Progress!

 Progress.  The house has been cleaned a couple of times.   It's looking much more done.


The blue plastic that was protecting the counter tops is gone and we can see the pattern in the granite.  I Like it.


We also have the exterior locks in place -- no more contractor locks.  We have one combination lock, which means it's almost impossible to be locked out.  Enter the secret code, and turn the deadbolt. It means Alese can be out in the yard playing with flowers and not ever worry about being locked out.

 It's also convenient when we're leaving,  Push one button and turn the deadbolt; the house is locked

Rain, Rain, and more Rain.

We've had record rains.  So much so that the water table is way, way up.

And, we'd had all that sand brought in, but rain proved that the sand wasn't stable enough to stay in place without help.   We got about a half-dozen bales of hay and spread the hay at the edge of the sidewalks and driveway so the water that runs off the roof (remember no gutters -- hurricanes like to use them as spears) then runs across the cement and would like to make canyons in the sand.  The hay does work.  

The birds like the expanded water.  And if you're really a good birder, you'll notice that there are more than just our predominant laughing gulls.

The water also brought out some other visitors  That little black dot to the right of the photo on the left is a very small toad (or frog)  For size, reference the key fob to the left side of the photo.



And Alese is looking at a turtle.  I don't know if it was one of the family we see in our Easterly pond or if this was from the West side, but it definitely preferred not be bothered and retreated into it's home.

If You Visit We'll Know Who Is Ringing The Bell

You may remember a ways back, when I said we wouldn't have a security system but instead a set of cameras.  We now have 4 cameras mounted around the house to give us views of the driveway, the back doors, the front sidewalk and the front door.

Cameras are up and working, but their aim needs to be fine-tuned.   So does the system.  For now it's recording full-time on all 4 cameras, but we can set it to record just when there's motion.

When we lived in Massachusetts we had spotlights that were on a motion sensor.  We'd walk very slowly to see if we could sneak up on the lights.  I assume we'll try that with these cameras once they are set to detect motion.

You can see the IR lights around the camera lens for capturing night-time action.  I'm also looking forward to catching views of night-time visits from the coyotes and other wildlife in the neighborhood.  


We have internet to the house now, but the camera system isn't on that yet.  When it is we'll be able to control and monitor the system from a computer.  There are also apps that will allow us to use the iPad or phone to check on the views remotely.

We can do split screen and watch all 4 cameras, 2 cameras, or just one.   It looks like it will be a fun toy for a while.  We'd be able to set up the smart tv to monitor them, but I don't know why I'd do that.  

I got a Raspberry Pi as a gift from Adam, and I'm thinking that setting it up to run a monitor to watch the cameras might be an interesting application.  That will take a while though as once we're in there will be a lot of IKEA boxes that need opening and parts assembled.

Changes in the Yard -- shown on the Mustang Islander blog!

It's been a while since I posted here, so there will be a few posts this week.  I was prepping and then attending the TxDLA conference -- leaving Alese home to play for a week.

She opted to write about the changes at the house in her blog http://MustangIslander.blogspot.com/ rather than here at what I think of as the house blog because the action was outside dealing with the yard, which is the focus of her blog.  

So, rather than repeat what she covered I'm just referring you to MustangIslander.

And now that you know about her blog you may want to check it out and follow her there too.

I hope to pick up more of the story in the next few days.