Gardening does not a Gardner make!

We had an entire weekend filled with house stuff ... and still are not near the finish line! Paul drove down to Chesnee, SC on Saturday morning to tour a classic car junk yard, where he had a delightful time and came home grinning from ear to ear bearing SAAB emblems and such! E-gads, what a happy man he was ... until I reminded him that we had many chores on the list to do and it was time to get started!! Poor guy! I just don't sit still very often, and then I don't do it very well. He's really in a rather rough spot ... but nevertheless, he jumped in like a trooper and finished the weekend with a few things marked off of the list. First of all, it was time to get in the garden and start tidying up. For us Americans, it was yard work day. So Paul dug up the Alberta Spruce Pines that were in front of our porch (strangling to death because they had NO ROOM to grow) and we've replanted them on the east side of the house outside of the screened porch where the morning sun will greet and nurture them and they can thrive. Poor little things might have a chance now. Anyway, now that gives us two BIG OLE flower boxes to have a great time creating all kinds of color splashes and fun stuff!! Those will have to get planted next weekend, as we ran right out of time this past weekend. Then, we moved to this little "crawl space" room under the screened porch, which Paul couldn't wait to get into and dig out all the STUFF (some of it questionable at best!) and metal detect. And don't think for one minute that he didn't metal detect the dirt he dug the trees from ... and the new location holes he dug to put the trees into!!! Anyway, the lettering you see if where the original man who built the house signed the inside of the foundation under the porch! Pretty cool, huh!?! There is another place where he signed under the house, which was the original signature in 1924, I think. He also drew a little characetuere of himself ... very cool in our opinion. Not everyone has their foundation signed by the owner/builder! Anyway ... Sunday ended up with Paul sanding the claw foot bath tub so I can paint it this week and we can install it this coming weekend ... along with all the new flowers! So, you see ... we're busy, as usual!! And we're having fun along with it. As long as there is treasure involved, we're all happy!!!!

So, that's what's happening around the house. I am in costume mode ... it's that time again. I painted all the surf boards again because they needed to be pink instead of red. Now I will start "decorating" them with flowers and things to suit the dance. I need to pull together some things for the Be Our Guest piece ... and that'll be that! A little easier than the Dancer's Pointe recital days! We had Paul's new boss over for dinner Saturday night. Bruce and his little terrier, Sassy, were delightful guests and it was a nice relaxed evening. Tonight we actually went to an award ceremony in which they honored one of the "shop guys" with an employee of the year recognition for being the best school bus driver in the entire county! Pretty impressive accomplishment for a 22 year old guy! We all went and threatened to do the wave, but in reality we behaved and clapped politely. Interesting program ... an entire award ceremony in an hour! Not quite the population here that we are accustomed to! Thank goodness!

Anyway, the beat goes on here in the mountains. The days are warmer, the nights are still quite chilly. I, for one, am absolutely basking in the rays of the sun. Warmth!! Yippee!

Paul's mum and dad have returned safely from their cruise. We hope to hear an update soon about what, when, where, etc. The Dancer's Pointe dancers had their dress rehearsal this past weekend, and I heard all good things. Congratulations to you all! We miss you guys, gobs and bunches! I finally heard from the newlywed Mandy, and she's alive and well! The School of Performing Arts is having their week of rehearsals for their recital this coming weekend. I hope you all know how much I miss being a part of the shindig ... and even more so, how much I miss spending Thursday with each of you. I send you great big hugs and wishes for the best of luck. And as I hear Ms. Patti is retiring this year, we send special love to Ms. Patti and the staff, and best wishes for the new endeavors ahead!!!! Merde to you all!!!!

My arms are aching from the shrubbery trimming we did Sunday, so I'll take this opportunity to bid you good night ... from our house to yours. God bless, Paul & Cheri