Droppin In

This past weekend I learned a ton of new stuff from the lovely coaches at Droppin In. Was super nervous about the whole thing but am totally psyched about what I can now do on a snowboard. Here's my first board slide!

Grampa West

It has been a tough week.

Saying goodbye to Grampa so suddenly has been hard.

He loved cookies and gardening, mowing the lawn and fixing the house he built. He was generous and loving, and full of stories that always made us laugh. He and Grammie were married for 64 years and were best friends and soul mates.

I miss you, Grampa.

I know you will have the best garden Heaven has ever seen... and you won't have to worry about the deer eating the plants.

I love you.

Maine Party

It is becoming a tradition for my Aunt and Uncle to have a winter party at their farm in Maine. Due to the lack of snow this year we couldn't do our usual snowshoe hike, so we played broom ball instead. It was a blast!

The igloo of last year was going to be hard to beat, especially in the hot sun and the sinking ice.

But... then men decided to go for it anyway. We could hear the ice cracking as they built it!

2009 igloo ...................... and this year's

Uncle Peter taking a break in the "moat" around the "castle".

Such a fun day with the fam. Thanks for the photos, mom!

Grammie

Grammie, Em, and me at the lake.

Summer 1986

Garden on the Deck

Despite the snow predicted for this week (which I'm soooo excited for!) I've been thinking about spring and gardens and what to do on our back deck this summer. Since we live in a condo we do not have the luxury of having a garden in the yard so we need to utilize our deck better than we did last summer.

Jay wants to try again to grow tomatoes... he gets a few every summer but not the bounty he wants. We grew peppers last year, too, but did not get as many as we hoped for. We tried to grow cucumbers in a TopsyTurvy but had zero success.

One problem = we will be away for about three weeks from mid-June till the beginning of July. What to do with our plants? Wait till we get home or hope they survive with some friends watering them?

Here are a few ideas I've seen that I'm pondering for this summer. I really want to use the blank wall on our deck that separates our deck from the one next door.

Hanging Succulents...how cool are these? And they don't need a ton of water!

Via Sunset Magazine

Wall Pots... love the pop of color!

Via Apartment Therapy

Gutter Veggie Garden... would love to grow more herbs and lettuce. The basil on my kitchen window is looking sad.

Via Apartment Therapy

For the Birds

We've decided to feed the birds this winter and have seen lots of them come to our back deck to eat... Chickadees, Downy woodpeckers, Bluejays, Cardinals and lots of others that we can't identify.

Let's talk about the cardinals... we have two males and one female that visit the feeder. One is obese. He sits there eating for 15 minutes at a time. Seriously, that long. He just sits and eats and you can see from this photo that he is BIG compared to the average weight one in the 2nd photo.

One night I just wanted to get the Christmas tree out of the house. Not knowing where to put it at 10pm, Jay just threw it out on the back deck. It sat there for a few days and then I decided to actually use it for a few months instead of just bringing it to the transfer station. I took some left over bagels, covered them with peanut butter and bird seed and hung them on the tree along with some chunks of suit. It looks pretty good... and the birds love it!

Our Wedding Party

Photos: Catharine Morris Photography

We could not have had such an amazing wedding day without these wonderful, funny, loving, party-till-you-drop people.  Thank you for all you did... we love you!