A few weeks ago Chris started replacing our front steps but because of the bad weather he had to stop. This week however the weather has been much nicer and so he managed to restart the project and has pretty much finished. He did a great job.
This is what it looked like originally with the broken steps of different heights.
This mid way it looked like this.
Now it looks like this.
Just need to get some flower pots to finish it off and it is done.
Last week we travelled down to Syracuse to stay overnight as a bit of a break. We travelled down on Wednesday, got our visa waivers done and then drove to the Carousel Centre for some shopping, but didn’t really see anything we wanted. We checked into our hotel which was a Homewood Suites and in the evening went to the nearby Denny’s for supper.
Next day we travelled to Waterloo Premium Outlets. Fortunately the weather was lovely as this is an outdoor mall. This time Chris managed to get some shirts and I got a dress from Calvin Klein which was half price. After a few hours there we travelled back home and encountered two traffic jams between Kingston and home. If we had know of the roadworks there we would have gone a different route!
The garden has been a hive of activity. We now have the flickers, towhees, robins, grosbeaks, sapsuckers all paying regular visits. The sapsucker is a bit unwelcome as he keeps hammering on the metal tower next to our bedroom window at 6am which is very annoying. Apparently they do this to attract a mate as if they get their hammering as loud as possible the females love it – but we don’t!
The killdeer have also had their babies and they are running round the front garden. We have seen three babies, although they usually have four, so we will have to keep an eye out on them.
I cannot believe that this weekend is when our daughter Stacey and her girlfriend Amy arrive. Time really flies. Although the weather has been great this week and it is getting warmer (22 C today) they forecast rain and cooler temps over the weekend and beginning of next week. Lets hope it is okay as there is a lot we want to do.
When we first moved into our house the front steps leading to the front door were quite poorly done. The steps were uneven and several types of stone had been used to make them giving them an untidy appearance. Ever since then we have been planning to redo them but never got around to it. We rarely use them ourselves as we enter the house through the garage, but it might be dangerous for visitors.
Well this winter finally took its toll on the steps and they were starting to fall apart and become unsteady, so Chris decided now was the time to rip them up and start again. So the other day we went from this:
To this:
We now have a lovely rockery area which we will plant out later!!
The next stage was building a main step from pavers and we are then going to build a deck and steps leading from this to the door.
Since the weather took a turn for the worse we, or rather Chris has had to stop, but we are planning on getting the wood for the deck & steps this week, so we can make a start on the rest of it.
Other news:
Yesterday we saw the pair of flickers for the first time this year. They were hammering away in the back garden. We also spotted the thrasher the other day, but not since.
We definitely have two black squirrels, one very black the other more ginger. They both turn up most days, usually separately. We are hoping they are nesting near by and will bring babies over. Our reds are starting to molt and their coats are getting very tatty. Chipmunks are everywhere!
Weather is still very changeable lately. One day we have 21C, the next it is 4C. We have had rain, snow, thunder and lightening, sunshine, you name it we have had it. The other night we had a huge thunderstorm which woke us up several times during the night. One particularly loud bang which rocked the house had us thinking we had been struck, but we could not see any damage. The next day we found out large areas surrounding us were without electric, but we were okay, so somewhere close definitely got hit.
Whilst I was on the phone to my aunt in Spain yesterday morning we went from bright sunshine, to cloudy skies then snow, all within an hour. She was a bit shocked we were still in danger of snow as it is April. In Spain they are in the mid 20′sC with bright sunshine, but have had quite a bit of rain. When we went to bed last night there was a light covering of snow on the ground, but it had vanished this morning.
Hopefully the weather will get better for May, especially when for when our daughter and girlfriend arrive. We have so much planned to do that it will be a shame if the weather spoils it.
