Monday, May 16, 2016

Shiny floors, Mudbugs and a PONY!

 Hello lilacs!  Oh how I love them, don't you?  They seem to be lasting quite a long time around here.  Yay!  
We have been busy and discombobulated because we had to move off of our main level so Jeff could refinish our floors.  They look beautiful and it was well worth it!
I am NOT a furniture mover and my muscles (or lack thereof) really hurt.  Ouch!  Almost everything is back in place.  It was fun to put dishes back into our two china hutches.  I like looking at my wedding dishes.  I like counting them.  There has been some breakage in the last (gasp!) almost 38 years, but I have enough of everything to have a good sized tea party or dinner party (which I rarely, make that never, do for people outside of family). I think wedding gifts are somewhat different now.  Many couples are older when they get married and already have an equipped kitchen.  I cherished each gift, even the plastic seagulls that mounted on the wall of our first moldy (really!) little rental house.  I don't have them anymore, but I appreciated the thought all those years ago. 

 Bryan and Kelli had a crawfish boil.  Have you ever been to one?  I love seafood, but I did not eat a crawfish.  I do not like their guts.  I had a hamburger but everyone who LOVES crawfish gobbled them up! 




 Christie and Jeff are good neighbors.  Christie walks around the neighborhood with James and he has many friends (so cute!) James was invited to a birthday party on Sunday and he got to ride a pony!  How nice to import ponies into suburbia, right?  Ride 'em, cowboy James! 
 I spy lilacs!
 It's very rainy today, so I just pulled a few weeds.  We bought our bedding plants over the weekend and they are safely in the garage until I spread the new dirt.  I am planting flowers and cucumbers.  Bill said, "I think you have enough seeds now."  Hmmmmm.  Yes. 
 The birds certainly love this rainy day!  We've seen goldfinches and flickers.  The magpies like the suet.  I'm not a big fan of magpies, but I do love the little house finches that are coming around. 
 The cloudy rainy weather makes us sleepy and slightly dopey.  Bill will still go outside and grill our dinner, but then we will be soon to bed like this fat rabbit.

It's so nice to be settled again after undoing our house.  I can see why people refrain from making home improvements.  It makes one feel all topsy turvy AND it's a lot of work.
By the way, my Rule of Life is complete (even though it will shift, change, ebb and flow) and I'll share parts of it very soon (I know this has taken me FOREVER!)
I also am enjoying my friend Marcie's gardening book and I want to share it with you soon.  
May is zipping by.  Next Saturday is the day that Susan Branch comes to Denver.  Yippee!
Take care, kind visitor.  I'm grateful for you! 

22 comments:

Anonymous said...

The floors look fabulous! Glad you are back in your regular living space and all is getting organized again. I do love lilacs. Ours are all done for the season. I'm with you...pass me a hamburger please.
James is a natural on the pony! Very cute.
Hope you get your bedding plants in and seeds planted.
Blessings!

Julie said...

Hello dear Pom Pom. Your floors look just wonderful - I can see why you are so pleased with them. Yes it sure IS unsettling doing reno's to your home ... as I am finding. We can almost see the end in sight & then OH BOY do I need a clean up. Your lilacs are just beautiful & gorgeous pic of James on the pony. I look forward to seeing your seed collection pop up.

Debi said...

Your floors look wonderful. We just refinished two floors in our son's new house and I know how much work they are and how it takes... bless your patience! My lilacs have teeny tiny buds, it's supposed to be relatively nice this week so maybe they will open up soon. Love the photo of James on the pony. Hope all your seeds grow and bloom! Have a great week!

Granny Marigold said...

I agree. Your floors look lovely. I wish I had it in me to get ours refinished but the thought of moving the furniture from one room to another defeats me totally.
James has a wonderful look of concentration on his little face. So cute.
I'm looking forward to glimpses of your Rule of Life.

Farm Girl said...

Your floors look fantastic!!! I bet you are so glad to be back to normal. I love seeing James on the pony! I really don't know if I would like crayfish either. I have never seen that many before.
They look good cooked though.
You are such a busy lady. I love the lilacs growing over the fence.
I laughed at how many seeds you have. I hope you have a very full garden!
Have a lovely week!

Terra said...

That plump rabbit looks ever so sleepy, like you after all that work. Your floors are fabulous. I always buy more seeds than I can plant. They are tempting in their colorful packets.

Fat Dormouse said...

Lovely floors! Those crayfish look rather nasty and wsriggly...I don'tthink I'd enjoy them!
GASP! When I read the words "Bill will still go outside and grill the dinner..." my eyes skipped to the illustration of the plump bunny. NOOO!! But it was alright. The sleepy bunny was to illustrate the next part of your story!
God bless dear Pompom.

