You know that hard times.
Hard times.
Hard times made us.

And I would not trade them all for anything…

~ from the song “Hard Times” by William Elliot Whitmore off the album “Animals in the Dark“

It’s funny how one moment can change so much.

Months ago, we were planning a really incredible trip to Scandinavia for a record two and a half weeks (a record for us anyways). All plans were set. Planes, trains and automobiles were all in sync.

We just needed to get on that stupid plane.

Then Cadence started limping even more than before and what started as something she’d “walk out” months ago, seemed much more serious now. So we got her looked at. It wasn’t a limp. It was a torn doggy ACL (poor baby).

This condition can only be operated on. This operation is really expensive.

And just like that, we had to stop. We had to take a really, really deep breath. And we had to a rise to an occasion that was about way more than us. It still hurts thinking about all those plans getting unplugged, but it hurts more thinking about one of our furry daughters walking on a leg that no longer works properly.

We’ll go on that trip another time. Simple as that.

The mere fact that we even have a life that allows us to plan such a trip is something to be amazingly grateful for. Scandinavia isn’t going anywhere, it’ll wait for us. Cadence will only be passing through once and it’s our responsibility to make that pass of her’s as wonderful as she’s made ours.

Ironically this is literally why we haven’t posted in a while. It’s because we’ve been planning this entire trip out!

Other than this topsy turvy, life’s been pretty status quo.

The heat here in the south as gone absolutely nowhere and as much as our garden has put it’s best foot forward, it simply can’t compete. We’ve always joked that the summers down here are like miniature winters up north. Well, this year, that’s pretty much been the truth. We’ve been cooped up WAY too long and are in desperate need of some hiking/camping/breathing. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but, bring on the short days and freezing temps!

We’ll put on hats, we’ll put on another layer. We’ll adapt.

We always do.

Man has it been hot these last few weeks! Very little rain either. The whole east coast is in the grip of it and while it appears to be breaking in the next few days (here anyways), it’s been hell to slog through.

Stay cool everyone! All I know is our utility bill is going to be epic this month!

So what have we been up to? Well, for reasons I won’t go into, work’s been a little hectic for Mel and I in the last couple of weeks. It’s cyclical, don’t worry. But it did add more stress than usual to our day-to-day. So when our good friends Josh and Erin brought up heading to the mountains for the weekend we completely embraced the idea.

Like usual, researching a place to stay was somewhat belated. But serendipity stopped by at the last minute and provided us a place at Lake Eden in Black Mountain! The land, the house, the location, the pet policy (Cadence had the most fun I think), the weather, everything! It was just wonderful!

We ate and drank well, we hiked Mount Mitchell, listened to music, wrote and read in the surrounding fields, Mel and Erin did yoga in a field with a view of the surrounding mountains and the local camp a few hundred yards away, put on a hell of a fireworks display! It was literally perfect!

There’s also a mad amount history with this place as well! Click here to learn a good bit more.

Suffice it to say, when we had to leave, we realized we genuinely could’ve used another couple of days there. It was bittersweet for sure.

No worries though. We’ll definitely be heading back! Hopefully someday soon. Fall would be beautiful out there I bet!

So, yeah, it was was an awesome 4th of July weekend!

Filled with everything we love about life at the moment! I hope you all had the same experience!

~Tad and Mel

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Now playing: Urban & Schillerich – Yuri Gagarin
via FoxyTunes

Late last month I caught my first Bulls game of the year with my father! He got comped some tickets and thought he’d take the only son he has that was terrible at baseball . Needless to say, like every game we’ve gone to together, it was an awesome time! Lots of laughter, free food and a pretty good game! Thanks Dad!

We also got the tomato buckets up! I’m particularly fond of the hunter’s orange buckets, complements of Home Depot. We may have waited too long, but I’m hoping that since they are already producing fruit, that we were just in time hanging them. Finger crossed!

Oh! And we seem to have added a few more critters in the backyard! I’ve seen a couple of these this year and even though it looks like a baby, a friend of mine who’s snake expert say it’s full grown! So watch out you kale eating moth bastards! We’ve brought in reinforcements!

Lastly, we finally got rid of the 3 pine trees in the backyard. Since the ice storm of 2002, these trees have kind of been a nuisance. One was bent during the storm and never straightened, the needles have made our soil that much more acidic and good sized limbs fell off during any storm that had a gust of wind. We’ve never really liked them so when the chance came to get rid of them, we jumped at it.

