And the rest of the news ....

So yeah, the philosopher's job was the BIG news.  Here are a few highlights (and a sad) from the rest of the first half of 2015....

Of course, we moved into our new (old) house in February.  The first major renovation was the bathroom.  We ripped the floral wallpaper off and painted everything a lovely chocolate brown.  Yay!  The kitchen is our next big task, but we'll have to wait until we've saved up enough to do it.

The sad bit of news is that we lost sweet Julian kitty.  She was 16, and had a long happy life.  

As spring moved forward, we discovered some lovely things growing in our new yard.

An enormous Lady Banks rose.

Clematis by the front walk.

And Nannie's roses happily took root and bloomed.

We also managed to get in some hiking.  We're closer to the mountains now, and all sorts of opportunities have presented themselves, both near and far.

At Sewanee.

And Fiery Gizzard Trail.

And the Pinhoti Trail.

And the Walls of Jericho.

So that's a quick recap!  It's still woefully inadequate for the amount I used to post, and the lovely prose that accompanied it (::snort::), but I feel less guilty now.  ::GRIN::