gentleman's boutonnière

Sophie and I made tiny bouquets for our friends Michael and Jimmy for their birthday party. We used the nasturtiums that sprout up every spring in our garden. We also decorated the double chocolate cake we make with flowers as well.

Our favorite Venice gentlemen wore the bouquets in their front pockets the whole party. Sophie was soooo proud!

stripey playhouse

Mark painted these stripes on the shack in the back a few years back. Now the shack is transitioning from Mark's hangout to Sophie's playhouse AND Mark's hangout.

I decided to continue the stripes around to the other side. I also painted the flower boxes and planted them with a trailing succulent that is impossible to kill (which is great for me!)

I was a tad concerned that it was all a bit too colorful but I just kept remembering the Caribbean and how it seems that in the Carib regions there can never be too much color. It is, after all, Sophie's playhouse.

the wall becomes a canvas

Mark mentioned that he thought I should do some sort of mural on the wall. I felt this might be a bit of overkill, as Sophie's playhouse floor already has a mural of sorts on it.


Anthropology had a beautiful painted split leaf philodendren on their window but before I could snap a pic they put up something else. I googled philodendren and found a picture to work from and painted a big one, plus a palm tree both in a lighter green. I'm really happy with it, it looks very simple and graphic and looks great peaking through the Buddha's belly bamboo I bought at home depot today.



Now I just need to get Mark to sledge hammer some holes in the cement patio. (He made the mistake of telling me the sledge hammering was easy!) The bamboo will be all around the perimeter of the back yard and will totally transform it into a tropical garden in no time!

thank god for non-toxic paint

We raised the wall! One cinderblock makes a huge difference, even Mark can't see over it now. I started painting it a sort of medium grass green. When I posted this picture, I realized it's almost the exact color of the background of my blog!

It looks soooo much better. I really want to finish BUT Sophie wakes up from her nap.

"Sophie if Mommy paints, can you not touch the wet green parts?"

Sophie- "Only the red parts, Momma"



Yeah, right. Yes, clearly I am more than a bit deluded about my daughter's ability to stay away from wet paint. We are two of a kind sometimes.

She turns to me, covered in green paint, "Momma, I am so happy!"

Me, too.