[red wing black] bird is the word

We're in!  Now, I don't mean that we're living in the house...not for another couple of weeks, I think.  We still have to paint and pull up/replace carpet.  But the lawn is mowed, the front beds are weeded, and our daily trips there are taking on a pleasing regularity as we settle into some sort of a schedule.

I've spent nearly as much time working outside in the beds as inside, painting.  I filled 4 garbage bags with weeds from the front beds, clipped the shrubs, and took lots of pictures. 

There's a lilac blooming!  It smells amazing.

There aren't a lot of perennials, just a shabby rose bush (red...shudder), some hostas, a nice spread of creeping thyme, and one of the largest bleeding heart plants I've seen!

You can see why they're called bleeding hearts...see the shape of the tiny flowers?

There's a gorgeous apple tree blooming in the side yard, too. 

The former (!!) homeowner told us that the tree in the front yard was a pear tree, but I knew that it was some sort of maple.  But I'd never seen one this color...and she said that the leaves stayed maroon.

I did a little research and discovered that it's a Royal Red Norway, and that the leaves will turn a deep red in the fall.  I can't wait! 

It's not all manicured lawns and pretty beds, though.  The barnyard is a mess.

The grass is mowed every 2 weeks, so at least that is tidy, but the chicken coop is an absolute disaster.  I asked Todd if we should just tear it down and build a new one, but he said that the foundation is great and the current coop can be repaired.  He's an optimist!  :)  It's a nice size, though, and I'm willing to do it if it can be done.  

The fences are in need of repair all over the property, and after our recent survey showed that they don't even follow the property line, have decided to just replace them next year.  This year, they're going to look tatty and weed-lined, unfortunately.  

I found a nice picture of the animal barn online recently...

But it does not look like that now!  

It's structurally sound, but has not been used for years.  This photo is from March, but it's even worse now, with huge weeds growing up all around it.  Big rusty coils of wire are scattered around...old doghouses and coolers...brush from a fallen tree in a haphazard pile...it's kind of a mess.  The pastures, too, are already overgrown with weeds, so much so that I'm afraid to walk through them for fear of stepping on a snake.  We have to have it bush-hogged later this summer, but unfortunately, it's going to remain a mess until we tackle this whole area next year.  So for now, I'm trying to look OVER the barns at the nice rolling hills behind them...

...or in FRONT of the barns, in the fenced pasture where I'm planning some fruit/nut trees and a large flower and vegetable garden...

...instead of directly at the big mess behind them.  A weed trimmer will take care of some of the fence jumble, but I'm already planning a trip to our new neighbors' house to apologize for the temporary eyesore!  Our lawn mower guy had a great recommendation for the fields:  "Get some goats."  We can't wait!  

Meanwhile, we're enjoying the undisputed leader of the bird cacophony at the property...the red-wing blackbird.  They're so pretty and have a beautiful call that has apparently been translated into conk-la-reeee!  ;)  They are EVERYWHERE.

It takes me a long time to attach to things and places, but I had a funny urge this morning to drive over to the property with a book to enjoy the sunrise on the front porch with a steaming cup of tea (note to self:  MUST learn to like tea!).  It's a great space to sit...

...and I've already added the first bouquet, all with flowers from the property...in a red Solo cup!  :)

It's not "home" yet...but it's a great start.

Have a nice week!  

Larsson Fun

ONE WEEK 'TIL CLOSING!! 

We stopped by last week and even in the rain, with just a cursory walk around the front yard, I spotted a little treasure:  a red-wing blackbird nest among the cattails!

I am really eager to relocate.  Because of the delayed closing, I've had plenty of time to obsess over interior design details and plot out massive front gardens.  I've added an extra window, a kitchen island, and a fireplace, all in my mind.  I've torn out carpet, switched out the front door, and slapped on even more wallpaper.  Having exhausted the interior, I've gone outside and uprooted tree stumps, enlarged existing beds, and moved evergreen shrubs around like chess pieces.  If I can't start to act out these plans soon, I'm going to lose my mind!

One positive thing about the delay is my paint epiphany.  After endless agonizing over how to have light and cheerful paint colors in a dim house and finally selecting - a bit uneasily - a light grey, I've ended up tossing out my entire scheme and starting over.  I've been inspired by Carl Larsson's depictions of 19th century Swedish country life for a long time...

...and one near-constant is pale walls and painted trim.  A stroke of genius!  I did some looking around and found other inspiring examples...

...and so I'm going for it, using Benjamin Moore's Swiss Coffee for the walls...

...and Saybrook Sage for the trim.  Here's that color in exactly the same style I'm copying.

Wanting to start these massive projects has made waiting really difficult.  Even so, it's hard to believe that our relocation is just around the corner.  "This is our last trip to the laundromat!!" I crowed to Todd yesterday.  It's even strayed into the ridiculous, as I contemplated a package at the grocery store and told myself, "This is the LAST package of feta you'll eat at the apartment!  This feta will be GONE by moving day!"  Insert eye roll here!

Exercise has been a huge help in working out some of my excess energy.  I was so jittery yesterday that I convinced Todd to take a quick hike with me, despite our massive to-do list.  It was so nice to get out into the sunshine.  Trees are leafing!

And flowers!!

It's hard to be out of our regular spring hiking schedule, but I know that we'll have plenty of outdoor time soon.  Meanwhile, I'll keep on plotting.

