Service Team came today and installed the new railing. It will take some getting used to...it looks ok, but I'm just not used to seeing a railing on the front of the house! I'm sure it will grow on me in time!!




And one project leads to the next one...the landscaping! :) Did you notice in the photos that the one Alberta Spruce is gone?

While I was washing the dishes tonight, I looked out the window, and thought there was a skunk in the woods...until...he popped his head up, and I saw the red tuft! I was so surprised to see the Pileated Woodpecker eating on the ground. If you look closely, you can see the branch under him that he was getting his dinner from. It's always a treat seeing the Pileated. :)

Last Saturday's snowshoe to Lanham Lake. Stephan and I went with some of his friends who came up and stayed at the cabin this weekend. It was a short hike, only 3 or 4 miles RT, but the combination of snowshoes and 1000ft elevation gain in 1.5 miles made it a good workout :)

I would say we certainly earned a long soak in the hot tub afterwards!


The edge of the lake, under a foot of fresh powder. (The lake itself isn't much to see, it just looks like a big, snowy field.)



On the way up, we passed a nice couple making these awesome snowmen. The snowmen are perfect replicas of the two of them (I particularly liked the moss "beard").

Happy winter-spring.

Hi everyone! Here's a few pictures of the new (awesome) backyard space. Much better than those piddly containers I had to work with a the last place.

Landscaping. The area all the way on the left is going to be turned into a patio this summer: the strawberry patch is in the middle, behind that clay pot.

Garden shed and our raised bed, on the left.


Our landlord's raised bed, and the new patch that will soon be another raised bed where the tomatoes will go (there's still a compost bin there for the time being.) This is apparently the sunniest part of the yard.


Kale overwintered. Pretty tasty.


Close-up of the strawberry patch.



So although today isn't the sunniest of days, here are a few flowering pictures to prove that it is already spring in Seattle (and has been for quite some time!)

I've been meaning to upload this photo for a few weeks now. I found this the last time we were up at Poppop and Grammie's house and snatched it up before Mom could destroy it. Check out Mom's short skirt and skimpy top! Not to mention Dad's skinny leg jeans! I'm guessing Poppop Eckard took the photo. I think it's great, and I knew Theresa and Laura would enjoy it too, although I'm sure Mom will be mortified that I'm posting it...hehe. :-)

Look who showed up on our deck this morning. I hope he's only here for a weekend getaway, and then plans to fly back to where its warmer for another month or so. We still have a good amount of snow on the ground and more in the forecast, so I dont think he'll be finding any worms around here for a little while yet...

Wow...was this a huge project! Somehow it didn't seem like so much work when we were just talking about it!! But it was totally worth all of the splinters, sore muscles and scraped fingers from the carpet backing and tack strips. Dad used over 400 screws trying to get rid of all of the squeaks in the floor.

Amanda and Jason came up to help on Saturday, boy were we glad to see them!


We lived like rednecks for the weekend, with lawn chairs for furniture, and the tv on the floor~


Well...someone had to oversee that dad was screwing the floor down right!!


We crammed the furniture anywhere it would fit....

I especially liked the sofa in the kitchen. After I washed the dishes, I didn't have to go far to lay down and take a nap!!



And the finally the finished product....

I love the new carpeting, it's sooo plush, and feels good under your feet.


Now for new furniture to go with the new carpet?! :)

The storm's over. Poor Jason was out at 10pm shoveling and everyone must have felt bad for him because all of our neighbors came out to help. The guy across the street brought over his snowblower and did our driveway, and the neighbors on either side helped with our sidewalks. Needless to say I'll be doing a lot of baking today to thank everyone for their help! Merck's asking everyone to work from home again today if they can, so that's what I plan to do. Kimmel and Silverman had a "2 hour delay" so Jason just headed into work now. They finally ploughed our street and he has the subaru so I think he'll be fine. Here's how things look this morning...

Sadly the pine tree in the front of our house took a bit of a beating in this storm. The snow was really heavy and stuck to the branches, and one of the big branches in the middle of the tree snapped off yesterday... :(

This was as close as I could get Piper and Pippin to the snow. If I put them out on the deck the snow would be over their heads!

It's 7:30pm and still snowing here (though not as heavy as earlier)...I think Laura's right, our deck is going to disappear if it doesn't stop soon! :-)

I've been waiting for a good snowstorm, and boy did we get one today! We have 19 inches of snow as I write this, but it's still snowing and we're expected to get a few more inches before it's all done. Dad and I were out in the snow earlier, and we took some pictures...


Dad thought the mailbox was so funny with the snow piled on top. Once the winds start to pick up, the snow will be blown away.



School is closed today and tomorrow, so I'm off now until next Tuesday because of President's Day weekend! Yay!


Unfortunately the downside of the storm is the clean up... but dad likes getting out and riding around on the tractor!


I love snowstorms!!! We may be getting another one on Monday! :)