Last snow of winter?

The location of my work and Nim's homeschool enrichment program is either a 15 minute drive on the road or a 2 mile walk through the woods. We love walking, especially on the way there which is all down hill. When we get our weekly (!) snow storm we walk/slide all the way down. It's a ton of fun and incredibly beautiful! Our walk yesterday was so spring like ~ 50 degrees and sunny. I looked back at these pictures taken from a walk last week and wondered if that was our last snow of winter?

A weekend away

We were so excited to get away for a lovely weekend with some of our oldest and dearest friends, Meredith and Kevin, and their kids Banyan, Mullein, and Salome, at a sweet little rental cottage near Asheville. The weather was absolutely gorgeous ~ 3 days of warm, sunshiney goodness sandwiched in between weeks and weeks of freezing snowey winter. We enjoyed making and eating delicious meals (and raspberry margaritas), playing with frisbees and baseballs in the awesome open yard, chilling by the creek, and (of course) the hot tub! We did not have to travel far to feel the nourishment and realxation that comes from a little vacation.

gita and salome throwing stones in the creek

rub a dub dub, six kids in a tub

noah taking a break from golfing (?)

cuddle time with two of the fowler girls

swingin' gita

the bathroom is coming along....

We're making some serious progress on the bathroom! We have really only been able to work on it during the weekends and a few evenings which means progress is slllooowwww. But it is looking more and more like a bathroom and we can almost taste the finish line.

It is all painted and trimmed (yes, it has trim before some of our other rooms that we've been living in for years) and the tub is installed. We just picked up a beautiful cork floor which we plan to put down this weekend. Then we are onto installing the vanity and bidet, building the composting pooper, finishing the plumbing in the shower/tub which includes installing the on-demand hot water heater....

hmmmm, when it is all typed out like that it sure seems far away. One step at a time, right? Before we know it, we will be bathing in our own house, brushing our teeth in a bathroom instead of at the kitchen sink, and not needing to go out in the cold to get to the outhouse. Times they are a changing!view from the outside looking at the new entry (sliding glass doors)

from the new entry way looking into the bathroom
the colors are (love the names) "retro green" and "reflection pool"

just look at that lovely tub and the cedar above it...purrrrrrr

A few photos from work

This morning I realized that I have been working at Red Moon Herbs for almost 7 years!

When I applied for a job at a little herbal business down our dirt road back in 2003 I was responding to a sudden need to find a job after David was laid off.
And 7 years later, I am still bringing home the bacon with a smile in my heart.
Here are a few photos of the wonderful herbal products we create and sell...

child sized fondue

We had our lovely Lilikoi Loomer over the other day while Kelcey was busy crafting away and Alex was plastering the new bathroom with David. It was so cold and blizzardy and we were without power....so we stretched our imaginations and came up with some fun activities. My favorite was when the girls were snacking on some cheesey puffs and Gita noticed the fondue pot in the drying rack (we have had a few real fondue sessions over the last few weeks...as the old saying goes, "a party is not groovy unless the fondue pot is rolling). Anyway, she asked if they could eat their snacks like fondue. What a brilliant idea! They totally loved it (not to mention that it took them much longer to get each snack in their mouths than if they had been doing it the conventional way). Success!

Ice baby

We have had one wintery storm after another here in the mountains of North Carolina. We have had snow on the ground almost every day since just before Christmas last year. The ice has just now almost fully melted from the branches and fences in the last day and now we are gearing up for another storm at the end of the week. Our power was out for a few days last weekend so we found a few more functions for the woodstove ~ heating the house, hot water heater, and cook stove...
The kids have been able to sled right out the front door and we have never loved our mudroom as much as we have in the last few weeks! How else have we managed to avoid cabin fever?

a little painting

finding friends to play with in the mucky mud

and lots of neighborhood gatherings (mmm, fondue)

What's Missing? Gita's first tooth!