Fabulous Foto Friday

Today we take you on a little photo journey.... First up- Bad hair

K1 let the salon put this brassy gold stuff on her hair, little thinking how that growout might look in a month or two! On a personal note, I didn't think the gold looked that good with her skin, Pale hair yes, gold... not so much.

Now- good hair. Re colored all of her hair with permenent color and then went over the top with a dark blond color gloss, semi-permenent. We'll know if a few weeks how good my matching skills are! We think it's really close though!

Now, the new back pack! The reason I wanted this particular pack so badly was because of the internal frame. In the picture below, you can see the two metal wires that hold the pack away from the mesh. That way the mesh sits against your back and you get air flow and less sweaty, sticky clothing!

On the inside, we see that the pouch for my water bladder sits directly behind the frame, providing a little air conditioning action on my back. The tube from my water bladder feeds up through the top of the pack and anchors on one of the straps so I can drink as I hike! Cool Beans! I got the smaller version of the pack because the more weight I carry, the more oxygen my muscles will need as I'm climbing. Since oxygen is an issue when I'm hiking (moreso the higher I go) the goal is to keep the pack as light as possible. I think I'd be too tempted to "fill-er-up" with a larger version, so I went small! 

At my old house, the huge [flat] yard was nicely landscaped and we had tons of flowers and climbing vines, and blueberries and about 500 bulbs. When we bought this house, we did not realize how difficult it would be to work with this bulk head crap. After 3 years, we just about have all the blackberries killed. We started planting this lower level, but lack of a really good plan prohibits us from moving forward. We've considered a drip system, bought landscape fabric for the top and are pretty sure we want to install Italian Cypress across the back to shield the yard from the neighbors. On this side of the yard, you seem my rosemary and the house belonging to the cat hater.

On this side of the yard, you see the apts behind us and to the right would be the house of the fence painting neighbor.

Any ideas? Suggestions? Aside from a bulldozer and a couple margharitas?

Asthmagirl out!

PS ~ A little something-something over on the food blog!

Comments

[Mental P Mama]

Yikes! I don't know what plants you can grow there. Some creepers over those walls would be beautiful...And then tall things to block the lovely neighbors. By the way, I think the hair came out very nicely.

[Asthmagirl Herself]

MPM,
We have a pretty mild climate here. I don't think we could grow desert or tropical plants but everything else does nicely. This yard does get a lot of sun though! I thought about putting clematis along the back fence, in between the cypress. I thought about Lavatera as well (rose mallow?) but it tends to over grow quickly and needs consistent watering... I really need a plan!

[Tracy]

I am not a plant person so no help here for the yard.... but you did a great job on K1s hair!!!

[Flea]

I was about to suggest some clematis, maybe jasmine on the fence. Climbing red roses and white jasmine make a gorgeous, fragrant combo.

[noble pig]

I think it has a lot of potential...how about a terraced vineyard like Tuscany?

Or tall in the back low in the front...that's helpful right?

[Linnea]

I think tall cannas and dahlias would look good in the back for summer color. Camellias are evergreen and start blooming before spring usually. Mother of time would trail down your rocks it is green year round and has red flowers in the summer, there are some different colored ones too. I love anemone lord lieutenant, mine have been blooming since last summer (the snow slowed them down but didn't stop them), they are bluish purple double anemone. I love columbines their leaves are green all year and my William Guinness are about four feet tall and covered in blooms, they love sun. Strawberries love sun, I have a couple extra plants if you want some. I find a good place to go for free plants is your dad's house, he has an evergreen blue berry bush, I've never even heard of that. I'm still learning how to plan my garden but I have learned that I can change stuff I don't like and something looks better than nothing. Let me know if you want any more ideas from me, I love helping with gardens. Oh I love weeping cherry, magnolia, and dogwood trees, they could go in front of your boring, yet highly functional cypress.
Love Linnea

[dlyn]

I would definitely plant the cypress - or something else that gets tall quickly - as a privacy screen. Once you do that, you have to consider how that may change the way that the sun hits in there because that will be the primary determining factor in what other plants you will use. You can get an idea of what will be shaded by pounding in some poles that are the approximate height of the cypress and then watch through the day to see where the shadow falls. Looks like a really fun project!

[Brittney]

Cool pack! Is it a Camelbak?

I have to say I've been mighty jealous of your hiking photos in your recent post, I miss the woods..mountains...just about everything but flat grasslands. :)

[Brittney]

Never mind, I just saw the tag, it is an Osprey. That is a good brand!

[Mental P Mama]

I love everyone's ideas. I wish I could grow cypress because I love the structure of it. The clematis is also a great idea. I have lots of that and climbing hydrangea along a back fence. Lots of sun? Lavender, russian sage, roses, lilies... This is going to be fun!

[Snooty Primadona]

Very cool backyard. I'd offer some suggestions but our yard looks like crap, so I have no room to tell anyone anything, lol. I say hire someone else to do and drink more Margaritas.

The hair looks fab, for sure.

;-)