"The sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in
its net of wonder forever."—Jacques Cousteau

April Updates

“You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.” —C.S. Lewis
Wow it's the last day of April already and it's the first time in 14 years we're not on a boat. Stan didn't call Beacon Bay to line up our launch date until last week...we've been preoccupied here at the house. So we won't be at the marina on May 1, but no worries we head back to The Pearl on Thursday and should start our summer season on Friday. 

Meanwhile our lives have been filled with projects around the house, family time and enjoying our yard coming alive. It's been amazing watching the changes that have seemed to appear overnight.

Our yard on March 24
The way it looked on April 7...two weeks later.
One month later our yard is so green and the trees are blooming and putting on leaves.
The dogwood tree in our backyard is beautiful.
We have these Clematises all over the yard.
This Lilac tree is also in the back of the property. It seems wonderful.
We have strawberry plants everywhere...they're like the ground cover in all the flower beds and they are full of blooms. I hope we have a chance to try some. With all the birds, bunnies and groundhogs we might have a fight on our hands.
We have wild violets growing all over the place also. They are literally coming up in the yard and I love them.
The paint in most of the house was fine and something we could live with, but the smaller bedroom upstairs had to be changed. We painted the walls a light gray and the ceiling white. We also painted the window seat and the room is now very inviting. What a big difference paint can make.
Last fall when we got the house we bought a nightstand and dresser for the small upstairs bedroom. They have tons of antique or resale stores in the area. We found wonderful buys and have had fun redoing them.
The before and after pictures of the nightstand. We will redo the dresser later in the summer or next fall.
We also needed a little bench in the utility room so we could change our shoes. We found an old piano bench that was just the right size. It was in pretty bad shape, but Stan did a great job fixing it up.
Before and after.
This little step stool was made by my grandfather almost 100 years ago and it is coming in very handy in this house. The stool was covered in overspray paint from all the times it was used in household projects. A new coat of paint and it looks amazing too.
I didn't like the first color so I ended up repainting with the paint I used on the nightstand. 
The grands had their first sleepover at the house in April. What a great time. We had ice cream at the Old Mill Creamery and played in the creek...although it was a bit chilly.
Everyone enjoyed being creative on the patio. Spring means chalk, bubbles, soccer, s'more and so much more.
The kids also had fun skating and using the hoverboard. 
Graham really looks tall on his hoverboard.
Campfires and S'mores....what could be better.