I am pleased to report that the contractor's bid on our recreational project was entirely out-of-control outrageous, more than double what we thought we might pay. I am RELIEVED that our potential project is off the docket.

Now, next week, another contractor who gave us a very REASONABLE bid is doing work on our Illinois property. After 10 years of living here, we are finally installing...

...an asphalt driveway!

Um, yeah, we've had a gravel drive all that time, which was fine until this recent extended winter when the excessive precipiation turned what was compressed stone into grey clay/mud - or rather, all of the mud and gravel dust oozed up to the top and of course made a huge mess when anyone walked into the house. Also, our improvise slab of walkway into the house literally cracked under pressure - from the insane wintry conditions it endured this year. So we are putting in nice, tidy blacktop from the apron to the door.

I need to remind my husband that we *still* need to get a snowblower to CLEAR our lovely new drive (which is 100 ft long - kind of tough to shovel that much!) when we get pummeled again next winter. It sucks to think about snowblowers in May...but per Abby's recent post, you never know when the snow will surprise you.