Happy (B)earthday!

I made this design for Earth Day. I put it on t-shirts and totes and stuff at my Cafe Press store.

"Where the heck have I been?" you may be asking. I know, haven't had time to blog lately. Well, I took a trip to Denver to attend an art licensing workshop presented by Jeanette Smith. I found it to be very informative.

While in Denver, I got to stay with my good buds, Max and Blackie (and their friend Jean.)


Denver is a pretty interesting place. It's an eclectic collection of cowboys, Christians, New Agers and artists. Since Jean's an artist, I got to meet quite a few of the latter category. It was snowing and 30 degrees the day I arrived, and then 78 degrees and blazing sun a few days later when I flew out. Spring is arriving there and we took a trip to the Denver Botanic Garden. They have a great collection of alpine plants, as well as a bunch of other interesting specimens. Here is one we liked for it's weird hairy foliage: European Pasque Flower or Pulsatilla vulgaris.


I also liked this little cactus flower, although the succulent building was way too hot for us to stay in for long.



Jean took me shopping to this great little store called 5 green boxes. They have a cool selection of home decor and other items. I got this beautiful pillow from Peking Handicraft there.


Since returning home, I've been busy getting caught up. Sunday I built a raised vegetable bed in my garden for my tomato plants, which seemed to have doubled in size in the 4 days I was gone.


This bed is really cool. It's made from a kit I found online from a company called Frame It All. You can buy the components at Home Depot too. The "boards" are composite plastic lumber. They are hollow core, which is lightweight for hauling up the stairs and they trap air so it warms up the soil. I want to get 2 more. The only bad thing is the labels are hard to remove.

Yesterday we celebrated my birthday by going to lunch at Bistro Jeanty in ...


...Paris, France? No, Yountville, Napa Valley, CA. Bistro Jeanty is really like a little slice of France here in California. I had the most decadent slice of ham and leek quiche I've ever tasted.

Today I bought myself a large bouquet of flowers.


It's nice to be back home again.



Happy Earth Day everybody!