October 3, 2007

I took a therapeutic break to sand the columns before Harper primed them. With both of us working, we knocked it out in a few hours after work on Wednesday and Thursday.

October 6, 2007

Today was pretty exciting--the guys put all the columns and most of the rafters up. The weather held up, and they were able to work all day.

The Red River Shoot Out takes precedence over the porch... Harper cut out at 2:00 so he could watch the Longhorns lose (respectfully) to OU. Several of our friends came over to help us cheer for UT, but when Queso and Matt Damon (our orange cats) gave a show, the kids couldn't resist. The chickens also benefited from all the company--between a visit from one of my nieces and these little ones, the chickens were feasting on crushed corn chips and left-over muffins throughout the day.

October 7, 2007

Despite the showers today, the crew decided to work this afternoon to try to finish the plywood and tar paper for the roof of the porch. It rained just enough to make it steamy, miserable, and slick. It's hard to tell from pictures, but roof is high and pretty steep. It's pretty impressive, and a little nerve-wracking, to watch them working up there.

October 9, 2007

The guys were hard at work after their regular jobs for the second day today. They finished the plywood decking and the tar paper on the roof a little after dark. The pictures below show the addition from the front yard and sidewalk. We are really pleased with how the it all ties in with the existing rooflines. Like most houses that are 130+ years old, ours had been added to or changed several times. Two old porches were enclosed: one is the shorter part seen below with the smaller 6 over 6 windows. The other one is the former back porch that became a utility room and bathroom probably shortly after it was built--the windows and most of the woodwork match the rest of the house. (I have a theory about what is now the living room and kitchen being an addition, but I'll get to that later.) Anyway, we really wanted the new porch to look like a natural addition without having to be a perfect match to the front. The columns are very similar, but without the brick base and slight taper. We have talked about matching the gingerbread railing in the front, but we think it would be too much for such an expansive length, since it might overpower the front of the house when viewed from the street. We will probably go with something simpler that will coordinate without being "matchy-matchy." I'm usually not matchy-matchy with anything, but I would do it for something as major as the porch if I thought it was truly better.

After I took the pictures of the back, I realized that Matt Damon had an inconspicuous view from the overgrown potato vine. He watched comfortably while Harper mowed and edged the front lawn. I definitely need to give the flower beds some serious attention, but my free time has been pretty divided lately, and I'm just thankful that there's something to work with when I do have time...

October 10, 2007

Harper put together a couple more chairs for the porch. It will be a while before we're ready to put the permanent furniture and decor on the porch, but we are already using it so much that we need something up there now.

Below is the view from the south side of the backyard (about 1/3 of the length from the back of the house to the back of that side of the yard). If you look closely in the first image, you can see Harper on the porch putting the chair together.

Of course, all the animals think the porch was created for them.

October 16, 2007

It has been three years today since we signed the papers on this house. Thank God we didn't know these things at the time: 1) how long it would take to sell our first house; 2) how much we would spend; 3) that we would still have so much to do three years later... If we had known those things, we might have missed out on a place that was meant for us. If you haven't checked out the before pictures, this will take you to October 16, 2004.

October 22, 2007

This creature looks capable of killing a chicken... It's either too smart or too dumb to go into the trap. Andy let us borrow this game camera, and we have seen at least two different opossums and one cat (other than our own) skulking around the coop. Matt Damon finally decided to check out the food in the trap, and I guess the experience was worth it, because he did it again the next morning. I'm sure most cats would be very anxious and upset if they were stuck in a trap, but there isn't much that bothers him. He casually walked out of the trap (bowl licked clean, of course) and strolled over to the water dish. I don't even think he was embarrassed--and if you have a cat, you know what I mean.

Hopefully I can find the right temptation to lure him in one of these nights. If not, I may have to do something drastic, and those of you who have heard my rat story from this summer (Harper somehow convinced me not to publish it), know I don't back down... Just go in the trap if you know what's good for you, Opossum!

October 23, 2007

Nature is so interesting (except for the opossum)! I love all of the seasonal changes in the garden, and as a result, I get to see the seasons of some of the "wildlife" that shares this place with us. I found this lizard when I was watering on the front porch. (For photography buffs: after several tries with minimal light, I finally took this one at 1/30 @ 1600 ISO with a 105 macro lens--I love digital!)

On the rougher side of nature, we've been seeing a large chicken hawk lately (a little disturbing, knowing the cover of leaves that our "flock" depends on is rapidly disappearing). In the minutes between sunset and darkness tonight, we saw--and heard--the impressive wings of the hawk swoop through our trees. The sad part was the desperate pleading of the mother mockingbird that followed the hawk--it had one of her babies. She was so tiny compared to the hawk, and it could have easily snatched her with the other talon, but she flew after it, hoping it would make a difference. I know it's all part of the food chain, but it doesn't make it any easier to watch. I was amazed at the mockingbird's courage and tenacity, and I have a new respect for them.  Usually it's the mockingbirds that are pestering the squirrels and cats, but I guess they're just on the offensive to prepare for the moment when the squirrel or cat is after their precious spawn.

October 24, 2007

Pecans, anyone? We have 22 pecan trees in our yard (yes, twenty-two!), and this is a productive year for pecans. Free time has been scarce, but if there is any daylight when we come home, picking pecans is surprisingly relaxing. I filled the container below in less than 30 minutes. I wish the chickens could crack them--but we would probably have to roll them to the coop every night!

October 26, 2007

Team Opossum Relocation...The opossum must be a blog reader, because it heeded my warning! It's a little larger than the one we caught last month, but the one pictured a few days ago still eludes us. I wish you could see all of the teeth--the creature was feisty when Harper first found it. The two pictures were taken about a minute apart, but it hardly looks like the same animal... much more peaceful in its "natural" environment. On the second picture, you can see a purple stain on its tail (unless you're color-blind like Harper); it munched on some poke weed berries in the back of Harper's truck that I had pulled out of the flower beds, and the cage crushed a few that made their mark.

October 28, 2007

Harper's parents came over this weekend to share our first real meal on the back porch. The weather and the company couldn't have been better!

The yellow caution tape is for Sargent. The highest parts of the porch are 5.5'-6' off the ground, but he was still occasionally jumping, or clumsily playing too close to the edge. The tape is hideous, but it has worked, so the eyesore is well worth his safety until we get the rail in place.