Spring Break 2014

Last week was Spring break for Martha so we loaded up and went to our other house at Caney Creek. Our plans for the week were to replace the counter top and back splash in the kitchen. this turned out to be more than we could get done in one week for various reasons. One of the main reasons is that when my dad built the house, he used available material and made his own cabinets and counter top but not to standard dimensions. So new modern counter tops from the big box stores do not quite fit.

This is what the old counter looked like when we started. It was nailed down very good and the covering was a linoleum like product and it was well glued down to the wood. It took much prying and coaxing to get it off.

The old sink drained into a grease trap and since we have a new sewer system we wanted it to drain there so a redo on the plumbing was necessary.

After much work the old counter top was removed and most of the linoleum back splash. This will be subject to further cleaning before the job is complete. It takes a lot of sanding and scraping to get it off.

Here is the new counter almost in place. It is actually about a quarter inch from the wall and we will need to use a router to remove wood from the front of the cabinets. Once that is done the top will fit perfectly and we can proceed with the job. We did not take the router with us this trip so we will have to wait until summer to finish the job. We have a stainless steel sink to put in and are planning to reuse the faucet set that was previously installed.

This is the last major inside project on the house and we are anxious to get it done. we are in our 11th year of work on the house to restore it to a useful state. There is still much to do on the outside such as siding, windows, doors, a roof over the deck and replacing the rest of the pilings that the house rests on. We also need to finish the pier with a fish cleaning station, a bait well, and electricity and water.

Adventures with Flat Stanley

Well Flat Stanley has been in Brownwood a while now and he has seen a lot. One of his recent adventures was to attend an HPU Basketball game The pictures are from a Lady Jacket game on January 30th.

Flat Stanley got to sit on the rail and he was very careful not to fall off. He also was able to meet some cheerleaders and the HPU mascot, Buzzsaw. The ladies were playing Hardin Simmons and we won.

Here are a couple of other pictures

In addition to the game Flat Stanley has been to the Registrars office to see about classes, he has been to the wellness center to work out, he has also been  to see an advisor to see what classes he might need. One day he went to the cafeteria and met some students, a couple of them really liked him.

Flat Stanley will soon have to travel back home but we have enjoyed having him here and perhaps he will have another adventure before he leaves.

A walk in pantry

As most of you know we have been remodeling some at our house and part of that was a new pantry / coat closet. The back wall used to be much closer to the door and the space behind it was mostly wasted. Access to the space was blocked by the return air duct to the AC unit. So we moved the wall about 3 feet and made a nice usable space. We also installed a light in it so we could see what we have in there. 

Below is a picture of it loaded with stuff. Now we can find all the good things to eat that we have in one place. Before they were stored in several places and I never knew where to look. I like it and Martha does too. 

Flat Stanley comes to Brownwood

Flat Stanley has arrived in Brownwood. He will be our guest for a week or so and he has already been to many new places. He has been to Howard Payne University and to a basketball game. He is a real hit with the students and more pictures will be posted soon

While visiting the admissions office he tried on a helmet for football and got lots of goodies from the admissions department.

Winter is early

Winter arrived early this year as we experienced an ice storm and very cold weather the week before Thanksgiving. Temps dropped into the 20's and the ice clung to the trees and plants. The weather service bemoaned the lack of hurricanes this year. They had predicted a bumper crop of them and it didn't happen. The weather has been really weird the last couple of years as we have had an ongoing drought while others have had an abundance of rain and flooding. Just a couple of weeks ago there was a tornado outbreak in the mid-west that we rarely see this late in the season. So to celebrate all the weirdness we decided to buy a used Pontoon boat. It is in pretty good shape for it's age and so now I am looking forward to warmer weather so we can head to the lake. Here is a picture the day after I brought it home.

  
It is 20 feet long and has a 45 hp motor. It needs a little TLC but is generally in good condition. We will let you know how the adventure goes.

Camping and a storm

The picture above was after the storm. We were camping at Sowell Creek park on Lake Proctor near Comanche, TX and we had a pretty bad thunderstorm. There was torrential rain and hail for about a half hour. The hail was small, about nickel size and amazingly there was no damage to the trailer or the truck. At least we haven't found any yet. When you are in a metal 5th wheel travel trailer the sound of the hail is very loud and probably sounded worse than it was. Below is some of the hail immediately after the storm.

While we were there we did some walking around and we found some things to look at. Grasshoppers are still everywhere.

This one occupied our picnic table and was missing one antennae. We brought one similar one home with us unintentionally. He was hiding in the truck bed and we didn't discover him until we were home.

Here is a spider, he had a substantial web built on one of the grills at an unused campsite. We aren't sure of the variety. And then there were ants crossing the road. There must be a pretty good sized colony under the road for them to have that many holes.

It looks like a snake until you look more carefully. Then there were large acorns on many of the Oak trees in the area. Some were as big as one and a half inches across.

This last picture is  actually from home in our back yard. We have been blessed with many hummingbirds and this is one of them.

The park is an Army Corp of Engineers park and there are 3 of them on Lake Proctor. We have stayed at 2 of them and the campsites are nice. The restrooms are functional but not always as clean as you might like. Prices are very reasonable.

Hummingbirds etc

 We have had a large group of hummingbirds this past summer. In past years we had a few but we always had just 1 feeder or at most 2 and they were close to each other. This year we put up 3 and separated them by 10 or 12 feet and the birds loved it. We had more than a dozen birds this year and often they were all there at the same time buzzing everywhere. We still had a couple who want to hog the food and they try to chase all the others away. They can't understand that we will refill them and there is plenty to go around. I guess they are just like us.

We also had a surplus of grasshoppers and this one seems to be eating his fill. Another creature that we have a few of is called an Antlion. The adult looks sort of like a dragonfly but the larva bury them selves in little cavities that they dig in the soil and they capture and eat ants that happen to crawl by. Very interesting little creatures. Sorry I don't have a picture of the little critter.