First Fruit!

My strawberry plant has produced its first strawberry! How fun! The very first product from my vegetable/fruit/herb garden. Daniel and I split this cute little strawberry and I must say it was quite juicy and sweet. So perfect!

A House Painting Dilemma

Daniel and I thought we had our house paint color picked out. But now we are second guessing it. Below is a before picture and theoretical after picture. You can see where I painted a little patch of green on the before picture. The second picture shows what the house would look like if we were to paint the whole thing that color (I didn't actually paint the whole house, I just altered the photo in photoshop). The trim will also be painted that creamy ivory color.

Here's the problem. I like the color. But I don't like it in our neighborhood. I've got two neighbors behind me with pale green houses that I look at all the time. Also, 3 houses up the street is a house with a similar green. I don't know. I think we will have to go back to the paint swatch book!

Vegetable Garden Update

The garden is pretty well set at this point. I need to fix a couple of corner bricks, and buy one more "tomato cage", but everything is planted and the chicken wire and bird netting will ensure that O'Malley and any other animals will stay out of my garden. Here's a list of everything that's been planted: parsley, cilantro, sage, basil, tomatoes, peas, cucumbers, onions, broccoli, 2 kinds of lettuce, strawberries, green bell peppers, red bell peppers, and sweet banana peppers. Woah!





Here's O'Malley checking out the new enclosure:

Skiing on Saturday

Daniel managed to get me back on the slopes this last Saturday. It had been about 3 years since I last skied; and that last time was only about 2 runs down the slope before I quit due to excruciating pain in my legs and feet because my boots were too narrow for my feet and ankles. After that last time several years ago I said, "Forget it! Skiing should not be this painful! I'm not doing this again!"

Daniel has been trying to convince me to get back on the slopes ever since, and this last weekend I finally agreed. I made sure to get boots that were roomy and made sure not to over tighten them. The warm weather also made things much more pleasant. We skied only about 3 hours but I actually enjoyed myself. I did have some pain in my back and feet towards the end of the 3 hours, but I expected there to be some amount of discomfort.... I mean it's skiing, right?!


Here's a pic of me on the slope. Sorry for the poor quality.... this was taken with a camera phone.

A Cat's Dream

If you haven't read my last post, take a look at it now.

To the untrained eye, there is a lovely little would-be vegetable garden neatly positioned in my backyard. No, no, no, no my dear Sirs and Madams, it is not! In fact, it is a giant, oversized, open-air, all natural kitty litter box for One Mr. O'Malley!

That's right. You and I both thought I was putting in all this work to plant vegetables, but apparently I was creating one enormous chamber pot for my one enormous outdoor cat. Take a look at the garden again... can you see how we would all be confused? Yes, with further examination, it is definitely a kitty latrine.

I found O'Malley relieving himself in it yesterday as if it were the most natural thing in the world. I yelled at him from across the yard, and before running off he hastily buried his deposit.... out of sight, out of mind. I took a look at the garden, and kitty paw tracks and little mounds of dirt here and there clued me in that this was not his first visit to The Great Kitty Box. Since then I've tried to keep an eye on him when he goes out, only to find myself glancing out the window just as he is burying his dirty deed. Oh boy. This story is not over yet. Stay tuned.

Project Vegetable Garden

Construction of a vegetable garden in my backyard has officially begun. Boy, did I take on a big project! I spent many hours yesterday and the day before getting the most difficult tasks done. I had to level the ground, lay the lumber frame work, and level the border area for the bricks. Now I am feeling all the bruises and aches from the work!





Today I will add the remainder of the bricks and get some more dirt in there. Once that is complete, I can start planting! Yah! And yes, it is level! That storage box is sitting on a slope!

Braggin on my Niece!

Just had to post this adorable picture of my niece, Abigail. She lives in Raleigh, NC, so I don't get to see her as often as I'd like. Ain't she cute?!

Our Weekend....

Daniel and I spent most of our weekend indoors on account of all the snow. Basically we read our books like crazy whilst drinking tea or coffee, and would occasionally stop for meals. Can you find all the cats in this picture:


We went for a couple of excursions in our new CRV..... got to test her out, you know?! She did great. Plowed right through the snow and ice mix that was on the road and didn't slide once.

On Sunday we manned the LUPUS table at the 9 News Health Fair in Littleton. It was fun! We sat next to a really nice man named Dennis who was volunteering for the Leukemia Lymphoma Society and we talked to a lot of people who "know someone with lupus, but didn't know what it was". I was glad to share with them a little and hand out the little lupus booklets.


Last night Daniel and I walked to Blockbuster and on the way back, there were two little boys playing outside... probably about 6 or 7 years old and one boy yells to Daniel, "Hey! You have a girlfriend!" with a slightly mocking neener-neener-neener tone. Daniel responded simply with, "Yup!". I told Daniel that in that little boys' eyes, we are probably 6th graders, not homeowners. :-)

The Bathroom is Finished!

The master bathroom is finally finished! It is now the most beautiful room in our house and I find myself sometimes just standing in the doorway admiring my work. Although it was really hard on me physically, I would do it again in a heartbeat. This room is like an art piece to me and was SO worth all the hours. I don't know if the images truly capture the beauty, but here they are.... along with the before picture:


Before:
After:

Snowed In!

For those readers not in the Denver area, here are some pictures of our April snow storm which is still going on. We've got 15 inches here in Highlands Ranch so far and it's still coming down! Our neighborhood looks like a Winter Wonderland!

