This weather has been utterly unbelievable for an Iowa March and April.  Near 90s?  Unheard of!  I am pleased that Spring has decided to arrive early.  Winter turned out to be such a dud this year, that I am happy to see her go.  I cannot help but wonder, however, if we will end up with an April blizzard just for kicks. 

I am finally and officially moved into our charming turn-of-the-century farmhouse in the middle of nowhere.  It’s so perfectly perfect out here!  Never mind the mountains of boxes just screaming to be unpacked and organized… there are birds singing to me from outside my kitchen window every morning!  (Personally, I think they share my joy in the aroma of a sunrise coffee.)  Now all I need are one of those cute little bistro tables to grace my deck just off the kitchen to enjoy the aforementioned coffee.  (Husband, I hope you are reading this.)

We bought a shovel.  And a wheelbarrow.  And mousetraps.  You know, all those necessary country sorts of things.  

I have one week of country living under my belt.  Discoveries made thus far:

1.  People who install cheap carpet over beautiful hardwood floors are certifiably insane.  (Same goes for those who paint over perfect, ornate woodwork.)  But working on these floors has been a surprisingly rewarding project!

2.  We have a badger feeling quite at home in one of the sheds.  Ewww.  And eek.  And everything in between.

3.  I.  Hate.  Old.  Wallpaper.  (And picking out paint colors is not as easy as I thought it would be…)

4.  We have one internet option out here.  And its expensive.  And the hole-in-the-wall company would only install it if we got a land line phone, too.  So guess what.  I’ve got a land line phone for the first time in years.

5.  Our few-and-far-between neighbors seem super nice.  Like down-homey Iowa nice.  This is good.

6.  I have a peach tree right next to the house!  Guess who will be making jam?

7.  There is a whole row of lilacs out by the chicken coop.

8.  I also have a rose bush.

9.  It rained enough to fill the wheel barrow the other night.  And oh, the mud.  I must have mopped the kitchen floor at least a thousand times.  

10.  “Walnuts” found lying in the grass are walnuts.  “Walnuts” buried in the sand box are not.  And that big pile of “fill dirt” out by barn?  Yeah, that was deceiving, too…

We have a list of house projects about a mile long for my sweet hubby and I to tackle eventually.  Priority #1 is to finish unpacking.  Thank God for coffee. 

My, how I have missed blogging.  And now that I once again have a fully functioning kitchen (with a working refrigerator!), I am eager to cook up a storm and post some new recipes.  

Happy Monday, Coffee Lovers!