Tikkabik

Spring is finally in the air. April often gives us pause in New England, because it's not uncommon to have a late snow that will bury us under inches, at least temporarily. But we're safely past that point now, and the needle on the thermometer keeps rising day after day. The jonquils in our yard have risen, which adds a pleasant splash of yellow and white to the yard, which is still recovering from its winter hibernation.

We had a brief respite of above-seasonable temperatures about a week and a half ago, which gave us false hope that we were going to have an exceedingly warm spring. Since then we've gotten temperatures we should be more accustomed to in early April -- high 40s and lower 50s during the day, occasional freezing temperatures overnight. Still, when it's sunny and the wind isn't blowing, it's shirtsleeve weather, and after the winter we've had, it's quite welcome.

We've suddenly gone into overdrive for domestic improvement. I've already recounted our experiences switching from well water to town water. In the past few weeks we've also had a landscaper come out and clean up the yard, and he's also given me a reasonable quote on some arbor work that needs to be done (our backyard is really overgrown with small trees that need to come down, and a few others that need to be pruned in order to remain healthy).

And, two years after having the walls of my office finished and having an overhead lighting system put in, I'm finally a couple of weeks away from having a floor installed. For a long time I had wanted a laminate floor, but even going with cheap (8mm) material, it looks like it'll cost about 1/3rd the price to have industrial carpet put in, which will be just fine -- the cut piles they install in basements nowadays are infinitely more luxurious and colorful from what I remember of the hideous industrial carpeting put in the wood panel-lined basement family rooms of my friends' houses when I was growing up.

I've been looking over the materials the carpet salesman lent me and I think I've made a decision on what color to go with. Now it's a matter of clearing out my office, overrun with boxes and other junk, including several large pieces of furniture I'll have to move, and paying the guy. Bonnie found what might be better deals, as well, so I'm researching that.

The one last step to get the office finished will be to put in a heating system, and we may have a lead on someone who can do the work for us inexpensively. We used forced water heated by natural gas to heat the place, which is efficient and good quality heat, but it's also tough to modify, since it requires plumbing work to extend. Ideally, I'd like to have a new thermostat zone installed in my office, so I can only heat it when I'm using it.

There are a few smaller projects, as well: The kitchen sink needs a new faucet, which I can do myself, and there's a bit of repair work needed to be done to the wall behind the sink thanks to the current leaky faucet and the corroding effects of water.

There will be plenty of other things to do around the house this spring, summer and fall: We still need to decorate the upstairs bathroom, paint our room, the family room and the kitchen. I also need to replace the screen door that goes from our kitchen to the porch.

Meanwhile, I'm leaving it to my mom, who has a much greener thumb than I, to help with some of the yardwork. I can mow the lawn and pull weeds, but that's about the extent of my horticultural ability, and Bonnie's got her hands so full with the kids and other stuff that I can't reasonably expect her to do this stuff. But Mom has a real flair for figuring out what arrangements look good in our flower boxes, and tends to the shrubbery that graces the front of the house much better than I can. What's more, she seems to take pleasure in doing it, while I find it to be an interminable bore.