NV, OR and WA

We had so much fun on our two little vacations this summer. I've gotten really bad about taking pictures, but here are the few I ended up with.

First we went to Las Vegas to see Crosby, Stills and Nash. What an amazing concert!!!

At the top of the Stratosphere.

In Planet Hollywood. Of course Jason had to get a picture with Jason

Some really cool flowers in the new high end shopping center.

The next trip was to Portland OR to see Sunshine (aka Alex Wrek) and then on to my brother and sister in law's newly finished home in Winlock WA. Their home turned out so beautiful and the scenery was breathtaking. How I managed to not get any pictures of Matt, Michelle, Una, Russell, Norah, Poppy, or the house is beyond me!

Look it's my X

Sunshine

Some Really cool Statues in WA

Although this one really creeps me out!

J in front of the Winlock Mason Temple

The amazing landscape that I couldn't get enough of

Matt and Michelle's tractor hanging out beneath the trees was just too picturesque.

Our Future Yard

Since the yard was possibly the biggest selling point when we bought our home, and we had tons of outdoor gatherings last summer, Jason and I decided to spend this spring making it really spectacular. I was going to wait until all the work was done to take pictures and post about it, but well I'm just too excited about what's in store so I figured I'd list some of the things we've done so far and plans for the next couple weeks. A couple weeks ago I planted a Bleeding Heart. Luckily our freak spring snow storms haven't done any real damage.

Plants that have been patiently waiting through this erratic weather to go next to the pond are:

A pink/orange Lily

Sweet Potato Vines(both colors)

Stone Crop

Snap Dragons

Labrador Violets

And New Guinea Impatiens

In addition to the pond, which I'll post a step-by-step about when it's done, we started planting our vegetable box. So far we've planted four types of tomatoes, jalapenos, and Crenshaw melons. I'm also planning on adding some watermelon, lettuce, and spinach.

I put a little box of Chocolate Mint and Peppermint on the brick pyramid that was there when we moved in. They smell SO yummy! I wish I could've found Spearmint too.

A slightly sad little Fuchsia.

Petunias in the pyramid. We also planted strawberries, basil, and Rock Cress here.

Items that are in the mail, or about to be, include:

50 Peacock Orchid/Lily bulbs

10 Ostrich Ferns.

10 Wild Ginger plants.

10 Trout Lilies.

10 Trillium plants.

25 Hosta Plants(2 different kinds).

And 100 Lily of the Valley Plants.

Plants I'm considering for the pond include:

Monkey Flower.

And Bloody Dock as well as several others.

* Note - not all photos were taken by me. Some are from garden stores/websites.