Spring Flowers

It is finally springtime and we have been distracted by outdoor activities. We planted some vegetables, and Colin weed whacked the dandelions and forget-me-nots from the rocky corner of our yard. In the fall we planted some alliums, which have now opened up into these amazing purple globes. Our azalea is also flowering. (It is one of the few plants that was in the yard to begin with.) The azalea is covered in amazing pink flowers. What we don't understand is that the part of the plant that was buried under snow all winter is flowering, the part that was above the snow looks dead.

Sea of Blue

At this time of year, our backyard becomes a sea of blue Forget-Me-Nots. They have been spreading across our yard. The originally were only in one area of yard that the previous owner had let go to "meadow". Once we pulled all the jewelweed, the Forget-Me-Nots took over. Now that we have our own lawnmower (instead of the neighbor's boys mowing our lawn), we can mow them before they go to seed. Until then, we are enjoying the sea of blue.

Porch

Last week, one of our friend's two story porch suddenly collapsed. Thankfully, the two dogs that were on the porch at the time were okay and no one was hurt. We often joke about our porch falling down. The floors and supports becoming more uneven. The corner post of the side porch isn't attached to the porch. This is the year we are going to replace it.

Meadow Voles

The melting snow is uncovering the handiwork of suspected meadow voles. Their tunnels and piles of discarded dirt are all over the front, side, and backyard. Oddly, neither of our neighbors has any damage. Thankfully they did not dig too many tunnels in our gardens, but the tunnels and the piles of dirt are a huge mess. We have never even seen one tunnel before, so we're not sure where they came from.

Priming the Ceiling (on the Floor)

After Alyssa's experience with priming the downstairs kitchen ceiling (pine tongue and grove panelling) with the thin primer dripping all over the place, Colin decided to prime the panelling on the floor, before installing it. This afternoon he finished the first coat of primer.

Taping Corners and Mudding

After the busy holiday season (and cold season), Colin is back to work in Alistair's new room. This weekend he has been doing a bit of mudding and taping. Alistair has been "helping."

Front Room Drywalled and (mostly) Taped

After a flurry of activity when Malcolm was here, we've hit a bit of a lull. Colin spent most of his free time in October and early November watching Alistair, while Alyssa was not feeling well due to morning sickness and then a bad cold. Alyssa is feeling much better now, and after the holidays we plan to make quicker progress. We now have a deadline - May 28.

The Workers

Colin and Malcolm, a little dusty.

New Closet

Colin and Malcolm framed out the new closet in the front bedroom and started to hang drywall. With no drywall on the eastern wall, you can see the front hall stairway ceiling and the original, small closet.

New Insulation

Here is the upstairs front bedroom with the new windows and new insulation.