Look what was right in our front yard!

Isn’t it just dear? A dear deer! lol.  It was only about 15 feet from the window but I think the pictures are a little fuzzy because hubby took them through a double paned window.  Seeing deer around the place is not unusual, but there seem to be a lot more this year. This one is part of a group of three that we see quite a bit in our front yard eating my flowers. *sigh* What can you do? Venison stew my husband says but I’ll not allow that! Sheesh! When we see them around Christmas time and the boys are here, we tell them that they are Santa’s reindeer checking to see if they are here so Santa knows where to bring their presents! Their eyes get so big, it’s great! They are 10 and 11 this year, I don’t know how much longer they will swallow that one. We won’t have them again until they are 12 and 13.  This is probably the last time so we’d better enjoy it.

It has been a tiring couple of weeks for me. I had to work 4 nights last week instead of my usual 3. I only had to go in for 3 hours to do inventory, but it still messed up my sleep schedule and just put me behind in everything. We had also been doing too much running around on weekends but finally today I feel rested. Yay!  Cooking hasn’t been my top priority which is strange for me since I do enjoy it, but I have the feeling the view from my kitchen may be why!

This is our family room that we have been working on. Cookbooks are all over the place since they can’t go back into the bookcase until it’s back in place which can’t happen until we finish the room. I am also missing my ‘company’ when I cook. I always have the Food Network on in the background. It’s nice to have a visit from Ina, Paula and Giada while I work in the kitchen. Rae Ray is ok, but she’s kinda frenetic for me and this semi homemade Sandra, I don’t know…so perfect, perfect hair, perfect weight, perfect dinner parties…she grates on me for some perfectly unknown reason. lol.

So the view is not enticing and it’s lonely. But the work will be done this weekend! As you can see the paneling is painted and hubby has painted the ceiling as well, and changed all the outlets and switches from black to white (I’m thinking maybe with the new outlets the plugs won’t fall out anymore now! SO annoying!) and he has sanded and washed the walls to get them ready for paint. The walls will be green again, but a darker brighter shade…does that make sense? lol. I am going for a cottage look so that when the buyers first walk in it will feel like a summer cottage. They enter from the right and from the front door they can see right through the room and out to the backyard woods through the sliders on the left of the photo. We are painting the deck also and will somehow get some comfy looking outdoor furniture to put out there. This will add ‘outdoor living space’ according to HGTV! (Hey, I’M impressed! lol)

We have also had to do outdoor work thanks to the leaves falling. Here my hubby is burning some yard waste which you can see by the trees we had lots and lots of!

We can’t really complain though since it has been gorgeous this fall. Here’s a couple of views from our front porch.

Of course with fall comes cold weather and one thing we know is that we will suffer for our wood fires! Another reason I was so wiped out was because our wood pile was getting low and since it was supposed to rain this week, which it did, we decided we’d better get out and cut some wood. Dennis cut down a dead tree and we hauled it up in pieces to the yard. Then he split it all and I stacked it. I also dropped a huge log on my foot and it is still killing me. Somehow I never come out unscathed! lol. So we were both exhausted but it’s worth it since we absolutely love our fires. I call this next picture "Kitty Bliss".

Other than working and working on the house, we are not doing much else anymore. We had a while there where we were always running to a concert or dance lessons, going to parties or out to dinner with friends or alone, but well, it just wore us old people out! lol. We need to hunker down and get some work done on the house which is a good thing since we have no more money for fun anyway! So right now I am off to do my part of the painting. I have to do the edges so Dennis can just come in and do the rest with a roller. Then it’s the weekend cleaning the room up, cleaning the carpet and putting it back together. I found material for the curtains and slipcovers for only $1 a yard! Am I incredibly awesome or WHAT???? *evil giggle* When the painting’s finished, I am hauling out the pasta maker and making homemade salmon ravioli which I will store in the fridge until Saturday. Then I will make a yummy cream sauce and my love will open a chilled bottle of wine and we will have a romantic gourmet dinner celebrating my birthday right here at home. *blissful sigh* Yup, I am 29 on Saturday….for the 18th year in a row! Don’t ya just love denial? I know I do!