Yet Another Sunday

One of the grand kids had a soccer game on Saturday, so headed to the farm today-Sunday.  Today the traffic was much better.

The tile guys have finished tiling and grouting.  A few pictures:

Butler's Pantry

Kitchen Stove Top

Didn't take any other pictures of the floors or bath areas.

We're back to filling the deer feeder.  We even saw a deer as we drove in.  Hopefully we can convince the locals that we are watchers not hunters.

But our big project this week was installing our mailbox.  In Texas there are a bunch of rules on where the box can go, what kind of mailbox, etc., etc.  We originally were going to build a fancy box using the stone we had on the outside of the house.  Well, that was not to be...  I'm a rule follower and didn't want the county on my case.  So the county installed the post with its reflector and we put the regulation box on it.

Post with reflector

Setting up the box

Finished box ready to be hit by a careless driver.

Yes, the county anticipates that the box will get hit.  They don't cement the post in the ground and only the lightest grade of metal (or plastic) box is acceptable.  They want the driver to live through their accident and not get killed by the flying post and box.  

Thought I would take a few pictures of the giant spiders on the back of the house.  The spiders don't bother me as much as their hanging egg bags where hundreds, maybe thousands of their progeny will be birthed!

4" spider

At least 4"

The yucky egg bags!

Storing a "goodie" for the next meal.

This grasshopper is tempting fate!

Sundays

Sundays are tough!  After all the fun and anticipation of driving down, fooling around on the farm, picnicking, looking at the house progress, we have to drive back Sunday afternoon.  The traffic on I-35 is beyond horrible, with a lot of Texas summertime heat thrown in.  We are all exhausted and grumpy when we get home.  Even Beulah, who is always cool and collected, finds herself a dark cool spot and withdraws to get back to her peaceful state of mind.

A few pictures:

 The grout was added in the Entry, Living, and Dining areas.  Looks like a good match.

The Kitchen back splash and area over the cooktop were being installed.  It is a change from what we are use to so will need to evaluate it as lighting, etc. is in place.

The area over the cook top we hope will be kind of a focal point without being the center of where the eye goes.  That may be tricky, but we'll see...

 Doggie shower

 typical bath

Then we headed to the front gate to weed wack the grasses.  Peg is getting more and more efficient!

After finishing the wacking, we all headed to the tank for a dip.  On the way, we noticed how much bluestem grasses we have.  August and September is the time when the bluestem "blooms and seeds".  All of the tall grasses in the pictures is the bluestem.

Bluestem

No Grand kids today so things were very quiet.  We had a lovely breeze until about 1:00.  Put on our list the mailbox installation information for next week.  (Monday I called and the State puts in a reflective post for mailboxes along all state roadways, so no fancy box for us.)

Cookin'

It wasn't just the temperatures that were cookin'...  The work on the house was making some real progress. The Trim Carpenter was back to add some moldings and beams, secure the mantle (I think an elephant will be able to stand on it), installed door and bath hardware, and the tile guys finished up all the floors (except for the grout) and are poised to tile the tub and shower areas.
We are anxious to move in, but some of the local critters have already made the move.  There are a couple of spiders (sorry no pictures) whose webs are capable of catching small children.  The grasshoppers also have staked out their territories (again no pictures).  I am hopeful the spiders will catch the grasshoppers so we only have to deal with one of them.
A few pictures:

 Utility

Doggie shower

Well over a year ago we purchased our back splash materials.  We are happy to say that we passed them on to the tile guys today and hope to see if it works as we envisioned!  

Also Peg and Grand kids went on a short hike collecting treasures, watching several deer scatter, and planning future activities (dreaming).  Seems these "dreams" center around the purchase of a Go-Buggie according to the kids.  We'll see...

The dogs stayed home on this day due to the predicted heat indexes of 108-110 degrees.  They were unhappy but I think they were better off in the AC.

It is suppose to cool off next week into the upper and middle 90s.  We'll be back to see how some of our choices turn out.  Gosh I hope they work!

Another Cool Summer Day

We were at the farm today enjoying another one of those very unusual cool summer days.  This is the second round of cool days we've had this summer.  The last round was about three weeks ago.  It was wonderful!

The kitchen counter tops were installed this week and the floor installation was started and continues.  A few pictures:

 Butler's Pantry

 Kitchen

 Kitchen

 Living

 Dining

 Entry

 Mike is working this week on getting another cutting.

 Beulah is "mining" for something beneath the surface.

 Pens

This is the fence line on the west side of the pasture.  Yes, there is a fence hiding in all of that scrub!  This fence is slated for replacement in the near future.  

The trim carpenter arrived and there was more discussion about how to install the mantle in anticipation of the rock installation.  The floor guy asked us what color grout we wanted.  He even said there was a color chart for such things.  Gosh, I had no idea!  There was some discussion about cleaning up the yard outside, but it will wait until the mason finishes the rock work.  Finally the kitchen sink and door hardware arrived in anticipation of their installation.  So we are moving forward...