ACROSS THE DESERT

We recently drove from the Coachella Valley to Las Vegas for a mom visit. We decided to take the less traveled route to see what it had to show us.

Here are some shots we took along the way.

One thing we found out, is that route is a long way from nowhere (I'd hate to break down out there).

We passed abandoned towns, and deer, tortoise, and elk crossing signs, and we saw many lizards along the way.

The most desolate of roads were undulating (real tummy ticklers), and they were paved and patched in reds, greys and black (and not always in a good way)...

Here are some shots of the lovely (pretty much ghost) towns of Amboy, Cima, and Kelso.

deserted motel - note the date of 1917

 Trough a Joshua Tree forest or two.

And through parts of it we were on Route 66 (which surprised us, and we were thrilled- as someday we want to drive most of it).

I get my kicks on Route 66...

Happy trails.

RUST AND OTHER SUCH HOOD FINDS

that is all

SPRING IN THE DESERT

Desert walk and spring findings

I see where Dr. Seuss gets his inspiration, don't you?

MORNING WALK

MORNING OBSERVATIONS

TIME MARCHES ON

like clock work

MID MARCH OBSERVATIONS

Spring is in the air- happily!

As always I have my iphone with me and manage to capture snippets of my daily comings and goings. Some included here encompass a trip to Victoria BC, NYC, and Washington DC.

I hope you are too

desert raindrops

a tree grows in nyc

fractured reflection

That is all...

DAYS IN THE SHADE- IT'S ALL ABOUT THE PROCESS

Not all of my posts are about photography, or gardening or working in the studio. 

We really disliked our back yard. It wasn't a friendly, lush, comfortable place and we wanted to change that. So our plan was to have a concrete patio and shade structure installed in our back yard at our soho (south house). There used to be lawn (very bad lawn) there, and we needed to change it up- we wanted the ability to leave furniture out there without it getting wet from the irrigation system.

So we set out to do just that. Earlier last week a crew came and dug up the yard (that was a lot of sod and soil), and proceeded to 'do their thing'- end result, a patio/shade structure- with a spot for future BBQ.

You know, everything in life is a process- and I think some are fascinating, so I watched this one with interest.

Our process for this project is what I call IPEE

IDEA
PLAN
EXECUTE
ENJOY

But for the contractors the process is different- here are some shots that show you their process. 

DIG
POUR
LEVEL
SMOOTH
SEASON TO TASTE
INSTALL

DIG
(and rake, and rake, and rake)

POUR AND POUR SOME MORE
(the guy pouring has a wifi doohickey so he can shut it down when he needs to stop)

 

 

 

 

 

LEVEL (and take a break)

SMOOTH (this guy has these cool things he kneels on and he kind of skates on his knees after the concrete hardens a bit, then does his magic to finish edges, etc)

ADD SALT AND ROLL (to match the existing concrete they add salt and roll it into the concrete until it is dry) DRY OVERNIGHT, SWEEP AND HOSE DOWN

AND- we had them do a little work to the front entry- but that's another project (and process)

NEXT UP- SHADE 

DELIVERY- here's some of what they need to build the shade structure

UP IT GOES- these guys are fast

COMPLETE - well almost, now all we need is furniture so we can sit down (note how the structure is shading the house and not much else? That's what you get with a winter sun).

NEXT UP- BBQ, but that's for another post.