Spring, finally!

The wildflower area, planted last fall, was uncovered this week. It’s really exciting!

A local landscaping company did the planting after we’d had some “good dirt” delivered. And then it remained covered for the winter and most of spring. As it got warmer I began peeking as I waited. Now, it looks like this.

The seeds came from The Vermont Wildflower Farm. It’s a fun website to visit in the winter when it’s snowy and cold.

Meanwhile, this fancy solar cat is now part of our outdoor decor. He/She glows at night.

And… this week I planted three tomato plants along with some thyme and basil. Fingers crossed that the critters won’t eat them before us.

And – we have a construction survivor! The lilac made it through and it smells simply wonderful.

California – ready to go back…???

We spent ten warm, sunny days in California.

It snowed here yesterday.

A few months ago, we got a “Save the Date” from the son of former Richmond neighbors. The wedding was in Monterey and Moffett foolishly (sort of) said, “Let’s go!” So we did.

We flew out of Boston on April 1st. The Manchester, NH airport is closer but – you have to fly somewhere else before flying to just about anywhere. So – got up early, drove to Concord, and took a bus to Logan.

Arrived in San Francisco, rented a car and drove north across the very foggy Golden Gate Bridge. We had no reservations. We just hoped we’d find someplace to stay that night. We ended up in Sonoma and had an awesome dinner at a local restaurant. We really liked viewing all the vineyards as we drove around.

Next day we headed for Garberville, CA. My cousin, Jo, and her husband, Stan, live up there and that’s the “entry” to the Redwoods. Through the magic of the internet, Jo and I have been in touch for several years but, we haven’t seen each other for almost 60 years. Yes, I said almost 60. We had a grand dinner with them – after we survived the drive up to their house. OMG – our driveway/road is absolutely nothing, nothing, nothing compared to driving up the side of their mountain. Jeez! Driving down was even scarier but Jo and Stan led us down with their car.

The Redwoods – were – better than expected. Beautiful, huge, amazing – and older than me!

Then we were off to Monterey for the wedding. Which was beautiful. And fun. And we really enjoyed spending time with our 70′s neighbors from Richmond. We had time to explore Monterey and eat!

Our final stop was San Francisco. We got to stay right downtown, just off Union Square, courtesy of Chris’s Marriott points. It was fun. We did lots and lots of walking around. And a whole lot of cab rides. We went to an Apple Store for the first time. We spent an hour at Williams Sonoma. We ate too much sourdough bread.

Now we’re back. The weather yesterday was atrocious – ice pellets, rain and snow. I have high hopes for spring to show up sometime soon. If it doesn’t, I’m going back to California!

Yup – More Snow!

Snowed again this week…

Our new screen porch looked like a scene from Dr. Zhivago with snow drifting over and around the porch furniture.

Shoveling (not that I did it…) a screen porch isn’t easy. Moffett had to open the doors to push the snow out of the porch and onto the deck.

The power stayed on. Well, of course it did. The generator is working now.

We are off to California next month for a wedding in Monterey and some California sunshine.  It’s sunny here today but in the 30′s. The groom is the son of former neighbors in Richmond so we’re looking forward to seeing good friends!

Skip the photos if you’re tired of all my snow photos. I know I am…

 

Is it Spring yet?

No, it’s not Spring yet and I know that but, I’m ready.

Yes we’ve had snow and ice, and right now it’s raining so that means the roads will probably be icy tomorrow but that’s okay, I don’t work on Fridays.

Our recent (last night’s) snow storm kind of fizzled out. And, that’s okay, too.

I made a snowman on the deck! He’s not huge, not like the ones we used to make when I was a kid.

I really need daffodils. Oh well…

 

 

 

 

 

It wasn’t the vent pipe

We’ve had a smelly house for a couple of weeks. Yes, it stunk.

The plumber came. He cleared snow from the vent pipe.
It worked, that day.
It still stunk.
The plumber came again. He installed some sort of air thing under the sink in the bathroom.
It didn’t work. The air thing was defective. (story of our life…)

The plumber came this past week.
He pulled out the toilet in the bathroom.
AND – the ring thing was cracked/broken/whatever and so that was the source of the stink.
Our plumber is a friend. He and his wife came to dad’s funeral Mass in 2009. Love this small town stuff!

The house doesn’t stink any more.

Kyle survived Q in Kansas City. He mentioned his white knuckles while driving to work on Thursday. He got home safely and for that, we are grateful.

It’s supposed to snow tomorrow night.

Is it Spring, yet?

The Weekend

Yes, we had a whole lot of snow. Officially, the weather people said 14.5 inches. Unofficially, our plow guy said he thought we had about 19 inches. It was pretty windy and we actually had a few spots on the deck that were bare on Friday night. But they filled in nicely as it continued to snow on Saturday.

No, it’s not all shovelled away yet.

Some of you actually wrote and said you were looking forward to some photos of our snow. Silly people!

They’re on a slide show – on YouTube.

Here they are!

And – a friend’s sister, who lives up here, posted this one. It’s fun to watch!

And the generator – - -
Didn’t work during a power issue on Wednesday, so they were here on Friday. Turns out that whoever fixed it last, shut it off… It’s working now but we didn’t need it. Yippee!

