Spring Weekend

We've been blessed with a warmer than normal Spring this year. All of the plants are blooming early, which means we have to start our work early, too.

Mike wanted to put down crabgrass killer on Saturday. The problem was that we have grass seed in the dozens of divets in the yard that we needed to protect. We came up with a solution.

The solution worked great, though we are still unhappy that the divets are there in the first place.

Next it was time to aerate. We haven't done it for so long and were really overdue.

While Mike was doing all this work, I did some planting.

3 new mugo pines

Heather by the patio (next to four others)

Heather by the milk house

A blueberry tree added to the stand of others we already have

As always, Mattie wanted in on the fun. He is such a helper.

 

How are you spending your Spring?

23 Adult Truths.......OH, how true!

I recently received this email and it was too good not to share :) My comments appear in this font.

23 Adult Truths.......OH, how true!

1. Sometimes I'll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still not know what time it is. Totally me.
2. Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you're wrong. Oooh. That's definitely happened to me.
3. I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was younger. I never miss a nap.
4. There is great need for a sarcasm font. Interestingly, there is a big internet movement to create one. Who knew?
5. How on earth are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet? I'm actually quite good at this.
6. Was learning cursive really necessary? It is pretty.
7. Map Quest really needs to start their directions on # 5. I'm pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood. Funny.
8. Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the person died. Agreed. I'm nosy and YOU know it.
9. I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least kind-of tired.
10. Bad decisions make good stories. Oh yes.
11. You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you know that you just aren't going to do anything productive for the rest of the day. Hate it when that happens.
12. Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after Blue Ray? I don't want to have to restart my collection...again.
13. I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten-page technical report that I swear I did not make any changes to. HATE that.
14. I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call. Uh huh...
15. I think the freezer deserves a light as well.
16. I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or Saturday night more kisses begin with Miller Light than Kay. Or any alcohol.
17. I wish Google Maps had an "Avoid Ghetto" routing option. How would I get to camp?
18. I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger.
19. How many times is it appropriate to say "What?" before you just nod and smile because you still didn't hear or understand a word they said? Guilty as charged.
20. I love the sense of camaraderie when an entire line of cars team up to prevent a jerk from cutting in at the front. Stay strong, brothers and sisters! YES!
21. Shirts get dirty. Underwear gets dirty. Pants? Pants never get dirty, and you can wear them forever. Hmmm... Don't agree with this one.
22. Even under ideal conditions people have trouble locating their car keys in a pocket, finding their cell phone, and Pinning the Tail on the Donkey - but I'd bet everyone can find and push the snooze button from 3 feet away, in about 1.7 seconds, eyes closed, first time, every time. Ha ha!
23. The first testicular guard, the "Cup," was used in Hockey in 1874 and the first helmet was used in 1974. That means it only took 100 years for men to realize that their brain is also important. So true...

Artist Uses the Beach as Canvas for his Ephemeral Sand Art (TreeHugger)

I think this is cool!

Read the full article at TreeHugger here: http://www.treehugger.com/culture/artist-uses-beach-canvas-ephemeral-sand-art.html

Hanging out

St. Patty's weekend was such beautiful weather that we decided to set up the patio early. We got out the table and chairs (and gave them a bath), the chiminea, patio heater and grill.

We had a great cook out for dinner on Sunday :)

Mattie patiently waited for his dinner. Too bad we didn't share :(

Early Spring

During our window installation on March 9, I took the opportunity to check out the flowers in the yard. I just love it that Spring has sprung early!

 

Beautiful!

Upgrades

This business of being a home owner can be a lot of work. Actually, we don't mind. Upgrading our investment feels and looks good.
Our most recent purchase was new windows for the upstairs bedroom that will become Mike's office. We replaced the 30+ year old windows with nice aluminum clad wood Pella Architect 850 series windows.

Here is the before.

Old, icky windows

They let cold and moisture in

The installer ripped out the old windows and fortunately the sill was still good.

Ooh, moss isn't good though

We also discovered that this part of the house was made of repurposed lumber. This isn't a surprise, considering the age of the house. Both windows had post holes.





And here are the new windows, all wrapped up and ready to install.






We opted for a 6 over 1 grid to give the house a updated feel.




We really like it. The downstairs windows will be next!

Living in the Woods

Would you like to live in the woods? No, really I mean IN THE WOODS. After reading about the ecoPerch, then going to the BlueForest website, I do.

The ecoPerch is a four bed trailer built onsite in 5 days. It is meant to be sustainable and to look natural.

Once I got into the website, I found the next thing to love -- tree houses. These are not the little tree houses you had (or wanted as a kid). These amazing retreats are not for the faint of heart. I love 'em!

I'm quite partial to the high tech hideaway (below), but you should go find your fave...

 Enjoy!

Fun stuff

Whether or not you know it, I am a terrible artist. I can't draw to save my life. But, I can draw a stick man! Please check out http://www.drawastickman.com (they also have an iOS app). It is sooo much fun!!!

Breathe

I had the interesting experience of a pulmonary test on March 2nd at Newton Wellesley Hospital. I had no idea what to expect. And certainly not the little breathing cell. The door was open for all but one of the tests. For that one they closed the door and pressurized the unit. It was very interesting!

