Sidetracked.....

I haven't posted an update since October....2011. Yikes! I could have built a lot more than just a patio by now. After hauling over 1,000 pavers and bricks, along with many wheelbarrows full of rocks and bags of concrete, I hate to say it, but I'm not done! The pathway and pond area are finished, but the patio is still lingering. I am in the final stages and if the Oregon weather will cooperate, I may be done in the next couple of weeks. I am working with dry concrete to inset the pebble rock mosaic and if rain is predicted for the day it won't work. It's hard to schedule my "real job" work hours around the weather, so it is hit or miss. Enough excuses...here is a teaser picture of the fire pit area of the patio and the beginning of a pebble mosaic. I will just have to stall some more by showing pictures of the two weeks we spent in April in Mexico.

This is a small section right after the concrete was misted. In about a month I will be able to clean it with muriatic acid and then seal it. I will also touch up the pointed pavers with a little bit of concrete stain so they stand out.

Onto Mexico......

 

In case you wondered why I am inspired by pebble mosaics, this is why. Even this trip hazard of a sidewalk looks pretty darn good with a pebble mosaic. They are everywhere in Mexico and adding something similar to my garden will remind us of the rustic paradise we love to visit.

And here is another reason we love Mexico so much, the dogs! There were actually 4 of these little guys on a balcony, but the 4th one didn't want to cooperate. They were so funny. I had to get this shot by sticking the camera through a gated fence and hoping for the best. I think they stopped barking and stood still for a split second because they were trying to figure out what that "camera-arm" thing was before they started up again



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This is Elephante who we met when he was a puppy with pink spots on his feet. 

He was still there and all grown up. 

Most of the dogs in Mexico look like a scruffy version of this. 

This is our dog Dinga sitting in the kitchen looking nervous because she doesn't have anything to herd.

But this year we found something totally different on the streets of Mexico.......

Little Designer Dogs! This little guy on the left looks like he should be sitting on a pink silk pillow in some ritzy mansion.  Instead he was on the streets of Mexico begging for food with the rest of them. Is this a Shitzu? And the little one on the right looks like he just jumped out of Paris Hilton's purse! (I left the Shitzu in for scale.) We knew the little designer dog population was a problem in the states, but we had no idea it had also rolled down to the streets of Mexico, this was a surprise.We think someone must have been caring for this group of dogs as they looked in pretty good shape for the circumstances.

 

We do go to Mexico to see more than just dogs and Rocks. Here are a few other points of interest.

And I thought I sometimes planted a little close, look at this.  I think this is a marriage of "till death do us part". 

These were big trees that seemed to be thriving.

Here is an old Coati that we saw at our favorite restaurant. He had scars like he had been in a few fights. Poor guy. We later saw a pack of 60 or more living on the side of a cliff in rock caves.

A beautiful day in Mexico.

I love this door!

Sorry, I couldn't help it. More rocks! Isn't this cool?

One of many beautiful sunsets we enjoyed.



A garden update will be coming very soon when the patio is finished.