Signs of Spring

Yesterday I spotted this crocus blooming next to our driveway. It was a warm (60-ish) sunny day and while on my walk I noticed a shrub - appeared to be a wild rose (?) with the leaf buds already opening. Oh, and the frogs are noisier than ever.

Last night we went to dinner for our thirteenth anniversary. Erin had given us a very generous gift card to the Grove Park Inn for Christmas so we saved it for our anniversary. We had dinner in the Terrace Restaurant with a view of the mountains. We arrived in time for one of the most beautiful sunsets we had ever seen. It seemed to go on forever. I don't know how she did it, but I think Erin arranged for that, too. Thanks Kiddo!

Chim-Chiminee

Sunday we went back out to the house to see what had been done since our last visit. The upstairs/roof is framed and we have a chimney sticking out of it. It isn't connected to anything but it's there. The balcony out the back is a lot bigger than I imagined. I want to put a chaise out there - there is room for Robert, too.
We walked over to Doug & Vince's lot and they were there planting trees & shrubs that they brought with them. They're here for the week to plant. They started showing us around their lot and we were following a path that leads into an old logging road and we ended up going on a hike. We followed the road around the base of the mountain and it runs down around the bottom of our lot. We ended up having to climb up a very steep embankment to get up to another logging road to get back. Otherwise, we would have to turn around and go back the way we came. Since the hike was spontaneous, Robert and I didn't have our hiking shoes on and our feet were slipping quite a bit on the leaves. With a few pushes & pulls we made it up the hill (mountain) to the logging road. I saw something sparkling on the ground that looked like pieces of glass and Vince said it was mica. I kept 2 silver-dollar size pieces as souveniers. Robert and I had been wanting to take that hike on the logging road and wanted to do it before poison ivy season so we were so happy we did it. It gives a new dimension to the property and hiking it with someone who knew where the road went was a lot better than going on our own. (The last time the guys went on that hike they saw bears.) After the hike we gave them a tour of our house and then Robert & I sat up in the attic in the sun and ate our tuna sandwiches before we went home.

They're Baaaack!

Friday it was warm & sunny. It was 62 when we were downtown. It didn't get very cold overnight and Saturday morning when I got up I saw something moving in the pond. Sure enough, when I went out to get the paper the frogs were croaking away. This time, I was able to get close enough to take pictures. They were gone by the afternoon.
We met up with our future neighbors, Doug & Vince, at the Grove Park Inn for the annual Arts & Crafts Conference and Antique Show. This was the first time we have been. It was fun. A huge ballroom full of Arts & Crafts objects. Unfortunately, we weren't in the market to make any purchases since we still don't know what will fit in our house when we move - not because you could spend thousands of dollars on one little piece of pottery. We did buy a beautiful English tile that we'll have framed. I'm sure we can find wall space for that. Oh, and we had drinks in the lobby after the show.

Another Sign of Spring

I had another "Spring Sighting" yesterday. I saw daffodils in bloom while on my walk. Daffodils in February. Not bad.

Movin' On Up

Sunday afternoon, Miss Bobbie came for a visit. We went to the house in the fog and drizzle. The trusses had been delivered Friday! That is Bobbie standing next to Robert - not a safety boy. Later that evening at the rental house Robert was roasting a chicken on the spit in the pouring rain and we heard this noise outside that sounded like ducks quacking. It was frogs! A sign of spring! There were dozens of frogs in the pond and they were loud. It was like something out of a movie. We could hear them inside the house. We went outside a few times and were shining the flashlight on them. All we could see were their beady little eyes glowing in the dark and they would stop croaking for awhile. The next morning they were still at it. I heard them as soon as I opened the bedroom door. Now we could see them. They were big, black frogs. As the day went on, I noticed they were moving outside the pond on to the rocks and it seemed like they were getting quieter and there were fewer in the pond. By 5:00 they were all gone, just as fast as they appeared. Not a peep outta them. I guess they ran away from home.
Today we went back to the house to see what had been done with the trusses. We now have an upstairs. The center portion (where Robert is standing in the picture of the front of the house) of the upstairs will be finished off. The two end areas, to the left and right where the trusses are now, will be unfinished storage.

Buy American

Even the dogs drive foreign cars in Asheville!

Construction Update

We went to the house yesterday. It was in the high 50s and sunny and was just beautiful there. We said if we were living there now we'd be having a glass of wine on the porch. The carport/picnic shelter is almost completed. The stucco work is finished and there is even a door on the storage shed in the back. The floor for the front porch is framed in - it's going to be bigger than I thought - plus the side decking and bridge to the carport are almost framed. The trusses are supposed to be delivered today so now they'll be able to finish the framing and put the roof on the mother.