Saturday, March 9, 2013

There is nothing like the smell of grout in the morning to wake you up...

The question in everyone's mind, well ok, not everyone, but almost everyone who lives in most of western washington - except not the higher elevation, but more like the lower and mid elevations and lowlands and cities... "Is spring here to stay?"
Yes, that is the question. Friday and Saturday were both very warm, sunny, springy and everything nice. Our neighbors on both sides were out in their yard planting green things, mowing the grass, and some one was even spotted wear shorts. If that doesn't sniff of spring, then I don't know what does. Of course, the skeptic out there is nodding his head and saying, "check out the forecast, mr. optimism" I know, I know, it is supposed to rain for the next week or perhaps 3 months, but that won't dampen my enthusiasm.
We did, however wake up to a light frost, so that is a little scary to our small plants just peering out from their dirt filled lairs. This wasn't a heavy frost filled with the chilly touch of death. It wasn't the cold that kills with its basilisk stare. No, this was his playful little brother, who creeps up and almost apologetically lets you know that if it had its way, then spring would be here, but as it is only March, well this was his way of saying good bye and good luck. By about 10:00 the frost, ice, and chill was gone and all that was lovely had taken its place.









We haven't had a large variety of birds lately, but what was lacking in melange was made up for in numbers. They seem to know spring is here and it's time to get down to the chore of eating.
The hummingbirds have been sitting in the tops of trees and singing their little hearts out. It is one of those noises that you'll never mistake once you've heard it. I don't know if the little lady birds are attracted or not, but i'm hopeful.





Now, on to the main feature. You probably wondered what on earth could have brought on such a title as this post has. Well, as most of you know the best time to do messy home improvement projects is when the little ones are sleeping. So, after they went to bed last night, my wife and I retiled the fireplace. (we had done the prep work the night before) Then early this morning, (we noticed a robin looking in the window and shaking its head as if to say, "I thought I was the early bird") we grouted (installed grout, or perhaps engrouted the tiles) until the grout was gone. As this was our first venture into the tiling world there were some mistakes, but when people ask, I'll just say that my wife did that area, and I'll bet she'll tell them I wouldn't listen or something like that. We are just about wrapped up on our home expansion now and have only a few minor details and the fun of rearranging everything, so we are ready to have the boredom of nothing to do... except like I said before its spring. Time to get outside and do stuff!



Oh, and one last tip, don't forget to check your freezer every now and again. A long, long time ago we made some bird suet and put them on hangers to hang for the birds. Then we put some out and froze the rest. Then we forgot about them. Well, since even the weariest river windes somewhere safe to sea, we cleaned out the freezer and found them lost in their dreamless frozen sleep. Now 'viola!' here is one hanging in a tree for all the birds to see.



4 comments:

  1. Looks like our lovely weather was motivating to your household too! I think the tile work looks great!

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    1. Yes, and our motivation will last as long as the sun! thanks for the complement. There is a reason we took the picture that far back ;)

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  2. Your Daffodils are so cheerful and bright! I got lots done outside on Friday and Saturday too. I'm only a little bummed that it is raining again today, I was quite sore after two days of digging and planting. I came here from Jenni's blog, I'm always looking for more PNW bloggers to check out.

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