APRIL SHOWERS BRING MAY FLOWERS AND GARDENING!!

What I am looking forward to! This is one of my favorite garden photos.

Sorry I have been quiet the past couple of weeks. We are in the middle of a big remodel or redo of our living/dining room and once that is done, we will start on the kitchen. We're getting all new floors, new painted walls, window treatments, and new cupboards and counters in the kitchen.  We've lived here for 20+ years now with very few improvements so it is past due! 

We've lived in apartments, duplexes, huge farmhouses, and this little 'cottage'. It's a small unassuming house, but we like it here. The size suits us, especially now that the kids are grown. We have one tiny bathroom and it was quite a challenge when we had 2 teens in the house, but we managed.  Contentment is a way of life for us. Living simply and being happy have always been our pursuits. It was not uncommon for visitors to comment that our home felt peaceful. 

There were certainly times when we had stress and peace seemed far off, but for the most part, we have been happy here, raising our family and enjoying country life! Gardening has always been a part of our lives. Richard was an avid gardener when I met him. He owned a garden tiller...when other 20 year olds own hot rods! We've been married almost 37 years and only a few years ago he had to replace that garden tiller with a new one! It served us well.

Once again, we are nearing planting and tilling time. Hopefully the painting and flooring will be in the living room before that happens. We are planning to wait to start the kitchen until the weather gets warm enough for us to do our cooking on the deck. All the appliances will have to be removed from the kitchen and it won't be an overnight project! Richard is building the cabinets himself. He did that years ago in a house we lived in and they were beautiful. He's talented like that!

I'm looking forward to the challenge of no stove and cooking on the grill! It should provide lots of opportunity for creative cooking! I can't wait to show you the kitchen when it's done. I'll post pictures to update on our progress as we go along. OOPS...I posted the 'after' pic and then the 'before'!

After tearing out the old, stained, cruddy carpet and painting over the red walls. The door has not been painted. I'm not sure what color I'm going to piant it yet! The paint is called 'shell flower'. When the sun shines in the room it's pretty yellow...will take some getting used to!!

Before: living/ dining room. RED walls...We used tinted primer and it only took one coat to cover after the primer! Behr paint from Home Depot!!

All winter we don't buy tomatoes for salad. We keep eating salad but I just can't stand those winter tomatoes that taste like cardboard! This weekend there were Florida tomatoes at the grocery and they taste so good! I broke down and bought some and will have them for dinner tomorrwo in a taco salad. I wish I could only eat local food, but living in NW Ohio just doesn't provide that oppportunity. So, we just do the best we can to eat in a consciuos way, and will soon be enjoying our own lettuce, spinach, arugala, scallions, kohlrabi, asparagus, and pea pods...straight from the garden! Those are the first things we will harvest.  I can't wait!

Are you gardening??