- Buds-

 Spring is such a magical season.
Heart smiles when one looks and sees the gardens coming to life, and plants beginning to bud out.
  Nearly all our of plants this spring are new.
 We moved into this home late last summer, and planted as many things as we could.
 We made new borders etc.
The above picture is of a weeping crab-apple. White blossoms, though they really are more of a pale, pale pink. 
  The lilac (3) bushes were so over grown with weeds, we didn't even know they were here for the first few weeks.

 

 Teeny tiny buds on the bleeding hearts.
We have two planted, but so far only one has teeny flower buds on it.

 A few alliums beginning to blossom.

One of the biggest surprises to me, are the various conifers that we planted. 
 Before living here, I had never, ever planted any type of conifer before. 
 Seems like these days, I can't get enough of conifers. 
Go figure.
The 'wonky' pine (I always refer to non typically shaped pines, as wonky) has the most interesting rosy pink buds...I'm guessing that the buds will develop into pine cones?

 Above: The first wisteria we've ever planted, coming to life and leaves beginning to bud out.
We will build a nice trellis for the wisteria.

 Butterfly bushes are showing signs of spring~life.

 Oh! I do hope that this picture is able to show the two~tone coloring to this pine trees needles! 
They are green and aqua! So incredibly beautiful and interesting.

 Seems that we have both been fretting over this pine tree in particular, as we had never seen a pine tree like it. 
Until that is, we bought it and planted it. 
New buds are a most welcome sight!

Another 'wonky' pine, and YIPEE, there is new growth on this tree as well.

I found a organic fertilizer especially for pines and I'm not certain if that was what helped the pines take off all of sudden, or is it the warming temperatures?

This past weekend, we transplanted a mulberry tree from a friends yard to our back yard. It really is more of a twig right now, but we have high hopes for it to produce volumes of delicious mulberries. 
The mulberry tree is a first for us, as well, and the one thing we are looking forward to making is mulberry syrup.
 I wonder...can mulberries be dried with any success??

My list:
 ~Transplanting 3 dogwoods.
~Removing more 'landscape' gravel and making room for a wildflower border.
~Work on getting my sweet husbands office painted, and decorated.
~ Bake bread this week...probably make my old standby recipe, or perhaps no~knead bread.
~ Menu plan..including a picnic dinner or Hobo dinner for Friday's fishing trip.

~ One Day at a Time ~

 Hello, sweet friends.
I think it's time for an update.
The past weeks have been a whirlwind, as I'm sure you can imagine.
Each day, and several times a day, I tell myself, 'One day at a time', 'You're never too old', and ' It's never too late'.
 These are the phrases, mantra's if you will, that have helped move me forward. 
We've been so incredibly blessed!

We had about 2 weeks after we closed on our old house before we could move into our new house. 
We were able to reserve 3 nights at a state park, and felt so thankful for that, even though we were pretty worried about where we were going to stay the rest of the time.
When we got to the state park, we asked the camp host if by any chance they had a cancellation, would they please let us know so that we could stay longer.

The camp host told us that in fact, they had space for us!
And the spot was available for exactly the remaining amount of days that we needed!

 I was so relieved and we felt so blessed! Here it was, the weekend leading up to the 4th of July, with most every camp spot already reserved, and yet they miraculously had one full hook up site left. 
With the incredible heat, having our dog Rowdy with us, and being pretty tired from moving, you can imagine what a blessing it was to us to have a place that we could stay and relax and catch our breath.

Another blessing...we were able to move into our new home a day earlier than what we had planned. 

So, of course, we have boxes stacked everywhere, and we need to figure out where everything goes now. 
It's always that way after a move because no two houses are exact..*smile**.

We are NOT in St. George either. 
I know. 
That has been the plan for over 2 years.
But, Heavenly Father has different plans for us.
We moved to a smaller town... under 3000 residents. 
We were going to downsize. 
Nope.
We ended up buying a bigger house, and more property as well.

I will tell you that every single turn, and every door, and every path led us to this place, and this house. 
No doubt about it.

