As you can see, the yard is pretty tiny, so not much to work with. Can’t do anything about the neighbor’s trash can almost in our yard, but hopefully the rest of the stuff classes the joint up a bit.

There was just enough space in front of the garage for our two retro-inspired metal chairs. The matching table is by the back door.

This is one of two hanging plants I just bought. I love the purple in the leaves.

Another hanging plant on the garage. I’ve always wanted a spider plant. I find the tendrils fascinating, but also a little creepy.

When I saw this plant was called Rabbit Tail Grass, I knew I HAD to buy it. It’s so soft!

I put a bunch of smaller plants together in a big pot. Hopefully they don’t choke each other out.

I had some leftovers from the large pot planting so I put them into little pots leftover from the wedding. The table and matching chairs really needs to be sanded and repainted, but that’s a project for another weekend.

I have no idea how long these plants will last, but I’m hoping a do a better job than previous years. I’ve got a good feeling this time.

It’s been a while since I’ve been really excited about a project I worked on, but this is one of them. I did this 11×17 poster for the Mason City Jaycees’ Retro Roller Skating Night. I had a lot of fun with it and tried to emulate my memories at the roller rink as a kid. My favorite was always the moonlight skate, where they would turn off all the lights except for the ones on the giant mirrored ball hanging from the ceiling. It was so pretty…and disorienting. I’m surprised I didn’t fall down more often!

Oh–and I almost forgot…Derek and I were interviewed for a story about how people who rent make their place seem more like home. Here’s the link.

I forgot to post about this, but I started making a 2009 calendar. I needed a calendar for my office at work and was too lazy to look for one (but not too lazy to make one? Yeah, my brain doesn’t always make sense). I’m making them a month at a time, and so far I have January and February finished. I updated the rights on them on flickr so anyone can download and print them out if they’d like. Available here.

Derek got me a Charley Harper memory game for Christmas. Score! Unfortunately my memory is not good enough to play it…as proven when my mom and I took a crack at it. We decided we should have played with teams.

Crate of clementines.

Buddha lamp I got for Christmas from my dad and stepmom. It didn’t occur to me until right now how funny that is.

Fan brush, shot in my mini-studio.

Second item of business: I’ve decided to take a photo a day and post it here. We’ll see how far I go before it gets boring, but for the time being I’m going to push myself to do this.

Taken using my mini-studio. This is an odd papier-mache halloween candy dish, done in the style of “Day of the Dead.”