Cool and Calm...

This is where I like to sit and enjoy the wonderful pond Mr. C built several years ago. It is so relaxing and cool and calm sitting here...well at least now that I have finished trimming for now.

Our pond that Mr. C built after going to "pond college" is probably my favorite and most relaxing part of our home and landscape. We had a lot of frogs and polliwogs this year and now we are having the tiny little baby frogs as a result. I had to take this photo since I had never seen two froggies sitting on the same lily pad side by side. They are so adorable.

Another photo of them with their own beautiful white lily to enjoy. I have gotten hours of enjoyment from watching the dragonflies, frogs, and other assorted pond critters.

This is just one half of our wonderful pond. I have shared photos in the past so not too many this post.

I do hope you are enjoying your summer and the days of living outside with friends and family and fun and games. And of course bbq food, watermelon, ice cream and lemonade.

Pond Reflections...

Sitting here at the pond and reflecting on daily life is pure joy. I love this pond.

Welcome to our pond. Mr. Hubby actually went to "pond college" and built this from our land that was completely overgrown and scruffy. He built it to be a still water pond and all of the plants are special water plants that perform duties which keep the pond natural and ongoing.

He also thought of the many critters who would wander in and possibly get stuck so he built this shallow end beach for them to access a drink and be able to get out. We have numerous critters such as skunks, racoons, dogs, deer, herons, ducks, birds, squirrels and chipmonks who all enjoy this wonderful body of water. I love the lilly pads and flowers and my favorite is to see frogs sitting on the lilly pads. We have beautiful iris flowers however I missed photos this year as they come and go so quickly. It seems a shame to wait an entire year and then only have blossoms for such a few short days.

This year we had lots and lots of little frogs and they serenaded us day and night. Even our remote neighbors enjoyed the sounds. Then we had hundreds of tadpoles. Now the tadpoles are morphing into little tiny frogs and I am amazed at the transformation. I truly enjoy watching them for hours at a time. Unfortunately the tiny frogs seem to be moving on and the pond is missing them sitting on their lilly pads...or more aptly I should say I am missing them.

I think this picture is pretty good taken with my wonderful new camera I got earlier this year. Isn't it wonderful that tadpole and frog-pole both posed for me so well?!

I hope each of you enjoyed seeing a bit of our pond and the wonders of it all. The hard work was more than worth the hours of enjoyment we have now. Of course each year brings new and interesting challenges for keeping the pond healthy and sustainable. That is for Mr. Hubby to deal with. I am merely the one who watches the many colors of dragonflies as they soar over the water and the plants as they re-grow after winter and the birds who take their precious little baths in the edge of the water...

I know I am very fortunate and I am eternally grateful for this wonderment.

Remodel continues...

Well, the remodel continues...

We now have 6 gallons of very expensive paint on these cabinets you see. No doors or drawers yet. Yesterday I emptied and removed all the knobs from 24 drawers that belong in here. Plus I have 2 large pull out drawers. What a lot of cabinets, doors and drawers this kitchen has.

Interestingly enough in this one month-to-date process I find I don't even really need this kitchen in order to exist daily. Oh don't misunderstand me...I love this kitchen and will love it all the more when it is completed! Maybe I am merely in the exhausted mode of "I want this mess to be over and done with".

Hopefully the ceiling will be painted next week. Then the walls and then maybe we can uncover the paper masking that is soaked with paint, clean my beautiful granite counters that are hopefully surviving under all this and then I will feel better and see hope.

Now that the weather is so much nicer and the sun has come out and warmed us all it is also easier to think of simple meals that don't require a lot of cooking.

I do hope all of you are enjoying Spring in your areas. I even took a few hours to do some weeding and pruning. Then I enjoyed hand watering to wash pollen and dust from plants. I skimmed the pond but the pollen and oak droppings are beyond skimming at this point. The frogs seranaded me and I got to see 9 of them sitting on their lilly pads. I shall post some pics of the pond in the near future. I don't think I shall be lucky enough to photograph an actual frog as they are extremely shy and dive for cover even if I walk as quietly as I can to see them.

Happy Weekend Everyone.