I mean, I’ve been around, just not blogging. Because Hubby and I are in the process of sprucing up our house. We’ve been very successful. So successful, in fact, that it feels like we are living in someone else’s house.
Remember the kitchen remodel project I mentioned a while back?
The Kitchen Before
I never realized just how ugly our kitchen was. I knew it looked dated, I just didn’t know how dated…
Another Angle from "Before"
We had the cabinets refaced, got new counters, and bought new appliances. The difference is quite dramatic.
The Kitchen After
Like I said, I never knew just how ugly the old kitchen was.
"After" from Another Angle
Isn’t the “new” kitchen awesome?
Our "New" Island
I love my funky placemats. I don’t know how well they go with the counter, but I like them anyway.
The kitchen upgrade is just the tip of the iceberg. I’m REALLY excited about how our bedroom looks.
Bedroom
I would’ve taken more pictures, but then I realized I did a really CRAPPY job making the bed. So I’ll have to do that some other time. We repainted this room a few years ago. The only updates are the curtains we finally hung and the ART on the wall. I finally printed some of the pics I’ve taken and love the way they look on the wall.
The bed isn’t new. Either are the nightstands. But there is an important fact about them that I need to mention. That fabulous Hubby of mine? He made the bed and nightstands. From scratch. Can you believe it? He’s super-talented (and very modest) when it comes to woodworking. He still needs to make some dressers. Woodworking was his hobby before we decided to build the WV place. That little project consumed pretty much all of his spare time. One day he’ll have a workshop again…
On another note… Shannon left on May 31. She’s now a Californian. Alice left, too.
The house feels quite empty.
Alice
I just HAD to post this shot of our foster puppy. I took it a day or so before she left.
I’ll get back to blogging regularly one of these days. I hope you’re all doing well!
It’s been pretty hot around here lately. Gross-hot. Temps in the 90s. Humid. Ugh.
I bought some flowers yesterday that needed to be planted. In an attempt to beat the heat, I decided to get an early start. I went out to the shed at about 7:00 this morning to get some pots. That’s when I noticed what I thought was a mud wasp nest on the shed.
What's that?
See it there by the lowest tip of the leaf?
Upon closer inspection, I realized the dark spot was an eyeball! I thought for a second that it was a small snake. Then I looked more closely and discovered much to my surprise and delight that it was a Gray Tree Frog.
Isn't he cool?
I couldn’t just leave him there. I LOVE tree frogs. They are very cool and VERY hard to find. (I took this shot with a flash as I was back in the woods. That’s why he looks so pale. Although he was sitting on white wood, so he may have made himself pale on purpose.)
I knew as soon as I picked him up that it was a big one. What I didn’t know, until I started looking for a link to support this post is that it was very likely a record-sized Gray Tree Frog.
They are typically only 1.25 to 2 inches in size. The record size for a Gray Tree Frog in Maryland is 2.375 inches. This guy was at least that big. Maybe even a little bit longer.
Gray Tree Frog
I don’t know if it was a male or female. I’m just guessing male. Although in some frogs, females tend to be bigger than the males.
The coolest things about Gray Tree Frogs is their very docile nature. I had no problem picking this guy up. He just looked around as I carried him on my open palm toward the house.
Gray Tree Frog
I did hold my other hand over him as I carried him into the house (I had to show Hubby!). That was mainly to protect him if he decided to hop out of my hand. He never once tried to escape.
Gray Tree Frog
If you click on any of these images, a larger version will open up. See the little round things at the end of his toes? That’s his toe pads (how he climbs trees and stuff).
Gray Tree Frog (NOTE: as a point of reference, the rim of the birdbath is 2.25 inches wide.)
According to the Maryland Department of Natural Resources’ (DNR) web site, “Their coloration is normally grey or green, but is highly variable as they can change color depending on temperature, activities, mood and environment.” This is why they are so hard to find. They blend in REALLY well. And they’re nocturnal, so they normally only come out at night (I think I dragged this guy or gal out of bed).
I had flowers to plant, so I sat the frog on the edge of the birdbath. Look how he almost disappears thanks to his camoflague.
Gray Tree Frog
Yes, I took a lot of pictures. But one doesn’t get this opportunity often. The last time I saw a frog like this in the wild was about 10 years ago. And that isn’t because I haven’t looked. (I like that last image enough, I decided to post it here as FREE WALLPAPER. Feel free to download a copy for your own desktop if you like.)
Gray Tree Frog
The frog stayed on the birdbath for about an hour. It moved around a bit, but pretty much stayed there watching me. I was planting a few flowers in the small bed that surrounds the birdbath.
Gray Tree Frog
The longer he sat on the birdbath, the more I think his color was changing so he’d blend in better.
Gray Tree Frog
You can really see his toe pads well in that shot. He may even be smiling. And I didn’t even tell him to say “cheese.” Must be that ToadMama aura.
