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.

Mustang Islander blog post

Alese has her own blog and posts occasionally.   Her last post starts

Life has changed dramatically. In this rambling text, I share a few of the details about building our yard, which is one of the many changes in the daily routine. I'm more obsessed with doing than reporting, so much of this already seems ancient.

You can read the rest of the post at: http://mustangislander.blogspot.com/2015/06/life-has-changed-dramatically.html

Focus Shift: From Inside, to Outside

 Alese is now working to design the yard/gardens and get plants in the ground.  These are plants we thought would be planted last November.  They are finding it difficult, with the wind, salt, and sand.

The circle Alese is working on -- that's a baby palm she's putting in, has the arms aligned to the compass points, with South closes to her but.

We had a Great Blue Heron hanging out on the top porch for a few days, but she didn't stay.

After the flooding a few weeks ago we opted to get more sand to build up the yard, and so some 24 loads of sand were delivered.   There are another 6 as part of the delivery, but the drivers felt the area where we wanted the sand was too soft for delivery that day.  

So we are waiting for it to dry up some....   But, Tropical Storm Bill had other ideas, and while we prepared for wind and rain -- the severe wind didn't materialize, but we did get 6 inches of rain which has turned some of the hills of sand into islands of sand.

But the water has stopped flowing across the driveway and if we don't get any more rain, might have a dry swale by the end of next week -- hopefully.

We Are In!

We have moved!

Our address is 134 Mustang Island Estates Drive, Port Aransas, Texas 78373-4927

Pre-Move

It was a busy week before we moved. We had some days with multiple subcontractors trying to get their things done around other subs doing their own work. Enough got done so we could move in on Friday.

The Move

Friday morning it rained, but stopped before the movers arrived. That keeps our record in tact for always raining when we move. The best part was that All My Sons Movers in Corpus Christi were outstanding. Best service and care ever. They used more shrink wrap than has ever been used in any of our moves.

And, the folks with the fork lift arrived early and were amazing to watch.  As it turned out the fork lift crew worked very well with the movers.  And, one of the fork lift guys rode the furniture up to be sure nothing was lost. 

The garage is full of boxes, but furniture is in place and the boxes are slowly being emptied.   Not everything is done.  We have a punch list and we still have our active bird sanctuary in front of the house.  But, at least for the week the rain has stopped, so water isn't flowing across the driveway.

There are more stories, but they'll wait a bit.  Here's a preview;  

• We just appealed the appraisal on the house.  Always appeal!  
• Red-eared sliders live in our ponds.  What have they been doing?
• There's more to come on the exterior.

As promised here's some of the bird breeds shown in an earlier post:  Laughing Gull (adult breeding),  Black Skimmer (adult breeding), Great Blue Heron, Snowy Egret, (adult breeding)