This move has been all-around a blessing.
Not that it has been easy.
We have had incredible support and help and we could not have accomplished this move without the help of our children and sweet friends. 
From the storage units, we caravaned to the new house... One giant Uhaul, one pickup truck and trailer packed to the brim, our Yukon packed to the brim, and additionally 4 more vehicles packed to the brim.

We have been 'home' now for one week. 
It feels more and more like home with each passing day.
As I get things put together, I will share pictures. 

Wishing you all a wonderful new week.

~ Old and New ~

 It's hard to believe that this picture is about five years old. I took this picture of our front porch the first spring that we moved here to Mill Hill Meadow.

 The picture of the kitchen is new. I took this picture of the kitchen just the other day for our house listing pictures.
We have just listed our home for sale. 
 Our dream is to sell this house and buy a new house in St. George for when we retire.

 It was so much fun and so satisfying to add decor and personal touches to this home. 
I will miss the galvanized wainscot that we put in the laundry room. 
Every time I pass by this space, it puts a smile in my heart and on my lips.
That tin was OLD tin that we recycled from our youngest son's garage roof.
We used some old wood from an old bedstead and made a new wainscot wall in the laundry room.

 Before we listed our house for sale, we took a trip to California to see our eldest son, his wife and our Grand. 
We had such a wonderful time. 
Our sweet little Grand is our heartbeat! All of you grandparents know exactly how that works :)

 Golden Gate Bridge.
It was our first time to visit San Fransisco, the Golden Gate Bridge...

 Ghirardelli Square, and San Carlos.

The city of San Fransisco has some absolutely crazy steep and winding roads. We even did the 'tourist thing' and drove down Lombard street.

 It wasn't our first time visiting Carmel~by~the~sea but was the first time that I had seen this gorgeous floral shop.

 We had lunch in Carmel~by~the~sea at a darling bakery and did a lot of window shopping. 
We even found a yard sale! Of course, it wasn't in a 'yard', but rather up two flights of stairs to a loft. 
I bought a Moda Fat Quarter set called Simplicity by 3 Sisters.
Absolutely darling fabric and patterns! I paid just fifteen dollars for it, and on Amazon, that same set of Moda fabric was around $120.00! 
Ha~ha.. they don't call me "Bargain Kerin" for nothin'!!

 So, here's to goodbye to the old house {hopefully} and hello to a new house.
We are not using a realtor this go round. We have certainly given our share of money to realtors throughout all the times we have bought and sold homes, and this time since it's the last go-round for us, we would like to save that money.

Thanks to everyone that has been so thoughtful and kind and encouraging!
Change is never easy for me. I'm working on being a patient person and turning my concern into a virtue of faith in our Heavenly Father and His timing.
I really desire to lean into my faith and lean on my Savior.
There are so many things that we cannot control.
Embracing the old adage: If you're going to pray, don't worry, and if you're going to worry, don't pray!" 

One more thing... I want to thank Kim of  My Field Of Dreams
for all the sweet hospitality that she and her husband have showered upon my husband and me. 
We've stopped by their house on our trips to see our kids and each time Kim and Ron have shown us such kindness. Thanks for the amazing citrus and for the delicious lunch! You are both truly kind people and we feel blessed to consider you our friends!
For everyone in Blogland...Kim is just as sweet and smart in person as she is on her blog! Stop by her blog and say 'hi'. 

~ Floating away ~

 Well maybe we don't have an ocean of water yet, but we have been getting a ton of rain here! 

 We took a drive down by the farm and there was so much water in the fields. The water has filled the culverts and irrigation ditches and overflowed onto some of the roads.
  Today, it is still raining. 
I'll take the rain over snow, any day though. 
Still, it feels as though if the rain continues, we're going to float away **grin**.

(normally, these are grazing fields and do not have standing water on them)

It seems that everyone has had a crazy weather winter. 
I am ready for spring! 
I have looked for signs of spring...daffodils or crocus starting to push through the soil, but so far, no signs yet.

