View From My Porch: The flowers have been planted and are in full bloom. A cricket serenade can be heard from the front porch rockers and the hammock in the back. Arnold Palmer's flow freely (lemonade and ice tea mixed) all the day long. Soaking in the sunshine is food for the soul.

Photos: Hanging basket attached to front porch; Mountain views, Miss Holly (my dawg), Jake (my grandson).

That hubby of mine is a go getter. Since he retired and arrived safely to our new home, we have been busy puttering and organizing our garage. Mostly he is doing the organizing, while I just empty a few boxes of my stuff that have been sitting for over a year waiting for him to tell me to get to it ;) ... if it were not necessary to make the bed each day and do inside chores, I think my entire day would be spent outside weeding, planting, and sowing seeds here and there. We have four seed type and two humming bird feeders attached to some of the forest trees and binoculars all over the house to bird watch. Today was sunny in the morning and light showers in the afternoon.

Tutti Fruity One side our our front yard consists of a long dirt berm. This was mainly formed when the good topsoil was pushed aside at the time our lot was leveled prior to building. Area is quite fertile with rich humus and receives sunshine all day long. Said berm is approximately 100+ feet in length and probably 25 feet wide. In the hopes of growing more food at home, I have planted two apple trees and one sour cherry tree. The apples are dependent on each other for pollination ... and the cherry is self pollinating. This area also is planted with different types of berries: raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, etc. Hence, I've dubbed it "Fruit Cocktail Hill." I have two table grape vines to also plant but first need to make a trellis for support. My back patio has two strawberry pots each holding about 11 plants. Last year I transplanted some wild strawberries amongst the rock retaining wall and now have large wild berry plants ... wild strawberries are very strong in flavor but are rather small ... delicious none the less.

Our master bathroom is finished. I made the valance above the tub and refinished the stool by recovering the seat and spraying the iron legs to match the metal fixtures.

Nearly completed master bedroom. Just needs the drapes hung ... and a few of the brass colored metals refinished with oil rubbed bronze finish.

Christmas Tour Part II: Come inside for a peek at some of our decorations for Christmas. This will be our first Christmas in several years with all our kids at home.

Christmas tour part I: Considering hubby has been away during the time to decorate for Christmas, I have had limited time and muscle for the task at hand. Part I consists of a peek at our winter wonderland just outside our front door.

The Mr. leaves tomorrow (sniff, sniff) ... we've had a productive two weeks in some ways ... but still not 100% unpacked from moving into our new home. Shuffling STUFF has become a way of life around here. In order to organize the garage, we had to clear out our basement storage room to get ready for the new carpet ... which evolved into getting carpeting in most of the basement, which means the whole area is a mess again! Of course, said carpeting is to be installed AFTER dh leaves (booo, hooo) ... in the meantime the garage is still disheveled. Dh is a stickler for organization. He likes to be able to walk blindfolded in any room (other than the kids') and find something. Can you believe he actually MADE me organize my desk (tsk, tsk) ;) I am a procrastinator ... and work best under deadlines ... so often put off tasks ... not dh ... Friday and Saturday we're having a huge garage sale ... to clear out some clutter. I'm thinking of hiring this local company that will list all your more valuable items on ebay and take a percentage of what gets sold. I just don't have the time, energy, or desire to do so ... yet don't want to just give away some things at the garage sale.

Photos: family room with storage room stuff; emptied out storage room

Got Mower? In another few weeks it will be time to give our front lawn its first mow. Dh is home enjoying puttering and unpacking boxes ... moving stuff here and there ... tidying up HIS garage (man room). We decided to order carpet for the basement instead of having the stained and polished concrete ... to make it a bit warmer (we weren't crazy about the finished product. It should have been better protected while the builders were making the house). We ordered a large slab of basalt rock to have our address engraved on to place next to the flag pole ... and a few "bowl" shaped basalt rocks to sit on around the campfire ring. Once this area is done, we can hydro seed the other part of our front lawn.

Weekly Report: The weather has turned from a damp, chilly Memorial Day and skipped right ahead to warm summer sunshine. This heat-up should make the newly hydro seeded lawn sprout and be green before DH arrives with his mom on June 14th. Yesterday I shopped around for patio furniture to use in the backyard; it's made from all weather wicker ... I ordered three counter stools to use in the kitchen. Our rain gutters were installed ... and I finished planting some bushes I purchased last week. The nursery lady gave me a list of deer resistant plants ... let's hope she's right!

The hydro seed company sprayed on the front lawn and should be back to apply some wetland grass and wild flowers to the side and back portions of our yard to help with erosion. A thunder and lightning storm rolled through with just a light mist of rain ... we're not supposed to water until tomorrow, so I was glad it didn't pour buckets of rain. The white front porch rockers have small rugs under each one to make the motion smooth, and the geraniums need to fill out a bit. Today, my new shipment of scented geraniums arrived by UPS! It amazes me that they look perky after being boxed up for over a week! I went to a nursery this morning to begin the task of selecting shrubs and perennials that are considered deer resistant for the flowerbeds. I'm thinking of transplanting some native plants such as wild roses and snow berry bushes as they grow so well. Today, I spied an orchid plant among all the wild flowers, and I just can not get over how many forget-me-nots are growing on our property. This has to be my favorite time of year with all the flowers to "drink in" ... a close second to the fall season.

Down the HOME stretch: Over the past few weeks the place has taken on a finished appearance. Landscaping is underway with the installation of sprinklers and concrete curbing. On Monday we should have the front yard hydro seeded. For Mother's Day I received many pony-packs of beautiful flowers from the kids. These have been planted in the nooks and crannies of our front and rear rock retaining walls ... who needs flower pots??? The painter finished up on Tuesday and the trim and front porch came out great. The back acreage is such a lush emerald green filled with lots of wild flowers, ferns, strawberries, and young pine trees. Large trees stand guard and provide much needed shade on the back patio in the afternoon. From the front porch rockers you can watch the morning and evening activity of a woodpecker family that has made a cozy home in an old lopped off tree. I'm settling into a routine, one patterned after my earlier years living with my grandparents that includes a daily schedule, getting to bed early, taking time to smell the roses, and not over filling my day with too much busyness. Hurry back dear hubby ... our home is waiting for you!

Flower In The Crannied Wall

Flower in the crannied wall,

I pluck you out of the crannies,

I hold you here, root and all,

in my hand,

Little flower -

but if I could understand

What you are, root and all,
and all in all,

I should know what God and man is.

By: Alfred Tennyson

Our great room is the spot to relax after dinner on a chilly evening. Warmth from the freestanding stove's fire will keep you toasty! In the morning time, we have the fire going to just take the chill out of the house without heating up all the rooms. Look at the wolf painting I came across at a secondhand store. We're going for a woodsy-lodge theme ... can't wait to get that buffalo robe/rug DH is sending my way :)