Landscaping!

Our landscapers are finished. All that remains is pond construction (they did the hard work, the hole) and large pots/planters which we have to purchase and fill with soil. I like the look. Mostly 1 1/2" river rock with on clump of river birch and a half a dozen mugo pines and a few boxwoods. Everything else I want in planters. We have drip irrigation to the plants and I can hook into the irrigation lines to water the planters as we add them.

While the hole for pond is there, much work remains. I am working first on the whole for the skimmer, then I will figure the shape and place e t of the stream. The filter and falls will go at the beginning of that. Then, underlayment, rubber lining, and then rock and planters for the edges. A couple of weeks I think.

This past week I was in Redmond with the family. Not much excitement there but it was good to see John, Kristie, Avery, and Anika.

A couple of weeks ago we traded in our 11 year old, 183,000 mile trusty Volvo on a Cherokee. We call this our Colorado car. Brady named it Snow.

 

Home!

Sunday afternoon and we are home. We stopped in Davenport to join in the birthday celebration for Brady, so this added another night on the road, but it was worth it, though the cats might not agree!

 

Random Thoughts

Older homes have a narrative of the families who have lived in them and around them. Ours have a narritive going back to the 1920s when it was built. We know little of that narrative other tha. the 21 years we have lived here we know the Halquist family came before us and the Anderson family before them. Our 21 years here have been comfortable and the house has been filled with friends and family. We are still comfortable and content here.

Which brings me to thoughts on moving to Colorado. The cold last couple of winters here and my body's issues with that cold are what has prompted our looking into moving to Colorado. This is why we are renting a house for seven weeks in Longmont. If the weather is milder during those months and the sun is shining I may be more comfortable with my neuropathy. Sharon pointed out this week that we shouldn't make a move based on change for the sake of change and she is right. I have been excited about the possibility of change - a new modern home, a new city to explore, mountains to see, trout streams to stand in. But, we should look at what we might give up. Leaving friends behind, being 600 more miles from Kathy, Kevin, and Brady. For me that is somewhat offset by being 800 miles closer to John, Kristie, Avery, and Anika.

Today I used J&R Automotive in Glen Ellyn to replace sway bar links on Red. They have been in Glen Ellyn longer than we have and I have never used them for automobile service. I drove over there at about 7:15 this morning, dropped off the car, and walked home. They called shortly with an estimate and I had them replace all four sway bar links, front and back. Total cost $340. The same service from the Mazda dealer which I will no longer go to, $322 for the front and $522 for the rear. J&R was done by 9:30 and I walked back over there to get the car. Easy.

As I walked back and forth from J&R and our house I looked at all of the houses along the way. Some are in fantastic condition, some are not but, back to the first paragraph here, they all have a narrative. We will start a new narrative if we purchase a new home in Colorado.

A Short Trip To Davenport

This weekend we drove to Davenport on Saturday night to spend Sunday with the Knoxes. We had a very nice, relaxing visit with Katy, Kevin, and Brady. It is only about a 2 1/2 hour drive so it is easy to do for short visit. Why don't we do this more often? Brady is one of my favorite subjects.

 

When Will It End?

Cold and more cold. Spring officially arrived last week and it snowed. We had a hint of spring the next two days and then it turned colder again. I saw my gold fish when the ice melted and no longer covered the top of the pond, but then yesterday morning and this morning there was a new layer of ice on the pond. Yes, it was thin, but still ICE.

We are now expecting snow tonight and the temperature dropping to 16° and then warming all the way to 29° on Tuesday then slowly warming to the 40s and perhaps as high as the 60s on Sunday. Can you see how I am tired of this? Update March 26, 2014. The pond has been ice covered for three days now and yesterday morning we woke to one inch of snow. It is now 11:00am in Glen Ellyn and the temperature is a balmy 25°.

