Tag: Sonya Lira Photography

Livingston House Update

Since I last posted about our Livingston house I have a few updates.

The inside has been painted with Sherwin Williams Repose Gray.

I wanted the wide flat trim for baseboards I think it is 6″ tall. The window seals are 8″ wide. This all looks really good. The trim is painted white.

The closets have been customized with double racks on each side of a shelving unit in the middle.

The kitchen cabinets, pantry and bathroom vanities have been put in those are all white shaker style.

I want black fixtures for everything.

I have picked out the countertop it will be Milton Quartz which is white with grey lines in it.

The island will get built custom unless I find a long skinny table that will work and it can be topped in the same quartz. I wanted a baker style table look with a quartz top no cabinets or sink in the island just a big work surface for my daughter Jeanelle and the two girls to bake with me.

The bathroom vanities will be the Milton quartz as well.

The light fixures, ceiling fans, can light inserts, porch lights, flood lights for out back have all been bought and are at our daughters house. I either had the stuff delived to their house or did a Lowes order.

The electrician is planned for next week.

We are making progress but one thing I have learned is what ever you think you can do a project for figure another 40% more. It never ends up working out like you had planned.

I will share pictures soon. Life is good!

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Plants

With our latest cold blast, I lost a lot of plants.

Some will come back and some will not.

What I noticed this time was Azaleas, Crepe Myrtle, Texas Sage, Louisiana Iris,

Paperwhites, Wild Privett Hedge, Fringe, and another hedge I can not remember the name of all survived.

Now the pink showers, purple showers, creeping daisies, succulents especially Aloe Vera and ferns look dead. Some will come back.

The Mexican heather froze but it always comes back so we will see who makes the great come back.

I did put some Aloe Vera indoors just in case.

I love plants so much I collect more than I can protect.

For Livingston, we are ONLY planting freeze-hardy plants because it is always 10 degrees colder there.

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Coleus

Coleus comes in so many varieties but most types like full or part shade and moist soil.

I have about 6 or 7 varieties this year and I have been propagating them. This is my Coleus raised bed. This is where all good coleus goes to make more coleus. I have a few favorite varieties I have not been able to find this year.

The way I propagate them is I take off a thick cutting remove all the lower leaves and plant it in moist soil watering it daily and in a few weeks you will have a whole new plant.

As you can see I have gotten a bit carried away this year.

I really like Coleus because it can brighten up an area of your yard with a splash of color. Choose light and bright colors for darker areas but you can accent with the dark red wines.

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Elvis the Cane Corso Pup

This is 8 week old Elvis he is one of the survivors of Ravens last litter.

We are babysitting the grandkids this weekend and this puppy. He went to his new home yesterday in San Antonio. The grandkids go back home today lol.

He just had his ears cut on Thursday and has white stiches so if you notice a thread coming out his ear its just the stich thread.

He has a cleft lip but it’s just the lip, not the roof of his mouth that is why he is called Elvis see his little gap in the middle of his mouth. I can just see how cute this will be when he gets his big teeth in showing off a new tooth.

This pup has a cute personality and followed me around all day long yesterday and slept in Jacks lap.

Puppy breath and puppy kisses will make anyone’s days brighter.

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Weenie Dog Puppies

Little Lady was so big I honestly thought she had 5 pups in there. Last Tuesday she finally had 3 pups.

Two of them are quite rare the black one is a full piebald tuxedo this one is a female. The multicolored brown is a shaded red OR a chocolate-based red it is a male it depends on the nose color and that changes a bit. The brown is a solid chocolate female.

They weighed .85, .80 and .65 on day 6 Monday morning. Not even 1 pound yet lol.

They are AKC registered miniature long haired Dachshunds.

These pictures were taken on Sunday I was using a metal bed Jack had made me to use in newborn pictures and a wooden barbie doll bed my dad had made.

The joy of fuzzy little puppies make everyone happy.

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The perspective of pictures

A picture of a flower can look totally different by the way you frame it.

Try moving to the left or the right or shooting from above to see how you can change up the look.

Leaving negative space in the picture below allows for an interesting perspective.

Cropping the picture much closer changes the look of the image.

In this case I prefer the one with the negative space because I feel like it draws me into the picture. For some reason I like the negative space on the left hand side I have no idea why.

This flower is the Agapanthus ( Lily of the Nile). These were beautiful this year and they were clearance flowers from Lowes.

Creativity is in the eye of the beholder.

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Colors in the landscape

The mexican heather with its green leaves and small purple flowers provide the perfect backdrop for the purple heart wandering jew.

The moss rocks balance it all out with there neutral tones.

We have this combination on the edge of our koi pond and it has worked out quite well and adds to the natural beauty of the area.

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A splash of purple

Mexican Heather is one of those plants you can buy that keeps putting on a show all year long.

It is actually false heather not sure how it got its name.

It’s fairly inexpensive and works out great as a border around a flower bed.  We probably have somewhere around 30 of these plants. They work out great for a spot of color in an area that might not have a lot of colors.

They seem to like it in the sun or partial shade they do well in both areas.

 

 

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