Sorry to inundate you with frog pictures, but to a gal like me, this is an event. It doesn’t take a lot to amuse me…
There are lots of frogs like this out there, they’re just very hard to see. So how do I know that they are there? Because I can hear them.You know all those noises you hear at night that you assumed were insects? Quite a few of those noises are frogs (including toads, a very vocal group). Here’s what a GRAY TREE FROG sounds like. And here’s a COPE’S GRAY TREE FROG. These are only two of the nine different species of tree frog found in Maryland. You can learn more by following this Maryland DNR link.
I’ll try not to be so National Geographic-like with my next post.
Wondering why I have posted anything for a few days? Well, I’ll tell you.
I spent most of last week in West Virginia with the dogs while our kitchen cabinets at the MD place were being refaced.
Here are a couple of “before” pictures…
BeforeBefore
Our kitchen isn’t huge, but there is a lot of cabinet space. Every cabinet and drawer had to be emptied. It took Hubby three hours to get all the cabinets and drawers emptied. Why didn’t I help? Because I was on my way to West Virginia, which also takes three hours.
Anyway… I left the WV place Thursday evening. It was pretty late when I got home (10:30?).
Here’s what the kitchen looks like now. What isn’t shown is the range hood/microwave, which is in there now, and the new range and refrigerator, which should get delivered later this week.
After
After
After
Friday evening, I had to go shop for some cabinet hardware. Saturday I spent running all over creation to three different Lowes stores because of course the hardware I really liked wasn’t in stock at any one store in the quantity I needed. I did finally get enough handles and pulls, but Hubby hasn’t had time to install them yet.
When I wasn’t running around town, I was restocking the kitchen. It took a really long time. I’m still not completely finished.
While I was doing that, Hubby was painting. He’d rented some scaffolding, which is necessary to paint our two-storey family room.
He painted pretty much all day Saturday and most of the day on Sunday. I would’ve helped on Sunday, except something else came up.
There was an emergency transport for one of the Brittany rescue groups I volunteer for. There were four nine-week-old puppies being transported from NC to PA and MD. All four were in one crate. I picked them up in Strasburg, Virginia and drove them up to Hagerstown, Maryland. From there, three went on to PA and one came home with me. 🙂
Yep, I am fostering a puppy. And she’s the cutest little puppy ever. Really, look at this face…
Alice
She’s almost 10 weeks old. She’s not house trained. She doesn’t sleep through the night either. In fact, most of the time when you put her in her crate, she screams. Meg, Belle, and K are all less than thrilled to have this pint-sized interloper in the house. I, on the other hand, am quite enjoying little Alice.
Here are a few pics I shot during the transport.
L-R, Harry, Luke, Emma, and AliceL-R, Alice and EmmaL-R, Harry, Luke, Emma, and Alice
And here are a couple more shots of Alice. She really is a sweet little thing. She’ll only be with us for a few weeks. The rescue waiting list for puppies is long. All four have homes lined up.
AliceShe likes soccer!She also likes the DBOC.
I’ve been pretty busy. And with Alice here (I can’t take my eyes off of her for a second), things aren’t going to easier any time soon.
The older you get, the more you realize how important Mothers Day is to Moms. Especially Moms with long-empty nests who don’t get to see their families nearly as often as they would like.
Mike and I are very fortunate to have both of our Moms still with us. While we’ve spent quite a few Mothers’ Days in West Virginia in recent years, this year we stayed in Maryland. So we actually got to visit with both of our Moms yesterday. They were both happy to see us. Especially since we arrived bearing a card, flowers, and a gift for each. We haven’t done such a great job celebrating in years past because of the West Virginia place. So I’m glad we got to see them both yesterday.
And as promised in my Mothers’ Day post, I even made Hubby take pictures.
We stopped at my mother-in-law’s house first.
Me with my mother-in-law on Mothers' Day.
From there, we went to visit my Mom.
Me with my Mom on Mothers' Day.
We didn’t get to visit for very long because we’d spent all morning planting flowers in our yard. (I do have pictures, but they are on my other camera.)
As for our kids, we only saw one of them yesterday. Of course, Shannon lives with us. For now. She’ll be moving to California at the end of this month. I haven’t said a whole lot about that here for a couple of reason, one of which is I’m just trying not to think about it.
Speaking of Shannon, look what she had delivered on Saturday. A whole box of chocolate-covered strawberries. Just for me. 🙂
Yum
The strawberries were delicious. I did share them with Hubby and Shannon, even though the card that came along with them specifically said NOT to share. Meg got some, too, but not because I wanted her to. (When I was eating the biggest strawberry, the chocolate cracked and fell onto the ground. Chocoholic Meg was on it quicker than I could even blink.) Amy called me. She spent the morning with her family having a picnic in the park. Eric sent me a text message.
