Other Sights & Happenings...

A few of my local visitors...
And our daughter brought back this photo from her recent walk in the woods - a hummingbird's nest! I also saw a Merlin today - a small falcon - keeping watch for birds at my feeder. I went out to fill the two feeders on the deck since no little birds were in sight, and got two glorious views of the falcon swooping by me! Then he/she landed about 20 feet away near the garden and proceeded to munch on a few bugs prior to departing. That absolutely "made my day!"

In central PA I'm allowed to hang my laundry out on the clothes lines! And I do love how the clothes and linens smell after being dried in the open air! In central NJ, that was a big "no-no." I wonder if those laws will change as energy becomes more and more expensive... Below you can catch a glimpse of some of the items in our new home that we have been updating/upgrading in the past few months. It still is amazing to me how long it takes to get all these various and sundry tasks completed. The folding doors will all have been replaced by the end of the week (along with the water softener, which died a slow death). And the make-shift rods you see below (jury-rigged with string to the unused traverse rods) will also be replaced and new sheer curtains hung - hopefully by the weekend as well. Note the odd board above the curtain rods - it has tiny screw eyes in it every few inches - presumably for a pleated valance. I still haven't figured out what I'm doing with that... What with ALL of the rooms white-washed by the previous owners (an elderly couple) in a gray/white, I've been busy adding color to our world. Three rooms are complete, plus one closet. The living room and adjoining dining room are next - and after that, there are still three more rooms to paint, ALL of the trim to paint, and outside there are rusty hand-rails to wire-brush clean, prime and paint. It's no wonder that very little is being done in the studio this year... I'm too busy fixing and painting my house!