Seattle in the spring...

How excited was I? Oh, very excited!!! I got to leave town for the day. Crazy I know! A certain someone wanted me to go to Seattle with him to see his sister play in the show Guys and Dolls. And man was she good, in fact the whole musical was great!

Of course there were no cameras allowed inside the theater... so no pictures of that, but here's the rest of it:



Saturday morning we made our way down to Pike Street Market, of course. Our hotel being a mere four blocks away, we walked, and window shopped along the way. And had breakfast. I should have taken a picture of the salmon eggs benedict I ordered. Holy yumminess.







These gorgeous green and jadeite glasses were in a store that was NOT open. Thank goodness. I thought I had to buy them and take them home with me... There goes the rent money.




This store was located in a very quaint little enclosed patio with lots of little retail shops... I should have gotten a picture of the whole thing... but here one of the little planters in it. I like the little plants planted in the pots... I want a few of those for around my espresso stand!




When we arrived in our hotel room, Joe went to the window to open the blinds and look out the window, and immediately a seagull dives for our window sill and lights there... looking for food. Of course Joe, not one to disappoint, obliges with cheese and salami.





I'm guessing we're not the first hotel guests to feed this guy. I could have reached out and grabbed his leg I was so close with my camera...

Where does the time go?

So I missed posting anything in April or May, and now here we are half way through June!

I've been working extra here at the stand trying to get the sitting area put together...

My mummer got a good start on cleaning up the pads... I put that lady to work!





I got 12 yards of gravel and dirt shoveled out of the foundation behind the espresso stand. It needed to get taken down a little bit so that I could bring in some sand to lay the pavers and rock in... Holy smokes! That was a work out. I did enough whining that my brother offered to come in with his little excavator and loaded it on his dump trailer for me. He thought I should just shovel it on by hand... Like I'm super woman or something... Well, I might be, but that's just a huge waste of my strength! I should be lifting school buses off children and deflecting speeding bullets. Thank goodness for brothers with big toys.



Small sized operator in training...



In an attempt to prove that I can do anything... I mixed up some concrete to patch the crumbly edges on some of the pads. In all fairness I should mention that I did get some help from Joe. Though he talked the talk, he never had played with concrete before either.



I thought we should definitely put our names in it... but Joe was very reluctant. He did however put his foot in it.

Liquid Sunshine...

Spring is on it's way! The birds are singing and just about the last of the snow banks have melted away... It sure is giving me an extra spring in my step.

I thought I'd let you all in on my newest project. Of course it's something here at my espresso stand...

I have a foundation behind the espresso stand that has four octagonal cement pads in it. My landlord gave me permission to turn this into a sitting area! So exciting... :)



Since the cement pads are octagon shaped, I thought it would be fun to have an octagon picnic table for them... I found this one on Craigslist, and it's even in Moscow! How lucky is that??? I'm not sure I can quite afford this one, but the guy who made it said he'd be happy to make me another one anytime. Pretty convenient. I'm hoping to get a couple of these eventually.





And to top off such a good start to my sitting area, I've been able to find quite a few free bricks around the area! I'm still looking for lots more since it's such a large area to fill. Let me know if you know anyone around this area that has old/used bricks or pavers that they'd like to get rid of. I'd be happy to take them off their hands!

In a desperate attempt to hold north Idaho in it's icy grip...

Winter just won't give up, it just keeps snowing out there... but I have to admit, I kinda like it. Now I just have to play hooky at work and take my skis out for a day or two.


Soon we'll be buried under a mountain of snow... Sounds cozy.


Jeff cleaned off his car before going to bed hoping it would be an easy job in the morning...







Thank goodness for snow plows... now pull over and get out of my way so I can drive faster.

Looking forward to spring...

... even though it's dumping snow outside...

My aunt and uncle in Virginia sent this to me in a Christmas present this year.



Funny enough, a girl I went to college with, designed this seed packet for a little company out in Troy, Idaho a year or two after we graduated. I remember her telling me about it and how she won some sort of design award for it. It has different flower seeds in each of the little containers and it's set up to look like a little make-up kit. I'm very excited about the flowers.

Today as a birthday present to myself, when I get off of work, I'm going home and starting a bunch of seeds.

I've been saving loads of milk jugs at the espresso stand to make little green houses out of them to start grow my little seedlings in... So exciting! :)



Even my Angel Wing Begonia knows that spring has to be just around the corner. It's starting to flower again after dropping leaves all winter!

And as a special treat for everyone...

...a post with actual photos from today. Unheard of, I know!

It's amazing what one can do with a scrap piece of aluminum and a rope light. This cost me $24 and some blood. A neon outdoor "open" sign would cost me $375... You do the math.


Jezebel is helping show off my new "open" sign. This is what it looks like during the day with kitties.


This is what it looks like at night with kitties.

Right on schedule...

Time to post Christmas photos :)


Over the river and through the woods, to grandmother's house we go.


Don't Grandma Dotty have a splendid barn? And it's chock-full of really cool antiques.


Christmas dinner. Main course, green pine scented candle.






And these are some old wooden Christmas ornaments my grandma hand painted many a year ago.


She made me and my brother one of these sleds too. I have it somewhere in an ornament box...