This is week three for Chris and me on Cape Cod. I could remark, where has the time gone, but I know from the sore muscles and exhausted state that I find myself in every night that I have been working hard. This week my daffodils bloomed that I worked so hard to plant last fall. Whenever I am working in the yard or walking from the house to the garage they catch my eye and I stop to appreciate them. Now that I know they will prosper in this soil I will plant another 150 this fall. Chris and I spent a morning this week transplanting 8 small cedar trees from our woodsy area to the edge of the property closest to the town parking lot. Our hope is that they will grow quickly, block the cars, trucks and trailers and make a natural screen. It took some digging to get them out of the ground and into their new location but the rain predicted for the next couple of days should ensure their survival. We also made a lot of research trips on alternate days so we didn't get too discouraged with moving items from the house to the second floor of the garage. We had 2 long meetings with different kitchen designers that were very productive. I certainly hadn't thought of all the issues that they addressed. I'm just so used to working with wherever I find myself. And I have to admit that I never thought about being left handed in the kitchen. We are considering an eco-healthy cabinet that satisfies all my indoor pollution concerns and sensibilities. And we are thinking about using carrera marble with honed black granite complemented by stainless steel appliances. Apparently the cost of marble is reasonable and the price of granite has come down considerably. Another day we devoted to window selection, a large ticket item with 29 windows. Chris is known for choosing the first thing he sees. Not me, I have to exhaust every possibility. So I chased down Eagle windows vs the ubiquitous Anderson, vinyl vs aluminum, large company vs Green Mountain windows manufactured in Vermont. We are learning a lot and I am driving Chris crazy. Every night I get on the computer and look for more products. A few I have discovered are Vermont Natural Casing, a wooden floor finish that is made out of cheese whey. A toilet that hangs on the wall. And the most exciting idea is "Green Demolitions". This non-profit company sells complete kitchens extremely reasonably that are showroom samples or kitchens that are being replaced by homeowners. We figure that if we run out of money when it comes to kitchen time we will buy one of these for peanuts. If you are curious, check this out! Today, Friday, was a big day for Chris. He bought a dump sticker. Now he can visit the "transfer station" any time he wants. Other years, we were aggressive recyclers, put our vegetable waste in our compost pile in the yard and then paid $10 for the privilege to use the dump maybe once every three weeks. But this year the price has gone up to $13 and we have much more garbage. Chris is very happy to have joined the race of men who like to hang around the dump. And then after a budget meeting with our builder that was monetarily sobering, we learned that our foundation permit was ready to be picked up from the building inspector. We were momentarily stunned. Could this really be the end of all the anxiety and the waiting and the beginning of construction. WE quickly drove to the Hyannis office, wrote out another healthy check and grabbed our permit. Chris yelled "Hot Dog" as we left the building. We rushed back to the cottage, grabbed our bottle of Prosecco, popped the cork and poured 2 glasses. Maybe you can tell by the picture that we just can't believe it. It's been a long, long time coming. Well, this is just about the end of April on Cape Cod. The female osprey is sitting on the nest while her companion occupies a dock post nearby. The grass is green and the "lawn boys" are busy trying to get it in order. The summertime boats are being launched daily as the docks are being put in. And the infamous Four Seas Ice Cream shop stuck out their "Open in May sign". Ah, cranberry sherbet, that's something to look forward to!
