Easter Sunday

Back to the house. Today Don and I tore the laminate out of the living room off the kitchen. The laminate is new so we salvaged most of it and will donate it to Habitat for Humanity. We took it out as it cut up the living area. Now the entire area will be retiled and will be much more versatile in room arrangement.

I walked around our community. Very quiet. I'm surprised. I thought there would be more family action on this holiday.

The lake has about a dozen fish, that I can count, and a pair of Mallards. The Mesquite trees are blooming tiny yellow Pom Pom like blossoms. Very pretty, but a real allergy problem for those people sensitive to pollen.

In our yard the Oleander bushes are blooming and another bush is setting buds. There is a huge tree, not sure what variety it is, in the back yard for shade. In the front we have a young palm. It seems to have some new shoots coming out the side that will encroach our entranceway, so we should trim them out. It is a mystery how to care for these new plants!

We are still searching for appliances. Don keeps checking the Internet on Craig's List. Lots of deals! While Don was off golfing this afternoon I checked out a used washer and dryer that was advertised. It seems to be in great condition. So, I bought it. Now we have to get it to our place!!

The living area is half tile and half laminate.  Very strange set up.  

So we took out the laminate today.

Also, took off the top of the island to see how the electrical plugs were wired inside.

Looking at our house from the lake....  Ours is the one in the middle with the yellow Mesquite blooming on the walkway with the green tree in the background.

Close up of our house from the walkway around the lake in the backyard.

The view from our backyard looking toward the lake, underneath the big green tree.

View of lake and tree from the master bedroom.  Can hardly wait to wake-up to this view!!

Odd jobs

Both Don and I worked at the house today. We checked all the switches and outlets, changed light bulbs, set up the garage door opener, trimmed the Bougainvillea bush/tree, and attempted to figure out the outdoor watering system. We ended up calling a plumber as it doesn't seem to work.

We took a break for a salad lunch at Red Robin and then headed to Spencer's to check out appliances. We also stopped at Lazy Boy. No buying today. Just looking!

Walked over to Carrabba's for supper. It is only a few minutes walk from our house to get there. We met Shayne and Mel, Jim and Michelle, and Dave and Jan there. It was fun to visit with everyone.

Here are the two trees at the side of the front of the house that desperately needed trimming.

Here is the bougainvillaea after the pruning job!  Notice all the prickly branches that I had to cut into small chunks to get in black garbage bags.  Not used to bagging our branches; we usually just burn them in the garden!

The after picture....  Even the neighbour thinks they look much better!!  (I borrowed the pruner from him and he agreed to take away the branches in his truck, as long as I bagged them.)

Furniture Shopping

I spent the entire day furniture shopping by myself while Don golfed!! He told me that he would not question any purchases done without him. He explained that after 30+ years of marriage he trusted me. Also, he cautioned that any choices he was asked his opinion on, he would question mightily. So, needless to say, I bought all that I could decide on by myself today.

I was able to find two bedroom sets that I liked. Both are real wood with dovetail joints. The Home Elegance is a sleigh platform bed for the guest room. It has a bedside table. I love the contemporary curving lines.

For the master bedroom I bought a Sheridan (my brothers name) Bed with storage drawers on the sides. I got two night tables to go with it. The headboard has beautiful bookend wood pieces. Gorgeous!

For the kitchen I ended up buying a bar height table and 6 chairs. I think that will be handy because the chairs can be used at the island too. It is made of two tones of wood and the chairs swivel. I hope we like the height.

The last purchase of the day was a sectional couch for the living room. It is made by England Furniture which is a subsidiary of Lazy Boy. It is very solid and extremely comfortable. And.... It is green!! Big surprise!!

Here is the sectional.  No I did not buy the ottoman to go with it.  Sorry Beth!

Master bed - Sheridan King, with drawers underneath.  

Only requires a mattress, no box spring, as it is a platform bed.

The furniture sales person sitting at the bar height dining room table and swivel chair set.

Table has butterfly leaf the extends table 18 inches for larger gatherings.

The guest bed.  A queen sized, platform bed.  Notice the curved wood on the sides.

Choosing counter tops

Arizona tile is a massive outlet for tile and slabs of granite for countertops. Don and I met Shelley and John there and they helped us choose two slabs of granite for the kitchen countertop, kitchen island, bathroom vanity and master ensuite vanity.

