The Great Bothwell Experiment

It's official! We are now the proud owners of 5 acres in farm country! Together, with a lot of gentle prodding from Keith, we have formulated a tentative plan to build on and cultivate this little slice of heaven. The area is breathtakingly beautiful, quiet, and charming. We can't wait to see what the future holds!
View to the west.
View to the east.

Remi seems to approve.
Marshall is still undecided.
Watch out, here we come!

Adventure of the day

Imagine my surprise to find a lonely little turtle turned upside-down on my raised wood deck this afternoon! I can't figure out how he got up there, unless Baxter gave him a ride. At first I thought Baxter had killed it, so I continued feeding Remi his lunch. Ten minutes go by and I take a peek outside. The dumb thing was flailing about trying to right itself. I picked it up and poured some water over it, thinking it might like a little moisture, and waited for it to come out of it's shell. He finally peeked out to say hello...
I didn't have time to find it a proper place before naptime, so I placed it in Keith's crawfish pot with a strawberry top and 3 peas, thinking it might be hungry...
I had a fleeting thought that we might like to have a turtle around, that is until I saw Remi's reaction. When I asked if we should take him to the water, Remi nodded furiously. You would have thought the Black Plague had stopped by for dinner. Remi was repulsed by that thing. Turtle sat in his pot while I drove to the gas station and then over to the drainage ditch where lots of turtles like to hang out.
Turtle was happy to be back in the sunshine and out of his pot. He popped his head out to say goodbye.

Lately

My sis Gigi (aka the worst blogger in the world) dared to comment that I haven't posted in a while!

Well, here's how our week has shaped up. Keith has been home for only three days, Remi's pediatrician got mad at us because he doesn't speak 50 words yet, I have a cold that could knock a horse off it's feet, Remi discovered he is agile enough to fling himself out of his crib, our front window was shot out with a BB gun, my doc said I can't go shopping or go out alone anymore, and I am one big 38.5 weeks pregnant mess!

ARGH!

Sorry. Keith has been gone a TON and I have had no one to listen to me whine...It kinda builds up and then explodes all over anyone who dares come near.

Luckily for Remington, being home a lot means lots of exploring in the backyard and inside. His favorite activities lately are...
Hiding behind the antique sewing machine and turning the wheel:
Wreaking havoc outside:
Scattering birdseed for the birds and squirrels:

Roasting

A different kind of bird(brain) has been roasting around here. We've had some shockingly cold weather for these parts, and have loved turning on the fireplace these past few nights. The dogs would sit in the fire if they could and since it doesn't put out much heat, they almost do just that. I wish it were cold more often.

Thank you shmoo!

Keith spent many hours (and I DO mean hours) installing a beautiful new faucet to refresh our kitchen. Our old faucet must have been original to the house, which is 26 years old. It was so gross and I never had any idea if I was going to get hot or cold water. It had two very old soap dispensers on either side that were broken. On top of that he had to install new supply lines and replace one of the drains. Keith finally got every little piece he needed after about 5 trips to Ace and Home Depot. This is the lovely result:
I love the sprayer:
I'm pretty proud of him and I think I only heard him swear once!

Home

I don't even like Michael Buble, but on nights like these I feel like I want to go home. Home isn't really a place, but the feeling you get when you are with the people you love. I have little Remington, of course. And I love the feeling when we visit the Piper family here in Houston, but it's nights without Keith that I really miss Utah and the family we have there. It's especially hard in the summer when all my favorite festivities are taking place. I know my family probably went to visit the cemetery for the annual sunset bagpipe ceremony tonight. I guess I'm just a little melancholy.
I'm lucky I know, but I want to go home.