Living in a tree house

Spring has definitely sprung around here.  We have been on the porch almost every day.  The late afternoon thundershowers come, but they keep the grounds lush and the temperature down.

We had an oriole come think he wanted into the house for a couple of days.  He kept lighting on the door handle and knocking on the glass.

We ended up with one of those walk through screens on that door, and a sparkly windsock near the dining room door to get the bird to move back onto the tree branches.

In the interest of visitor mobility, and anticipating some first time visitors in the fall, when the wedding celebration occurs, we have added steps from the driveway to the house and from the house down to the park.  Given the upcoming extravaganza, we hadn't anticipated many upgrades to Millstream 2.0, but these are practical and will last a lifetime.

The stairs in the back were done by our gardener, who also brought us the Jolie Jardin Jaubert

The grass is coming along on them very nicely since this picture, and MA has made it down and up to the park without assistance!

Friend Kim's wife was busy with school graduation work on the Saturday of Memorial day, so he needed a project.  We borrowed Jay's tractor and moved a bunch of rocks around to make this: 

Sparky has taken to wading into the moss above the dam - it's enough to turn a white dog green

And perhaps best of all, while digging spots for the rocks on the front steps, we found a dog tag, expires June 30, 1977.  Must be from Ribot, the German Shepard who lived with us at Millstream 1.0, pictured here by the previous steps in 1980.

Life is good.  Come see us in the treehouse.

MS Walk 2015 recap

The walk was yesterday, on a steamy May morning in the Bluegrass.  Thanks to all of our friends, we raised over $1800 for the National MS Society.  (I think some contributors ended up in the general fund instead of attributed to MA - but it's the donation that counts).

If anyone missed the fun and wants to contribute still, it's not too late, just click here.

My favorite team T-shirt read:

She is clothed with strength and dignity, and she laughs without fear of the future.

Proverbs 31:25

Sounds like Mary Anne to me.

MA's morning web perusals found this article by the daughter of someone with MS.  It's worth reading for some insight into the disease.

Pictures from the event:

The starting gate, quiet before the race

A very large dog

The MS Society leaders, plus Miss Kentucky

A good day for a good cause.