Inside and Out

We've been at the house every day now for two weeks meeting with subcontractors and helping them find the little things that need to be finished up.  Alese has a color-coded extensive punch list sorted by sub, or by location which-ever is more appropriate at the time.

From my office the view is of the stairs and sometimes someone sitting there.

There was good sale on roses a week ago, and since they are special to me we had to get five.  They were the first plants we set in the ground, and we had to talk with them and encourage them as the "ground breaking" plants to do well.

Then, because I'd gotten the first plants in Alese had to bring some of her babies (plants she's been nurturing ever since we started building) to get them in the ground.





Then we had the big plant move on Memorial Day.  Alese has been collecting seeds, taking cuttings, and liberating some of her favorite plants, She claims to have over 800 different plants.  Most are small -- some in red solo cups.   We rented a 17 foot U-Haul and made two trips.  We were helped loading and unloading by our next door neighbor on Furman.  It was quite the experience.  Here's the view inside the second load.

Our toads still seem to be hoping around happily.  They don't seem to be growing quickly, so this may be their size.  This time I thought it would be better to have Alese hold one to get a sense of their size.

And, one last note for those of you who read to the end...  We are finally moving into the the house Friday May 29!

Office Improvements

Here's Alese at her desk.   The addition to the right is another IKEA product.(31 steps in 20 pages of  instructions)  4-drawer unit with a bottom file drawer.   Note the casters so it can be moved around.

And the other office, Desk by IKEA, There's a 4-drawer unit in the corner, behind the chair. Though the chair isn't IKEA it had to be assembled.  The day-bed, an IKEA product. (37 steps in 28 pages.  Can you guess which had the better instructions?)  

A matching day-bed will go in Alese's office next week. 

Another Bird Quiz

From Sesame Street...  which of these things is not like the others?

The Way We Felt Last Week.

Today's Peanuts expressed pretty closely what happened to out sand last week with over 8 inches of rain in a few hours and more heavy, wind-blown rain the following day.  Our lake in front of the house is back and we've got a number of erosion gullies in the sand.

There was a tornado warning and a small one touched down West of Corpus, and this was what we watches as the cell approached us.

Pop Quiz. Bird Identifcation

Here are photos of three different birds we've had visit us.   One photo is more definitive for identification of each bird.

 So, can you name them?  No, actually we don't have names for them and probably won't name them.  We know what kind of birds these are.   If you can identify them feel free to comment.  If you don't know, you'll have to wait for the answers....   Another post sometime in the future.

Getting There...

 First it was just a room with two windows.  Then was the time to start imagining what the space could become as a corner office with a view.

Then, even before the official move in it starts to take shape.

A corner desk with enough area to support a second monitor and still maintain a view of the driveway, our street, and see who turns in from the highway, The folding chair is only temporary.  It will soon be replaced but that folding chair is easy to move and it provides us with a spare chair when needed.  It has a twin in the other office.  They are amazingly comfortable, but not quite right for desk work.

Hers and His.... a Dish, and a Visitor

Here are the microwaves.   She has a smaller one, which she claims is cute.  He has the big one (2.2 cubic feet) because he uses the microwave to prepare meals sometimes.   And she claims he doesn't do a good job keeping the microwave clean so now each of us has control of their destiny -- sorry microwave.

And we have a dish...  for DirecTV.  You'll remember the TimeWarner stories, (or look back in previous posts for the details.)  Our HOA says dishes can't be mounted on the front of the house, but that presents a problem.  The street runs sort of  East and West, and so houses on the North side of the street have their fronts facing South.   The satellites for TV -- well at least DirecTV lie to the South.  So for the dish to see the satellites it needs to be facing South.

It was tight, with only about a 1/4 inch space to get the dish on the East side of the house, but facing South.  That dish is NOT on the front of the house!


Monday (5/4) we were waiting for subcontractors and Alese said to look outside.   We watched as this cute canine walked through the lot across the street from us, crossed the street, and progressed down two lots before venturing into the field and over toward Port Royal.   It was fun to watch her from the top deck, but even with being down-wind, she turned to look in our direction at every noise we made.