Spring mantle.

It took a while for us to decide how to decorate the mantle for spring through September. But thanks to Pinterest and the thrift store, we found some inspiration and some inexpensive items to use. What do you think? 

Spring!

This last week, Joe and I decided to take a walk outside since it was the first day of real Spring. We went a couples miles down our street to Niagara River, which connects Lake Erie to Niagara Falls, and separates New York from Canada. It was a brisk day, but we were happy to be outside enjoying a little sun.

The ice beginning to melt.

A lot of dead fish were floating in the water..

But just as many fish were lying all over the sidewalk
and we couldn't figure out why.

Snowflakes and snow.

Joe and I have cut paper snowflakes almost every Christmas that we've been together. Our snowflakes get better each year!  We kept these up for a couple months after the holidays because we still had lots of snow and winter weather.

 It's been snowing every few days for the last 4 months, but we thought you might enjoy some pics from the snowfall in December/January. Almost 100 inches of snow this winter in the city! It even snowed every single day last week, which was weird to see for mid-March. (Keep in mind that this is a mild winter! And we're obviously thankful for that.) As a new Buffalo resident, I expected much more snow and much more accumulation than we've had. The winter has surprised both of us--some days have gotten up to 50 degrees... But usually within two or three days, the temperatures would drop again and we would get more snow. I am, however, learning to appreciate the beauty and stillness of snow. I really like how it sits on the sturdy, and not so sturdy, tree branches. I love seeing a thick layer of snow on the trees and the branches laboring to hold themselves up.  We've used our snow boots used regularly, but we will be happy to pack them away as soon as spring arrives!

Our very skinny, long, snowy driveway that I back out of every day!