where did spring go?

spring - what's that? we launched into summer this past weekend so we've spent much time in the yard - again - pictures coming soon. 4 days of 90 degree heat - today is much milder. the tree's went from naked and grey to green and lush overnight. planted 2 apples trees - honey and emy (honey crisp and empires) - see I'm bored enough to name the tree's (this will be news to Mark). it will actually help me remember which is which - like I can't tell by the taste, but honey is my favorite so it might get more water or babied more. you know oh yes and poison ivy strikes again. Sounds like groundhogs day - sorry!
Off to see Mark's favorite sport this weekend - vroom - vroom!

yard improvements

Not sure if many words are needed for what we got done this weekend.

Before (taken about 3 weeks ago):

During (actually at the end of the day) - the dirt pile is getting little!

Back off to the left is the mess (see the rocks) I would love to attack, but it's full of water.

It is very dry right now so not sure if it will ever dry out. Yuck. Maybe toss in some more dirt?

After: Notice the new flower bed on the far right, huge fire pit in middle ringed with rocks and the fire wood pile moved way over to the left between the two trees. Moving the firewood was the easiest job of the day. It was super light as it was dried out. I also found some flowers in the woods and moved them - we'll see if they survived. They were some sort of bulb so I'm hoping they do. The most fun of the day was pulling vines off the trees and playing Tarzan and Jane. No pictures of that! Maybe pictures of the resulting poison ivy later - if we get it.
The huge fire pit pile might be here for a while - we need rain!
and finally...


Pretty please may I come out and help?
Beggar kitty - he is not allowed out, but I can still tease him!

We also planted an apple tree and have one more to plant next weekend - it is very hard work. After chipping the hole with some sort of dagger like tool - our soil is very rocky and compacted - I filled it with water as the directions on the tree indicated. The water did not drain into the soil after an hour causing some worry. I'm pretty sure they will still grow - we have some really old ones on our property and they did just fine. There is one Empire and one Honey Crisp.

Next up is an Italian Plum tree -

only one is needed as they will self pollinate unlike the silly apples.

more Easter weekend fun

Don't let the tootsies fool you it was a cold Easter Sunday!

Grandma, Mark and Katie

Mani was naughty as usual and tried to sneak out so we included him.

I refused to wear a coat! It was Easter after all.

cat trap

Grandma is an avid reader - and she can't hear me taking pictures so it was all natural.

Visitor Entertainment

Mark's parents and grandma Stapleton are here for the Easter weekend. Of course there is always the great debate over what to do. Lots to see here and we wanted something that didn't require too much walking. Before I left Michigan my friend Kelley gave me a touristy type book - you know things to do in the Hudson River Valley - well that book saved our butts today. It was rainy and we were not big on ideas. So I pulled out the book, went to Ulster county and bam picked out a place to go. Lifesaver - and now that we've been here a year I actually have heard of some of these things. So off to Saugerties for a little antique shopping and lunch. First we did lunch.

Drama of the day... I relied on the above mentioned lifesaver book and tripadvisor.com. It hasn't failed me yet, but Mark and gang were very worried when we sat down to order at New World Home Cooking . You know those places that use fancy words for normal food - yeah it was one of those places. LOL! It felt like being inside a Carribean hut sort of - bright colors, funky art work and cool lights. We managed to decipher what might work for everyone and low and behold Mark gave rave reviews about his burger. Better than the Racoon Saloon I heard, not that I got a bite. Not even an offer of a nibble now that I think about it. Barry had eggs benedict special with ropa beef (cooked for 24 hours) and guava hollandise sauce - and grilled fruit. He ate almost all of it, but I did get a bite of that and it was very tasty! We all enjoyed our lunch and had a good chuckle that we almost walked out after ordering drinks. All's well that ends well. The drive there was like a Sunday drive along a river. Definitely worth a redo another weekend. Maybe head over to Woodstock next time and check out the art galleries.

Grandma has made friends with both kitties and is enjoying a good book.
Happy Easter to All!!!!

A Bird?

Walks can be entertaining around here - other than dodging cars and such. I wandered across this bird yesterday. Anyone know what it is? I see others give out prizes. How about lunch when you come visit - LOL! It doesn't quite compare to the fox Megan saw this morning. And the high quality is courtesy of my cell phone.

Ben Rocks!

Ben paint that is. You can find it at any store that sells Benjamin Moore. It's new and low in smell (EVO) and goes on easy. I absolutely love it! so.... It's been a busy few weekends with painting and other little things around the house. Took me a while to take some pictures to post. This first picture shows my favorite kitchen rug with my new yellow walls. Come to find out this room was much easier to paint than the bathroom - it's so much bigger, but with less corners. Glad I did it first or it would have never gotten done!


This is the other end of the kitchen - notice how messy it is? I didn't until I snapped the picture. Never fear....

I quickly picked it up in less than 5 minutes! LOL! Lazy Sunday.

This is the guest bathroom upstairs and also Mark's when we have no visitors. Once we get more rooms painted you might not realize I used the leftover kitchen paint to do it. It matched really well and I didn't even plan it.

This is our master bathroom. I love the blues on the brown.

Not quite put together - the rugs are still drying on the bathtub. Speaking of which I could use a good soak after the long night last night. Mark was gone manning the fire station in Marlboro and I was bored and decided to just get it done. Note to self.... painting while tired requires more touch up's later.

and finally - Mani is also enjoying a lazy Sunday. Mark is off investigating something at work and I'm hitting the wall as far as painting goes so for now we are done. I do have the paint for our bedroom, but it can wait until another weekend. Can you tell he's a bit peeved I woke him up for this picture - hahaha... pay backs are hell little kitty cat - this is for the naughtiness this morning!