I heart spring

And here's why:

Green is back!

Reminiscing

On this cold, snowy day, I had an idea to reminisce of the good ol' warmer days. When Lyla was a little baby and I was on leave.  We got to sit outside whenever we wanted enjoying the beautiful weather and swimming.  Ah to be warm again!

499 and Our Home

I've been writing this blog since early 2007.  This is my 499th post.  Holy cow!  I just looked back at my first post.  It seems an eternity ago that we bought our home, fixed it up, and fell in love with it.  Our home is definitely the center of our lives - and our checkbooks for that matter!  It requires a lot of TLC and it's Jared that is constantly taking care of it.  When something breaks, it needs to get fixed, when something wears, it needs  new, and when the seasons change, the garden has to be cleaned.  It's a lot of up keep.  More than we probably bargained for.  But I wouldn't trade it for the world.

When we first moved in, I fell in love with the spot in the back yard.  There is a beautiful tree fanned out in a corner with a lovely bench in front of it.  We carved our names in the tree right after moved in.  Every time I sat and look at that tree - affectionately known as the Ford Giving Tree, I thought of the children we'd eventually have who would sit on that bench and pose for a beautiful photo.  It seems like forever ago when I imagined taking the photo of two girls flanking a little boy sitting on the bench.  The girls with pig tail braids and matching sundresses, the little boy with his gel'd up hair and a little polo shirt.  I could see their chemistry and how much they loved each other and they playfully argued while I told them to sit still.  Once the glorious photo was snapped it would be made into our Christmas card for that year.  And each year a new photo of them growing up beside the Ford Giving Tree would be sent out to everyone.  The tree would be the staple of which I watched my children grow.  It's crazy because I have Lyla now and I'm so looking forward to her being old enough to sit on that bench so I can take her photo.  

Our home is the love of our life and it's become even more so now that Lyla is here to share it.  

Potted Plants Tripled!

I had to post a photo update of our potted plants.  They have grown so much since we planted them.  Probably the best turnout we've ever had.  The pots have tripled in size and are gorgeous!

Garden update

Every year, we marvel at our beautiful gardens and this year is no exception.  Memorial Day weekend is when we get our hanging baskets and pot our flowers to compliment our pool area and all the other flowers we have in bloom.  Each year I document what we plant and how things are growing in photos and you can see past years here.  

I'm always excited to pick our flowers out but this year I was very sad I couldn't plant them.  It's just too much for me since I'm not fully recovered yet.  Jared did his best to fill in though.  I'm impressed and I think they are gorgeous.  But I'm not sure if they are my favorite year.  In 2008, our hanging baskets were just to die for.  But in 2009, our potted plants were the best ever.  We'll see how this year ranks!  Here is what we planted.  They are still small but in a few weeks they will be very full.  The hanging baskets are already full and so pretty!

This will be our fourth summer in the house and I can't believe how fast time has gone by. Oh wait, yeah I can...  Our flowers and our garden mean so much to me, even though Jared is the one that does most of the work; especially this year.  I'm just useless these days.  Every day he works hard outside to make our yard the gorgeous yard that it is and I just love it.  I miss him being with me and Lyla but he loves to do it and it really pays off.  Sitting in the back yard just gazing at our view and our plants is well worth it.  It's so peaceful and quaint.  

Here are a few things in bloom now:

Love, love our roses.

Roses

This one is just precious.

I am a peony freak!!  They smell so good and I love to cut them for the house.  I can't wait to do that tomorrow before we have guests.  The only problem are the ants.  Ants love the peonies.

Tons of iris' in bloom right now.  

I haven't had much time to meander around the garden but today I put Lyla in my baby carrier and we waltzed around to see the progress Jared has made and marvel at the beauty.  Even though I can't help him maintain it, I can still appreciate his hard work and the gorgeous blooms.

Sorry Spring

Dear Spring,

As I sit on my couch day after day anxiously awaiting the arrival of our little girl, I can't help but notice that I've missed you.  You came and are going so quickly that the joys I usually revel in at this time of year are quickly becoming a distant memory.  I woke up one morning and noticed our daffodils had sprouted so fast and the trees were baring little seedlings of leaves.  The iris' were breaking ground and our beautiful pink blossomed cherry tree was in full bloom.

