Happy Spring!
The painting is done and everything looks beautiful!
The front door looks lovely and welcoming and eye-catching.
The front door is Danube Blue by Sherwin Williams.
The walls inside are Steamed Milk (also by Sherwin Williams).
The cats are happy that we don't have the painter in the house anymore and that the chaos and mess of painting are over. We are glad, too!
We are settling back in and putting the house together the way we want. It will be awhile before all the boxes are unpacked because we're not in a huge rush and because our time and energy are limited. That's okay!
We have been taking walks around the neighborhood, and one day we saw these wild turkeys in someone's yard!
The snow has melted and we've been getting quite a bit of rain (yay!)
After so much time in the desert, any precipitation seems magical.
After so much time in the desert, any precipitation seems magical.
Sometimes we really have to bundle up to go out!
We love our happy Lino Lakes blue heron logo!
On non-rainy days, the sky is beautiful!
Many plants are budding.
Fresh and renewed in a lighter color.
We still plan to replace the lighting in the kitchen, but it's not an immediate need.
The bedroom used to be a deep green, which was a pretty color, but not right for us. This light and bright off-white is perfect! It feels like a treehouse in the sky now.
The guestroom used to be purple (with a pink closet). It is refreshed and bright now, too, and suits us better.
Our new bedding is just right!
Comforter set from Macy's.
We had the joy of having Mark and Jillian and Cora and Esme over for pizza and to check out our new home.
I set the table even though it was a casual dinner because I wanted it to be pretty.
These people made it BEAUTIFUL!
Then we watched "Moana" - now that the girls are old enough, Greg and I are catching up on our Disney movies! I got snuggles.
The cats adjusted to our new home quickly.
Of the cats,
Stephen is the one who loves the fireplace the most.
Stephen is the one who loves the fireplace the most.
Of course he's still a silly little droop!
We love watching creatures out the window.
This squirrel is an acrobat!
Because it's regularly gloomy outside, we are careful to use our sun lamps to prevent mood disorders!
Allistair benefits, too.
Allistair just wanted to be cozy, so he pushed his way into the blanket at the end of my mat (which was put there to accommodate him!)
When I'm gone, Allistair gets lonely and takes his toy whale, Wanda, upstairs to Daddy.
It's cute how he runs up the stairs with a huge whale!
It's cute how he runs up the stairs with a huge whale!
We had another freezing rain that made everything sparkle.
And the ice slowly melted on the pond.
At first, it melted in odd lines where the ducks and geese landed and swam!
On one walk, I saw these wonderful curly trees! Curly willows, maybe?
I had some time in between an appointment to get fingerprinted for my Minnesota Speech-Language Pathology license and a grocery pickup time last week, so I stopped at the Maplewood Nature Center, where I went a good number of times growing up, both with school and with family and with friends and on my own.
They still had many of the old bones and skulls displayed (though I couldn't get in because it was after 3 pm).
It was extremely windy and only 33 degress (F), so I didn't stay long or walk far!
There's a very neat and very long bridge across a portion of the lake.
It was extra windy on the bridge.
It was extra windy on the bridge.
As the weather gets nicer, we're able to be outside more without being too cold and without bundling up quite so much.
The view definitely is not getting old!
Water sparkling!
The creatures are magnificent.
I've sat outside to watch and listen and sniff a few times now.
I investigated our property across the pond, too. We have some willow trees (I think!)
That's our house in the background.
Leaves are coming!
I like these fuzzy buds:
Greg and I hung out with Cora and Esme while Mark and Jillian attended a school function, and we had a great time! We went on an adventure, exploring a pond near their house.
Part of the pond had slushy ice, and the wind created an interesting sound I've never heard before!
In spite of a sore foot (for unknown reasons), Uncle Greg carried Esme's scooter when she wanted to go cross-country.
He may have tried it out!
We set some milk weed pods to sail across the pond!
Our boats made it to the other side of the pond!
Greg skipped some rocks!
We had a great time!
This part of the house is looking GREAT and cozy!
I decided that my home style is "Mid-century cabin library"!
Mid-century = the coffee table, the star burst art on the table, blue
cabin = trees, fuzzy blankets, folklore patterns, plaid
library = BOOKS!
Claude doesn't care so much about style; she likes that she can watch the birds and sleep in comfort!
We have gotten some spring snow showers, but nothing major.
I like when the snow melts except where the shadows are!
And I like footprints!
Mine:
Ducks'!
My parents finally arrived back in Minnesota after spending the winter in Arizona (without us for the first time!), so I stocked them up with a bit of stuff.
And picked up my new glasses on the way!
They're progressives . . . and it's AMAZING how well I can see tiny writing now!
Sunrise over the pond:
Geese on a roof!
Geese? Trumpeter Swans? on our roof! Photo taken by our neighbor.
We love the creatures, we love our new home, and we love living in Minnesota again!
