Still winter

Do you think if I try hard enough, I can make it be spring? I certainly tried. I bought some cheerful spring blossoms:

I even made this excessively cheerful and very pink crocheted rug. It was pretty easy and it went fast, because I used strips of fabric instead of yarn.

No, apparently I cannot make it be spring, no matter how much I want to.

At least the new rug will keep my toes warm.

I learned something new.

I learned something new this week. Those of you who own your own home probably already figured it out. It is MUCH more fun to buy new stuff for your house than to unpack the old stuff. Here is the little arrangement I made from things I bought at Hobby Lobby (total cost under $20.)

Here is the stuff in the living room that has yet to be unpacked. And we won't even discuss the garage full of boxes...

Derek took down our Christmas trees and packed away all the little, fragile ornaments. I hate taking down the Christmas tree, I find it quite depressing. Derek finally got fed up and did it himself. My job is to find and pack up all the other Christmas decorations. I keep finding more: the Santa welcome mat, the guest towels, the red and green basket. It's the CHRISTMAS THAT WOULDN'T END! (If I could, I would make those letters flash red and green in an annoying fashion. Just use your imagination.)

The guest room almost looks like someone could stay there. That is, you can see the bed, even if you have to climb over some boxes to get to it.

The next project is to clear a space for our new treadmill. Apparently there was a world wide treadmill shortage. When we finally made up our minds and paid for one, we learned that it would be over two weeks before delivery. Ack! Of course, they were happy to take our money right away and deliver the thing later. We are going to try putting it in the master bedroom. This means I have to find a better place for the 4 suitcases we took on our cruise. And I need to pack away all the summer clothes we wore on the cruise, but really don't need when it is 21 degrees outside.

Yes, we went on a four day cruise. We took my Dad on a surprise cruise to Key West and Nassau to celebrate a milestone birthday. He was so surprised that he almost refused to go, he kept insisting that he had to go to work. I think he has forgiven us, though. This is my Mom and Dad. Do you think he is having a good time?

The cruise also offered a very rare sight: Derek, Daddy, and my brother, James, all in tuxedos. They certainly clean up nicely. This convergence of the planets may not happen again in our life time. The last time you could see this was at my wedding twelve years ago. James was looking at his watch, Daddy was trying not to cry, and Derek looked like he was going to faint. They look a lot happier in their tuxes this time around, don't you think?

Left to Right: Mommy, Daddy, our good friend, Carol, Derek, and me! (I will blame my funny expression and lumpy dress on the fact that I am leaning over to fit into the frame.)


This is my brother, James, and his adorable girlfriend, Mina. Aren't they cute?

The three little pigs and one little tree

One thing I certainly did not expect when we bought our own house is how much I would WORRY about it. We have had some INTERESTING weather this week, with record high winds, above 50 mph. As soon as the sun came out the next day, I walked all around our little house to see if it was okay. I was very happy when I saw that everything was still in one piece. I feel like one of the three little pigs: the wolf failed to blow my house down, so I will now dance a jig. When we left town for a few days to visit family over Christmas, it was SO HARD to leave the house unattended. We have an alarm system and we set timers on the lights and radios, but I was so happy to come home and see that the house was still standing. It had not burned down or blown over!

A somewhat more realistic worry has been that our little tree will blow over. It has blown over three times, once before we took possession of the house. I think it is a Bradford Pear tree. This is not my favorite type of tree. I think they look like Lego trees, with their too-perfect shape. And the blossoms smell funny. But I don't actually want our little tree to fall down and DIE. We have done everything we could think of to keep it standing up: we staked it, we filled in the hole with more dirt, we piled up some mulch over the roots, and then we propped up some rocks against the trunk. If it wants to blow over again, I think it will have to snap in half!

The tree does have a few strikes against it. It is on the north side of the house, with no shelter from the wind. And, as I said earlier, we have had record winds recently. The spot the builder chose for the tree is also quite close to the little manhole-like lid that apparently leads to our water meter, so there is not as much room for the roots to spread out in that direction as one might wish. The spot they chose to plunk down our tree is also the lowest and therefore the wettest spot on our lot. They have promised to come back and add more dirt in the spring, after the dirt settles. (Huh?) When our tree blew over the last time, the little hole it left behind was completely full of water. As I said, this is in a low spot. And, like most of Bloomington, our yard is one inch of dirt over two feet of thick clay over fifty feet of limestone. Not the most promising growth medium for trees. When we propped up the tree, we weren't sure we saw any signs of roots growth at all.

But, I am pleased to report that we did notice some signs of life. The little tree has little tiny BUDS on it. (Vivaldi's "Spring" swells in the background.) It is alive, amazingly enough. And I can't wait until it buds out so we can see for sure what kind of tree it is.

Our friend Beth suggested that we talk to the tree. She suspects it is an Ent, and that it keeps trying to walk off, so we need to make it feel more at home. Maybe we could get it a garden gnome for company?