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| My "Fletch" moment from the other day... |
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| "And...here's the dog that almost bit me." |
The other day I was at a house to do base mapping, and just while I went to my truck to quickly grab my camera, the housekeeper let the dogs out who promptly bum rushed me at the property line and were committed to making me think I might need to jump up on the roof of my pickup truck to avoid getting mauled. But I will provide this testimonial, "Invisible Fence for dogs... it really does work!"
But back to "real" content.
As I type this I can hear the sleet and snow mix pelting the window like little BB's. The first day of spring was announced on Monday and welcomed with a "mild" 45-50 degree day, as the stretch of mild temperatures and slightly above freezing rains have allowed the 14"+ glacier of snow covering Minnesota to steadily melt and show the grass and emerging spring bulbs. But now, we have freezing rain and 3-5" of snow accumulation forecast for tomorrow with another 5-6 days of February-like temperatures ahead. A little bit of snow has come back and is here to stay for a while. Again!
Meanwhile, the Minneapolis Home and Garden Show prospects are keeping Jack and I busy, although many are still holding off until the snow is gone for good. We also have a small group of great professionals who we have been collaborating with on their projects, to try to help them get their business off to a good start this year as we help to offering their clients a high caliber of design. I love working with people who are committed to providing the best service they can possible offer for their clients. There are a group of excellent professionals in the landscaping industry here in the Twin Cities, offering world-class installation. We are committed to offering world-class design, and helping to growing each other's business offerings to make this year the best it could possible be.
We've also been looking into another exciting collaboration which will enable Landscape Design studios to stay consistently busy with design. Things are exciting!
What I like about my job the most is the design process. I have been a professional landscape designer now for 13 years, with the previous 6 of those years being saturated with art and design projects as a student. I love it. Although, as I mentioned in previous blog posts, it does feed my obsessive-compulsive tendencies. But when some people have a video game they want to master, or a sudoku puzzle they want to finish, "Farmville" (er, maybe), or a 5,000 piece puzzle that they have to finish when they are at "the point of no return", I have landscape design and all of my CAD softwares to obsess over. Every project is different, every client is unique, and every design is customized to have its own sense of personality and flair, tailored to that unique client. Then the puzzle is getting it be that perfect marriage of price, style, and positive impact to my client's lifestyle and quality of life. And, in most cases, to improve the value of their property as a worthy investment. That's the constant mindset of a Lansdcape Designer, trying to fit all of the puzzle pieces together. It is fun. But it is also more fun when the projects get lined up and I am able to make a living, see the projects to fruition, and build lasting relationships as I have in the past.
Here are snippets of a couple of designs that I have been working on. Again, this is a process and a couple of these are not quite done yet, but these designs have so far provided a very good facilitation to discuss what the homeowner's really are looking for and the level of investment they are considering for their home improvement project. Hopefully they will end up in being a fun project to be a part of in the spring and summer of 2011.
All the best!
Dave
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