Day One Hundred Ninety One

A few random pictures from today.....

The north side of our house all dressed up
in new siding, trim, and windows...

Found these cute mushrooms hiding under a bush in the
front yard....

The light was just about gone when I took the pictures
of the mushrooms. I'm going back out there in the daylight
tomorrow and try again....

My sister Ann and her husband Terry grow a vegetable
garden every Summer. This beautiful yellow squash is
some of the harvest....

Day One Hundred Ninety

Shelby, Ann, and Elijah made wreaths for their hair out of
willow branches during our visit with my mom at her place
this afternoon. And of course Ann took them up on the hill
for the traditional rock throwing into the pond. The kids
love that!

The new kitty here at the house is a big hit
with Shelby. She loved on it and played with
it most of the day. The kitty loves her, too!

The new kitty is also a big hit with Elijah who
sometimes has to be reminded that the kitten
is not a stuffed toy. Mostly he carries it around
and tries not to squeeze it too hard.

"Sally" is a pretty kitty. I hope she can survive all the
good lovin! :D

Day One Hundred Eighty Nine

The new vinyl siding goes up on this old house. Even at this
stage, it was already looking pretty awesome.

A little extra drama added to the mix: this
yellow and orange striped kitten came
creeping into the yard Tuesday morning amid
all the commotion and mess the installers were
making. I was hoping she (?) would eventually
give up and wander into somebody else's yard.
But as you can see here, it was love at first
sight for Shelby and Elijah. The kitten (we have
tentatively dubbed "her" Sally) allowed herself
to be captured and squeezed by Elijah for well
over an hour this morning. Once I convinced
him to finally put her down, she hurried off and
wasn't seen again until late this afternoon.

She or he (just not sure yet) is a pretty kitty. We gave her
some of Buddy's food (our cat in residence for the past eleven
years). Rule of thumb for stray animals: once you feed it, you
own it. Elijah refused to share his new found friend with his
sister. Shelby is anxious to find her again tomorrow and get
her turn cuddling the kitty. I assured her the kitty would
most likely find her first.

Day One Hundred Eighty Eight

We are blessed to have new windows in our house today. The installers, a crew of about six guys, arrived around 7:30 this morning and immediately began tearing the aluminum siding off the house. They installed fifteen windows by 3:30 this afternoon. They return tomorrow with new vinyl siding and gutters. Woo Hoo!

Day One Hundred Eighty Seven

The view through my upstairs 1927 windows. You can't see the wavy glass, which I always thought was pretty cool. We're finally replacing these old drafty windows (they have the weights and pulleys inside the frame!). Tomorrow the installers start bright and early with the new vinyl insulated tilt-in windows. Makes me want to cry. I know, the convenience of the new ones will be wonderful, but let's face it. Who likes to wash windows?! Now I'll have no excuse. These old windows are part of what give our old house its character and I'll miss looking through the distorted glass. But it's time--out with the old and.....you know the rest. Goodbye, wavy glass!