Friday, May 9, 2014

SPRING 2014!

SPRING!!! Things are popping up all over at The Manor.


Great things will surface when you get rid of all the weeds. Life metaphor? You bet.




Marie is making me look like I have quite the green thumb. I must admit though...my thumb is as black as the dirt these flowers are planted in. Last year I was meticulously trimming a plant that had berries on it & my brother-in-law walked by me & said "You know that's a weed, right?". *sigh*

My Aunt Patty on the other hand has an unbelievable knack for identifying every flower on the face of the planet. She can look at any plant & tell you it's name, perennial or annual, if it needs shade or sun & how to care for it. Meanwhile, I'm like "That yellow one is pretty". I'm learning though.

So are you wondering where my before & after attic pictures are? Are you confused as to why I'm not talking about the horrible things I scooped up & how many bags of trash actually came out of there? Do you really think that all I did on our last trip was frolic around the yard and take pictures of flowers while poor Jeremy was battling the soffits? Well...I did. I'm not proud of it. I had every intention of showing up with guns blazing, strapping on my ventilation mask & marching up to that attic & not emerging until every piece of trash & other unmentionables were bagged up & ready to go to the dump. But...I frolicked & stayed as far away from the attic as I could. Don't judge me!

Exploring the grounds has not always been a complete waste of time. I've actually found some pretty interesting things while doing so. I saw this from a distance on the ground last year & thought it was a turtle shell.


When I flipped it around I realized it was actually a rock...I think?


If anyone knows what kind of rock this is, I would love to know. Completely stumped on this one.

It's not the first time I've found something like this. Last Spring I found a large wedge of obsidian in the house.


I've also found tons of smaller polished stones. My dad recently told me a few stories that shed a little light on the reason why. Marie LaSalle had a husband named Frank. I don't know much about Frank or what he did but apparently when my dad was a little boy Frank would give him $.50 to do little odd jobs for him. He said Frank would sit outside & polish stones & make jewelry out of them like cuff links, necklaces, bolo ties, etc... This is the only picture I have found of Frank.


I don't know about you but I think Frank looks like a pretty cool cat! I would love to sit on that lounger & talk to him for an afternoon. I bet he had some great stories.

In other news, the soffit that Jeremy has been working on is DONE!


Since the lift is already in that spot & is a pain to move we are going to get some paint on that peak on our next trip up...and you have no idea how excited I am about that! :)

PS:
After a hard day of soffits (& frolicking) it's always nice to have someone make you dinner. Thank you Mike Ugolini for the amaaaazzziiiing homemade Margarita Pizza. It was delicious! (And dad...nice photobomb)