Have a great week!

crawdad pad

Phew!  We're finally home from our week-long Chicago convention. 

It's always exhausting, but great to see old friends!  :)

It was a TON of work, but we had help from some amazing people, and we had our best show ever!

I enjoyed seeing the costumes, as usual.

Here's an unusual one.  This guy...

...is supposed to be THIS guy...

...from some obscure 1978 holiday special.  Major points for creativity! 

The weather was awful.  It snowed almost 7 inches at O'Hare and the airport shut down.  Meanwhile, in Indiana, spring came.

The sun is shining, the birds are singing, and the windows are open!  But we've definitely been too busy to hike.  Not only have we been swamped with pre- and post-convention work, but we've got just over a week until closing.  We've got millions of contractor quotes to get before then, because we're planning major renovations in the first 6 weeks.  Todd has already been over to the house to meet with roofers and returned with a mystery.

"These were in the yard and in one of the barns," he said, puzzled.  "The homeowner has no idea what made them."  Having grown up in the country, I immediately recognized them as crawdad, er, crayfish holes.  But they weren't anywhere near either pond.  Doing a little reading, I discovered that sometimes crayfish seek out an underground water source, not just surface water like a pond.  Interesting!  I'm so excited to resume my "property walks," as I made so frequently in South Carolina, to find these little oddities.  Todd also mentioned that there's already a resident barn cat (!!!) that the homeowner was hoping that we'd continue to keep and feed.

Another cat!?!? 

Need I say more? 

It's a whirlwind of activity around here, punctuated by long periods of glazed-eyed couch slouching.  We don't have the luxury of our usual post-convention pajama week, but at least the work we're doing is exciting and moving us toward something amazing.  Little farm, here we come! 

same spouse, different house

After weeks of waiting...a protracted negotiation period due to inspections, double inspections, and triple inspections...we finally have the definitive word.  The farm is ours!  Although, like the process, the closing period is unusually long, we should take possession by the end of April.  At last.

When considering a house purchase, we had to make some hard decisions.  Our house in South Carolina was about 4,000 square feet.  Too big for us, and hassle to clean.  Goal for new house?  SMALL.  This house fits the bill at about 1,600 square feet.  It's just enough space.  We each have a large portion of personal space (I have two bedrooms upstairs for my office/craft space and Todd has the mother-in-law apartment).  We still have a guest room that will double as a T.V. room/den.  There is no wasted space in this house, which is first for us both. 

One compromise made was a little difficult.  Our house in South Carolina was full of windows, many of them wall-length.  The guest bedroom had a whole wall of glass and we had a beautiful sunroom.  I love light and fresh air, so it was perfect.

The new house does not have this feature.  Two house-length overhanging porches on either side are picturesque and provide great shade, but they also keep out the sun.  The inside of the house is fairly dim.

This has made repainting a challenge. I'm absolutely terrible at interior design, but I've been doing a lot of reading lately.  White paint in a dim room = dingy.  I don't like bold colors, and whenever I have chosen more muted blues and greens, they've always ended up too pastel or bland (every single bedroom and bathroom I've ever painted).  I've decided to go with a very soft grey for the interior, going up and down a shade as I go room to room.  After watching too many British interior design shows, I fell in love with the idea of a wallpapered feature wall in the bathroom.  At first I decided to go with a muted William Morris print, which pairs perfectly with Benjamin Moore's Silver Satin, the color I've chosen for the living room.

It's a pretty pattern but a bit sedate.  Like with fabric, I'm drawn more lively prints.  I've been looking at nursery wallpaper for days.  Some really fun ones!

So who knows what we'll end up with? 

We've traded in spacious and light-filled for compact and a bit dim, but the property itself makes up for this, I think.  We absolutely love the quiet.  We were visiting last week and sitting on the long front porch, which overlooks the pond. 

Fish were jumping, birds were singing, horses from the neighbor's farm were grazing at the edge of the fence - it was absolute joy.  I felt a physical sense of peace - my body just sank into the chair in complete relaxation.  I haven't felt that in a long time. 

The back pond is 3 - 5 acres.

We're planning on clearing the brush and setting up a little seating area by the water's edge, just like we had in South Carolina.  A winding path through the field eventually will lead here.

We walked the property last week...

...and found a stream with a waterfall.  The stream is in a pure limestone bed.  Future plans include cutting back the brambles and making a nice walking path.

The barns are in good condition and fairly new, but the grounds are kind of a mess.  The homeowner got rid of her animals a few years ago and kind of let this area go. 

Pretty grim, right?  The good news is that the chicken coop in the middle can easily be shored up and painted, the junk has been hauled away, and the barns are in great shape.  Just needs a good mow and a lot of flowers!  :)

We've got similar beautification plans for the house.  Paint the rusty trim a bright green, like our house in South Carolina.  And I've had other ideas: 

The side yard is a delightful blank slate.

This year, I'm going to add a trellis for climbing roses...

...and build a fire pit area, based on the plans in this link. 

From this center, I'm going to expand outward, making paths and cottage garden-style beds.  It's a huge project, but an enjoyable one. 

So we've given up a lot, but I think we're getting a lot.  We're excited to get our hands on this place and, as Todd likes to say, tear into it like a monkey on a cupcake!  A lot of work but a lot of joy.  Stay tuned!