Meanwhile, back at the ranch

We've been in a home-improvement limbo the past month or so - it's been too wet or too dry to do yard work, our materials weren't delivered in time to take advantage of the good weather, or we've been doing things that photograph pretty poorly. No one really wants to see pictures of me scrubbing the kitchen floor. There have been a few things going on, though. Here's a rundown.

First and foremost, we've been enjoying the fact that everything outside is finally greening up. I'm happy to announce that all of the bulbs we planted last fall are present and accounted for.



We dug up the bare patches in our yard, worked in some compost, and planted grass seed. It's starting to come up, but time will tell how it's going to last.





Craig put up our new light fixture for over the kitchen sink. We bought it from Lightworks Lighting in Minneapolis, who I'd heartily recommend to anyone with an older house style. We were able to pick out our finish, our shade, and customize the fixture with a pull cord switch. Prices were very reasonable, and not needing to pay shipping costs was a bonus. I don't have a good picture of what was there before, but you can get a bit of an estimation here.



The time of the Great Debrowning is getting closer (painters are scheduled for mid-June), and we've decided on "Jersey Cream" for the body color - it's the creamy-yellowy color on the right here. We plan to do white and dark sage green trim, but I need to go visit with the design consultant at Sherwin Williams before making a final decision.



I dug up the weeds and overgrown raspberry bushes in this little plot by our carport. This is the only consistently sunny spot on our property, so I'm hoping to have a little vegetable garden here. After the steady rains we got all weekend, this spot is covered in weeds again, so it needs some attention.



The weekend of April 22, we drove to Lyons, Nebraska to help Craig's grandparents move out of their house and into a retirement apartment in Omaha. Phoebe was a good helper.