Quirks on Quirks

Well, besides the cold winter, Charis and Jay may have succeeded in pulling Portland weather with them to the midwest. First, a beautiful mild summer, now a rainy, gray, green spring! We're going on week two of rain and I think it's beginning to get to people around here...you know how much we all love to talk about the weather. "Yes, yes! Let's talk about the weather!" At least I'm not "Raining on the Inside," a la Amy Grant, circa 1980. Do you think I could write this whole blog entry in song speak? I'll spare you that.

Today, Charis is out at the farm, probably getting soaked as she waits for another coat of polyurethane to dry on the wood floors before applying the final layer. She's my hero - Jay and Chris too - for sparing me and Arthur from the fumes and labor. This weekend will be spent experimenting with solutions for the upstairs - now that we know it's unsandable and some of the floor up there is now striped where we tried sanding it and hit only every other floorboard...we're facing some creative solutions! Thank god the rest of the house has so much "character" (aka imperfections), that we can get creative and it will hopefully just blend in with the rest of the quirks. We love the quirks, don't get me wrong. Quirks who love quirks.

Jay wants Charis to paint an Italian countryside mural on our kitchen wall (inspired by the one in the new Riverview Wine Bar down the street from us in Minneapolis). I say mural in the kitchen only if she'll agree to also do a re-make of her Winterhawks hockey caricatures on the wall in the guest bedroom. Are we going to need a public vote on this one?

And Charis wants Jay and Chris to whittle the stump at the top of the driveway into her favorite Precious Moments figurine. Just kidding, she's actually lobbying for an eagle swathed in an American flag. In all seriousness, there's talk of making the stump into a bench...not a bad idea...what do you think?

The property is getting outfitted with more and more trees, including a beautiful willow in front of the barn (my personal favorite) and a couple of cherry trees are on the way. Tomatoes, basil, and more veggies will go into the ground this weekend both at farm and house. Jay wants 48 tomato plants. Last year we reaped about 300 tomatoes from 4 plants. So, bring your baskets when you come for a visit. Apparently Arthur can't have tomatoes until after age 1. or honey. or peanut butter. I learned this in the lunchroom at work today. Is this for real?

Mom and Dad have officially begun their trek around China with Barb and Dennis. After a ridiculously long Saturday of moving 3500 square feet of belongings into their darling 1500 sq. foot bungalow, I dropped them off at the airport Sunday afternoon - they were exhausted but beaming. We are amazingly thrilled for them to have this experience. They've been waiting for this for years.

The next few weeks will really pick up speed - including preparing for C&J to move to the farm full time in early June. It's bittersweet for me - the house in Minneapolis will be so quiet--too quiet. And Chris and I will anxiously await our reunion in early fall with baby in tow. Arthur will certainly miss Charis and Jay's kitchen creations over the summer. We'll just have to savor them (C&J and their meals) during the weekends we're together. But we're also excited to welcome the new horse into the fold in three weeks, then even a dog (?) and baby to quickly follow. We're doing our darndest to fill those 36 acres, people! Help us out, and put Colfax on your travel calendar soon! Corrie, Christa, Julianne, Steph - we can't WAIT to see you in June...and promptly fill you with food and drink and merriment.

That's all for now - just some midday, midweek, rainy afternoon thoughts from me, B.