The snow is weighing down the trees. Twice yesterday we went out to knock the snow off our pine trees and this morning, the poor thing was all weighted down again. Don't worry, we brushed her off!
Last night our neighbor got his snowmobile out and gave rides to all the kids on the block. They were all squealing with delight all evening.

Mittsee really enjoyed watching the snow come down last night. She sat for a long time in front of the back door just watching the giant flakes come down:

This morning O'Malley told us he wanted to go outside. Once he worked up the nerve to step out, he kept to the side of the house but seemed to enjoy his excursion.





For the record, I did not force him out. He did eventually step out on his own and wandered up and down the side of the house until he was ready to come back in!

This is Daniel in the front yard:

Health Fair on Sunday!

This Sunday, April 19th, Daniel and I will be running the Lupus Information Table at the Health Fair at Littleton Adventist Hospital on Broadway from 7am -12 noon. Stop by and see us if you're in the area. There should be a lot of good health info to collect as well!

New Car!

Check it out! We are very excited about our new purchase! It's a 2009 Honda CRV. Now we can take on those rugged trails to get to the good hiking and camp sites!

For the Love of Rainbow Sherbet!

About once a month, Daniel and I go out to Baskin Robbins for ice cream. Since it is only once a month that we do this, it really is a special treat. Yet every time we go, I can not resist a scoop of Rainbow Sherbet! Sure,... sometimes I get other scoops to accompany it (usually rocky road or some other chocolatey goodness), but I can never deny the Rainbow Sherbet a most coveted spot in my waffle cone!

This love of Rainbow Sherbet goes back to my childhood. I remember being 7, 8, 9.... and wanting Rainbow Sherbet from Baskin Robbins. 31 Flavors, and all I want to do is eat Rainbow Sherbet!

As I described it to Daniel last night as I nestled down with my one Rainbow Sherbet scoop in cup and spoon: my love of Rainbow Sherbet is far greater than any mysterious infatuation with some other unknown ice cream flavor. Other flavors think they can lure me with their white chocolate pieces, or their raspberry swirls, or their crushed peanut butter cup pieces. And, yes,... I will admit that all of those things are wonderful and delicious. However, the love I feel for Rainbow Sherbet is so much stronger than all of those temptations that even with 31 flavors calling my name, it is the Rainbow Sherbet I go back to again and again.

The flavor never gets old to me. Each time I dig into that scoop of Rainbow Sherbet, it is like I'm tasting it for the first time! Oh, for the love of Rainbow Sherbet!

Bathroom Tiling? Check!

The bathroom tiling is done! Yah! Grouting, sealing, caulking.... that is another story.... but the tile cutting and laying is complete!!!

This is what I did to the hole where the medicine cabinet used to be. I just thought the medicine cabinet looked a little grandma-ish, so I took it out and tiled the hole. I plan on putting some candles in there. Won't that be nice?!

Life as usual....

Nothing too exciting around here this week. But here's what's been going on:

*I've been continually working on the bathroom this week. Most of the tiling is complete, hopefully just one more hard day of cutting and tiling will finish it. Perhaps tomorrow?! Grouting the walls is a pain, especially in the decorative tile border. I constantly drop grout goop to the floor below. Such a mess. I bought some oiled bronze face plates for the light and outlets to match the oiled bronze faucets and fixtures. Oooohhhh.... so pretty! Daniel has successfully installed both sink fixtures and connected the plumbing. They proved to be more difficult than either of us thought, however, it is done now!

**The weather this weekend was quite a let down! We were supposed to get 6-10 inches and all it could muster out was a little rain/snow mix that melted and didn't stick to the ground. We did get maybe an inch last night though.

***I'm half way through the third book of Robert Jordan's Fantasy Series "The Wheel of Time". There are 12 books total, and it is supposed to be one of the best fantasy series written. I'm really enjoying the series. I started the first book in February and I've been hooked ever since. As soon as I finish one book, I pick up the next.

****O'Malley really is best friends with our neighbor's cat, Roger. The two of them run around together in the backyard playing throughout the day. The other day when I was cutting tile in the garage, I found them both in there looking like two little boys caught with their hands in the cookie jar. They took off running side by side around the house to the backyard. Sometimes Roger even comes to the back door as if he's asking if O'Malley can come out and play. I let O'Malley out and they both exchange breaths to share with each other what they just ate. Hmmm.... okay then.

Grapple?!

Oh me oh my! I just barely made it home in this snow storm! Before I left the house to make a quick trip to Michael's Art Store, I looked out at the dark clouds over the foothills. Yes, they were looming, dark, and menacing, but I figured I had 20-30 minutes easy before it hit our area. I got to Michael's and parked and went in to buy some paint supplies. After mulling over the various metallic gold paints for oh.... 5 minutes or so I heard what sounded like hail and thunder outside. So I wrap up my decision and go to the check out line. All of ten minutes after I had walked in to the store. Holy Cow! The ground was covered in white and the snow was coming down in sideways torrents! I make it out to my car and it is covered in grapple! Do you know what grapple is? It's like little snowy pellets.... not quite sleet, not quite hail.... little cute adorable snowy pellets. And it feels dry too... go figure.

I start the treacherous drive home and oh no.... bad news for a front wheel drive car. My car was just back and forth and wheels spinning. I thought for sure I wouldn't make it home. Boy was I regretting having gone out when I was trying to make it up the big hill on Wildcat near Broadway. Oy!

However, I managed to make it home without skidding out or hitting anyone (I even dodged a curb that my wheels oh so tenderly wanted to kiss). Yes! Victory! Home and safe!