The company that got rid of them, comes in with a crane, a guy with a chainsaw and a very large chipper. They then attach the crane to the top of the tree, said guy cuts the tree at the base, then the crane hoists it high and away to the street where they chip it! Pretty nuts really. Video below! And don’t worry! We’re planting fruit trees to replace them.

That’s it for now. The summer is definitely here! We’re just trying to enjoy it! Hope you are too.

More later,
Tad and Melinda

First up? Wicked!  The broadway show that is.

Mom and Dad (Tad’s) wanted to get Melinda tickets to see this show a ways back for her birthday but the show didn’t make it to the DPAC until much later than anticipated.  Nevertheless when the tickets went on sale, Mom snagged us a pair and the long sought after date was set!  Truth be told, I never had much of a need or want to see the show.  It was Mel who had read the book and was interested to see the broadway production of it, so I went in not expecting much and was totally blown away by the show!  The stage production, the voices, the lighting, it was all amazing!  The last show we’d seen was Les Mis. years ago and MAN, it’s incredible how far broadway shows have come!!  It was truly a wonderful night, we got all dolled up (Mel looked wonderful, Tad looked… presentable), had a great dinner in the American Tobacco District Campus beforehand and just simply enjoyed a wonderful night out in city that’s really been sneaking into our hearts lately: Durham.

So without a doubt, much thanks go to Mom and Dad for such a wonderful gift!

A few weeks later we had the opportunity to see Mel’s brother Marshall and his girlfriend Julie while they were in DC.  We’re pretty sure we won’t get a chance to head north this year so we took the chance while we could.  It was so worth it!  We stayed in a WAY better than average Best Western , got to ride public transportation (really love experiencing other cities’ public transportation systems lately) pretty much everywhere, had a great meal at a chop house/micro brewery (Mel drank he second full beer ever!) saw some of old Alexandria on foot and met some of Marshall and Julie’s truly wonderful friends from their time in Armenia (unbelievably kind peeps).

It was a short trip but it was packed with great stuff! We’re so glad we got to do it!

On the way back, we got stop and see our good friend Michelle Rigg’s new yarn shop “Down Town Knits”  in the middle of historic downtown Apex, NC!  With a genuine focus on local artists’ wares, she’s created something really special here and we’re totally psyched for her and her new shop!  Pics are below  and if you are in the area and need a yarn fix and knitting supplies, stop by!

Lastly, Tad attended Wordcamp in Raleigh this weekend and got his “learn on” with some the heaviest hitters in the WordPress community.  I (Tad) wrote about it at length here on my site, but suffice it to say, I’m really proud of where this little open source project has come and where it’s heading!  It’s given me a lot over the years and I’m really glad I was able to wade into it’s community this weekend.  I learned some cool stuff for sure and can’t wait to apply in my future endeavors!

So yeah, WOW, full month!  Hope you all are doing well and are already for summer!

Best,
Tad and Melinda

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Now playing: Gregory Alan Isakov – San Francisco
via FoxyTunes

Seedlings poked their heads up, the potatoes are going nuts, the squash is rebounding, the peppers are holding steady and the tomatoes are close to being put into their rightful buckets!  Good start all told!

The warmth has also awakened the thoroughly awesome eco-system we have in our back yard! The eggs have hatched in our birdhouse and the baby chicks are screaming for worms! Such a cute family!  Also, our much beloved lizards have been coming out in force to sun themselves!  This is just one little guy of about four varieties in our back yard.

Saturday afternoon brought the company of dear friends and it wasn’t long before cooking smells filled the house and ice cold Mojitos were sipped (with mint from our garden)!

Then, that evening, at around nine we all hightailed it to Local 506 in Chapel Hill and caught the CD release party of a wonderful local folk duo “Mandolin Orange“.  The place was packed and they didn’t disappoint.  Just beautiful stuff!  Check ‘em out here for yourself!  Highly recommended!

Then today we finished everything off with grocery shopping and hopefully a much needed nap!  We’ll see.

Hopefully you all had an amazing weekend as well. Filled with new life, cold drinks and small surprises!

