Inspiration

I was very excited to see this video this morning (via Studio G), as the monograph about Fernando Caruncho has been my main inspiration for my property since I first came across it. Granted, I'm not in the league of the Spanish aristocracy that Caruncho designs for, but one can dream.  In particular I love the trellises made from rebar that you can see in a couple of the projects featured.  (Totally adaptable to a non-aristocratic budget).  I also really love the garden shown at the end, where agriculture is the key  component to a highly designed landscape.  Where I live most agricultural fields are planted with alfalfa, not wheat, which doesn't give as strong an auditory component, which I love.  It does move in the wind the same way.   My site plan is based on combining agricultural elements such as an orchard with courtyards and a meadow for outdoor recreation.  New Mexico shares a lot in common with Spain, such as strong light, intensely hot summers, and a centuries old irrigation system for agriculture.    

Getting Started

I've been trying to establish a routine for myself since I got laid off at the beginning of the year, and blogging is intended to be a part of that.  So far however, I've found that I'm quite busy catching up with all of the things that are important to my personal life, and haven't gotten as much done along the lines of a routine.  My routine has developed as such:  

• wake up @ 6:30 and walk to Mom's house to make chai and feed the dogs (my mom lives next door-- ours is a compound-style property-- more on that later when I get around to posting a plan)
• take one set of dogs for a walk around 8:15
• come home and eat breakfast around 9:15
• get online to check email, read blogs, work on freelance opportunities 10:30-1:00
• eat lunch and read a book 1:00-2:00 (its so nice to have a large stack of books around and actually progress through them, am also currently loving the library-- ah, free books and almost any one that you may be hoping to read).
• work on household chores, home repair, setting up home office, etc until about 4:30
• feed dogs again
• clean up kitchen, start prepping for dinner 5:30-6:30
• eat dinner (7:00-ish) & chill out until bed @ around 11:00

Obviously on many days I deviate from that schedule by leaving to meet with friends and former co-workers, several of which I'm trying to start working with, or going out to shop and run errands, etc.  I've also taken advantage of the time off to visit friends in other cities/states, which has been great. My job was extremely stressful over the past few years, and consumed far too large a share of my life.  My goal now is to get by financially and actually make sure that my personal life is fulfilling-- my career can be along for the ride.  

Back to plans for the blog-- I intend to post some before/after photos of the house and property and the landscape master plan-- but its all stuck on my currently non-functioning old computer and sorting through back-up cds is taking forever.