Carely, my sister . . .

Today is my sister's birthday.  She is really my half-sister (my father's daughter from his first marriage), and there are more than 10 years difference in our ages, but we are very close. 

Even though we grew up separately - she, in Cuba with her mother, and I, with my parents in the U.S. - we are very similar in many ways.  It's uncanny how many personality traits we share.  People who know both of us have stopped being surprised when she and I react the same way to a particular situation, or think the same way about an issue.  I guess our common parentage tells.  I have learned a lot about myself by being confronted with another person that is so very much like me. 

She now lives in Florida and I don't get to see her often enough to suit me, even though we talk regularly on the phone and exchange lots of e-mails.  But she will be visiting me this summer and I'm very excited about that.

Here's a picture of the two of us together from a very long time ago . . . I'm the cute two-year-old . . .

Happy birthday, Carely!  I miss you!

Backyard Fence . . . Before and After . . .

Before . . .

After . . .

Before . . .



After . . .



Before . . .

After . . .

Before . . .

After . . .

Welcome summer!

Ten years . . .

10th Anniversary at my current job . . .

The company presented me with a catalogue from which I could select a gift, and this lovely vase was my choice.  It's from the With Love Vases Crystal Collection designed by Vera Wang for Wedgewood.  The image below shows the interlocking ring detail a little clearer . . .  Function, beauty and remembrance in one charming package . . . My kind of gift . . .

And along with the ten years, comes a 4th week of vacation . . . You can never have too much vacation!

Honoring My Godmother . . .

She was there when I was born . . .

And when I was baptized . . .

And on my first birthday . . .

And on the second . . .

And on the third . . . And on every other birthday until I was eleven years old and left Cuba with my parents . . .

She was there at my wedding, standing in for my mother, who was too ill to attend . . .

She was there when my first born was baptized . . .

And my second born as well . . .

The cheek-to-cheek photos are so her!  She has always loved children, although she was never able to have any of her own, so, instead, she devoted her life to the other children in the family; they became her life's work.  She now lives in Florida with a cousin whom she raised, yet again helping that cousin raise her son . . .

This is the last photo I have of her taken in 2007, with my son, John.  She won't let anyone take her picture anymore.  She says she is too old and ugly for photographs . . .

I think she is the most beautiful woman that ever lived.  When I look at her, I only see love.  Happy Mother's Day, Mama Lala!

We're floored!

Our floors are done!  Trim molding has yet to be installed, and there are some paint touch-ups here and there, but for the most part, we can start putting our furniture back . . .

From the Living Room towards the Dining Room . . .

The Breakfast Nook and Kitchen . . .

From the Living Room towards the Front Door and Hallway . . .

From the Front Door . . .

First step going to the 2nd Floor . . .

Steps going up.  The risers will be painted white . . .

2nd Floor Hallway . . .

Steps going down . . .

And our brand new stove!  Completely installed this very night by my handy husband, who after grumbling a little and making a couple of trips to Home Depot, once again managed to do the installation on his own.  He did need to read the instructions this time . . . imagine that, my guy reading instructions . . . 

I may actually have to crack that booklet open myself.  This new stove has more features than I know what to do with . . .  And I have some catch-up baking to do . . .

Home remodeling . . . and being good neighbors . . .

My neighbor's garden . . . Ahh . . . With very little imagination you can hear the birds chirping . . . the water gurgling from her fountain . . . and you can envision butterflies fluttering amongst her flowers . . . I blogged about her garden last year in this post.  We are really lucky to enjoy such a view.  In a few years, the pine trees will fill in and we won't be able to see the flowers, but that's O.K.  The trees will provide a lovely green curtain and hopefully, bring more birds to our neighborhood . . .

And here is the view that my neighbor enjoys of our backyard . . .

Hmm . . . not as pretty, I'm afraid . . . That section of the fence was knocked down two years ago by a couple of teenage troublemakers that were trying to run away from the police by jumping fences.  The kids were caught, by the way, and the father made one of the kids come over the next day and attempt to make restitution.  Unfortunately, we already knew that the fence was in bad shape and it seemed petty to make him pay for it.  Instead, my husband made him pick up a gazillion apples from the apple trees in front that we have since cut.   I wrote about our apple trees here and here.

We knew we needed to do something, but I have to claim responsibility for dragging our feet.  I just had to overcome my basic antipathy to wooden fences.  By the time I made up my mind last fall, it was too late to move some of the boxwood we had planted previously, which would be in the way for the new fence installation, so we decided to wait until this spring . . .

Jeff Foxworthy would have felt right at home in our backyard last week.  Our old stove was put on the curb on Garbage Day and it was gone in less than a half hour!

The four boxwood bushes next to the garbage cans are the ones that will be transplanted elsewhere.  We are planning to add a garbage corral in that corner . . .

This piece of fencing will be removed.  The new fence will be installed closer to the garden shed that stands behind it, and then we'll plant some yews in front to create a hedge that will conceal part of the new wood fence.  I still haven't gotten over the wood fence thing.  Our only other choice for privacy was one of those PVC fences, and I dislike that look even more than the rustic wood fence.

Another view into our backyard from our driveway . . .

Here's a natural fence in the front of our property that provides privacy as well as beauty, but unfortunately Mother Nature takes her own sweet time, and we do need the privacy.  On top of that, last month we received an anonymous letter from a neighbor asking us to fix our fence so we don't bring down the property value in the neighborhood.  How mortifying!!!



But the installation of the new fence is in the works.  JULIE has already been here - Joint Utility Locating Information for Excavators - and left our backyward filled with little flags . . .

In the meantime, we enjoy the beautiful clematis growing next to our deck . . . and we hope our patient neighbor does as well . . .

And we wait for the new fence to be installed . . . as well as the new stove sitting in our garage . . .

The flooring contractors are coming tomorrow and we hope they'll wrap it up then.  I miss my kitchen . . .

If I had a hammer . . .

I'd hammer in the morning . . . at 6:45 A.M. to be exact . . .

Medium Brown on top . . . Early American on the bottom . . .

Refrigerator temporarily moved to Breakfast Nook . . .

Floor installed and wood filler applied . . .

Refrigerator moved again . . .

Big sander waiting its turn . . . tomorrow . . .

We are making progress . . .