Lucky

Today I feel lucky. Not lucky like I should go play the lottery. More "blessed" but really without that religious feel to it. Kinda like "privileged" but without the nose in the air snottyness. Content but eager. I'm sure the word I'm describing exists, I just don't know it.

I have five hens running around in the backyard watching me water my plants. I have a beehive that is going nuts in the warm summer air of today. I have peppers, lettuce, mint, parsley, spinach, rosemary, lavender, chives, thyme, basil, stevia, tucander, oregano, onions, blueberrys, raspberrys and strawberrys growing in the garden (or bathtub in the case of the lettuce). I have two adorable well adjusted cats. I'm babysitting two cute and squeaky guinea pigs. I have an absolutely amazing and supportive fiance. We have owned our house for two years now. I am planning our wedding in Ireland. I went to work today because I have a steady job with benefits. I went out last night with good friends. I went to the museum and saw the Pompeii exhibit with friends today. Thank you.

Finishing Coats

Finally got the finishing coat on the clawfoot tub! I have the option of a third coat but I figure I can do that once it is in place in the bathroom, also touching up any marks that are made during transportation. The final color is a Sherwin Williams gloss enamel in the color "creamery". Now I just need to finish the feet (the new one came in from Creative Castings in Seattle, WA this week!) and buy the faucet/ drain hardware. Well I guess I also still need to throw a party to get it up the stairs!

Ouch!

In other news today, I think I broke my toe yesterday. Dan and I have decided to make more of an effort to start hiking in preparation for a trip we want to take this summer/fall. So we have been going in the evenings to do short "hikes". Well yesterday I stepped up on a log, and then down off a log. Under a green bush there was a 1" dia tree stump that someone had cut to about 4" off the ground at a sharp angle. It went through my shoe and grabbed my baby toe while I was landing the decent from the log. All in all it HURT.

And still hurts. Hopefully gets better soon because I really want to do this trip this summer. Our goal is to hike across Isle Royal National Park. Isle Royal is a island in Lake Superior and the length of the Island is about 45 miles. I have my fingers crossed! (But not my toes at the moment )

Oh Honey!

Dan and I checked on the bees today! It was the first time that I got fully suited up since we got the bees on April 1st. I was much more relaxed this time, which is good news! The bees seemed to react much better to the smoking this time, but I think that was due to the fact that they had honey to eat now. (When you smoke bees their reaction is to eat as much as possible because they think there is a forest fire and they may need to move). The good news is , they had honey to eat now! And so did Dan and I! We got a small honey treat because they had built some honey comb in some weird places of the hive, so when we opened it up there was nothing for it but to scrape it off and save it for a sweet taste later! It was pretty awesome! The honey isn't quite fully fermented/ to the right humidity but it was still very sweet and delicious. It was just thinner than you would expect and had a little less color.

Our first taste of our backyard honey!

All and all it looks like the bees are doing great! We have another couple of boxes that we will be adding soon! Can't wait for harvest time. :)

2 year Anniversary!

Today is two years from the day Dan and I closed on the house. It really has been an adventure that I cannot say I have loved every minute of, but I can say I have learned every minute of. It is great to have pictures like this to be able to look back and see just how much I have done over time. I can wait to see in five years how much has changed. It really is exciting. Thank you to everyone who has helped me get this far.

May 2010

May 2012

Click image to see a larger composite of the two pictures