Party Pictures!

Never Say "The End"

We had a party at the house last fall to celebrate the construction culmination. It was with mixed emotions. After over a year of renovation, we became rather fond of the Slaughter family. The picture here is of David and Sons. It has been a long road to get both houses done and David can brag about how there was no real "punch list" to get done. Once a project at the house was done, nothing more needed to happen. It made Allen's and my lives easier.

After a few months of no construction, we are going to convince them to come back and put up a fence for the dogs. It'll be nice to have them back

I'll post some of the party pictures in my next journal entry.

la Casita and RAIN at last!

Call it the casita or gite or second thought, this second cottage is just about complete! David and crew did a fabuous job on this and it is just how we wanted it to look. The door will eventually be coffee bean brown to give it some pizazz. Inside we have all of the furniture for the rooms [2 bedrooms, bath and large living room] and just need to hang the art.

It's kind of with mixed emotions that this all is wrapping up. We miss knowing that the crew is out there making construction magic and now I don't get the frequent emails from Kathy but they had to move on to a huge dock project on Livingston.

Today, it finally rained! We have been in a severe drought for months and wild fires are common. We can only hope that more rainy days are to come.

Two Guys from Livingston

I almost had to threaten them to get them to stop working and "pose" for a blog shot. From left to right: Robert and Steven. They are David's sons and have been on the job for a long time without a mention here. They are worth mentioning as they have some really fine qualities like excellent Southern manners, strong work ethics and good appetites when I cook. Besides that, I love to hear them bicker like brothers when they think no one is listening! We're glad to have them here.

Life, Air Conditoning and Micah's New Babysitters!

It's been a while since I posted but things are still progressing with the construction of house #2 at the lake. It's sheetrock and texture time; not too exciting for a photo op. but is is happening.
Last weekend I planned to come up for an extra long weekend since Allen was working. When I got here, the house would not cool down. That's the kiss of death [on par with a car that won't run] for those in Texas. So, short story is that I packed everyone up and went home. I let Ms.Contractor, Kathy know via email and she called me right back at 8pm on Fri asking if they could send our air conditioning service guy out right then. She has his CELL NUMBER! Allen decided that it could wait until Tues. and they did come out, David double checked what they did and now....Let there be cool air!!!!!!!!! It is heavenly.
We really can't go down to the dock and relax without Micah. He'll just make us miserable from the deck above. So we take him and Danika down while we swim. This weekend, we have three ducks hanging around, close in. Micah is mesmerized. We were on floats yesterday and the ducks swam within 5 feet of us for an hour. Really awesome. We watched each other paddle around in the 90 degree water!
An added surprize was a new water connection by my rose garden. Thanks, David!!

Onward and Upward

Construction is moving fast. David, John, Steven and Robert Ray have started the second house [aka the guest house] that used to be the RV building next to the garage. We had two reasons for jumping ahead with this now that the cottage is done. First, the cottage has only one bedroom, one bath and a pack of dogs. Second, the RV building is relatively new and very well built. Jeff Sumy, a neighbor, built it several years back. Little to nothing had to be done to the structure outside, so it made sense. Allen and David worked out a plan on a scrap of paper and we were off and running. David and Kathy gave up their Saturday to come out and work out last details of lighting and flooring. One thing to be said for an excellent contractor team is communication. Kathy answers emails day and night, David is always available by cell. No question lasts more than a moment. Nothing is a problem. Considering that we have been working together since August, that is something to be grateful for!

New Images

Two recent images from the lake. Darling little Violette Jane asleep in the chair and Allen with Micah and Dani are front of the finished decks. Hardi Sliding is being put on and painted now.