It seems like only a week since I noticed you had arrived, you're almost gone.  My daffodils are now dying, my roses are perking up ready for the summer heat, and my cherry blossom petals are slowly but surely fading away.  

Sadly, I have been unable to fully appreciate you this year, spring.  With the preparations for the baby, the bed rest, and discomfort of being so pregnant, I have been unable to roam the gardens taking photos like I do each year.  I've been so absent I didn't even notice my favorite flowers, the peonies, are almost in bloom.  I was unable to help Jared plant any of the vegetables or help him clear out the brush.

I missed you this year, spring, but I know you'll be back next year.  I can't wait to get involved again next year with our little daughter.  i know she's going to adore you as well.

Love,
me

The Floods

Currently our entire side yard is its own pond, our pool has a pool on top of the cover, our bedroom is leaking, our basement is flooding, and all the side roads are rivers.

We are on our way to the doctor despite this for me to get checked.  Have been feeling crummy and I'm terrified I'm in labor and don't know it.

Jared says, of all days, please don't have this baby today...

I'm just laughing at the situation because the only other day it has rained so heavily and so badly that I can remember was our wedding day.

Photos to come later when I can get my camera out there without getting soaked.

Sometimes Plastic isn't Always Better

Hand made, real wood Adirondack chairs = $200

Great fake, plastic, and affordable Adirondack rip off chairs = $40

The sight of Jessie and Jared trying fish out great fake, plastic, and affordable Adirondack chairs from pond after wind storm...

Priceless...

Happy photos

It's a dreary day today. I'm sitting at my desk swamped with work. I mean swamped. I can barely get my fingers to type fast enough. However here I am blogging. Go figure! I need a quick break, that is my excuse.

I've decided today to focus on the happier days I've had. No one likes cruddy weather days so I'm posting some nice weather pics to perk my mood and yours!

A day at the sunflower field, surrounded by beauty.


Our newly planted pot earlier this year.

A beautiful winter day at the beach.

Our resident bird, if you can find him here. I think he's a blue heron.

Our fall foliage!

Our lilly pads!

One of our beautiful roses.

Solar Power and garden photos

We have had a busy week at our home. Waldo Renewable installed solar panels on our roof. Now our home is more environmentally friendly, our electricity bill will go down, and we're saving money! If you live in Connecticut and have not done this yet, you're crazy. The new leasing program offered in our state is so worth it!

Here is a close up of our roof (I had a hard time focusing this because the sun was right over head and making me blind!).


Here is the roof completed.


Some more garden photos for your viewing pleasure:
This flower is so pretty...

And then when it is done blooming, it turns into this little ball!

Our pears are looking good and almost ready to eat!


Look, we have corn!


Jared grew all this corn and it is amazing how it's grown so well. I'm so excited!


My hydrangea trees are finally in bloom. I wait all summer for them and now I can cherish them.

Weekend Photos

Some updated photos of the garden.

This pot got enormous and became one of my favorites.

This one too I was very impressed with. I love the colors and it's our hummingbird's favorite.

These ones around the pool look amazing. The best pots we've had yet!

I was driving into the driveway the other day and noticed our neighborhood crane just chilling out by our chairs. You can just barely see him to the right of the chair. Then he took off when I tried to get closer.

Yesterday Jared and I checked out the Mid Summer Festival in Old Lyme. This structure/piece of work was made all of twigs and I needed to take a photo of it. It was really cool!

Blame in on the Rain

Where is Milli Vanilli when I need them?

At my house there has been a monsoon for the past few days. I mean seriously, I feel like I live on a tropical island. Jared and I have both not slept in two nights because the rain has kept us up at night due to the shear loudness and intensity. Yesterday, Jared's work (Mystic Aquarium) actually flooded! Go figure...

All of our flowers are dragging and soggy, our vegetables and fruits have seen better days, and our grass is not looking so hot either. We are both exhausted and tired of the gray skies and buckets of rain. This is what I think:

Blame it on the rain, yeeaah yeahh, Whatever you do, don't put the blame on you... You can blame it on the rain...

Rose love

The loves of my life. Some of our roses. And can I just say that I stared at them and smelled them for a good 20 minutes today. Ahhh, love my roses.

Our pond and all the lily pads. They are so cute!