Five on the Fifth

Five things I love about my new house:

1.  Birdwatching.  While I've always loved feeding the birds and have enjoyed watching them, my new backyard has a completely different array of birds.  I've been able to sit on my deck with a pair of binoculars and my trusty bird ID book (and even my iPad), and I've had fun identifying birds that are new to me.  We had a two different phoebe nests under the smaller deck, and it was fun watching them swoop in and out with food for the nestlings.  One afternoon, we had a pair of scarlet tanagers and I've had some Eastern kingbirds, yellow-shafted flickers, red-bellied sapsuckers, the ubiquitous robins, and this afternoon I was entertained by a catbird perched on a pine tree mewing its heart out.  And this morning I was startled to see a hawk perched on the spider plant just outside the bedroom slider.  I'm not sure who was more startled, the bird or me, but he flew off when I sat up to get a closer look!

2.  My pantry.  I have a walk-in pantry with loads of shelves.  I can see at a glance what I have or what I need to replenish.  I've lusted after one for years and this is perfect.  It even has 2 large wire sliding baskets.  I keep potatoes and onions in one, and I'm using one to store bagged items like chips or crackers.

3.  My great room.  We had our first party last night - a 4th of July cookout that due to Arthur's heavy rain turned into a cook-in!  There were 8 of us, and it was a pleasure to all be in one space.  I could prepare what I needed to prepare and still be part of conversation.  In the old house, the gathering area was at one end of the house and the kitchen was at the other end, and we'd end up splitting into 2 groups. Last night we all were together and what a joy that was!

4.  My deck.  We can have the grill on the deck just outside the kitchen.  No more traipsing out the front door, and 'round back to the gas grill.  I can keep an eye on the grill and prep whatever else I need to prep in the kitchen.

5.  My attached garage.  It's 2 steps, literally, from my car to the mudroom door.  No more sprinting across the driveway to the barn where our cars were kept in the winter, or dodging raindrops to get into the cars parked in the driveway.  It's a breeze to bring in the groceries too.

6.  My walk in shower . . . . I'll have to save that for another time since I only was going to list 5 things.