Yikes......

Has it really been almost half a month since I posted last?  These past few weeks have been crazy for us.  We had to empty out almost our whole first floor of the house so we could have new floors installed.  Hardwood floor(s) that I've dreamed about and yearned for for years.  Well, they didn't come easy and I will show some before and after pictures soon, but you can see a sneak preview above as I used the new floor as a backdrop for my very sorry looking card.  I just felt I had to throw something together the other night and I'm afraid it looks like I threw it together.  Oh well, my mojo will return soon, I hope.  

Being displaced from our home for a few days while they added three coats of urethane, we spent one night in a local hotel and then took advantage of having the condo and headed down there for a couple of days.  Unfortunately, Mother Nature dumped quite a bit of rain on us which had HWNSNBP heading back to the house to pump out the basement.  Shall I also mention that he had to crawl through the basement window to do all this because he could not walk through the house because of the drying floor.  

Seven swans a-dunking.

Then when he returned to the condo on Saturday, the moonroof in the car became possessed and opened all by itself and then wouldn't close.  At the direction of the car dealership, we headed to HD to buy some plastic and packing tape to cover it until we could get it to them on Monday.  Items all picked out and paid for, we headed out to the car and wouldn't you know it, it started raining.

I tried to hold a large towel over our heads, but my arms were getting tired so I grabbed the umbrella that was nestled next to the passenger's seat and opened it up.  I felt like I was riding in a clown car down Route 9.  With the umbrella pushed up against the opening I'm sure that people saw it popping out.  The next morning, it became possessed again and closed and opened several times before finally closing for good.  We kept the piece of vinyl floor runner we had taped to the top of the car there and when we returned home on Sunday afternoon, dropped it off at the dealership.   Of course, since they could not duplicate the problem while they had the car, they could not fix it, so I now drive in fear that at any given time, the gremlins will take it over again.  I just hope it's on a sunny day!

The pictures of the swans and herons above were taken after the rain, but you can see that the water level in the refuge is still low.  We're not sure whether the sand that was brought in with Hurricane/Super Storm Sandy has obstructed the water getting back into this area or not.  It seems that way though.  Below is the Canadian Goose family that we've seen in the area since mid-May. I was on a bike ride and on my way back to the condo when I saw them and I really didn't have the right lens on the camera for such a close picture, although the goose on the right, which I'm assuming is the gander, was not happy that I stopped this close and had started to walk towards me, so I did not waste any time moving on.  

Costco had my favorites - Ranier cherries and yes, I ate the whole two pounds of them myself and enjoyed every last one.  I'm hoping they'll have more soon, but I know the season for them is very short.

Sunday morning, HWNSNBP, our friend JT, and I went for a long bike ride.  It was a beautiful clear and cool morning with just a bit of a wind.  JT and I took a little extra trip to the street where we've seen the swans before and found that that clear patch is now overgrown with tall grass.  However, on the way back, a gentleman had gotten out of his car to rescue this turtle from getting hurt crossing the road.  Funny, that we had just rode past it and never noticed it.  

We also had two large trees removed from our front yard this week.  They were very close to the house and had been dropping branches for years, and with all this "wacky weather" we've been having, we decided that it would be a good idea to get rid of them before they fell on the house.  

While I was sweeping off the porch, I came across this spider web on one of the metal chairs which had been decorated with the sawdust from the trees.  

We get to move the furniture back into the house this weekend and I'll be trying to remember where I put everything else that didn't go into the POD.  That may take a while as I need to evaluate what is going to stay and what is going to go.  That is never easy for me, but seeing the downstairs empty, I am motivated to keep it as uncluttered as possible.  Wish me luck!