More intro -and what a wonderful day!

I apologize for not including more in first post. My name is Kris and I live in the midwest - always have. The change is that I grew up in a small farm in west central Indiana. About 13 years ago, with a move for a second job out of graduate school, my husband and I ended up in a major metropolitan area. We purchased a house in a suburb on a quiet court with wooded ravines in front and behind the house. So, we have only close neighbors on either side of us. The houses in front of our house and across the ravine are a bit far away but we can see each other in the winter months. The condos across the ravine behind our house are a bit closer. Now that the leaves are out on the trees, only one or two condo windows can see into our backyard.

That is where I am right now. It is a lovely day - the first we've had here in some time, getting a break in humidity and the rain. Before I could enjoy sitting here and listening to the birds chatter at the hawk that perched on a tree for a bit - a brief aside: we didn't notice hawks in our backyard or ravine until farmland was cleared to the southwest of us and another subdivision went in, now they are pretty common. I had to mow the grass, can't enjoy an untidy lawn, especially when it is as small as ours is. Then I had to get out the weed eater, more of the same tidiness. Finally, since it is so cool, I had to weed and prune the mums, and sweep both patios. Our house sits on a hill, like most in our area do, and we have a walk-out basement with a patio. We have a deck off the living room with a patio beneath it. I refer to them as the sun and shade patios. The one off the basement door gets all the afternoon sun while the one under the deck gets some only around the edges. I am currently on the swing in a spot where the sun never shines!