Wednesday - getting settled

The house wasn't lonely while we were gone.   No one lived inside for a year and a half, but it looks like the outside played host to a few critters.

beautiful mossy Phoebe nest over our front porch door

messy Robin's nest on the back porch

cozy squirrel nest under the engine cover on our old Massey Ferguson tractor

these dirty "hand" prints went all the way up a porch post, hmmm - raccoon maybe?
And....where was he going?   And...how did he get his feet so greasy?

Niece Lisa made dinner for us last night.   She moved into a lovely new home while we were gone so it was great getting the tour and spending a few good hours getting caught up with her life.  Chris (her husband) was out of town, so it was just the three of us - and Bentley, of course.

happy happy Bentley

It was a beautiful morning, so we dragged out a few old chairs and had second cup on our back patio.  The bushes have gotten way out of hand, but they're next on the list to take care of.  The dogs really enjoy having the huge yard to romp around in.   Well, Lewis enjoys his freedom, Sasha is still glued to Dave, especially when he has food.                                                                                

We discovered that the kitchen and laundry room faucets leaked when the water was turned back on, so Dave spent most of the day taking the old ones off and replacing them with nice new models.   Then he crawled up on the roof and installed a good old fashioned TV antenna.   We had the cable turned off when we left and have decided not to turn it back on this summer.   We found that we really don't watch that much TV and when we do, its really just the networks and PBS, so why pay for cable.   We'll see how it goes.

While Dave was playing plumber and TV repairman, I was running around to the local garden stores looking for a few plants and flowers to make the house look like a home.  Pretty slim pickings at this time of year but I managed to get some things to fill the window boxes and old crocks that are usually overflowing with color by this time.  

Cocktails on the patio and then hot dogs for dinner (Thanks, Judi).   Tomorrow is our 43rd anniversary, so a nice dinner out is on the docket.

this is what the entire sunset looked like the other night - pretty incredible...