My life in pictures

Ah, summer. The weather has been so beautiful here, and the scenery from our living room and back porch is absolutely sublime. Everhything here is green, shady, and quiet. It's like living in the country, with all the conveniences of the city just a few minutes away.

Frankie has been learning to ride a bike, and it's so nice to have a safe place to ride with her. There's hardly any traffic in our subdivision, and I feel like it's a much safer place for her to play than our old house on Meldrum used to be. The neighbors have been consistently great, too, letting Frankie use their swingsets and play with their dogs. Every time Frankie goes outside, she seems to come back in with a plate of some sort of freshly-baked goody from the folks next door.

The sunsets out here are so beautiful, the remind me quite a bit of the views from the Kirkborough House in England. Instead of the sea, we have the mountains. I often sit on the couch in the evenings, watching the sun go down behind the mountains and trees. It's blissful.

Every weekend, we're hard at work on some sort of house project. I'm proud to say that I've kept the plants I bought for the patio alive for over a week. I'm not sure that all of them are going to make it-- Beware all who encounter my black thumb! Still, some of those little guys are looking pretty darn good. Even my hanging baskets are alive...a minor miracle.

I thought I'd post a few snapshots of some of the things we've been doing round these parts. Just thought I'd show off the progress on the house.

Rec room before: White walls, brown floors. Cold, bleak, and boring.

During: Color on the walls, but still cursed with brown floors. Nothing matches, which drives me crazy. It's a bit of a mish-mash.

After: A vast improvement! I actually *like* spending time down here now.

Art room before: The yellow walls are an improvement, but nothing can look decent with that awful floor.

Art room after: Still not perfect, but much better.

Patio before: Welcome to Weedville

Patio during: The great clean-up.

Patio after: Ahhhh... Oasis!