Life is Peachy

This past weekend we drove to Fairhope, Alabama for the Eastern Shore Art Center 36th Annual Outdoor Art Show. We left the cold of the northeast and seemed to power through spring and into summer with every hour we drove further south. First we saw daffodils, then blooming dogwoods and finally in the deep south it was what we would consider full on summer. We basked in the 70 degree weather -- a far cry from the freezing 30s we have become accustomed to in the northeast.

On our travels south we saw many things, but nothing more interesting that an enormous peach in the sky. In Gaffney, South Carolina looming on the horizon was an enormous peach that looked like a big butt in the sky. Made better on approach by the discovery that the sign from the restaurant below seemed to emerge from the cleft. The name of the restaurant ... FATZ!

When we finally arrived in Fairhope, AL we spent a lovely afternoon lounging at the pool. For dinner one night we had a picnic by the water. In the water were several birdhouses with "Fairhope" painted on their roofs.

Winter Projects

Snow, Snow & More Snow
It's no secret that we have had a ridiculous amount of snow this winter.
Enough already!
Last summer we bought an enormous snow thrower which was going to make our lives so much easier than using the old school snow shovel. As luck would have it half way through the snow season our snow thrower broke. After much back and forth with customer service and numerous visits from the service technician -- it's still broken :-(

Winter Feathered Friends
Winter brings us some interesting visitors. Several times we have seen oodles of wild turkeys walking through the yard (our highest count was 20 or more in one visit.) On several occasions we have also seen Downy Woodpeckers (both male and female.) Other feathered friends include: chicadees, tufted titmice, nuthatches, blue jays, hawks and others.

Bluebird House
One of this year's Christmas gifts was a bluebird house built using the wood from a tree that had fallen in the back yard a couple years ago. Hopefully some bluebirds will take up residence this spring.

Staircase Redux
A while ago we decide to redo our staircase. We hated the carpeted stairs and couldn't stand the country spindles.

We now have a much more modern staircase with cable railing. All done with materials found at our local home improvement store. (We weren't too keen on spending a ridiculous amount of money for the cable railing systems that are out there.)

Kitchen Cabinet Redux
Much like the stairs, we didn't like the country look of the kitchen cabinets. We decided it didn't make sense to replace the cabinets (because they are perfectly good cabinets) instead opting to paint them.

It's amazing what a little paint can do. The kitchen has a much more contemporary look now. Now we need to redo the counter top. We plan on making a beautiful concrete countertop.