First Weeks Up North

                                                      Monday April 4, 2016

We got home, and found we love our new windows which add more light and a broader view.

The next day we got some more new snow.

Joe got to see if his snow blower worked after 7 years of storage.

He wanted to sell it, but I told him we should keep it, just in case we ended up someway that snowed! Glad he listen to me.

The next day we had a beautiful snow fallen view with a lake view to boot!

Because our counter tops were not in yet, after a week of using paper plates, and plastic utensils, and washing what we didn't have in paper or plastic in the bathroom sink, I got smart. I bought some plastic tubs and toted water from the bathroom to do the dishes. Good thing, because the counter and sink didn't come for another 4 weeks.

While waiting for the counter tops and sink, I tried to figure out the paint color. The original color that the interior decorated helped me pick out, ended up being too dark. With the 3 new windows, we have a ton of natural light which makes everything darker and orange when the sun shine in. Kim, the sales girl who helped us pick out our floor, and backslash tile, also an interior designer came by to measure. When she saw my paint swatches, she suggested mixing two of my paint colors to tone down the orange and to lighten the original color. (Our chair is coming off looking a strange color- it is a cream color in reality)

So I did, but still was not happy with what it produces. I then mixed other color paints I had.

I continued into the kitchen for more wall space and to check the color it that light.

And then under the new windows. You would not believe how light changes the color.

Then under the other windows. I tried a paint color I had in our guest bath, which I really love, and it had tones of orange in our dining room. They look like totally different colors of paint.

You can come up with many shades, with one part this and 2 parts of that, or 2 parts and 2 parts of each. You get the picture. This is a sign of an anal person (or crazy person) who is trying to find the perfect color of paint.

Soon after the snow, we had a warming trend, and it didn't take long to melt all the white stuff.

In the shadows we still had a few piles left though.

Especially in front of our garage. Joe got a shovel to help hurry along the process. I think he is loving all this home owners stuff. NOT!

The lake is crystal clear with no boat action. You can see the rock bottom a long ways out. This side of the lake is all rock bottom. The other side is sand bottom, which makes it much more expensive to live on.

Joe and I had made bets on when we would see the first boat. I bet around the first of May. Joe bet in April. Joe won! This was April 14th. We actually saw 3 boats on this day. This was a fishermen, but we also saw speed boats.

On April 17th we got in the high 70's. We saw many docks going in on this weekend.

I couldn't find some medicine that Mallery had been taking since she was 6 years old. I always got it at Walgreens. Walgreens told me that the drug was not being made anymore. I called all the pharmacy's and was told the same thing. I call her veterinary that prescribed it years ago and he told me to ask for a alternative drug. No one carried that drug either. I called my vet in Gulf Shores and she said she could mail it to me, but it would take 5 days to get to me. I told her to over night it, but she said she could not. While waiting for the drug, Mallery seemed to be having problems, especially at night. The drug is for her collapsing trachea. It is a bronchodilator. By the second night she was pacing and and an occasional bark almost all night. Of course this was on a weekend. On Monday I called a veterinary and made an appointment. I needed anything they could do to help. I had gone 2 nights without sleep. They carried the drug and gave me enough to get through until my order came in the mail. The picture above is one of the positives of this ordeal with Mallery. (5am sunrise). The veterinary thought there must be something else to be causing Mallery so much distress, but wanted to see how she reacted to the medicine. After 2 days on her meds, there was a definite change for the best, and with in 4 days, she was her old Mallery self.

Mallery lately likes to bury her head under her blankets.

A foggy morning on the lake.