backyard progress

I saw a couple birds nest in some wisteria at the plant nursery today!
I'm starting to make some choices for the non-rose plants for the backyard. It's fun to be starting from scratch and be able to say "I don't want X, Y or Z." and to be able to choose plants that really please me and have memories attached to them. Most of the plants are low water usage and they'll all be whites, pinks and purples. Here's some things I'm probably going to put in:

bicolor morea,
bearded iris,
french lavender,
wisteria,
star jasmine
crape myrtle
flowering cherry (pink, probably Kwanzan)
weeping flowering cherry (white, probably snowfountain)
whooley thyme
japanese camellia (low form)
clematis
mexican evening primrose
Autumn Sage
fleabane daisy
agapanthus (white)
rosemary

the general feeling will be kinda like this (below) or like this... Thanks again to Jocelyn for helping me think through things. :) Eventually, I want to get a stone Japanese basin for a birdbath... and a bench arbor and a really BIG ROCK. But we may wait on that for another year.

Mimi Weddell

I had bought this dvd, Hats Off starring Mimi Weddell a couple months ago, but didn't have time to watch it yet.

"I find if people walk slowly in front of me these days, I want to kick them."

It's an interesting film. I recommend watching it. It definitely made me think,... and perhaps more importantly, reconsider what's important. Are you wasting your time...? This woman was 93 years old. Every moment is precious, because she may die at any time... right...? (because she's so old...) But we are born and we have X amount of unknown years, isn't every moment precious? It doesn't matter how old you are,... your are gradually moving towards death. (Mimi sadly died this Sept.)

Do something wonderful and look at beautiful things. Are you really spending your time the way you want to be...?

"If you don't dance, for heaven's sake, you cannot aspire.
You do not lift up from this earth."

from the website:
"Hats Off, a feature-length documentary, profiles the beauty and eccentricities of an extraordinary woman, 93-year-old actress Mimi Weddell.

With the style and grace of Katharine Hepburn, the smoky wit and wisdom of Dorothy Parker, and her own personal philosophy, "rise above it," Mimi is truly an iconic American original, rising above the mundane and difficult confines of her own daily life to reach for the stars and fulfill her dreams.

Hats Off captures the essence of this most unusual woman, named at age 90 by New York Magazine as one of the "50 Most Beautiful People in New York," whose full-time acting career began at age 65 upon the passing of her husband, and whose daily routine mocks the traditional image of old age. From grueling 14-hour days at cattle call auditions to her weekly gymnastics and dance workouts, Mimi Weddell exudes a 'can-do, will-do' attitude in the face of life's trials and tribulations, and moves through her challenges with grace, encouraging us all to be more than we are."

and now I'm going to go watch Die Hard.