She was the bestest dog.

We miss her lots.

Playing in the dirt

I think this might just be the adult version of playing in the sandbox. That said, all that "playing" has now gotten us a patio that's big enough for us to have the table on so we can eat outside! Particularly impressive given the 90+ degree heat we had this weekend, I think.
Abi helped, too.
And look what Geoff brought from the farmer's market! Black raspberries! (Because apparently, in his mind, providing back-breaking labor isn't enough). I'd gotten the blueberries this morning. So I ran back out to get some vanilla ice cream.
Seems like a pretty good way to top off a hot July weekend.

Our new patio

Well, perhaps you can use your imagination just a bit...

Rob took a week off while I was away to start digging up the backyard to put in a patio. He did most of what you see above, and all of what you see below. This weekend we finished the digging and most of the gravel. The next steps are to put in a bit more gravel, put in stone dust, then put in the flagstones. But that will have to wait for next weekend because at the moment we're both too sore to move.
All the dirt that was dug up had to go somewhere. Look who's Queen of the Mountain.

Dirt therapy

I had a tough week this last week, so I decided I needed to spend the weekend digging in the dirt. Of course, I am now unable to move my arms, but that's just a minor detail...

I decided to tackle the front walk, redigging the beds, putting in plants and mulching.
It may not look like much now, but I planted 20 of these little guys, 6 different kinds, so hopefully I'll have a bit of Provence in my front yard by the end of summer. I'm a little concerned about the "needs good drainage" part of the tag, but am hopeful about the "drought tolerant" part.
These are dropping all over our lawn. They're lovely tulip poplar flowers.
As with anything that deals with the house, one thing always leads to another. I had to bring the front bed around the side...
...and under the fence. The iris here are from my neighbor who was thinning out hers. I'm going to thin out my Siberian iris from Anna and return the favor. As for my "helper"--it's no wonder some of my other bulbs aren't coming up! She's either right there with me (which was interesting when I was using the pick ax)...
...or she's supervising.

Snoozing

They had a rough day.

A Wintry Mix

So yesterday there were crocuses blooming all over the place.

Today we're in a winter wonderland.


Rob, Abi and I took a walk on the nearby trail while it was snowing. It was really quite beautiful--so of course I forgot the camera. There weren't many people out and about, so we left the pooch free to roam and zoom in the snow.

Rob made a special trip to get birdseed to fill the feeder (whilst Abi was making yellow snow)...

...which Abi promptly started to eat (the birdseed, not the yellow snow. I think.).

Hopefully we'll see the crocuses again soon!

Sunbathing

Abi seems to be OK with her new backyard and decided to take advantage of last Saturday's warm weather to work on her tan.



It's a little too cold for that this weekend. Abi got a bit confused by the sudden urge to hibernate and by her classification as a bird dog yesterday--we found her munching away in the container of bird seed.

Home is where the couch is

Abi stayed at our dogwalker's house Thursday and Friday while we moved and got a bit settled. She was very excited to get home Friday night and was glad to see that amidst all the chaos, she still had her couch.




The couch and accompanying boxes are in our living room, and this is our one spare bedroom:




And kitchen. Note the lovely countertop.



I have to say, though, I've never been so excited to do laundry! Like the fancy wine glass?




I'm posting this from our local Starbucks, as we still don't have a phone line (that comes Wednesday).

As for further updates, we unexpectedly had to get a new refrigerator because we opened our old one Wednesday night to find a lovely colony of mold. So off to Sears we went, but the earliest it could be delivered was today. So we moved Thursday, but the rental company was nice enough to let us keep our frozen food in the freezer until today. The delivery men showed up at about 8:20 this morning, woo hoo! and it's currently being installed. Our lighting in the dining room is also being installed today and tomorrow. Someone comes on Tuesday to measure for the countertop and we're told we can have that in a week. Let's hope so! And Anita, we took your advice and called Empire Direct. They're coming coming tomorrow night to show us samples, so hopefully we'll be able to move our bedroom upstairs this week--that would be quite a relief!

And thanks to everyone who hoped I could find my socks. They were, of course, buried way in the back in the living room, but I got them just in time--it's gotten cold!

Less than a week!

This past weekend was a flurry of activity on our parts and the contractors'. My Mom and Dad came down to help out. Mom and I packed up a storm, being careful not to pack the pooch.



Dad and Rob built the rest of the fence, so that the pooch doesn't escape once we move in.



Here's a view of the driveway side of the house. There will be one more wooden step on the concrete slab at some point.



Here's a view into the new room and through to the kitchen from outside--you can see the Mexican Tile Green and a bit of the Honey Dew in the kitchen. As I post, Rob is at the house making sure that the cabinets are all installed correctly.



And here is the opposite view, from the living room, through the kitchen to the new room. At this point, the walls are fully painted, no spackling in sight.



We won't have a kitchen sink or dishwasher for a couple weeks because those won't be installed until the countertop comes, which can't be ordered until measurements on the installed cabinets are made, which should happen in the next day or so. But things are coming together better than I expected last week at this time. Keep sending good thoughts!

Abi's New Home

Sunday August 6.

Welcome to our blog!

This is Abi:


And this is a blog about the addition and renovations we're doing to our house. I'm told that progress is being made on the house. And I suppose that's true--we now have a roof and walls. It just feels like things are moving the speed of molasses in January.

The hydrangeas, a big pile of dirt, and our additon peeking around the corner.

The addition in the back of the house:


The front and other side. They've ripped off the concrete siding to expose the old wood siding beneath, which we will then re-cover up with Hardie Plank.



The side of the house opposite the driveway.