I'm still working on downsizing, and packing things that we want to keep.
Keeping in mind that once we buy a new house, that home will more than likely be a much smaller home than we have currently, so I am thinking about that when choosing what to keep.
I am also on a self-imposed Pantry/Freezer challenge. We have two freezers, plus the freezer in our fridge, and I am trying to empty them by cooking from what we have and using our foodstuffs. 
Because we are empty nesters, it has been a challenge and I have had to use my creativity.
 One roast will feed us for several meals, though we don't want to have the same thing night after night.
Last night I made spaghetti squash with a southwest/taco topping. Because I have plenty of meat left, and tortillas etc. tonight I am making enchiladas.

Attitude of Gratitude:
~Grateful that our commuter car fired a warning shot before giving up the ghost, and that we were able to buy a new commuter car that is perfect for what we need.  
~Thankful that our kids still need us...every now and again  *smile**.
 * Helped with an oil change
 *Helped install a new toilet
 *Helped temporarily with a monetary concern.

~ House People ~

 My husband and I have always been 'House People'.
We have renovated over 12 houses, and nearly every one of those houses was an old house. 
 We are still 'house people', therefore we spent a few days going to the St. George Parade of Homes.
We are preparing for our retirement move to that area and wanted to see new homes and builders that we may be interested in.

 Some of the trends in houses that we noted: Walk in double showers, and double shower heads. Also, a return to brass, more notably, antique brass fixtures.

 More of those brass touches. Nearly all the kitchens that we saw were simple white cupboards and the design highlights were displayed in the backsplashes.

 Another double walk-in and double shower head.

 Every home had a fireplace, though not many of the fireplaces were traditional, and most of the fireplaces were these linear styles, with glass,  or rock where traditional faux logs would be.

 Some gorgeous tile was used throughout the homes. I adore these tiles that have an old fashioned feel.

 This was an interesting tile.. tone on tone, but lots of different designs. 

The tile in this laundry room was hands down my favorite tile. I think it's really pretty tile, and I don't think I would ever get tired of it... I've always loved checked patterns.

So... did we find a house?
No.

We found inspiration, neighborhoods, and builders. 

We are currently working on editing our stuff... what we want to keep, what we want to move, etc.
 We have had beadboard and trim for the den stored in the garage, and this week we installed it in the den. Now, we have to paint the den, then we can check off that project.
There is an excitement about moving to into a new house and moving to a new city. 

 On to new adventures!!

Attitude of Gratitude:
Feeling so grateful, once again, for safe travels. We dodged two major snowstorms and visited St. George between those storms. 

Thankful for the talents that our Heavenly Father has blessed me with.

~ W e l c o m e ~

 Welcome to our new home.
Just a few pictures to share with you.
Candles flicker and fill the air with scents of cinnamon, sugar, and vanilla.

 The dining area.
Homemade honey-yellow checked curtains.
Feels homey, and cozy and a bit old fashioned.
Green Jadeite that once upon a time belonged to my grandmother fills the first two shelves on my second hand china hutch.  The hutch was a gift from a friend, and I painted it white and aged it with a little glaze.
My own white fine china, that was a gift from my parents when I got married, fills the lower shelf and below.   It is still just as classic and beautiful as the day I got it....almost 28 years ago.

 Simple valances on the windows above the kitchen sink.
I didn't want to block any of our mountain views. 
Sitting around the sink are some plants that I need to get re-potted, and to the right, in the glass front cabinets, you can see my collection of "Honey Butter" Bee dishes.
Love those!

 A look at part of the living room.
I finished the curtains, and I love the way that they turned out.
I used wheat colored checked fabric, with red floral fabric trimming out the bottom.

 Looking through the French doors, into the library.

 Hanging in the window, is my leaded glass window. What a great find that was!
I sewed café style curtains for the window, in order to let the light through the leaded glass window.

 A glimpse into the laundry room. I used a floral print, with a red and white checked fabric for trim.
I've been doing quite a bit of sewing, right along with getting things unpacked and put away.
I'll share more pictures one of these days.


Attitude of gratitude:
~I'm grateful for mountain breezes. It makes everything so nice and cool, each morning and evening.
~I'm so grateful for summer, and dinners on the patio with my family
~I'm so grateful for a wonderful, loving husband that takes time each day to pray with me.  It makes all the difference in our days! Prayer really changes things!!