lately in connecticut...

a lot, a lot has been going on in connecticut.  i absolutely love the springtime, so i have spent a lot of time outside [both for work and at our house].  let's start with our house, and more about work later...

we have been working hard to make the yard beautiful this year.  we added a few gardens, got a bunch of flowers [for free - yay!], and are still trying to clean up from last fall's crazy snow storm.  

on top of all of that, one of our roommates is moving out.  we all have grown apart from him, so this is definitely best for our house.  however, we are upset that he decided to give away what became, in his constant absence, our house pet.  grizzly adams, the bearded dragon, was roxy's best friend, and she definitely misses him!  once our roommate is out, i'm excited because i have a new room to paint.  mike wants to paint it a neutral color before the next roommate so he won't have to quickly paint it when he decides to sell.  any suggestions?

so... crazy springtime.

grizzy looks sad to leave us - we will miss him!

kitchen updates:

new spice racks and utensil holders 

new ikea grundtal kitchen accessories

front yard updates:

view out the dining room window to front walk garden and new front corner garden

front walk flowers

new gardens!

new shed and grasses on the side of the house

backyard updates:

mike and jeff chainsawing and putting in a new wood rack

coolest tool ever: post-hole digger

almost done, just needs the tarp on top

planted like 3 bags of wild flowers here... let's see what happens 3 weeks from now

all the wood for the wood rack so jeff can plant his veggie garden here

and the next project:

gotta clean the sunroom for summer fun!

and finish the basement bar!

i love our house :)

weird stuff my cat does

i was looking back through some old blog posts and found the last update on my kitten.  it was from three months ago, and she had just discovered my fishies.  


i know people say cats can be weird, but mine takes the cake [and any other food she can steal off my plate at dinner].

started out as just observing

then every time i fed them, she would try and get a better look 

getting closer, lady!

she eats off forks now. i think this was chicken.

and she's found a new sleeping spot - right next to her best friend, grizzly adams.

in addition to my fish, she has also realized the existence of some other animals on the roof.  if you listen to the end, you can hear her version of a bark.  the last one is the funniest.

she's so cute, but look at her compared to a year and a half ago... at least she doesn't look like an alien anymore!

new patio!

a week ago i had an outing at work.  everyone at my office worked a full day, then we went out and played 6 holes of golf, and then we spent a couple hours having dinner and drinks.  i got home around 9:30 to the guys pulling apart the end patio bricks to begin extending our patio.

cut to three hours later: a patio was finished!  magic? no.  4 people working their faces off? yes.  

it is so worth it, it looks beautiful!

mike got a ton and a half of sand the weekend before for the patio

yay and i got to play in it

we had a fire going, and by 10:00 the patio work had begun

pink work gloves? don't mind if i do.

and now the finished product compared to 2 years ago when the boys moved in! [top photos are before and bottom photos are after... hopefully you can tell the improvement!]

before it could only fit a grill, now it can fit the entire length of a picnic table, and i am trying really hard to grow some grass in that back yard!