Birthdays, springtime, plans

The wild cyclamens are finally starting to bloom in the back yard. I think they are late this year, because of the weather. And I haven't seen any primroses at all yet.

Wild cyclamens in bloom in the garden

But the weather has definitely warmed up. The low temperature — the low, not the high — this morning was close to 50ºF — it was about 9ºC.

We don't know how the cyclamens came to grow in our yard.

Yesterday was Callie's birthday. She was born, along with 8 or 9 other puppies, on February 22, 2007, in a place in the Auvergne region called La Vallée des Géants. We didn't have a party, but her friend Mr. Mo, an 8-year-old Lab, came to see her in the afternoon. In the morning, when I sang Happy Birthday to her she got all squirmy and jumped up and licked me on the cheek.

The birds and the freezing weather have turned
our apple pile into a pile of apple sauce.

Finally, we made a big decision yesterday. I don't know if Walt has blogged about it — he might be afraid to jinx it. We decided to expand our living space by having our attic finished off to make a gigantic room that can be our bedroom, a TV room, and my office for my computer.

One of our neighbors has cut down some trees
and is building benches for his yard.

Our attic is at least 80 square meters. That's nearly 900 sq. ft. It may be even bigger than that; we haven't measured it very precisely. Turning it into finished space will involve putting in two or three skylights — there are already two windows up there — and, most importantly, a new staircase for access from the main living level.

Does this look any more spring-like?
Click on the picture to enlarge it.

You can expect to see more about this on our blogs over the next few months. Unless the price is just too high and "sticker shock" sets in, work could begin pretty soon. Be warned if you plan to visit this year: the house may be a construction zone.