LaCroix Cup, 2012

We were lucky enough to participate in the 2012 LaCroix cup this year. Our team was three due to Connor's fracture, but... We did pretty good!

There were about 85 people registered for the race.

Fiona placed second in her age category (girls)

Michael placed first in his age category (mens)

I got third in my age category (womens). I need to improve my time.

Drumroll.... Our team won the cup with the fastest time. We are so lucky -- we're the first family to win two years in a row!!! Go Skiing Dogs!!!

You may have noticed our outfits. We weren't being goofy - it was a luau theme!

First Snow 2012

We had our first snow of the year (and of this winter season) on Leap Day. What a way to celebrate!!!

I don't really have too much to say. It was pretty and I took some photos that were fun. Just thought I'd share :)

The bird bath - now snow bath

Magnolia in the front yard

Heather -- I love it so much!!!

The red twig dogwood gets really red when it gets really cold

Cherry tree

The Gadgets and Gear that Helped Us Along

In addition to our ski gear, our electronic gear and gadgets helped make for a fun time capturing memories of the trip. We went out with as little as possible, but certain things had to be included.

Our phones. Really, a must-have. The side benefit was the navigation app we have (Navigon) that told us what routes to take. It was convenient and reliable. It even made some of the regular things fun. Take the tunnels... As we drove through them, it even changed the screen to be a tunnel :)

Our iPads. Loaded with books, music and movies, we had all the entertainment we could need. As a matter of fact, we only watched one of the four movies we brought (and I fell asleep during that one).

Our cameras. Mike shot using a Nikon AW100. This waterproof beauty also records GPS locations. Oooh, pretty maps... I shot with the much less expensive but capable Easy Share Sport 123. It is also waterproof.

Mike's snazzy snapcatcher

My durable do-gooder

All the gadgets required cords and chargers. We organized them in our gadget pocket and grid it.

Boot dryers. You can forget this baby. It keep our boots dry and our toes toasty. This was worth every bit of the $24.99 it cost. It has both a wall charger and a car charger so you are good to go.

That's it folks! I'll give you a rest from our trip. Now back to regular programming :)

Ski Trip Summary

Lest you think we are really that nerdy, the EpicMix pass we had for Vail Resorts really made the trip fun. The passes had RF chips in them that were read each time we took a lift and each time we had our pics snapped by the pros. The website tracked our vertical feet, organized our pics, and even gave us pins for accomplishments (like taking a lift 5 times, or skiing 75,000 vertical feet). I really wish the mountains in New England would add this ability. It was great fun for us and would be even more fun for kids.

Part of the capability was to create a collage of our trip. Here are ours:

Mike was clearly the rock star. He skied beyond what I did on Monday and Wednesday. He was terribly disappointed not to have reached 100,000 vertical feet

My vertical should be about 82,000; my pass didn't read for some reason, even though Mike's did. It was fun anyway!

We're looking forward to our next ski adventure. It will be fun to plan for!

Saying Goodbye and Coming Home

We had a great time in Breckenridge. We did a lot of skiing and enjoyed a little of the village atmosphere. Friday was the last day in the town and our only day of not skiing. It was strange to wake up and look outside at all the other people who were skiing. On the bright side, we missed the busy busy slopes that President's week brought. The lines were incredibly long.

We treated ourselves to breakfast out for the first time during our stay. We tried the Blue Moose Restaurant. It was good, prices reasonable, and a popular spot. On the way back to our room we stopped by Christy Sports to take a look around. We were shocked. Nearly 10 am and the ski rental line had at least 50 people waiting. We were thankful once again to have wrapped up the day before.

We wanted to enjoy a little more of the scenery before heading to Denver for our 5 pm flight. I took a last shot of Peak 9 from our balcony so I could enjoy it from home. Here's the panorama:

We sure would miss the convenience of stepping outside and to the lift line!

We made a last minute decision to stop by Keystone Ski Area and Arapahoe Basin Ski Area on the way out. Both were less than 15 miles away. We took Swan Mountain Road from Route 9 to Route 6. Whew! Switchbacks galore!

We got a few great pics of the view. Lovely!

My memories of Keystone are much dimmer than those of Breckenridge. I skied there with my family, but I think it was only for one year. I'd never been to A Basin before. Wow! There were several step blacks with moguls. Looked scary to me.

Done with exploring ski areas, we made a plan to stop along the way and see something else. Lunch time came when we were near the town of Georgetown, so we stopped for a bite. The town was cute, if small, and seemed to have an artsy edge. We did not do any shopping.

Lunch was at the Happy Cooker. If you know me, as you should, you can imagine what the name made me think...

 

As lunch drew to a close, our trip did, too. Denver-bound, we had to gas up the car, take it to the rental place and deal with the fun at DIA.

The return process was trouble-free. The guys at Hertz even took us to the airport in the rental car so we wouldn't to take a shuttle with all of our bags :) Our flight was delayed by an hour, so the night wore on a bit. We made it back to Northborough by 1 am.

Home Sweet Home. Kitty Sweet Kitty was purrfectly happy to see us!

 

So, that was the trip. I'll have a couple more little posts about it to wrap things up. Hope you enjoyed the recap as much as we enjoyed the trip!