BEFORE/AFTER

We came home from a wonderful day together a couple of days ago ....


to find water GUSHING out from under the back of the house. NOT GOOD.

Recently, Big John and I ran some flimsy wire garden fencing around the west and south sides of the house - the part of the house that's on pier and beam, the original part of the house. From the time we re-sided the house (1999 or so) until a couple of months ago, all sorts of critters have made the underside of our house their home. Chickens lay eggs under the house. Chicken snakes eat eggs under the house. Dogs escape the heat - or in Belle's case, thunder - under the house. Cats flee from wild tom cats under the house. Things die under the house ... you get the picture. It's a mess. We "fixed" it by running that flimsy fencing around it, and that seemed to do the trick pretty well.

I did notice a couple of weeks ago that Belle had managed to push hard enough to escape some gunfire she heard. Then the chickens found that hole and started to spend the days under there again. So when someone - or more likely, something busted a pipe under the house on Friday, that was the last straw. The flimsy fencing came down this morning ...

and beautiful lattice went up in its place.

Fixed. Once and for all! Or until something else happens.

And so it goes around here. Just another day of home improvement!

SEWING SUCCESS!!

I finally finished my first Sewing Club project - this gorgeous apron ("gorgeous" because of the beautiful fabric and expert help I received, not because of my skills!)

Project #2 is this cute vintage dress pattern I found on etsy.com, out of this 70s-inspired floral fabric.

Won't that be cute? I'm having flashbacks to going to the fabric store with my mom and picking out all the cute dresses I wanted her to make. I always thought I'd look just like the tall, skinny-legged, hand-drawn models on the front of the patterns. It never worked, but  I'm still falling for that idea, 40 years later! I'll keep you posted on the progress (of the sewing project, not the skinny thing!)

ONLY IN TEXAS!

I've been driving around South Texas the last couple of days. I thought you'd enjoy these sights! Only in Texas!

Texas flag painted on the hood of this Jeep.

Hook 'em Horns!

OPEN FOR BUSINESS!

Sunflower Antiques, a division of Carancahua Creek Trading Company, is officially open for business!!

As I mentioned in an earlier post, one of my dreams has been to have my own little antique shop. I've found an even better deal! I secured a room in the Laurent Street Antique Mall in Victoria. In exchange for the room (and a small monthly fee!) I work one day per month. How great is that? Big John and I loaded my "shop" last week, and business has been booming ever since! We're even thinking of expanding. And the best part: as items sell, they have to be replaced with new merchandise. And to acquire new merchandise, one must shop. Now THAT'S something I'm good at!!

So stop in and browse the next time you go to town. If you see something you can't live without, don't hesitate to buy it! You might not know how much you needed a pair of blue sequined child's tap shoes until you see them! (How do you think I ended up with them?!)

OH, TO BE A CAT

In my next life, I want to be a dog

or a cat

at this house. Trust me, they'll be there all day. 

OUT WITH THE OLD ...

Today is clean-up day - cleaning up the summer garden and making way for fall planting. It's a chore that I really don't relish (speaking of relish, I may try Lisa's Squash Relish later today! I'll let you know how it goes.) But it's a chore that has to be done. And since my "job" is gardening while Big John is away paying the bills, there's no one else to do it but little ol' me! So this morning I got it done - or at least part of it.

Out with the yellow squash:

(not sure where all those weeds came from!!)

Out with the tomatillos:

(those were a bust - I don't think we'll plant them again)

Out with the zucchini:

(again, those pesky weeds!)

I even pulled the plug on my two beloved heirloom tomatoes - Black Krim and Purple Cherokee.

(Heirlooms will DEFINITELY make another appearance in our garden!)

From my very limited experience with heirloom tomatoes, if you've never tried them, I'd highly recommend it. If you aren't into growing them, then try to find some to buy. I prefer the Purple Cherokee over the Black Krim, but I prefer either one over a hybrid tomato, any day of the week. The taste is incredible! They aren't very easy to grow. And if you won't eat tomatoes with "imperfections," then these aren't for you. Just keep shopping at HEB! But if you love the taste of a tomato on a hot summer day in South Texas - or anywhere in Texas - then you owe it to yourself to give heirlooms a try. I'm even thinking of having a whole area in the future dedicated to nothing but heirlooms!! We'll see...



And where did all these spent plants end up?

They ended up in a big pile outside the garden fence, just waiting to be covered with dirt and turned into compost - to go back into the soil! Nature, at it's best!



We've still got melons, okra, roma tomatoes, a few "round" tomatoes and lots and lots and lots of peppers growing. Pole beans still need to be pulled - I may wait for Big John to help with that. I don't want to have all the fun by myself! Cucumbers were on the verge of being pulled two weeks ago, but they got a second wind. I think that second wind is about gone, too, so they may come up this weekend. It's all just as well - fall planting is right around the corner. The ground needs a little time to rest (so do I) before it's put back into service. And it's hot and dry as all getout down here! Where are those little tropical storms when you need them?????

I'm off to make more tomato sauce. Hope you're somewhere cool. Happy Wednesday!