After looking through many slabs we decided on a granite from Brazil called Golden Crystal. We were able to find two very unique slabs with a lot of interesting veins if colour in them. Those will be the exact slabs our counter tops will be made out of!

After we took a trip to Countertop Creations where John wrote up our order and we closed the deal. We took a walk through the working area to see the workers (many Mexican) sawing, grinding, polishing and finishing the various counters.

Arizona Tile is massive.  Tons of slabs of stone!  Amazing!!  Don is looking at some granite with Shelley, our tile decorator, and John, the counter top salesman.

Comparing the countertop granite to the tile we are going with.

And our chose is............  Golden Crystal Granite from Brazil.

Here is one of our two pieces getting hauled into the viewing area.

The other piece in the viewing area.

At Countertop Creations, John shows us how they lay out the templates on the granite pieces to decide where to cut the various pieces to get the best sections of the granite placed nicely on the counters,

Our new home in Mesa

Yahoo. We stepped over the threshold of our new home. Very exciting!!

On our walk through the house we realized that the interior paint job was in better condition than we thought, so no painting is required. So on with the next job - tiling.

Shelly from Tuscany Tiles came over and brought sample tiles and gave us a quote for porcelain tile. She put us on touch with John, who gave us ideas for new counter tops. Lots of decisions to make!

Don and I standing in front of our new home in Mesa, Arizona.

Don opening the door for the first time!

Tile samples from Shelley.  We eventually decided on the middle large tile and the diamond mosaic will be used on the backsplash.

Waking up to Summer

Oh, how I love the smell of blossoms blooming. It was a great feeling to wake up to beautiful weather and scents too in Mesa this morning.

Melanie has a blooming pomegranate in her back yard. A very interesting blossom. The fruit trees are in full bloom with a thick jasmine fragrance wherever you go. Wow!!

Ever seen pomegranate blossoms before?  Large hard bulb-like fruit base and a frilly flower with many stamens.  Looks like a small hibiscus flower from the front.

Pomegranate trees can get to be 15 to 30 feet tall.  This will be a good shade tree!!

Fruit tree blossoms are plentiful all over Mesa and have a sensuous jasmine scent!  Heavenly!

Grand Forks

Don and I drove to Grand Forks to fly to Mesa. We had some extra time there so we checked out some stores to get ideas of furniture we both like. Don had great time trying out the high tech recliners. Looks like he is ready for lift off with all the running lights!!

We met up with Glenn and Annette and Reg and Barb who were also in GF. We ate supper at the Texas Road House.

Our flight to Mesa was a few minutes late in leaving. We were on the first air bus flight from Grand Forks to Mesa. Don and I were in the very first row, knee to knee with the flight attendants on take off and landing! Sat beside and visited with Elly from Warren, ND. She was heading to Scotsdale to meet up with her husband. They are farmers and horse enthusiasts. Wonderful visit.

Shayne and Melanie met us at the plane and took us home to their place where we will be staying until our house is habitable.

South Dakota to Home Sweet Home

Crazy Horse Monument greeted us only minutes into our drive today. Only the human head is recognizable at this time. I can't imagine how many hours it will take to complete the horse head and mane. A huge undertaking!! I got a picture of it from the highway and from the park entrance. We would have liked to stay and visit the museum as it is supposed to be wonderful, but didn't want to take the time today.

Everywhere we go we hear about winter storm Saturn. We saw evidence of some snow as we crossed into North Dakota but really weren't greeted to the immense quantities until we got home.

New Mexico to South Dakota

We left Las Vegas, NM in good time. We noticed snow by the time we crossed into Colorado. The Rockies looked gorgeous. I drove through heavy traffic past Colorado Springs and Denver. Busy traffic but great freeways; no worry about falling asleep as I had to keep alert!

We stopped at the grandest tourist centre i have ever seen when we crossed into Wyoming. There we checked emails as there was free wifi. Drove through Wyoming and into South Dakota in the dark. Rented a room at the Rocket Motel in Custer; a throwback to the 60s. Very cute!

Arizona to New Mexico

On the road today. Rather a late start as we had to clean the trail or and do some business before leaving Mesa. Interesting landscape. At first lots of saguaro cactuses, then abruptly none. Not sure why. We drove through Petrified National Forest, then just outside of the park stopped at a store to see tons of high priced petrified wood. Gorgeous!

When we crossed into New Mexico the landscape was stunning with colored mesas and mountains. We did make it as far as Las Vegas, New Mexico, and stayed at the Knights Rest!!