A month in the nest

We've been here a month as of May 26.   We have been celebrating with a visit from Ari's mom Cheryl, who is a delight to have as our first house guest.  And today was a very important day - it's the day we finally moved all our stuff out of storage.  The little chest freezer was the last thing.  Now we are OFFICIALLY moved IN!

So what have we done this past month?

Well, we made some messes:

living room before and after

Upstairs bedroom then and now (we've since cleaned up)

Discovered hidden art, and other secrets:

And created some order: 

About a week ago, we got the first round of tree work done.  It wasn't cheap but it was worth it.  The house, garage, and fruit trees can breathe, and the big trees look pretty without the little trees crowding them.  No powerlines, buildings or skulls were injured in the process thanks to the pros at Tonk's Tree Service.  Overhanging limbs were trimmed, smaller trees were removed, and the three grand firs smothering the fruit trees were removed.  The latter has made the whole yard smell like Christmas.   

(Before and after)

FInal thought for today is how grateful we are to have scored a great kitchen.  

view from top of stairs

Ari picked out and installed these awesome drawer pulls 

Woodwork on the staircase

view from copper bowl

Oh, and PS: Leia says "hi."

A beautiful morning in our new home

We've been in our new home for about 3 weeks now!  This is what it looked like this morning when I came outside.  It was a rather glorious peaceful morning.  Nevermind the pile of discarded carpet by the deck and the wayward pallet.  Aside form adding the potted plants and flowers in the planter box, we haven't put our mark on this place yet, so this will be a good "before" picture.  We look forward to new, lighter exterior paint, and more sunlight when we get the tree work done.

Last weekend we planted the planter box in front with marigolds and other flowers, plus the gladiolus and dahlia bulbs we brought with us.  Ari picked up this cute solar powered decoration that lights up at night.

The property is filled with various rhododendron and azalea bushes.  They're a favorite in this area, where they grow happily, both natural species and cultivated hybrids, some of which were developed here in this area.  We've got salmon-colored, pale pink, magenta, purple, deep red, and who knows what's yet to bloom.  I expect next year when we've trimmed the trees to let in more light, we'll have a really impressive rhodie show.

The house is set back on the lot, so the driveway winding through the trees feels like our own private lane.  This will also be a great "before" picture.  Much more light will be let in when we remove some of these trees and limbs.  On the right is a fruit tree that's really in need of more sunlight.  We will preserve the diversity of tree species and the beautiful mature trees, but the little ones and the low limbs will be thinned for more light.

After a long vacancy, all that was left in the front flower planter was an unruly overgrown lavender bush. I finally took it out last weekend to make way for the new, but made this wreath for the side door out of the clippings.

Here's the purple rhododendron bush and the firewood stack in back of the house.

One of my favorite little tasks so far was refreshing the white paint on the driftwood address sign that some previous resident installed.  When we moved in, branches were hanging over it so it could barely be seen, and the paint was chipped and faded.  Now the branches are trimmed, the paint is refreshed and there's a solar powered LED light to illuminate it at night. 

That's it for now.  The next post will be about the inside!