Is it just my family or are greeting cards becoming a thing of the past? I always made sure both mothers and my grandmother got cards from Hubby and I on Mothers Day. When the kids were young, we got the mothers and grandmothers separate cards from the kids, too. I’m thinking the Internet/cell phone/text message age is making greeting cards obsolete. Which is a real shame. I know my Moms would have enjoyed cards from the grand kids, too.
On another note… I’m in West Virginia with the doggie girls. We’re having the kitchen cabinets at our Maryland house refaced. It’s easier holing up here with the dogs than having to deal with them for several days while trying to work with strange men going in and out of the house making all kinds of construction noises.
Everything is green
I snapped a few pics while out walking with the dogs just past the crack of dawn this morning (crazy morning bitches!). Look how green the trees have gotten.
Morning fog in the hollow.
A thick fog blanketed the valleys this morning. Isn’t it amazing to see how much the trees have filled in? Summer is most definitely just around the corner.
VERY green trees.
The trees are all very green and very full.
Fading Dogwood blossoms.
The Dogwood blossoms are definitely past their prime.
Redbud tree with not even a hint of pink.
The Redbuds are completely finished blooming. Even if the pink is gone, I still get to enjoy them because of the heart-shaped leaves.
It should be an interesting, and quiet, week.
I hope all of the Moms I know had a happy Mothers’ Day. Don’t worry Dads, Fathers’ Day is just around the corner.
Since Friday, I’ve been trying to find the time to post pics about my Blackwater Refuge trip. I posted a couple here on Sunday, but since it was a motorcycle trip, the bulk of the shots went up on my other blog. It has always been my intention NOT to promote that other blog too much on this blog. However, since I don’t have the time to do a separate post about the trip AND since there are pics I think you would probably like to see, I’m just going to have to point you to that other blog for a minute or two. In case you’d like to see the rest of the trip pics.
Like this one…
Footprints at the Marsh
…which just happens to be one of my favorites.
It really was a pretty day. Sorry I couldn’t do a special post here just for you, but time’s been a bit tight of late.
I haven’t paid much attention to the computer over the past week. Except for work stuff. I am woefully behind in my blogging. Not just writing my blogs, but reading everyone else’s. I’m hoping to get caught up this week.
The week wasn’t particularly eventful, I just didn’t have anything to say.
It was Shannon’s week to cook so at least I got a break from dinner duty. Monday she made a pasta and veggie dish. Tuesday’s meal was Hoppin’ John, which wasn’t very picturesque, but tasted really good. Hubby and I had never had that before. Wednesday she fed us Thai Red Shrimp Curry, which is one of our favorite Shannon-dishes. It’s basically shrimp and veggies stir-fried in a mildly spicy, coconut milk-based sauce. Served over rice. It’s delicious AND colorful, which is why you get to see a picture of that meal.
Shannon's Thai Red Shrimp Curry
Thursday was Thirsty Third Thursday, which is the one evening each month Shannon, Amy, and I get together for a girls’ night. Since Amy’s husband has been deployed, most TTTs have been at Amy’s house. This month we decided to actually go out instead for a change of pace. We were going to do it on a weekend and celebrate our birthdays at the same time (mine is February 6 and Amy’s is March 1), but that didn’t work out. Amy wasn’t able to get a sitter on a Thursday night, but Shannon and I really wanted to go out, so we went without her. It wasn’t the same, of course, but it was nice to be out nonetheless.
John Steven Ltd in Fells Point
We started out at Max’s on Broadway in Fells Point (a neighborhood in Baltimore City), but weren’t getting a great vibe there. Plus the beer was pretty expensive. So we walked down the block and up Thames Street to John Steven Ltd. We ended up staying there until about 1:00 AM. Good thing I had the day off on Friday.
Wanna know why I had the day off on Friday? Because I knew it was going to be 70 degrees and took an emergency mental health day off from work.
My bike on the first 70+ degree day in 2011.
Since we didn’t get home until about 2:00 AM, I got a later start than I originally intended. I did eventually get out though and spent all day out and about on the new motorcycle. It was fabulous. I actually went east for a change across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge to Maryland’s Eastern Shore.
Normally, I’d head north or west, but I’d been wanting to get to the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge for some time to see the Snow Geese. These geese over-winter at the refuge. I get a big kick out of seeing and hearing thousands of big, white geese as they take to the sky.
Two Snow Geese
It really was a gorgeous day. And the refuge was practically deserted. So I got to take my good old time observing the estimated 3,000 Snow Geese that hang out there. There were Canada Geese, too (of course). I also saw a couple of Eagles.
Thousands of Snow Geese
I’m glad I finally got to pay the geese a visit. There’s just something special about those white birds.
In my next post, I’ll bring you up-to-speed on the WV kitchen project. For now, I’m pooped and headed off to bed.
