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, chipmunks 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'll 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.

March Updates

"You can't go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending" -C.S. Lewis

March was a very busy month. We spent a lot of time with our Texas grands and catching up with friends we won't see for eight months. March also was the beginning of our northern migration. We left about a month earlier since we have our new home in Lewisburg and had things we still wanted to do before we head to the lake for the summer.

We enjoyed quite a few nice days at the beach...the seagulls love to steal your snacks.

One of our favorite places to have lunch on a pretty day is Moondog. It's even better when friends come with us.

No better way to spend an afternoon than with friends enjoying good food and a fruity drink.

Our friends spent spring break week at a RV park close to our boat. We had fun playing with them and their grandsons.

No campout is complete without s'mores.

It took us four months to figure out when we could all get together for a girls night at Janice's beach house. One day we're going to plan a longer get together at a nice place in Port Aransas.

One last happy hour on the top deck of Texas Pearl. There is no better view in Rockport.

Good-bye Texas Pearl.

Our car was extremely full this year...hopefully we'll be bringing less back next fall. This was our 59th trip to or from the east coast in the last thirteen years and each one brings its own surprises. This year we were stuck in standstill traffic for two hours west of Beaumont. It was insane, but once we were out of Texas things improved and we decided to drive straight through.

We put up a bird feeder and it is very popular with the birds and a few other guests.

This little bunny stopped by one morning...

and these two guys became regulars. Morning and night.

We've seen this groundhog near the shed in the back several times, but on this day he decided to check out what all the fuss was about around the feeder. He enjoyed munching on the grass as he cruised through the yard.

Just a few of the beautiful flowers that were blooming when we arrived in Lewisburg. Next month I will show you more from our amazing yard.

We spent Easter with Kyle and his family. Church, good food, lots of laughter, s'mores and cascarones (Confetti Eggs). Everyone had a good time.  

We even had time to paint a few rocks.

Cora showed me all she's been learning in her sewing classes. I'm so proud of her. It's truly amazing what she can do at such a young age.

And Hattie is always entertaining.

We needed to pick up some things for the house in a nearby town, so we checked out Selin's Grove Brewing for lunch. The brewery is fairly new but the building they are in was built in 1816.