Still not much of a blogger...

I can't believe it's been 9 months since I wrote anything on my blog. After reading the last one I posted I found out who puts up the Christmas wreaths every year! It's the Hattertown Historical Commission. I attended my first meeting this past summer. Everyone was welcoming and it was a brief meeting. I hope to attend more meetings to connect with my neighbors.

I've been trying to meet other people in my community and I am considering adding a beehive to my yard next Spring. I attended my first Backyard Beekeepers meeting back in June in Easton, CT. I also purchased a beekeepers jackets in hopes of being mentored but it hasn't worked out yet. I may have to just dive in on my own come Spring. Apparently I need to order my bees in the winter months as well as the Langstroth hive so I can build, paint and prepared it for the bees. I've been reading up on the "how-to's".

I've done a little sewing lately, more so than I have in a while. I made a quilt top for our mission team to take to Honduras this summer and am working on another one.

Hoping the winter that's coming isn't as snowy as the past couple of years. It would be nice to have a break. I'm trying to hold on to my car as long as possible but it's not good in the snow although I have survived the past couple of years, but my commute is longer now that I've moved.

It's been a while since I've truly had a going away vacation since the move and I'm hoping that will happen in May 2016. I'm planning it and hoping it actually takes place.

I'd like to share some of my crafty thing I plan on making soon. You've been forewarned! :-)

Merry Christmas

Each year is different now at Christmastime. Our lives change as we get older and the kids are grown and have their own lives to live. I do miss spending time with them but I understand that's how life is. I also am getting older and all those things I used to craft, sew, bake etc. at Christmas just seem too hard to do anymore, at least at the rate I used to do them. I also work six days a week so not much time to do much and as I get older not as much energy once I get home in the evening. I can get done the basics but the extra stuff just doesn't seem to get done anymore.
I am still glad I am healthy enough to work to support myself. I do not lack for anything. Of course there are always those things I would like -  but not necessary and I am content and appreciate the things I do have. There are so many more who have less than me even though I work in an area where most people have more than me, it's all about perspective and knowing what I really need and what is all fluff. I seem to appreciate more simple things. Life seems so much better when we approach life with a spirit of gratefulness.
This made me smile this morning, someone actually took the time to hang wreaths on the signs in our neighborhood.

I know it's not much but it made me smile...

Enjoy your Christmas! And know that if it's different this year it's OK  :-)

Still not much of a blogger...

So it's been four months...I can't imagine blogging every day unless I stayed home all day.
I've gotten more things done in my house. I don't know that they will ever end really, I get too many ideas and some of the things I want to do will take time mostly because they also need money to accomplish them. learning to save for things you want is a good thing.

Well I wanted to make a place to sit outside that wasn't on a slope besides the upstairs stone patio where the fire pit sits (that I still have a hard time starting). So I hired a young man going off to college at the end of the summer to dig up some rocks I had tried to dig up to put down sand then pavers to make a small paver patio outside the dining room where my grill also sits. I have a small cafe table and 2 chairs that will fit there nicely. That was "Plan A". But as he tried to dig up the area he kept hitting rock after rock. I suspected there was a stone patio in place already that had been overgrown with grass and weeds and had sunk down where they couldn't be seen anymore. Well, apparently I was right. This young man had to return the next day to finish the job. I looked up a few ideas online, not sure how to still get a patio without digging up all these stones and came up with "Plan B", pea gravel. I picked up a few bags before the young man came to finish the job to see what it would look like. I completed the patio after he had taken off all the overgrowth. It took several trips to HD to collect the pea gravel in my little car and lots of dragging 40lb bags across the front lawn to the patio area, but I did it! I am pleased with the results and have sat out there a number of times to enjoy my yard. Here's some pics!

You can see the former stone patio in this picture and the beginning of the pea gravel

Finished! (Except for the patch painting I did to the house)

Not much of a blogger...

I guess blogging is not for me. I spend way too much time on the computer at work to come home and spend MORE time on the computer. Oh well. Lots going on in my life right now. I'm getting ready to leave for a mission trip to Germany, Poland then 2 days of sight seeing in London.

I am slowly getting a handle on the yard but not quite there yet. Some things are harder to do than others and I will probably need a pro to help with those things.
I planted a small garden this year. I will probably add another box as it is a container garden and only grow those things next year that do well this year. So far the tomatoes, peppers, herbs and possibly eggplant look good. Cukes - maybe. Winter squash not so much but I will wait and see what happens. I replaced the summer squash and it seems to be doing fine.

