busy, busy, busy....

over a month since i sat down to update flicker, facebook and our blog - wow!  you'd think we'd have gotten a lot more accomplished!   while nothing new is happening at the house  (yet!) we have been busy.   just after the garden started to bloom at the beginning of march, we took off for utah to ski and hang out.  unfortunatley, i forgot my camera charger so, there aren't many photos.   

since we moved here, ray has been trying to convince me to let the cats out.  i managed to resist until last saturday...  

 
there are rules for this new development.  1 - they can't be outisde when we aren't home.  2 - we have to be outside with them or have the door open.  3 - when lula scales the wall, she is brought inside and grounded for the rest of the day.  4 - no going out at night. 

 i've also reserved the right to add more rules whenever i feel like it.  they are so happy to be outside, it is really fun to watch them!

we also have a new flower!   sunday, i started making the table runners for our wedding . You can't see the color really well here but, it is "honey dew" from Robert Kauffman's Kona Cotton and the thread is orange.  

does anyone remember Home Ec in Middle School?  the rumors that someone sewed through their finger the year before?   urban legend for sure, right? 

 apparently not.  really, it isn't that hard to do!   all you need to be doing is not paying close enough attention and, it goes right through!  luckily it didn't go through my fingernail, just the corner of my finger pad.  it also gave me a blister on the other side of my finger - i'm not quite sure how that happened....

 

"careful, there may be live critters in there..."

ray said to me as he threw down the dried up, dead palm fronds from our neighbor's neglected backyard.  he threw them down one by one as i filled up the trash can, then a trash bag and then another trash bag.  no critters, live or dead, came out of the fronds but, they looked like some sort of evil critter themselves!  

after that job was finished, it was on to planting new flowers and pulling up weeds.  i remember when my mom used to pay me a penny for every weed i pulled.  no such luck now!  i only get the gratification of having a pretty yard!   

what is it about weeds?  why do they grow so quickly?  where do they come from?  why can't i see them all?  it seems like once i finish pulling up weeds, i see another one that is so tall, it looks like a tree and i've somehow missed it.  ray then comes up and says - "you missed one, jen" and there it is - 3 feet tall!!  

here is my new favorite thing in the backyard - a Pink Jasmine!  I tried unsuccessfully three times to grow these at my old apartment - it never worked.  this time, i have faith that they will live and it will always smell good outside the back door! 

 i also love the tree that is about to bloom.  i know it doesn't seem like there are sesasons in california but, there are and...spring is here!  we've been waiting for this tree to bloom and it has started!  

in the front yard, we have all the color in the world.  when we bought the house, we only knew there were going to be geraniums but, look what happened! 

 

it has been a long day in the yard, i'm now going to go finish our lasanga - dinner is in 20 minutes! 

elvis has left the building

remember this?  joelle lovingly called it the elvis bathroom.   jackie loved it this way but, it was just a bit too much for me  and even for ray!   after many trips to home depot  for  plumbing materials, sinks, mirrors and  shelves - my bathroom was finished!  

it has been completed for quite a bit but, i've been busy planning a wedding and the camera has been neglected. 

here it is!!

 

peace and quiet?

my friend david told me that "once we signed the papers on this house, our weekends would never be the same"  he was correct in so many ways!   first - it is so quiet and peaceful here that even sally comes out to play!  nightlife around here is farther away than down the street so, i am sleeping better at night.  of course, this means that i get up at about 6 in the morning, no matter what!     that means more quiet morning time to look at cute overload, i guess!   

of course, peace and quiet are only fun for so long.  since it seems like we have been taking a break from house stuff, what have we been doing?  making a bunch of noise!   champagne from our small new year's celebration led to a long night of wii bowling 

andrew came to visit us before he goes to basic training

   

 and ray had a show - isn't he cute?

now it is time to get back to work.   ray has andrew working in the garage  (they are both sweating out their superbowl hangovers), we have a wedding to plan and a kitchen to demolish and reruild!

still looking...

why so long since the last post?  the house has swallowed the camera cord.  i'm still looking but, i broke down and bought a card reader today so i can show off the best thing ever! 

no, it isn't butch - it is the laundry!   while we actually bought the maytag washer/dryer a few weeks ago, the washer had some issues (as did the sears call center) and we finally were able to get the washer replaced on saturday!  i spent the day doing laundry and working in joelle's garden.

 we also have been working on smaller things around the house.  ray is working on the garage,  i made some curtains for our bedroom out of the lovely nani iro that i brought home for a skirt about 5 months ago.  since i was able to make curtains, you guessed correclty that the craft room is in working order.  it isn't quite ready for a photo shoot but, may be after the weekend...other plans for the weekend?  find an umbrella stand, organize the craft room (which includes getting taxes ready - ugh), start the search for a wedding dress (yay!) and knit tracey's baby, wyatt,  a welcome blanket!