Goodbye Sweet Friend

Goodbye my Friend, Yesterday was a terrible day. Saying goodbye to Lanie after 13 years of a wonderful life with her was just awful. She was so sick and deserved better, but it doesn't make us miss her any less. My heart hurts without you Lanie, and the house is not the same with your wagging tail and warm presence. You will always hold a special place in my heart. I miss you girl.

Bloomin' great!

After the big Indiana Hoosier loss to Kentucky last night, the skies opened up and it rained all night....it washed away our sadness....and we greeted the day with some filtered sunlight. We shook off the depression and went outside to check the day. Ryan's plantings are looking great! Our first blooms on our lily were pretty exciting!

The entire bed is not very organized, with daffodils popping up all over the place, and little teeny tiny shoots from peonies and hydrangea, and we even broke off the dead old bits of Russian Sage and it is even burrowing its way out from the earth and we see vibrant green little branches making their way into this world!

Lanie thinks the nice cool mulch is just delightful for nest making. At least she is not making a nest in our little herb garden!

Even the stalks of Rosa Rugosa from Nany and Papa are springing to life --- the dead looking stalks stuck in the ground have teeny tiny little green buds, and if you look at the earth surrounding them, you will see little patches of leaves, brand new growth! It is so wet out right now, I don't think I can get a picture, but will put one in the next couple of days --- I'm sure we'll have even more growth then.

It is so fun to watch Ryan choose the plants, work to put them in the ground, water them daily or so, and then to see his look of delight with a new bloom --- the lilies had that effect this morning, and I can't wait for him to get to harvest his vegetable garden.... well, if we ever get around to planting it!

Saw this quote the other day, and thought it was very appropriate for these beautiful spring days.....
"When I bought my farm, I did not know what a bargain I had in the bluebirds, daffodils and thrushes; as little did I know what sublime mornings and sunsets I was buying."
-Ralph Waldo Emerson

Enjoy your day, we sure will!

Spring is here!

We have had such beautiful weather in the last couple of weeks, and suddenly everything is beautiful and blooming! Our moving crisis has been averted (for a while at least), so we are getting busy planting in the yard.....

The Yoshino cherry trees look so pretty with their soft pink flowers flanking the driveway.

The roses are starting to grow like crazy (Ryan trimmed them first), and we have planted some other types of roses --- mainly climbers (Eden Rose and New Dawn -these will be behind the fence posts --- hopefully we can train them over the fence).

Forest redbud pansy:

Ryan's plantings.... daffodils, hydrangea, peonies, gardenias, and even some tomatoes.... yum....

Rosemary:

New Dawn Rose --- just starting to grow....

Hydrangea: Starting to come back to life....

We have also planted some blueberries, raspberries, grapes, and peonies....Of course the kids planted seeds for a vegetable gardens, but they were just too early and I think we'll have to plants that stuff again!

So nice to see some green and color... finally!

Can we seriously be leaving..... already?

It has taken months and months to get settled since our move in July / August. We have loved every minute of this place! We've hosted Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years, several football parties, a Super Bowl Party, 11 year old sleepover birthdays, and book clubs. We have really enjoyed having all of our special spaces --- the beer fridges, the basement bar area, the playroom for the kids, the breakfast area, and all of the fun little details we designed. They have all been awesome! This house has officially been put to the test and we are so happy with the result! But.... (why does there ALWAYS have to be a "but?")

Just as we were really "done" with projects and organizing and finding homes for everything, it looks like it will be time to pack it up again and move. As we have always suspected might happen, Atlanta has officially called (in the form of a promotion), and this time, it is time to answer. On a day like today, it seems hard to leave. We played outside, rode bikes around the horse farms, worked in the yard (an endless project) and just hung around the house. It was awesome!

Ryan walked along with me the entire time I was seeding the yard (and he was too) and we "talked." After again asking me if we could just put this house on wheels and take it to Atlanta, he put his arm around me and said, "I'm just going to really cry when we have to leave this place, after all the work we've put into it." Of course, that about made me cry, and he is right, he did put lots of work into it! He was the kid out planting the blueberry bushes and the roses, and all of the daffodil bulbs. He trims the roses, and we've started planting some seeds inside to make our vegetable garden soon. He checks on the camellias and is interested in the pear tree. He shows every person that comes over the geode we had the stone mason put in the stone work. He shows off the stones that have fossils in them. He was quiet for a minute and then he told me, "You know what Mom, when I grow up, I'll just save all my money to buy this house, and then we can have it again!" What a kid! Nany was right, he will miss it here! Not even so much his buddies, but just hanging around here, checking on all of his projects, he is really proud of all of them!

The Realtors have visited and looks like the dreaded "For Sale" sign will be in the yard next week or so. I am really really not looking forward to keeping the house spotless for showings. I was so ready to just enjoy the spring, and watch the flowers and plants bloom. The Atlanta area will be nice too I'm sure.... Maybe we'll have lots more projects to post about.....

Looking forward to watching the leaves emerge --- it all still looks pretty dreary!