Front porch

The weather was gorgeous this weekend so we took advantage of that time to do some work on the yard. 

Thursday when I got home from work I put on my boots and went around and consolidated some of the construction business. I took down ladders, moved tarps, hid the stuff we need to take to the ReStore and made the place look a smidge more presentable from the road.

On Saturday B worked on the kitchen and I unpacked some boxes of china that had been packed since this time last year! It was nice to see it all again. We also cleared out the closet in our room. With that cleared out we finally had a place to put all of the bathroom stuff from the front porch! (It's like a puzzle game over here.)

So! We moved everything that didn't belong on a front porch to better spots and now, for the first time since we moved in, it looks like someone lives here. 

I don't have very good Before's because I've tried to avoid taking pictures that show what a mess it is but here are some to get you in the mood:

And After! (Which is also kind of a before because we have lots of work to do out here.)

Check out the swing I got for Christmas! It's heavenly.

Um yeah, the railing has fallen into the yard. We need to do some repairs. 

It looks a lot better from the road too! The Lowes guy can probably tell we live here now!

Let me tell you a very sweet story that I heard this weekend. This neighborhood is a total dog neighborhood. If you don't like dogs you should move somewhere else. I LOOOOOOVE dogs so I'm in the right spot. We frequently see a lot of the neighbor-dogs and we know a lot of their names. Since we walk almost every day we like to say hello to them...and the horses, donkey and goats...and the occasional herd of deer. 

One dog in particular has been the Welcome Wagon in the neighborhood and her name is Zoe. Zoe has a lot of personality. She's cute enough to be a movie dog. She pops by a few times a week to say hi and check things out. On Christmas it was unseasonably warm and we had the front door open and Zoe popped her head in to wish us a Merry Christmas. 

The other night we ran into Zoe and her owner while we were walking and he told us that Zoe used to live in our house! Apparently she lived here with her owners and they didn't take very good care of her. At one point they had her locked in the pen in our back yard and she barked day and night. So! Our sweet neighbor came over and asked if they were attached to her and they said, "No," so Zoe went to live with him and his kind family.

On the one hand when I heard this I was very happy for Zoe. Clearly, she is a lucky girl. On the other hand I felt kind of sad because it must be very confusing for her to see us in her house with Sugarbear. I wonder if it makes her miss her other people and if she is looking for them. All we can do is be extra nice to her when she comes over to visit and make her feel at home.