Clark's Grebes Courting

I finally got out birding again yesterday.  During the remodel for the past several months, my house was in chaos and it was hard to find anything--including my camera.  It was nice to have it in my hands again.  I took little Frankie along to visit Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge for the first time in months.  The migrants are returning or passing through.  It was a wonderful birdy day.  One of the treats of the day was observing early courting behavior of two Clark's Grebes.  It's early yet and just a handful of these grebes have arrived at Bear River.  Soon, this will be a common sight.

The remodel - one more day

Every day this week I have expected it to be the last day.  But as you might guess, a couple of things delayed us.  For one thing, I decided I wanted to replace the stair railings and had to make some quick decisions about style and materials.  Then we had a realization that my contractor didn't think I wanted the lower set of stairs to have hardwood to match the upper stairs, while I had thought that was the plan.  So the upper stairs are done, but the lower ones are yet to do.  Glad we discovered that when we did.  Luckily, there are enough materials, barely, to complete those stairs.  So those two major things and then maybe a half dozen little things that need finishing up and we will be done.  Finally!  This could all happen tomorrow.

What is finished is so beautiful and the kids had fun playing on the new living room floor today.  Brandon is disappointed my photo here doesn't do justice to his excellent arrangement of toys.  But it does do justice to the lovely new floor.  It's funny, too, because the kids begged me to go with carpet instead of hardwood because they thought they liked playing on carpet better.  Now they are on board with the wood.

Tomorrow the new couch is delivered.  The new chairs are special-ordered and won't be here until April.  I need to decide on rugs now.  I've looked at about a thousand, so I should know what's available.  Today I started the slow process of moving things back where they belong.  I'll take my time as I put the rooms together and change things around as I get inspiration, and continue to get rid of things.

After a very stressful couple of weeks, I begin to feel calm and relaxed.  I am happy with everything we've done.  This is the fourth major remodel I've had done with Scott and I know by now the quality will be excellent, even if the completion isn't as fast as I'd hoped.  With this remodel, I'm finished.  Every room has been touched in some way--some more than others.  There is nothing left to do except decorate inside.  And, I suppose, I should stop spending money now and save for my later retirement.  I'm ready to really settle in and enjoy my home and stop thinking about changes.