"Space Invaders"

Well It's beginning to look & smell like spring is in the air. We thought we could contribute to the smells of spring by having our first barbeque of the season. We had 2 T-bones to die for just ready to hit the warmth of the grill deck. As DW prepared the seasoning & fixens to go with our delectable steaks, DH tended to the grill. After about 2 minutes outside, DH opens the back door yelling to DW to come & see the surprise he found in the grill. Behold the Invaders (red squirrels) had taken over the grill as the new Hollywood Hilton. We'd never seen so much grass packed in such a small place. It was amazing to say the least. First when did they start this little construction process? Secondly, where did they get all the grass from? Nothing was noticeable around the yard to show that some building materials had been stolen. After inspecting the roominess of the Hilton Cottage, we ended up moving the grass to the back of the lot because we found 4 babies snuggled tight amongst themselves in the pillow top comfort. We are still amazed at the amount of time it must have took to move all that building material & yet DH & DW had no clue of the palace being erected in the neighborhood.

Bathroom Remodel Project

Well, where do we start or should we say end. It's Sunday evening & we just put the finishing touches on our bathroom remodel project. Above is the counter "before" shot. DH & DW took a one hour class at Lowes on tileing. We had our own teacher who walked us through the whole process. Keep in mind that neither DH or DW has had ANY remodeling or construction training. The floor of the bathroom was actually done by some close friends of ours & they had mentioned that we should do the counter tops & they would be willing to do this for us. We decided that we were well educated & could take on this little project. So back to Lowes we go with checkbook in hand!

Tile saw $78.00

Tile $30.00

Tile glue bucket $17.00

Grout $10.00

Trowels $20.00

Tile spacers $5.00

Tile nipper $7.oo

Hardi-backer board $15.00

Compound miter saw $100

Finish nails $7.00

Bostich air compressor and finish nailer gun $170

And it only took DH and DW three trips in one day to get all of that! : ) Once we started cutting the tile, we realized that we might actually be able to pull this off! The hardi-backer had to be measured and cut to size. It is remarkably similar to cutting sheet rock. It was glued and screwed down to the existing countertop. That sat overnight and then DH showed his hidden talent in home improvement while setting the tile down. DH finished grouting after DW decided she didn't know what she was doing. After reviewing the finished product, we realized that we pulled it off! Our next project is to tile our kitchen floor with beautiful beige tile to maintain a neutral color scheme.

(Extra bag of grout due to DH's screw-up: priceless! Yet another trip to Lowe's)

Our remodel projects will continue. Stay tuned.

"A River Runs Through It"

DH & DW went down to the local dam today to survey the ice flows. The "Straight River" runs right through the center of town. What we found was amazing. The ice pieces had hung up on the dam edge & were heaving on top of each other. It's amazing to see the power of rushing water yet the weight of the ice pieces kept them stationary for our eyes to behold. It was a truly marvelous sight to see. DW actually put her hand down next to a piece of the ice to show the thickness.

While walking around the slushy, sloppy ground, one had to be careful to not step in the "little gifts" left by all the ducks and geese that frequent the park. Once the skateboarders left the new bridge over the dam, one could listen and feel the rushing of the water. To sit and ponder the potential of the homes in the area being flooded and washed away, one should always be aware and respect Mother Nature because you never know what she has up her sleeve! Knock on wood, our home will not be washed away but we hope many of the "gifts" left in the park by the geese and ducks soon will be because it's almost time for sandals! :-)

Below are a few more photos taken on our adventure.

Blogging, who da thunk!

We just signed up for this blogging spot. I'm hoping in the near future we can add some of our lives activity's. We are considering moving to Phoenix, AZ. in the early fall & we're sure lot's of exciting things will be happening for us both very soon. Stay tuned.