not in the US they are the tax collectors) doesn't mind a few cat hairs!

Another project I have been working on is a fun photo shoot with coordinator and designer Kelly Oshiro.  I can't let too much out at this time but here is a bouquet from the shoot.

Just to tease you here is a severely cropped picture that shows you hopefully just enough to wet your curiosity but not enough to tell you what we were up to.  The model and the dog were adorable!...  The dog belongs to Kelly.  He was a rescue dog like all our cats (I knew I loved Kelly and not just because she is super creative and fun!!!).  For more on this very cool lady check out her web site here.

I will post the pics here as soon as I get them (it will be awhile though).  Lots of fun!!

I have also had a couple of weddings.  For anyone questioning my dedication to duty or being a team player...   here I am drying the flower girl's dress which she had peed on right before the ceremony.  I ran and got my hair dryer from home (just around the corner) and stood behind the barn and did my best to dry it out while the ceremony was waiting.

I am making a funny face for a reason...  hot air travels up...  towards your nose...

Oh well, the show must go on as they say.  Hope you all are having a lovely Spring.  I will be back soon.

This old ranch...

I wanted to share some pictures of the magical ranch I live on.  We feel like we live in a time warp here.  Once you pull onto the property life seems to slow down, it is wonderful!

There are delightfully aged abandoned buildings scattered about.



I would love to restore this before it is too far gone...  It was built around 1915 used to be a stable for horses.

The old wood is so beautiful.  No mater how hard folks try you just can't mimic the look of aged wood.

It has the most glorious rafters.

A tree has grown up right through the middle...  isn't that wonderful?  If I had the money I would make this building into the most amazing home...  and I would definitely keep the tree.

Or I guess I should say trees...



Here you can see the top of the trees, they are rather huge!

All of the buildings have such beautiful doors.





There is a paddock adjoining the building with another tree going out of the side...



Looking down the front of the building towards another paddock.  Those are the foreman's horses in the distance.



Another view of,  it is so magical especially in the setting sun.  Part of what is so lovely here is how peaceful everything is.  Just the sound of the ocean in the distance and the birds.  As the evening comes in the crickets start to sing.  Just beautiful!



My husband is doing some work nearby and we both feel like is it almost a sacrilege to start up the power tools.

However some "noise" suits the place wonderfully...

This is Tomas, our neighbor.

He has worked on the ranch for 30 plus years.

Can't you just hear the music for the "Milagro Bean field Wars" playing softly in the distance?

We even have old Amorante's pig living down at the end of the street...

If you haven't seen the movie I can't recommend it enough!  Directed by Robert Redford back in the 90's it is about a small magical New Mexico village and how they adjust with the modern era.  Absolutely delightful!



Gosh I love this little "Milagro" ranch...

Blessings!

Gardens, Goodies and Ms Kitty Wobbles

Well I climbed back on the planet after having fallen off for awhile...  So much fun stuff has happened I'm not sure where to begin... Maybe let's start with the garden...

We have had so much rain with periods of intense sun in between that the results are my garden has exploded into bloom!

The scent of Jasmine is beyond lovely and wafts into the house in the afternoons...  it's wonderful!!  It is one of my all time favorite flowers!

I took these pictures right after the most recent downpour so the flowers are a bit past it now.  Of course they peaked right in the middle of the storm!  I think you can still get a sense of how beautiful they are/were.

I love how the Jasmine and Roses are intertwined.

Here the Jasmine has grown right up through a bird cage I have hanging from the avocado tree.

And through a small candelabra.  I will have to cut it back after it blooms or we'll have a Jasmine tree...  hmm, however...

The Geranium is running rampant too!

This side has a mix of scented Geranium, Basil, Daisies and Roses, all run wild.  Oh and Jasmine of course.

Foxglove...  a proper faerie flowers!

The Calla Lilies are magnificent at the moment.

The bird bath is a bit buried...  it is more like the jungle bath

So in addition to the garden growing like mad I have been a very busy little bee.   Since we last spoke I have refurnished and decorated a 5 bedroom 7 bath home for a bride and groom that spent a week with us culminating with their wedding in the barn (which I decorated).  I also decorated a most magnificent 50th birthday party with loads of pink Peonies and Roses.  I will post lots of pictures as soon as I get them!  In the mean time in searching for goodies for the house I was working on I got to go to the Rose Bowl swap meet in Pasadena... a couple of times...  WOW!  I have been trying to go for years now.  I finally made it and my head is still spinning!  I found so many cool things for the house!  It was just like Christmas!

Here is a sampling of the things I bought for me.

A beautiful vintage wooden hat box, an old tattered silk shawl with great fringe, and a beautiful ivory fan.

Look at the detail in this fan...

Here is another lovely vintage fan.  This one is ivory and silk with a beautiful painted cherry blossom design.

Here is another one that is lace, silk and ivory.  The detail is beautiful!

Look at this great collapsible top hat I found.  That is the box it comes in.  Also some bits of embroidery and

tapestries to play with.

Also a rather dilapidated but precious Iroquois beaded pin cushion (at least I think it is a pin cushion).

The back,

The inside,

I went to the Rose Bowl swap meet with one of my future brides and her family (there's will be the coolest wedding, when the groom was asked to describe the style he pondered a bit then said "imagine a Zeppelin crash lands in a faerie forest..."  How great will that be?!).  The bride's parents are just as much as fun as the bride and groom.  The mom found this tea cup and had seen on my blog the collection I have of my Mom's.  She bought it for me as a present... so sweet!

What was really neat was when I got home and added it to my china cabinet I noticed that it is different from the others.

This is the new lady above...

And below is the lady from my collection.

How fun!!  I didn't know there was more than one style!  Now I am hooked.  I have to find more ladies!

Now for the best find!  Hang on to your socks Lisa, Queen Mab and Frick over at Medieval Muse...

Nobody knew what this was.  The man I got it from said he thought it was a couple hundred years old.  If I recollect my art history college days I think it is a whole lot older than that!

Stylistically this is medieval at the latest I would say.

I think it is of the three kings. The middle name is I believe Balthazar which in my rusty old memory I think is one of their names.

The raised detail appears to be a plaster of some sorts.

Here is the back.  I think it is from a frieze.

Anyone have any idea what I purchased?  Whatever it is I love it!  I can't believe I get to have it!

Even though this is a long post already I have to tell you about the newest member to our family...

Meet Ms Kitty Wobbles...

We have actually had her for a few months now.  She belonged to a neighbor across the way who had to move.  He couldn't (wouldn't?) take her with him so we said we would feed and take care of her.  She is positively ancient, stone deaf and partially blind.  We didn't feel it would be fair to move her so we kept going over every night to feed and check on her.  We made soft warm beds which she refused.

We kept this up for a few months and then when the serious winter chill set in we had to bring her back to our house.  She just wouldn't go into the little houses we built for her and she definitely didn't have a winter left in her.  So now in her later retired years she is spending her time right in front of the heater in our hall way.  She has a cozy basket bed where we place a hot water bottle every night, full bowls of food and water and even though she can go where ever she wants in the house she seems quite content to stay right where she is.  Occasionally she will join me at my desk when I am writing but overall she seems quite happy in front of the heater.

Hope you are all warm and cozy where you are!