Cowbelly Pet Photography Seattle Blog

I’ve been promising this to my facebook fans for weeks (ahem- months), and here it finally is- details of my new home- starting with pics of the outside. For those who don’t know, a few months ago I moved from a miserable living situation to a fantastic new place where I’ve been blissfully happy. After living on the edge of downtown for years, I made the decision to move to a quieter neighborhood in Seattle where I could have a bigger yard for the dog and a garden for me. To say that I’m in love with the outdoor space at my new house would be an understatement. The house has become a social scene, frequently filled with family and friends, and I positively cannot wait for summer barbeques. For the first time in many years, I have finally found ‘home’, and it feels so good.

The entire yard is filled with flowers. The roses on the left are what we pass by every time we go outside to the yard.

Every home with pets ought to have one of the stickers on the left below. On the right is the jasmine bush that scents the air next to the back door. Heavenly.

I love that the yard is big enough that Fergie can get great exercise without needing to leave home. It’s like having our own dog park in our backyard. She can even make loops around the entire house while still being in the yard as the property is fenced all the way around the house. The large weedy area in the grass you see below used to be a garden plot. I plan to fill it in with grass as there is a 10′x10′ dirt plot next to the patio I plan to turn into a veggie garden. I am a salad addict and I think it will be amazing to grow my own lettuce and veggies.

I’m looking forward to having fresh fruit from the fruit trees this summer. Anyone have any good dessert recipes involving pears?

For those who follow me on twitter, when you hear me say I’m outside working on my laptop on my patio, I’m sitting in the chair with it’s back to the camera below (usually with Fergie right there too, waiting for me to throw her ball, lol). And you can’t see it in this shot, but behind the rose bush behind the table is an outdoor outlet where I can plug in my laptop charger when it’s dry out. I cannot wait for more nice weather days so I can spend more time working outside. It’s definitely one of the perks of being self-employed and working from home. I can’t imagine a prettier ‘office’.

The yard is filled with trees, which make the perfect home for birds of all kinds. There is a bluejay family that comes to visit every day- two larger adults and one small juvenile. I plan to get a hummingbird feeder for the summer, as I suspect I’ll see those little guys around too.

The window on the left below is my home office, which you’ll see in the next post. I was so excited when I was sitting inside working one day recently and noticed the rhododendrons had  finally bloomed and I saw that they were the same color as the Cowbelly branding. My sister said it’s serendipity. The house itself is a 1930 mediterranean stucco house, which is very rare in Seattle. The doors and windows are all tall and skinny, as are the doorways, and it makes me marvel at how different life was 80 years ago. What’s also awesome about living in a stucco house is that it stays warm inside in the winter and cool in the summer.

I am probably the only person who would get excited about something like an oil cap in the ground, but I love that this house has so many little unique details which infuse the place with character. And in keeping with the mediterranean spirit, the property has palm trees scattered here and there. (Also rare in the PNW). Oh, and that blue thing down there in the corner is a rain barrel, which at first I thought was ugly, but with all of those plants in the yard I have a feeling it will make a big difference when it comes to the water bill. There are 5 or 6 large rain barrels on the property.

After living in a house that had a (non-dog-friendly) swimming pool and little in regards to a yard, Fergie loves to spend time circling the yard, sniffing every bush and tree, and rolling on her back in the grass. I’ve never seen her happier than she has been the past few months, which just makes my heart soar with joy.

And finally this is where the pooch spends a lot of her time- on her bed in the breezeway between the house and garage, one of her favorite places to be. I look forward to hot summer nights when we can hang out out there, candle lanterns lit and an icy beverage in hand, just soaking up the cool summer night breezes.

Thanks for taking the tour of the outside of my new place! Up next- the inside.