The rooftop perimeter is established, and I’m still considering what, if anything, the interior might contain as a “feature”. Miniamalist me thinks more of the same: low-growing poppies, random clumps of wild grass (from Woodland Scenics www.scenearama.com), dried thyme clumps, the odd cut-silk succulent nestled in amongst the preserved moss.

Mosaicist me is visualizing the Sea House logo done in tiny granite tiles, for the pinpointing of passing pilots, while Gratuitous Decorator me thinks a simple checkerboard of square pavers might add some flair.

As for the California poppies, I’ve made 31 so far. Maybe 200 more to go?! I’ve graduated from the lovely, convenient kit to crafting from scratch, using crepe paper for the petals and 30-guage thread-wrapped bead wire for the stems (what I had on hand). At first I painted the paper with watercolor, but finally arrived at *blush* using Sharpie markers as a best solution.

I punch 3/16-inch (5mm) circles from ivory crepe, then dab colors on the four petals that make each poppy. The centers are made from a thin strip of printer paper colored yellow, snipped into a very fine fringe and rolled around the top of the stem wire. These four Sharpies are giving me all the tints I need, as they saturate and bleed on the crepe paper and thread-wrapped wire beautifully. Who knew?