A Visit With JustMeLisa

Lisa and I live about 1-1/2 hours away from each other and have visited a few times. Already, we have become fast friends. She is such a treasure! One of the nicest people I have ever met!

On Mother's Day, my DH and I visited Lisa and her DH (Jesse) to see their newly-opened business. Little Sally was there too. As is usually the case, the men paired off to discuss "guy stuff" so Lisa and I had time to chat and catch up on things while resting under the coolness of a huge tree alongside the bayou (it was hot that day). Sally (smart girl) amused herself on the computer while the adults chit-chatted.

We had an absolutely delightful visit and our DH's got to meet for the first time. MY DH got a funny look on his face because he realized the potential (BIG) list of "honey-do" projects there were going to result from this visit.

Lisa's FIL had built a little cabin which is actually a fountain! (Yes, I want one too! And DH knows it!) A pipe running across the length of the roof's peak supplies the water, which runs down the corrugated tin roof's grooves, and the rivulets fall into a pond they created. The water falling sounds just like rain. What a great idea!

While sitting on the banks of the bayou, we observed a blackbird making regular runs and dropping, from his beak, small, grape-sized white objects into the SAME spot in the water, over and over again. We still can't figure out what those white objects were or why the bird would keep dropping them in the same place. Any ideas?

The drive there and back was delightful because it was such a pretty day, and we went home content and happy after spending a day among the plants and being with such nice people!

I saw a picture of the building they leased http://davesgarden.com/journal/j/si/65980/ (in Lisa's Journal) and couldn't believe what they had done with the place in about a month's time.

This is Lisa on the porch:

And a shot of the front walkway:

And the porch:

I think they did REAL good, after starting with this:

I think they did a marvelous job, Congratulations!
I think I can tell you what the blackbirds were dropping in tha water, I have observed that behavior before and went to investigate, it was pieces of dry dog food that they couldn't swallow whole and they were dropping it in to soften it.
So mystery solved.
Josephine.

they have certainly done great.. very very nice , the porch and all flowers are beautiful....

thank you jean for all the kind words, you are way to nice to me! I enjoyed our visit very much!

Josephine & Hope, thank you both also. It has been hard work. I am glad I went into this pretty much ignorant, lol, otherwise I don't know if I would have taken the plunge :-)

Lisa, what a gorgeous place you've created there! And is such an astonishingly short time! WOW! Would you please post a pic of that cabin waterfall? PLEASE!? I'm dying to see it! :-)

-Julie

Wow!!! I am sooo jealous! Wish I could visit with her! Thanks Jean for sharing your visit with us!

Hi Lisa ~~~~ waving waving!!!

What a beautiful place!!! Ya'll have done outstanding!

((((Lisa, Sally, Jesse))))

This is Lisa's picture of the cabin when it was being built.

And this is a picture of the water running off the roof into the pond they are developing.

I'll let Lisa post a picture of the finished project, after she has finished the pond and landscaping.

OMG! I had pictured a miniature log cabin about 3 ft tall! ROTFL! OH WOW! Lisa that is just way too cool! Does it double as a garden shed? I'm so curious! How long did it take to build it? And I can't WAIT to see what it looks like when the whole thing is done! Wow again!

-julie

Wow, the place looks amazing! :)

Julie, that cabin is a little thin to do much storing. ;)

Well it looks to be about 2 feet deep. Enough to put rakes, bags of potting soil, etc in. I for one would use it if I had it in my garden. It's just too much fun not to use for something :-)

-Julie

Lisa...the place is looking GRAND....BUT...where is my rocking chair for the porch?? Jo

Oh, I am SO going through Justmelisa & Family withdrawals all over again! Thanks for posting these pictures, LSP, even if they do get me pining for our buddies down south. Lisa, everything looks wonderful! Just make sure any hammock chairs are securely anchored to a beam if you install 'em. *Thump!* LOL!!

Hello Julie,
Yes, we do use the back of the building for holding shovels and such. It is about 3 feet deep. Right now the back is still open. We hope to make some working doors on the back. Time just seems to fly when I'm there and it is taking longer to do things than I had hoped.

Jo, I am waiting for you to drop by to tell me where to put your rocker..lol..I'd hate to put it in the wrong place!! :-)

Kim, we miss you guys too...I'll make sure *any* hammock chairs are fully secured..grin. Also, helments & nose gaurds are required to sit in 'em...