Cat pictures of the day. Every morning Shelby has to lick water from the shower by pushing his head around the corner of the shower curtain. He usually manages to get both his head and his tail wet which he then shares with us but rubbing up against us. He also has to be on the sink when we are using. LC will sit on the edge of the sink occasionally, and will drink from the water glass placed on the sink for them, but she is much nicer about the whole bathroom water issue. Other cat owners will understand the cat/human bathroom interactions. You are never alone in the bathroom with a cat or a toddler.

Shelby in the tub

Shelby behaving

Brady and Kathy visited last weekend. Kathy was here for the Shamrock Shuffle walk/run. We got to spend some time with Brady while Kathy was in the city. We had a nice, though sort visit.

Sun through the snow

Sometimes snow can be pretty. One of our last snows came down wet and clung to the trees. Then after the snow the sky cleared and the sun and blue sky was beautiful against the snow. Our official snow totals this year indicate just over 80 inches of snow for the season. this is the second or third most snow since Chicago record keeping started in 1885. This has also been one of the coldest winters on record. Brrrr.

I smoked ribs today - this first time using the smoker since last fall. There is still snow on the patio but I can get to the grills and smoker. If I've done this right, this You Tube video shows you my secrets. I haven't done anything like this, except for some short ukulele and kazoo videos. This is a long one and was a learning experience! All done with my iPad.

 

Wireless Home

We've pulled the plug on our land line phone and ported the number to a cell phone. Recently we decided to leave AT&T after many years for both land line and cellular use. Our service with AT&T has been very good since we switched to iPhones almost three years ago. But T-mobile promised to reduce our monthly cost for cell service and provide unlimited data service and much better voice and messaging pricing in Europe. Even though we may only be in Europe a few weeks to a month a year, this is a nice bonus with T-Mobile. We are using one of our old iPhones for our home service and this is costing us only $10 a month versus the $45 a month the land line cost. Sweet. And, I purchased a device from Cobra, a PhoneLynx BT215 that allows us to use our old home phones via cellular. This is a neat device, I connected it to the cell phone via Bluetooth. Now we can call out and receive on the old handsets. A year of so ago I cut the cable and put an antenna on th house for TV. We still are wired for Internet access, I don't yet have an option to replace that.

Sharon and I now each have an iPhone 5S. A little longer and a little lighter than the iPhone 4 with some nice touches - like Siri and the touch ID. The camera is said to be better but I have yet to use it. The screen quality is better - more pixels? Sharon and I both think the sound quality during calls is better.

Enough with phones - on to SNOW! Yes, it is snowing again. Right now we have big, fat snow flakes coming down in Glen Ellyn. It is March 5th darn it! Enough with the snow and the cold. I don't want to go outside and shovel it or drive in it. I just want it to go away!

Did I mention Brady's third birthday in a previous post? No? Shame on me. We went to Davenport to join in celebration of Brady's third birthday. Everyone had a great time, especially Brady. Kathy put together a very nice little party and made all of us feel welcome and comfortable. I made margartias with my 1,2,3 recipe (1 part fresh lime juice, 2 parts orange liquor, and three parts tequila, add a little agave nectar to taste, throw in some ice cubes, pour and serve.) Kathy brought in Chik-fil-A to eat and bought an awesome cake!

 

 

Sharon and I spent the afternoon with Brady at Vander Veer Park in Davenport. This image is my favorite. Kathy visited her orthopedist and now is more mobile, yea! Even so, this won't stop us from visiting Davenport.

A Few Days With Brady

 

 

 

 

Kathy called us Saturday looking for help! She dislocated her knee and needed Brady assistance. Sharon was there until Kevin made it home on Sunday. Then I went to Davenport on Monday. I've had a good time spending time with Brady during the day and Kathy and Brady in the evenings. Brady has worn me out though! She and I both had a long nap today!

Above are some pictures from our adventures in Davenport parks - Vander Veer and Centennial. We also visited a Wal Mart and have been to the HyVee grocery several times. She draws attention where ever she goes with her easy smile.