When I was growing up, a beautiful crystal chandelier hung in my family's dining room. I loved it. I loved the way the light played in it and the rainbows it cast on the floor. I even drew pictures of it. When my mom and dad sold the house before moving to Florida, they took down the chandelier and replaced it with a regular light fixture. Although it was pretty, it didn't really fit the look of the house. They packed it in a box in my dad's storage shed.In this house, I now have the right place for the chandelier, so that was one of the things I brought home from my trip to the storage shed last month. With Craig's mom and brother's help, we hung the chandelier. I am so happy! It looks great!
The eggs hatched, and we've got little chicks in the nest above the door. I honestly thought they'd be cuter. They look like lizards with feathers right now. I think it's pretty awesome though that a bird chose our porch to make her nest.
Mother's Day is always presents a challenge of how to show my mom that I appreciate her. She lives over 1800 miles away, so it's not like I can just invite her over, or can I? This year, I decided to fly my mom up to Madison to visit for Mother's Day. Right now, where she and Dad live in Florida is surrounded by forest fires, and the smoke is quite thick. I figured she could use a break from smoke inhalation for a couple of days!So my sister and I bought her a plane ticket. She flew into O'Hare, and I drove down to pick her up on Thursday evening. She spent the weekend, and we had a great time! On Friday, we went to Olbrich Botanical Gardens, where we sneezed our way past many beautiful flowering trees. We saw lilacs, crab apples, and eastern redbuds. Of course, we also saw a ton of tulips!After we had seen most of the gardens, we went shopping. I took her to Odana Antiques, which just opened on Odana Road. While we were there, I found the prettiest set of dishes. I've been looking for casual dishes for the longest time! These are Noritake China, UP-SA Daisy. It's a white dish with blue daisies. Very 1960's! On Saturday, we went to the Dane County Farmer's Market, and my sister and I bought plants for our gardens. I picked up yellow and pink snapdragons for my small, annual garden around my front light post.That evening, we saw "Enchanted April" at the Bartell Theatre. I loved it! The play was presented "in the round," and we had first row seats. The venue was so intimate that I was actually brushed with flowers by one of the actors!
A robin has built a nest on my back porch light. I had Craig reach up and take a picture of the eggs. They are so pretty!
This past summer, I bought a 55 gallon fish tank and stand on eBay. I picked it in Green Bay on my way home from a weekend at my friend's cottage near Crivitz, WI. It's pretty wide, so it barely fit in my car. I put it in the backseat and carefully closed the door. I've still got a little dent on the inside of one of my car doors from the fish tank. Bringing large objects home is always challenging when you drive a Honda Civic!A goldfish named Mir and a plecostomus catfish named Plecky live in my tank. I've had them both for about four years. Mir started her (when goldfish get big enough, you can sex them) life as a 12-cent feeder goldfish that I bought on a whim. Eventually, though, both fish grew too big for my 10 gallon tank, so I bought a bigger one. It's in the office so I can watch the fish when I'm working or playing on the computer.By the way, it's a good idea to place large aquariums perpendicular to the floor joists.
Here's a picture of our new couch. Of course, the cats have made themselves right at home on it! The gray cat is Sid, and the black cat is Doc. I collectively refer to them as "the boys." I had originally intended to have the couch more in the middle of the room facing the fireplace, but Doc thought the back of the couch was a fun place to scratch. I moved it up against the windows that face the deck. I am glad that I didn't start building bookshelves before getting the couch because I have changed my plan to accommodate the new couch placement. I'm going to build two tall shelves, one on either side of the windows. They will be as tall as the windows, and I am going to build a bridge over the top to connect them. I'll keep some of my antique books up there and some lighter decorative objects. By the way, the purple thing on the back of the couch is a stuffed triceratops. Here's a fun fact: the the state fossil of South Dakota is the triceratops.
We finally picked a new couch for our library. It's purple leather. I'll take a picture of it tonight when I get home. This afternoon, Craig will be waiting at home for the couch to be delivered.Last night, I swept up all the catnip to make room for the couch. Doc and Sid found a baggie of catnip and spread it all over the floor so they could roll in it. Goofy cats!
