The Contrast!

Do you remember the 24 loads of sand delivered to the yard?  That was because we'd been a river bank not a yard.  

And, because we had to wait to for the water table to drop, the land to dry and get firm, and another 12 loads of sand delivered we started our own  efforts to shift sand.  So, the neat piles, especially around the house looked like something had been eating them.

Yesterday everything changed!  Roland and his John Deer came and took all those mounds of sand and smoothed them out.  There's a relatively flat front yard, which Alese has plans for.  Hay, plants, and longer "creek beds."

We have creek beds -- those drainage trenches filled with gravel (see the second photo),  And we have gutters -- the trenches that border the driveway.  All to direct water, when it comes,

More Inside Detail

We had  the builder put a shelf high along two walls in the garage, but have determined it wasn't enough.  This week I installed two wire shelves. The shelves over the windows hold most of the various Christmas decorations, The end of the other shelf, with the green bag (that's the tree) has the rest.  A bit more work and we'll have most of the boxes (with the exception of my tools) up off the garage floor.




Speaking of shelves, we've added to the items on the shelf in the living room.  The scythe in the corner, is an antique.  My father had it, but he got it from someone else -- but I'm not sure who. Instead of using that to clear the grasses and plants I purchased a gas trimmer/brush cutter this week.






We've also been hanging some artwork.  I like this particular photo because it gives an indication of how some of the art is viewed.  But the photo below provides a better look at the watercolor done by a friend.  It's a very nice piece and makes an impression when one gets up to the second floor.

On the landing between the 2nd and 3rd floors is a print from the New Bedford Whaling Museum.  It's a spectacular print and obviously can be seen from both floors.

Corpus Has Already Had the Wettest Year on Record!

 It's not just tropical storms that bring us water. We've had some serious rain last month. The swale -- that trough in front of the house has been full for a long time.  There's no rain in the immediate future, and the water has finally almost retreated back to the lakes.

We only got 24 of the 30 loads of sand delivered weeks ago because the truck driver didn't want to risk getting stuck in the softer sand.  So, we've been moving some sand around by hand, and Alese has been planting in areas other than where the sand will eventually end up.  She's also been building some "creek beds" to channel rain run-off.

There's been some action inside too.  We've hung some of the art we've had packed since leaving Austin.  We're now waiting on special pieces that are being framed .  We've also finally gotten
mirrors installed.

Quick story about the mirror over my vanity.  It has 4 holes cut into it.  2 for lights, and the other two for outlets and the light switch.  That means very specific measuring and cutting.  Twice the mirror folks did the measurements/cutting wrong -- turned vertical to horizontal.  Then the mirror being delivered, was blown off the truck by TS Bill.  Finally have the mirror in place,just waiting for the mirrored switch plate that had to be special ordered.

We enjoy watching the Sun set over Corpus Christi Bay, and do that from the Kitchen porch regularly.

This past weekend we had great views of fireworks.  The Naval Air Station did fireworks on Thursday evening, then Ingleside did theirs Friday night.  On the Fourth, we watched arial fireworks from Padre Island, downtown Corpus, Port Aransas, Aransas Pass,and our neighbor, Port Royal.  All while on the Observatory deck.  Alese's daughter and boyfriend joined us and became our first overnight guests. So the Bunk House has been christened.