Front Gutters

I apparently do not take photos of the front of my house. This before shot for the gutters is from November of 2012....it was the only one I could find...... so please ignore the snow in the bottom of the frame.

You can see there is only a short gutter over the front of the porch and has no end caps and no downspout. Yes, water gushed out both sides and ruined whatever plants I put in my black urn... and then slowly took the paint off it, so I need to re-paint it now that the gutters are fixed. Rather, installed correctly? sigh

Here is the house now. the garage side is capped (both condos) and the downspout is on the porch post. We also added a gutter between the two porches with that downspout coming down the center of the two front windows.
SO MUCH BETTER!!! and maintains the mirror image which was very important to our neighbor.
Still to add? black tubing buried in the mulch to pull the water from the downspouts out of the front garden bed and into the grass. I will post more pics when that happens.... before snow-fall is my goal!!

Anniversary

This has been a super crazy month and the calendar is NOT slowing down - so we spent our Anni in a low key kinda way - dinner out at a local restaurant after work. Yep! That was it!
And sometimes that's all you need....

Highland Games

This past weekend we went up to the Highland Games at Loon Mtn. We stayed overnight Friday and went to the games on Saturday - the funniest thing was the place we stayed last year was the only one with a room - was still the cheapest - and when we got there they handed us the exact same room key as we had last year!!

Matt in front of our door - 2 yrs running!

It's on the end, which I think is great as it gives us

 this lovely view out an extra side window!

Saturday morning came chilly, misty and with 

the beginning of fall leaves on the car

Carving an angry face onto the pumpkin

Claymore vs pumpkin

Claymore History Lesson

As per usual me, I got involved in the day with friends, the athletics competitions, vendors, food, music - GREAT music this year! - and did not take very many photos. The pumpkin pics above were taken after they had sliced a few open and I realized my brother might like to see this - LOL!

It was a great day all around, and though it ended in rain, we started for home cold, wet with smiling faces :-)  Until next year!!
psssttt! think we'll get the same room again??

It's been a bit crazy.....

....around here lately. It's funny, I felt like time was flying this summer when we had family living with us, but ever since they've left, I feel like it's moving twice as fast!! How did it get to be late September already?

I went to return a curtain to a store the other day and they were putting up Holiday decorations. I almost freaked out. 

What happened to fall? apple picking, pumpkin hunting in preparation for Halloween? Thanksgiving anyone? sigh. I LOVE this time of year and it drives me bananas when the stores (and even some people!) try to make it go by faster, get it over with and have it be January already. No thank you! I want to play in the yard in the cooler weather, watch the leaves fall and the geese fly south. I want to smell the wood fires and the yummy baked goods coming out of the oven. I want to feel that first touch of chill when you can reach for your favorite sweater or cozy up on the couch with a hot cup of cider and a good book!

So I'm putting the breaks on, people. There will be no rushing of Fall!

I've started a new routine. Swimming in the wee hours of the morning before work twice a week. Maybe three times... but I'm not going to push it. Because I love it! I love the world before everyone wakes up and makes it crazy. It's so peaceful. calm. at rest. 

I've woken up each day before my alarm goes off, thrown on my swim gear and headed out in sweats. LOVE it. Get to the gym, check out the lane situation as I head to the locker room to drop off my bag. This morning I felt especially lucky as I was one of three people in the pool. Speaking of being at rest. The pool was calm and my brain just unfocused as the laps went by. 

I took these with my phone from out the car window on the way home this morning. When I first passed the lake on my way to the gym, the mist was much stronger and there was no light other than the full moon. It was jaw-dropping beautiful. It was too dark for a phone picture. Just imagine the above in blackness with a full moon in the upper left-hand corner and mist all over the lake, gently rising towards the trees.

Yep. My laundry room. Reality check. My house is not always clean. I may have a Monica closet (Friends reference). Or a Monica basement. And yes, a few contractors have now seen the Monica basement. Which means it is now an endangered species soon to be extinct if all goes well! Cross your fingers!!

List of Things.....

The idea for this post comes directly to you from The Ascent Blog. It reminded me of college, when quizzes were a daily thing - I think they are a fun waste of time. Anyhoo. Making: funny faces at my hubby. I love to hear him laugh. Cooking: a seafood chowder in the crock-pot. totally paleo/primal Drinking: anything from my juicer - YUM! Reading: Bossy Pants and Gone Girl Wanting: it to stay fall forever. Looking: like I haven't brushed my hair in weeks - thanks weird weather! Playing: local wall climbing gym - woot! Wasting: time writing this? Sewing: Halloween Costumes Wishing: I was outside walking Enjoying: my new routine of swimming in the wee hours of the morning Waiting: for a quote back on our basement Wondering: how much snow we'll get this year Loving: the cooler nights that mean I can snuggle under the covers Hoping: it doesn't rain at the Highland Games! Marveling: at how fast time flies Needing: hot tea? Smelling: the start of wood fires in yards and homes Wearing: jeans and a tee - my ultimate fav's Noticing: the days are getting shorter again Knowing: it's the journey, not the destination Thinking: about the holidays coming up Feeling: excited for fall and the projects that are on the brink! Giggling: CDS = crazy dog syndrome = no matter what time of day or night, tired or not, he MUST move in every direction at once (at top speed of course) until he cannot breathe. Feeling: grateful for my truly awesome life.

Tree Stumps

Back in July - on the 15th actually - thank you phone for the time stamp! - Matt drilled holes into one of our stumps in order to try Stump-Out. Since we had several oak trees taken down a few years ago we have grown to wish the stumps were gone too!
The hardest part was drilling the holes. Since they were once mighty-oak-trees, the wood was extremely hard to drill into and those 4 holes killed 3 batteries for the drill. Crazy, right?!

drill the holes, poor in the powder, water and leave it.

OK. So here we are in September....3 months in and this is what it looked like this morning when I took the photos:

YEP! all the outer bark has come off and the 'inside' between the two trunks has been withering.....buuuut......not much else. We are going to try another round and then leave it until spring (hard to imagine but we've already had our first frost!! not a bad one, but frost all the same) since it's not going to do much in the snow.
I'll be sure to keep you posted!

My Favorite Things (this week)

Annelyse in her Community Theatre Production

Annelyse and Michael in their 'new' house!

Miss Rosie is walking!!

and climbing - what a monkey!!

Girls Night

Apples to Apples!

Baby Shower Invites for Catherine and Brett!