~Tad

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Now playing: Mandolin Orange – One More Down
via FoxyTunes

First, some beauty!  This Carolina Jessamine has been growing in the back yard for about 6 or 7 years. It stretches the entire circumference of our back porch, is more yellow than this mere picture can contain and the topper?  It smells like a pack of “Life Savers”.  For real, I’m not lying!

It has just started to bloom and it’s a joy walk by everyday!

The sun is also in full bloom causing the high temps to jump into the high 80′s and low 90′s during the day. This of course means the A/C got fired up for the first time this year, which also means crazy utility bills.  When we lived up north, winter was the most expensive time of year.  Down here?  Summer kicks winter’s ass in the monthly bill category!  Hands down.

No doubt, it does suck. But I gotta be honest, when you see Cadence sleeping comfortably by a vent. It makes up for it. Sorta.

Also, did I mention pollen? Oh yeah, much to every allergy sufferer’s dismay, for about 2 weeks in the beginning of spring everything gets literally coated by trees desperately trying to procreate.  Yellow pollen tints the air you breath and the earth you walk upon. It’s unreal!

It’s almost as if we’ve been crop-dusted… wait a minute… maybe that’s why the potatoes haven’t shown any sign of life.  Hrmmm…

Other hardships came in the form of our beloved popcorn popper (featured here ) biting the dust.  She served us very well though, roasting pound after pound of yummy, life-sustaining coffee.  Of course we couldn’t/wouldn’t/shouldn’t stop our latest DIY hobby, so we replaced the old popper with a very entry-level coffee roaster (you know, something that was actually made to roast coffee).

With a variable fan and heat element, we’re pretty damn pampered in this area now!  But the price was right (it’ll pay for itself before the end of the year) and it has replacement parts instead having to replace the whole damn thing when the engine burns out. Needless to say, there was much rejoicing! (YAY!)

I also started my next batch of beer! It’s a red ale and it should be drinkable in another couple of weeks.   I SWEAR I can hear taunting me to drink it early though (tad… drink me… drink me!!!)!

So yeah, it’s been an excellent exercise in patience for me.  The last batch (an English Pale Ale) was good, but I definitely drank it too early as the last bottle easily tasted the best!

With these summer temps kicking the door in, it’ll be ready just in time I think.

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Now playing: Zoe Keating – Optimist (promo mix)
via FoxyTunes

Everyone seems as alive as anything and everything with roots! All smiles and beautiful petals respectively. We’ll be planting potatoes this weekend (I’m gonna give a shot at building a potato box!) and that will inevitably lead to the the yearly prepping of the beds!

The warmer temps also brought the first bottle of my homebrew being opened! It still has a way to go taste-wise (it’s gotta sit a bit longer) but I’ve loved tasting a few every other day! I honestly can’t believe I didn’t pick up this hobby earlier.

The days are longer and so are our good spirits. We can’t help it! It’s totally infectious!

We’ve always loved fall, but spring here in NC is easily neck in neck with autumn.

Hope the buds are popping out where you are!

Tad and Melinda

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Now playing: We Were Promised Jetpacks – This Is My House, This Is My Home
via FoxyTunes

Here are a few (gonna drop a little geek on you):

• Cleaner layout, less clutter and easier navigation, providing a simple and cohesive vibe to the site.  That’s good for everyone I think!
• Built with tasty updated  HTML5 code and CSS3 standards! Now what the hell does that mean?  Well it means, if you use a modern browser, you’ll view a different looking, more aesthetically pleasing site! Drop shadows behind pics, a cool vintage typewriter font, picture and video embeds are easier for us to put in, and you should see faster performance in general. So if you haven’t updated your browser recently, get to it!  Firefox, Safari and Chrome users should have no issues if you are up to date.  Unfortunately IE users wont get the entire design I put together no matter how up to date you are.  This is because IE is a woefully deprecated piece of software (yes, even IE 8).  There are so many better, more versatile browsers out there! I heartily suggest you join the revolution and snag one!  The web in general will be a much better experience for you.
• Truncated comments!  Finally figured out how to get this going!  What this does is it allows us to not only comment on posts, but it also allows us to REPLY to existing comments.  This will provide better dialogue amongst visitors I think.  If you feel like it, try it out!  It’s definitely how I’ll be replying to future comments down the road.  Just click that “Reply” link under a comment you want to respond to.
• Lastly, our RSS feed now uses PubSubHubbub or PuSH services, for getting RSS Feeds out instantaneously to many of the RSS reader services out there support it (Like Google Reader and Bloglines for instance…).  This means zero lag to RSS feeds.  Pretty nifty!!  So definitely grab the new RSS feed!  The old RSS feed will cease to function from here on out and will disappear entirely in a couple of months.  Here it is: http://www.tadandmel.com/feed/

So that’s about it!  There’s other stuff but it’s all small.  I hope you like our new home!  If you run into any issues or see some oddness of any kind, feel free to hit me up at: tad (at) tadandmel (dot) com

Enjoy!

