Sunset

We spend a lot of time waiting for sunsets on our backyard deck. Sometimes we get nothing at all, and often just a bit of orange that feels like more of a tease than a serious sunset. But that makes the better displays like this one really appreciated, a sweet little reward for our trouble. And if there is one thing better than watching a beautiful sunset, it's sharing a beautiful sunset with someone you love.

Green and Curvy and Green

Just got the final counter top installed, this one in the upstairs guest bathroom. It is our second recycled glass / portland cement counter, but much more daring than the first one. Still got to finish the curvy wood cabinet base under it, but the sink and faucet are operational now. As you can see it's not just environmentally green but also REALLY green, so I'm keeping the tile and other finishes pretty neutral to show it off.

Tarantu-Kong

I've posted pics of tarantulas around our property before, but this guy was big enough to eat most of those others. Over four inches long from toe to toe. He was hanging around a wet spot on our front porch, I guess getting a drink. After this photo opp he climbed up the house wall and seemed to be trying to get into the house through a window, which Ann captured on video available here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NV_IVpCKD30

Spring Time in October

The dramatic end to our drought in the hill country has really fooled all the plants. Everything has turned green, and flowers are blooming like it's April. So we decided to go along with the game and do some Spring gardening. We went to nearby Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center and got some native grasses to test out in the backyard. If they survive (anything but a sure thing based on my experience) we'll plant some more next year.

Getting a Handle on Things

Handles on kitchen cabinets may not be too exciting to anyone reading this. But after living without them for 10 months I'm downright fired up. Reaching in to try and pry out a drawer or door with no pulls is interesting once, then completely annoying every time after that. So courtesy of my Internet shopping experience which produced these pulls for half the cost of the identical item at Home Depot, we are finally starting to get a handle on things in the kitchen. Lookout master bath cabinets, you are next.

De-watered Watering Hole now Re-Watered

Not long ago I took this photo of Alex standing in our mini-pond, which is normally somewhere between a puddle and a wide spot in our creek. In the nine years I've been watching the pond it had never gone dry. Until this year with the great drought of '09, which set all kinds of records.

Looking around Wimberley, things look better but with lots of dead stuff and bare dirt still around. And officially the drought can't be considered to be over until the aquifer is back to normal levels. As the graph below shows, another ten feet and we'll be there!

Probably Deep Thoughts in There

My brother Russell and I moved this deck down the hill to overlook our tiny Wimberley pond more than four years ago. I still remember the looks Ann was giving us as we dragged/pushed/rolled the 250 pound deck sections down the hill. She was new to Wimberley then and probably trying to figure out if she'd be able to tell the EMT's or Morgue folks how to get to property. So the look Ann has on her face in this picture, while not one of wild enthusiasm, is considerably brighter.

Number 3 for Numbers 1 & 2

Three working toilets in our Wimberley house. Heavens. Admittedly this 3rd fixture upstairs by the guest bedroom is just barely working. That curvy shape to the right is the template for the very green recycled glass counter top soon to be installed, so this bathroom does not even have a sink yet. And you can see that I've only installed just enough ceramic floor tile to set the toilet. As for a door to the bathroom- nope, waiting for the counter to go in first.

But the toilet itself is awesome to this green geek. 1.28 gallons per flush, and it actually flushes. Everything.

Wimberely Drought Gauge

One of our little traditions on each drive to Wimberley is checking this roadside puddle about a mile before our home. In normal years it's usually at least muddy since it gets runoff from a big hill off to the right. This year it's been bone dry since Spring. This drought gauge helps prepare us for what we'll see in a few minutes when we arrive- which lately has been mostly brown vegetation or no vegetation at all. What a delight this week to find the puddle full. And an amusing sight for the neighbors to see a driver stopped in the road taking pictures of a water puddle.

The rain kept coming, more than three inches spread gently over four days and nights. The great drought of '09 may not be over yet, but I've never been so happy to be completely rained out of all outdoor activity.

Hungry Deer

Record drought in the Wimberley area makes life hard for our four-legged friends. These deer wandered through our backyard this morning looking for something to eat. Seemed to not really expect to find anything. And of course they found precious little there since our "lawn" has been reduced to mostly dirt and rocks. We noticed them nibbling on some tree leaves, which can't be too nutritious or tasty compared to the usual tender young grasses. What do you use to buy food for these deer? Doe.