Earlier this Spring

I bought my own weed whacker and probably could go out and use it every day. I've let one area I used to mow, grow in as I never used it and thought why mow it, I can only do so much. The wild raspberries look like they will be coming in soon and the few blackberry plants behind my house are starting to ripen - not really enough to do anything with.

We've had a few fire pit lightings - I need to practice more :-)

Hummers are visiting and emptying the feeders on a regular basis, and plans for a paver patio are in my head. I'll deal with it when I get back from the mission trip. I also have plans to get some gravel for my driveway/parking pad with some pavers added to edge it. I would like to get a new floor in the bathroom in the fall and before the holidays and then some beadboarding in there as well.

Masonry work and possibly a liner for the main fireplace will have to wait but I may get a price quote for something to shoot for next year.

So much to do but I am enjoying it. I feel blessed.

Weeds!
I've been so busy getting the inside of the house together that the outside has been a little neglected except for the occasional grass cutting. (I didn't want to be "THAT" house on the street with the 12" tall grass). So yesterday and this morning I pulled the weeds in front of my white picket fence and threw some grass seed on it, knowing we were expecting some rain later tonight and over the next couple of days - my hose won't reach the area - need to get another one to extend it.
I also borrowed my sister's weed whacker and worked on getting control over some of the weeds around the edge of the grassy areas. Can I say I've never used one before? :-) It was interesting figuring it out - fairly simple until the string disappeared - I think I was a bit too vigorous in the whacking...mind you some of these weeds are 6 ft tall - YIKES!
Hopefully I will get  a handle on them before the winter so next Spring I will know what to yank and what to leave.

So I recently got an upgrade for my phone (Yay) and have been trying things out on it. I love the camera and video part to it. I was recording my hummingbird visits when I heard hooves on the road. The local "Marlboro man" as I call him (because he smokes while riding his horse) was coming down the street. There are some horse farms in my area and he makes his weekly ride down my street - usually on Saturdays.

Almost four months...

I can't believe it's been four months on the 28th that I purchased my first house by myself! I am still enjoying the new flowers and now the hummingbirds and butterflies. I have two small feeders planted in my hanging pots on my little front porch. I put a folding chair out there and I sit and the hummingbirds fly in only a couple of feet from me to feed. I'm enjoying watching them. I hear them before I see them usually, flapping their tiny wings so fast, they sound like a large bug.

I've gotten alot done on the house people tell me, I guess I could keep busy all the time. My main focus has been to finish the master and get myself in there by the end of the summer. I worked hard and finally got the wallpaper down and repaired and painted the walls. The curtain rods and curtains are hemmed and up. I need to paint the fireplace firebox another coat of white and repair the floorboards as much as I can and prep them for painting the weekend of July 4th. As I wait for the paint to cure before moving back in the furniture. I need to refinish my armoire and get that ready to go upstairs to the room and hang my light.
I'm really enjoying this process and all the new things I get to try to do.

My Abandoned Blog...and my New Home.

So much has happened since I last wrote anything. I am now in my new (to me) 220 year old home!

220 YO Fireplace

Wishing Well

 After the holidays I felt it was time to begin the process of looking for a house again. I can say I was disappointed in my last pursuit but looking back on all that has happened the last six months I can say that God definately answered my prayers. I always prayed if the house wasn't the one to close the door. How could I be upset if that was my prayer? I took a break, enjoyed the holidays and went on to find the house I was supposed to have. It all seemed to happen so fast,compared to the last process. I changed realtors, a friend told me she saw me working with a woman realtor instead and I asked a lady from church to be that person, after I had already found my house. Someone suggested that although I didn't need anyone to find the house I needed someone - who knew what they were doing - to negotiate on my behalf. I also went through the financing process with someone my boss recomended. I had what I called my "dream team"...and they made my dream happen! God had a lot to do with it too!
I closed on February 28th and moved in March 6th with help from old and newer friends and family. There were a few gliches and unexpected repairs but all in all I am happy there, especially now that Spring has arrived and I am enjoying the beauty of being in the country. Lots more to do to get the place the way I want it but I already did quite a bit, so much so my body is rebelling and telling me to rest. Each week I discover new flowers in the yard and feel so blessed.