According to the calendar, Spring has officially arrived!  It’s this time of year that I used to find myself wandering around the yard at our old house; looking at the new growth beginning to bud on the fir and hemlock trees and the blossoms just starting to form on the plants, shrubs, and flowers.  Somehow, I found the process to be really peaceful and reassuring….  sort of signalling an end to the cold, wet, and gray, and welcoming a newer, brighter period.  Of course, it was that oppressive and heavy grayness that prompted our move in the first place.  Here in Colorado, we’ve enjoyed seeing blue skies and sunshine nearly every day, but we’ve had to endure some awfully chilly temperatures.

This year is a little different since the flora and fauna have changed a bit.  The pine trees are starting to develop new growth, and it wont be long before the aspens down in the valley begin to leaf out.  We’re hopeful that the purple wildflowers we saw covering the hillsides last year will return soon, and the deer have already begun hanging around again.

We woke up yesterday morning to brilliant sunshine and 40 degrees with a promise of another t-shirt kind of day.  By noon, we were in the middle of a near-blizzard, with the snow blowing sideways and even straight up, if you can imagine that.  The wind comes in quite strong from down in the valley and hits the rock bluff behind the house, causing the snow to do all sorts of strange things.  By about 3:00, the wind had stopped, the sky had cleared, and all the new snow had melted.  Sandi had gone down to Colorado Springs, where it was in the low 70’s.  Remember, that’s just 15 miles away as the crow flies.  We’re not letting our guard down just yet, though….  the forecast is calling for possible heavy snow overnight on Monday with the potential for 6-10 inches.

This week is sort of significant for a couple of other reasons, too.  I was here for the start of Summer last year, we saw the arrival of Fall a few months later, and we bundled up for the coming Winter in December.  We’ve covered them all, now.

March 18 also marked the one year anniversary of our first visit to the property.  We loved the view, but we went back down to Colorado Springs that evening shaking our heads at how overwhelming it all seemed.  We wrote if off as just ‘too much’ and decided to keep looking for something else.  We woke up the next morning and started talking about how it might be do-able after all, changed our flight, came back up on Monday the 20th to get a second look, and the journey began!

Small spaces don’t typically photograph well, but we’re definitely making progress in the upstairs bathroom.  The new ceiling fan / light / heater is installed and wired, we moved the gfi outlet, the vanity light, and the switches, so the electrical ‘stuff’ is done.  We moved the water supply from the old tub to the new shower, moved the supply lines for the sink, and we extended the drain line for the new shower.  So…  the plumbing ‘stuff’ is done, too.    All of the sheet rock is up, the shower space, the bench, and the shelves in the shower are framed in, and the cement board is starting to go up.  We’re putting in the shower pan today, and we’ve picked out the tile we want to use for the bathroom floor and shower walls.  Plus, we’ve ordered the linen cabinet, shelf, vanity, and mirror, so we’re getting ever-closer.