Getting started on landscaping

I finally got a couple things to put in the yard. I have a Dwarf North Star cherry tree that will go in the front yard, and some hydrangeas to put out along the side of the garage.

Other plans include putting river rock around the perimeter of the house and figuring out exactly what to do with the little area right in front of the house. I had petunias there last year but I didn't like how they get all gangly as the summer goes on. So if anyone has any suggestions, please post a comment!

Now for pictures.

This is my tree and the hydrangeas waiting to be planted:



This is where the cherry tree will go. The blue outlined area is where the rock will be. Enjoy the bonus artwork!



And this is the part I'm not quite sure what to do. I'm considering Shasta daisies or moss roses.

Be good...

snow deer is watching.

Storm takes out my fence.

To be honest I knew it was only a matter of time before this thing fell over, and once they took out the big evergreen tree in preparation for the EPA project in the front of the house all we needed was one good storm. We got it last night.

I guess I know what my next project will be!

A new pet!

Hey I got a new pet a few days ago. He's got his own little cage. He's not very cute but he's pretty low maintenance.



Hee hee. He's been there a few days now. Actually I'm pretty grossed out about it.

Seriously though, I did get a couple of kittens at the Humane Society a few weeks ago. They were little mates and they are just the cutest little things.



This is the first day I got them. Mixie is on top and Trixie is on the bottom. They were 8 weeks old in that picture. They have already grown so much! Here they are now:


Trixie is on the left, Mixie on the right.

Cherries cherries cherries

The theme of my kitchen is cherries. Here are close ups of some of my cherry items. You can click on them for a larger picture. These are all pictures from the last month or two. I am too lazy to reset the camera after I charge the battery.

Cherry potholders:



A cherry container:



Cherry hand towels:



I have some other ones, as well as a 50's style apron in the same cherry print as the potholder underneath the other in that picture up there.

Once in a while I get crafty... I embroidered this. Yay!



My mom made me these cool cherry curtains. And I have a little cherry thing that hangs on the window.



My mom also made me a toaster cozy. My toaster is pretty cool though, so it's a toss up whether I should keep it covered or not.

Kitchen Before and After

First of all, I want to thank everyone so much for the support here in the comments and in email. Right now things are well. I am still on oxygen. My employer dropped my medical insurance, but I have already got that figured out. I am going to get a second opinion on the advice of my home care nurse. I've never done that before, but I guess this is the time if any.

Alright, back to he house. I am starting a new "series" where I am going to post the pictures from the original internet listing and try and take the same picture with what it looks like now. I'm starting off with the kitchen. I will have more specific kitchen pictures shortly, so you can see some of the details.



Basically, I took down the wallpaper and painted, took down the drop ceiling, replaced the light fixture, added curtains and removed the can opener under the counter. This was actually the room that probably needed the least amount of work.

More health problems...

I know I am the queen of empty promises on this here blog, and I really plan on having those before/after kitchen pics up soon. Unfortunately this hasn't been a great health (right after I buy a house... I've always had great timing) or personal year for me.

So here's the good and the bad news. The bad news is I had lung cancer. The good news is that it was caught very very early, the malignancy was self contained in the tumor, which means it was all removed by surgery. The possibly bad additional news is that I have "innumeral" other nodules which are what these things start as. As of right now, only one was malignant and the rest are all too small to do anything about. They will be monitored and dealt with as needed. As for now I have a little oxygen thing I get to use, I guess it's a given after having a lung surgery, and will be doing some physical therapy to get me back in working order.

I've been out from work for over 3 months because of this. My disability leave is in danger of not being approved and as you can imagine I have been under a lot of stress!! I could even lose the house over this. So know that I am not promising these things and just being a lazy ass (that's only part of the problem), and I really am trying to keep things updated here. Thanks for reading!