Monday, August 28, 2017

New Posts

Since we moved into the remodel, I've been flashing back to the first 1.5 yrs of Ollie's life when I had to take him out in our backyard in the UK on a leash because the fence was a bit dicey in several spots and he could shimmy beneath it to escape. Right now, all we have is a perimeter fence around our 2.5 acres. To get me off leash patrol and allow my furry child some snuffling around part of the yard time without constant human supervision, we've contracted with a local company to install a black iron inner fence.




Today the posts were all placed in concrete for curing so tomorrow they can begin attaching the panels. Little man will be oh-so-happy to run around off leash and explore at will, especially as we head into fall and less stifling double digit temps. Upside to having a dog that's afraid of the pool is that he always gives it a wide berth since the back and side yard - pool included - will be part of his doggy domain.


Harvey Hype

Praise Jesus, the forecasts were waaaaay off for the San Antonio area concerning the arrival of Hurricane Harvey. We got the gusty wind and did lose a tree in the side yard.




However, the predicted 6-10" of rain never arrived. I think we officially received about 2" of rain, in slow bands over the course of two days. Which was a blessing to my trees that have been a bit stressed from all of the trimming over the past three weeks and lack of rain in the latter half of the summer. 

We dodged the bullet, but unfortunately there are lots of friends and family in Southeast Texas that are suffering in the flooding. I hope Harvey moves along and dissipates quickly so that things can get back to normal for them sooner rather than later. I remember driving my little car through water I had no business trying to cross back in the day when I lived in that part of the state and it flooded. As in all of the roads leading in and out of town were covered with water. And I was just one lucky duck that my car never died or got swept away. 

Tuesday, August 22, 2017

August Update

It has been a crazy month and I'm kinda glad we're heading to the end of it. We kicked it off with a move into the remodel. And it was almost done. Except the bathroom cabinets were behind schedule and still need another coat of paint. The appliances were installed, the stove with a broken knob. We got that replaced and then discovered a readout glitch on the smaller oven this past weekend. We've used that oven once and are already in the queue for a service call tomorrow to get it fixed. Don't get me started on quality control and pride in your products.



In the midst of our own move, we had family members on the move, too. So yeah, it has been rather hectic around the new homestead.

About the time I finally got this sucker cleared up...


the 16 yr old daughter got her driver's license just in time to kick off junior year. Cheer, peer mentoring and AP classes - she's gonna be a busy girl for the next 9 months.


In the meantime, we've had tree trimmers on site for the third week in a row. It's amazing how much shade you lose once the ball moss is removed from the tree limbs. The contractors are slated to come out for what I hope will be the last time to finish off some punch list items. We got the old and what appears to be home-rigged sprinkler system up and running again, sufficient to get us through the drought until we can afford an upgrade. Maybe in the spring. And then there's the inner fence that's supposed to begin installation next week. Because we can't have any of our doggies running loose in the new 'hood.