Frozen vent pipe?

I wrote this – There’s Pond Hockey and the Ice Fishing Derby coming up and… they need ice – on the 12th of January.

We now have ice, in fact if you stand outside for a few minutes you could easily become a human ice sculpture. It’s been really, really cold this week.

We have finally joined in on the “Downton Abbey” fun. Thanks to some new technology for our new TV, we have spent the last 3 weeks watching Seasons 1 & 2, while recording the first 3 shows of Season 3. We’ve only called Chris once or twice to walk us through navigating remotes and/or screens to find what we’re looking for.

I finally opened and read the Christmas cards we received. We were so totally overwhelmed with end of construction stuff and floor refinishing stuff and boxes all over, that cards were just tossed into a basket for later. I didn’t think it would be sometime in January before I’d have time to sit and enjoy them! We didn’t send cards this year. We have cards to send. I even bought stamps but – just didn’t get it done. Maybe next year?

And finally – you know those pipes that stick out of your roof and are vents for the plumbing? Well, we’ve had a stinky house for the last day or so and couldn’t figure it out. Checked under sinks, around toilets, etc… Our plumber came this morning. Agreed immediately that it stunk in here and after some investigating, decided to look outside at one of the vent pipes. He could see a dome of ice on top and so he climbed up on the roof and cleared the blocked with ice pipe, with a broom handle. The odor is gone now! He said he’s hardly ever seen this happen in his years of plumbing, but that it happens when it’s cold and the air is heavy. We shut off the heat and opened some windows for about 30 minutes. It was 6 degrees at the time but, you do what you gotta do. Candles are helping, too.

 

And now – onto February!

It’s January – already?

So what happened to December?

We’re done with the renovation! Well, except for some landscaping in the spring, which is why the excavator is parked in our front yard…

But – we’re done, we’re done!

And it’s awesome.

Now… we have to put all the stuff away. And get rid of more stuff. And throw out more stuff. I still can’t park in the garage and that’s not a good thing. But we’ll get there.

I’m trying to sell the piano. Anyone want to buy a piano?

The last chore was getting the wood floors in the kitchen and the “porch” refinished. The contractor’s guys helped with hanging plastic and moving the fridge and the stove. We lived with no kitchen for four days – just before Christmas. It wasn’t fun. But the floors look wonderful.

We got the tree up that weekend – sort of decorated it (it’s pre-lit, thank God). Chris and Kyle arrived on Christmas Eve and the holiday was begun!

Loved having both of the sons here. They’re fun and you know, we like them!

Chris was able to get tickets to the Redskins/Dallas game in DC. So, all three guys left on a very snowy morning for the airport. Chris and Moffett went to DC. Kyle went back to KC. The Redskins won! Moffett last saw Redskins and Dallas in 1979, in Dallas, with Jim Barr, a Dallas fan… Redskins lost. Moffett had a great time and arrived home for New Year’s (which of course, we slept through).

We sort of miss the building guys. We’ve had them around since last December.

We don’t miss the noise, the trucks parked in the driveway and – the bills.

Ice was doing great on the lake earlier - but not so great this week. So, as much as I hate to say it, it needs to be colder. There’s Pond Hockey and the Ice Fishing Derby coming up and… they need ice. I saw today that it’s supposed to be 77 degrees in Richmond tomorrow. Good grief!

Some photos!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We’re nuts!

If I’d known I’d be living with a construction crew for almost a year, I might not have so cheerily said, “Let’s add a screen porch.” last summer!

We spent a delightful week in Kansas with the boys!

They prepared the Thanksgiving dinner and it was delicious! The only thing I did was the sweet potato muffins. We did not help with clean up. It was nice!

Moffett got to go to two Chiefs games. They lost both but he had a great time with Kyle and Chris.

Meeting up with friends was wonderful! Well, except for the lunch where we went to the wrong restaurant. Duh…

The upstairs bathrooms were refloored while we were gone. One new toilet has been installed (with some minor glitches but it’s done). One more new toilet will be installed on Monday (with some major glitches but it will be done).

The new rock wall next to the driveway continues to be worked on and will hopefully be done before too much snow falls…

My car had to get two new tires today…

Both sons will be here for Christmas!

Some photos…

Next week…

Tomorrow, Monday, the electrician will be back (I hope…) to finish his stuff.

Tomorrow, Monday, a local landscaper will be here to do the wildflower area at the driveway entrance.

Tomorrow, Monday, we have someone coming to look at the bathrooms to give us ideas for toilets, tubs, sinks, cabinets. We stopped at two places this weekend to check out toilets. I had no idea that there are so many choices when it comes to toilets!

Tuesday, Moffett will be at the polls as a town employee, leading people through the voting booths.

Wednesday, the floor people will be here to install the entryway tile. We won’t be able to walk on it for two days which will be fine unless it snows.

Umm Thursday – well gee, what a surprise.

 

 

Tonight, Chris & Kyle are flying home from London. Chris decided that he wanted to see the new James Bond movie in London. So he took his brother with him and they went to the movie, along with doing the tourist thing. I’m looking forward to hearing all about it!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh – the new bed? Love it!

Oh – the new generator - not happy - it didn’t work when Hurricane Sandy visited NH. It’s fixed now.