Jody, good to hear from you!

ecobio, thank you for the compliment. I only wish my home yard looked so nice..it is so neglected this year!

I stand corrected, great use of space!

The back of that cabin would also make a great place to stack sacks of soil or mulch or other decorative bedding materials. Or, it could be a showcase for some of the taller, fancy plants. It certainly is a neat little building!

At least y'all don't need nose warmers along with those nose guards down south...

Great pics. It looks like a place I would just have to stop in an shop at. I took my daughter to the Nashville airport last week and got back home in about 7 hours. To many nurseries and antique stores to vist! Good Luck, Lisa
If I am ever near LA I will stop in.
Teresa

The place looks really great! So restful and inviting. I'm so glad you got to visit her and that you posted these great pictures. Thank you.

justmelisa--love the shots of your new establishment but was wondering just what you you were selling there? It looks to be a very enticing garden store, but when I saw the porch it looked special enough for a tea party!

Or were you planning to just write a southern romance novel there?

Can't wait to see the finished pics.

and thanks, louisianasweetpea, for sharing your visiting adventure with us. We'll all have to put Lisa's place on our itineraries. Good luck. t.

Ya done good girl!!

"eyes"

I got this great variegated Arundo donax from Lisa's nursery. The all-green kind grows along the bayous and ditches where I live, and hunters cut them and use them to make duck blinds and other hunting shelters.

Since Arundo (Latin for "cane") spreads by underground runners, this one will be placed in a large container as a specimen plant.

I also got this beautifully striped lily, which produces a purple bloom. I love the foliage so much, though, I don't care if it ever blooms.

LISA -- would you save me two more of these?

I also carted home this gorgeous Dwarf Cavendish Banana. This is my baby.

I have one of those grasses -- http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/1560/index.html It overwinters for us here in zone 5, but dies down to the ground and doesn't take over (at least it hasn't in the three or four years we've had it!).

Kimberly, you mean the clump doesn't spread in your region?

Wow, sounds like you guys had a great time, and it is great to see photos of the house that they just moved into.....Lisa, great to see your smiling face. I think of you evry time I eat a loquat.....and they abound here....so you are never far from my thoughts during this time of year.

Hi pebble! That's not Lisa's house (although her house is also beautifully landscaped). That's the little nursery she and her DH just opened. Walking around either her house or her nursery makes you feel as if you are in paradise. I though I had read that you were returning to the U.S.? I enjoyed reading about your house and where you live in Bodrum! How's it going?

It's spread, but not very much. I started out with three or so stalks when I first planted it, and this year it's got maybe 10? I'd have to look.

LSP, things going well here, it's just a very different life style...little things get on my nerves, like eating dinner at 10 pm....i like to be in bed by that time...... the summer is coming early, here it is mid may and we are having june weather, they are saying tht we are going to have the hottest summer in 200 yrs....yikes.....
I am busy selling villas to the Brits and Irish, i think im getting too old to be traising around building sites....

Lisa, sorry darlin, thought that was your house....it is gorgeous anyway, and you must be very proud and happy with the outcome. Is your daughter still interested in sewing?

thank you all for the nice words.

Pebble, that is ok about the misunderstanding. Remember I moved 3 years ago & with that move still very fresh in my mind, I don't care to move real soon..lol. It wasn't easy moving a farm!LOL. Although I do feel like the shop is my new home, I spend more time there. Thank you also for asking about my DD and her sewing. She is still interested in sewing, sadly though my time is not what it used to be and I can't help her. I made the educated decision this week to close on Mondays. I can't keep up the pace I am going. It'll make an old woman outta me quick! I know it is a risky move, but I just can't keep up with things. I'd rather have my sanity.

good call Lisa.....I am glad that your move turned out to be a good one.

Good plan being closed Sunday and Monday, Lisa! Saturday's probably the busiest time for you, huh? You need a rest after that. :)

By the way, one of the receptionists at our vet's office told me she just got a pygmy goat kid. He's scheduled to be neutered next week. We got to talking about stinky billy goats and your story came up, of course. I had to immitate your telling about that billy goat you had on loan when I visited you! LOL!!

didjuh translate in lisa language?lol

I think the key part was "Dat goat looked at me and said, 'She'll do!'."