Elizabethd said...

Super floors! They look very elegant.
I'm afraid Crayfish are not enjoyed here. We ate them once in France and that was enough!

GretchenJoanna said...

Those floors look great! Good for children to run around on :-)

I am so happy for you that Susan Branch is coming. Is this the first time you will meet her? You are kindred spirits for sure.

Jennifer Hays said...

Your floors look so good! He did a very nice job. That crawfish boil is making my mouth water. YUM. I would love to eat that too. I know what you mean about appreciating your wedding gifts. I think that's one of my favorite things about having gotten married fairly young for our generation (I was 23, he was 24); we didn't have much of anything yet and what we did have came from the Salvation Army...the roadside...the trash bin (hey, sometimes people throw good stuff away), so any gifts we got were so welcome. My china is stored in the bottom cabinets of my hutch because I don't have any plate grooves on the shelves of the glass cabinets on top. I should have my husband make some for me, but I do like being able to display other precious things up there instead. I've only served a meal on the good china TWICE in fourteen years...probably need to get on that more often, ha. Hope you're having a good week so far, Karen.

cards4ubylouise and other treasures said...

Gosh your floors are beautiful, I am sure you will enjoy them for years to come. Your backyard is gorgeous too, I like your privacy fence. I wish I had one to keep the kids out of my yard....oh well. Thanks for stopping by and have a great day.

Elderberry-Rob said...

I am looking forward to reading about your plan for life and also your friend's book... we have had a mini heat wave here and now are heading for some rain. I think your garden is going to be bursting with sunshine colours with all those seeds you have lined up! I need to get some quiet time for letter writing, May is slipping by. Betty x

Amy at love made my home said...

Your floors look great! It looks as though your garden is going to be great too with your annuals and all of those wonderful seeds!! Enjoy!

Kezzie said...

The floors are gorgeous! James looks like he loved the horse.
I'm a bit squeamish about seeing all the crayfish like that! Pretty lilacs

Danette Bartelmay said...

OH MY! What beautiful floors!
We had our oak floors redone year ago and it IS a fiasco!
So beautiful when it's done but so much to go through!
Our beloved lilacs are all gone now. We had a short season this year. We are running at 15 - 20 degrees cooler than our normal temps. Where is this global warming they speak of???
A pony in Suburbia is a splendid thing, especially with your darling little James riding atop!

Henny Penny said...

Your floors are beautiful! I love Lilacs too and wish we had one in the yard. Don't know why I've never tried to grow Lilac bushes. I absolutely don't think that I could eat a crawfish. I have a hard enough time eating shrimp and I like shrimp...a few anyway. I always enjoy seeing your sweet grandchildren.

Gumbo Lily said...

Wow, those shiny floors are FABULOUS! Well worth the inconvenience, I'm sure. Lucky James to have a pony ride in town.

I'm sorry, but those crawdads look like big bugs to me. I'd eat the burger with you!

Seeds! Fun! I love to plants seeds. The results are The Best!
Will you go see Susan Branch? That sounds exciting.

ann said...

You are busy as ever. Sunshine this morning. Aren't we glad? Your floors look gorgeous. A lot of work, but so worth it. Now, will you walk around in sock feet?

Marilyn @ MountainTopSpice said...

Hi Pom Pom! So happy to meet you, visiting from Debbie's blog, as she mentioned you and the stationary swap! I enjoyed hearing about the little things happening in your life! New floors are so nice, but having to move all that furniture, not so nice, lol! And the crawfish boil looked wonderful, and I agree... I LOVE lilacs, they are just so beautiful, and smell heavenly! Have a delightful day :)

Jean | DelightfulRepast.com said...

Nope, no mudbugs for me either, thank you! I just can't even imagine! Your floors look fantastic. So many people are either putting in really dark prefinished flooring or staining existing hardwood floors dark. I think they're all going to regret it, but that's just my opinion. I love the color of yours.

Heather LeFebvre said...

Can't wait to hear your rule of life!! Just got my brand new lilac bush planted Saturday!! It was a mother's day gift. I'm so excited!!!! Lilacs bloom here the week of little Laura's birthday!

M.K. said...

Your floors are gorgeous, Pom. Good job! I know it's a relief to have everything back in its place. I don't eat crawfish (or crawdads, as we called them). I grew up in Louisiana for a year when I was five, and we caught them in the creeks and played with them in the mud puddles. I'll join you with a burger :) The lilacs are so nice.

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