Well hello there! How are you? Fantastic!!! Just want to catch ya'all up a bit on the happenings here in Upstate New York. Spring has finally sprung. Only about 2 weeks ago. Plant life has greened up and fluffed out, flowers have splashed their colors around, and the sun has warmed the place up. Mostly. We went through a few days of 80 degree weather, then down to the 40s. Then up to 80s again, then down to 50s. It is still cold out today, but not as damp as the last 2 days. Maybe things will dry out enough so I can continue my yard work. We shall see. I have been wandering around the house almost daily, seeing what is growing, and thinking about how much yard work I really want to do. I was going to plant a garden this year, but I am going to wait. I want to take care of the yard around the house first. If I can get that down to low maintenance, then I can play in a garden next year. That also gives me a year to compost. The soil here isn't bad, but it could use some help. Cutting back on the 'needs to be weeded all the time' space is my main goal. So, I am cleaning up the left and right sides of the house, putting weed block paper down, and rocking over it. The rocks are free, but I have to drive to one of 2 places to get them, load up clothe bags, and then haul them to my trunk. When I get home it is the same thing, but backwards. Hard work, but worth it. Looks much nicer. Diana's mom started the process when she lived here, but she used edging stones and bark dust. Not a fan of bark dust, since fleas love it. It also puts slivers in my delicate little feet, and that makes me all 'Princess and the Pea' about life. Diana doesn't deserve that. I have been able to start getting out and exploring, an got my hands on a super atlas map of New York! Yeah! I drove to the Adirondacks last weekend- on accident. Really. I was looking for someplace else, got lost, and that was the end result. Had no idea where I had gone wrong until I got this atlas at a really neato general store that was the size of a small planet. Now I am informed and can go to the original destination soon. Yeah for maps! Dora and I have something in common! Diana is officially open for tourist season. We have the sign out now. Picked it up on Friday, and it looks pretty awesome. Soon we will be overrun with people who want to spend their money on high quality, original design jewelry! Three cheers for tourists!