Tad and Melinda

Hard to believe February is almost done! I know it’s a short month but I swear it just started and now after next Sunday, it’s over. It really makes me want to scream at the top of my lungs “STOP!!!” and somehow make this nutty passage of time come to screeching halt or, at the very least, slow down a little.

Silver lining? Yes please!

This weekend finally found us walking around in 60 degree temps and we couldn’t be more pleased! It’s as if everything was cracking from the thaw, joints in both buildings and their inhabitants popping back into place, loosening and opening for spring’s warmth. This late winter hasn’t been all bad though. We’ve had plenty to keep our chilled minds busy.

For instance, I decided to hop back on the home brew hobby train again!

Years ago when we first moved down here a good friend of mine and I jumped in on a neighborhood beer brewing group that involved us and a few other residents. It was loads of good fun not to mention a GREAT way to get good tasting, much more affordable beer that had a much higher alcohol content than anything you could find in the store.

We got together frequently and brewed quite a bit in it’s heyday but, eventually life happened, folks moved away and the group dissolved. Fast forward to 2009 for our annual Christmas/Birthday gift giving situation that involves Mel and I picking out our own stuff (I know, we’re kind of odd this way… but it works)! Mel snagged something right away but me? I was absolutely stumped.

I researched the hell out of ebook readers and while I have every intention of snagging one eventually, I’m finally getting to the age where I don’t buy things for the sake of buying them anymore. In short, when ereaders get better (on a lot of different levels), I’ll buy one then. But in the mean time, I was stuck for an idea! Then, one day when Mel and I were chatting, I brought up home brewing haphazardly and the idea hit me between the eyes like that rock that hits Forrest Gump when he was a boy with “magic legs”.

It made perfect sense! It’s sustainable, it’s something we can do together and it’s nice on the budgie!

SOLVED!

So I bought the equipment and bought a pre-made recipe kit (baby steps people…) for my first batch. Now 5 gallons of potentially tasty English Pale Ale sits in our bath tub fermenting and bubbling away happily! In couple of weeks I’ll get to taste the fruit of my labors.

Mel’s been up to no good as well! She’s kicked her photography up a notch and at the start of this year she jumped in on a “365, picture day” project on Flickr! She’s kicking much ass and it’s been an excellent creative pursuit for her.

Feel free to check out her pics so far here: http://tiny.cc/WgVGS

Mel’s also stepped up her yoga regimen! She’s researching the area was pleased to find a whole slew of new yoga studios that have opened since the last time we took classes! I’m really excited for her as the practice offers her a lot peace mentally and physically. I may jump back in with her and join her in class but I’d be doing it for different reasons I think. We’ll see.

February also brought the Nevermore Film Festival!

Those who frequent our sites know that I LOVE attending this horror film festival that’s hosted annually in downtown Durham (right across from my office actually).

This year was bit of a resurgence of the event and a lot great independent horror films were on display as well as some true classics for folks to catch on the big screen (ReAnimator, Night of the Demons, Witchboard… seriously)!

This year, time was limited as well as fundage but we were able to catch two flicks. One was a foreign vampire film rooted firmly in Romanian folklore called “Strigoi” and the other was an American micro budget indie called “Dawning”. Both films were incredibly different from today’s megaplex offerings and they definitely both fell into the “slow burn” category, which I’ve been digging quite a lot lately.

Really entertaining and very well made. It depresses me to see good films like this face a serious uphill battle getting wide distribution. They deserve much better.

To get more info on them feel free to click on their corresponding one-sheets below. I recommend them if you are looking for something blessedly different. Neither were particularly gory at all.

So! Those are only some of the highlights from this month. We’re really yearning for spring folks! But it’s always nice to acknowledge that being cooped up inside doesn’t mean being dormant!

All the best,
Tad

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Now playing: Matt & Kim – Lessons Learned
via FoxyTunes