The Big Chill January 2010

Well the cold weather has settled into south Texas.  Boy has it.  Fear of freezing pipes caused me to open up the attic access to let some heat up there to keep it a bit warmer.

I put the thermometer up there, to be able to monitor the temp from in the great room.  It was 20 outside this morning, and 31.5 in the attic.  With it being cold again tonight, reports say 20 will continue with the plan until another day or so.

The water in the creek behind us, was frozen solid this morning when I went outside.

The birdbath also a solid block of ice.

Beautiful sunny day with temp at about 42.  But it will be cold again tonight.  Tom and I attempted to do some geocaching today while out with the dogs for a walk.  Tried to find 3 at the waterway, but no luck.

Oh well, we will need to keep trying.

New Years Rockin Eve 2009

Without Spenser here to do our annual New Years Eve Challenge Mini Golf game, Tom graciously agreed to stand in for Spenser in the annual challenge match.  We went to the course near our house in Spring.  The weather had cleared up and was a beautiful day at about 65 degrees. We first ate lunch at Grimaldi's Pizza in the Woodlands which was very tasty.  Then off to golf. We both had a hole in one, but Julie was victorious this year in the scoring.

Christmas gift 2009 and tablescape

This is the christmas tablescape.  Just the two of us, but wanted it to be festive none the les

This looks like one of those shots where some one is standing there with a gun.  The sweeper works great.  Light and easy to use.

Happy Birthday Gus

Gus is 5 years old today.  Happy birthday Big Dog!

Vacation - Texas Style

Tom and I managed to get away for a few days to Corpus Christi, Texas.  We haven't explored Texas much since we moved here, as usually for vacation I am content to stay home and sit in the back yard.  We finally found someplace to board the dogs so we were free for a few days.  We just jumped in the car and started driving.  No reservation, no real plan.

We stopped in Wharton, and found the Tee Pee Motel.  We didn't stay, but what a sight it was. It has been restored after many years of abandonment.

 
We went to the Aransas Wildlife Refuge on the way to Corpus Christi.  We were attacked by mosquito's.  They swarmed outside the car and came into car and we were batting them trying to kill them as we drove.  We were glad to have the insect repellent so they weren't biting us, just circulating

Tasty Treats

This is for the weekly challenge of Different Strokes Blog

Didn't get the frosting the way I wanted.

No Place Like Home

This is my husband's childhood home in CT.

It is painted on a 6 x 6 panel.  Hard to work so small, and wanted it to be "painterly".

Mush

Greta and Eve on a summer night.

Eat Your Vegetables

I was too late to post this on the blog Different Strokes Blog but I did use the posted challenge photo for this painting. It is 6 x 6 on panel.

Familiar Streets

Here is my latest submission to the painting blog challenge
http://differentstrokesfromdifferentfolks.blogspot.com/

Never painted a street scene before.

I don't like painting on canvas, but I am trying to use up what I have.

Hot Time Summer in the City

Here is the temp with heat index. The dog days of summer. Only a cool 118 with the heat index

Old Man take a look at yourself

This painting was my submittal for the blog, http://differentstrokesfromdifferentfolks.blogspot.com/. This was my first submittal, to the weekly challenge to paint the picture that the group will paint. I have not painted people before, well that is a lie. I did try one before and the little girl I was trying to paint looked like an alien.

I just continue to try and hope to someday improve. Learning how to photograph the paintings is also an entirely other skill to learn.

Will we be able to flush for long?

NOTICE

Stage 2 water restrictions in effect for The Woodlands:

Because of excessive water use in The Woodlands stemming from the excessively dry weather conditions, Stage 2 voluntary water restrictions are in effect. All Woodlands residents are urged to limit outdoor water activities like filling ornamental fountains, filling pools and washing vehicles. Residential irrigation schedules are as follows: addresses ending in an odd number (1, 3, 5, 7, and 9) are limited to Wednesdays and Saturdays. Addresses ending in even numbers (0, 2, 4, 6, and 8) should water on Thursdays and Sundays. Irrigation guidelines include no more than 1 inch per week in no more than 2 applications per week. All watering should cycle during the nighttime hours and be completed by 4 a.m.

If water use does not subside, Stage 3 mandatory restrictions will be implemented.

Will we be forced to only flush for #2? The lawns are turning brown. It has rained since April. Climate change? I suspect.

I guess they will see who has a green lawn and issue tickets.....

Cherry Delight

6 x 6 on panel from a photo.  I like the way this turned out.  I think I really like the smooth surface to work with

Juicy

Oil on canvas panel from a photo.  Size 4 x 6

The Heat is On

Summer has come to the Gulf Coast. It is hot and steamy today. True Houston weather. The weather I remember as a child growing up here. I can remember hanging out with friends in high school in the summer, driving around with the sticky air giving no respite even at night. You are so happy to have sleeveless cotton shirts and shorts in this climate. Who cares what the thighs look like. It is all about comfort. I stuck my foot in the pool tonight and should have jumped in. It felt good but I was consumed with getting the tiki torches I just bought out in the yard for a test. I was on a mission to simulate the tropical jungle theme for real in the back yard.

Summer Snack

Oil on board, 6 x 6 from a photo.

Berries

Strawberries from a photo on board.

Pepper Practice 2

Another pepper practice on board 4 x 4.

Christmas 2008

We are so happy to have Spenser home with us for the holidays. We are sorry that Paul couldn't come as well, but after a few Christmas holidays just the two of us, it is great to have him home with us



I of course had to attempt to dress up the dogs in their holiday costumes. Greta was pretty open to the entire thing, but Gus turned and tried to bite me when I tried to reach through the arm of the Santa suit and pull his leg through. I gave up. But Greta was quite happy to parade around for us in her little Mrs. Clause outfit.

Tom cooked a fantastic roast beef, with the infamous Julia Child scalloped potato receipe.
We drove to the neighborhood in town with the fantastic Christmas light display and then to the Waterway to see the fountains and lighted path.

Happy 25th Anniversary

25 years of marriage!

We went out to dinner at Perry's Steakhouse.

We had a very delicious dinner together. It was fun to reminisce about our twenty five years of marriage.

Tom gave me a beautiful necklace at dinner. I gave him a new Ipod.

We struggled with taking pictures when we got home. I couldn't find the remote control for the camera and so I ended up using cardboard boxes stacked on top of each other in lieu of a tripod. I couldn't get a picture with my eyes open.

I am looking forward to the next 25 years!

I am a lucky woman.

Hurricane Ike

The storm was extremely scary and the aftermath without power for 5 days.

Purple Passion

Eggplant from life on canvas panel

Waiting for Ike

We are hunkered down, awaiting the storm. It is pretty windy, but the rain has not started yet. I don't think we are going to get the force of things until around 5 am. I am trying to decide if I should sleep on the floor in the closet (as the weather service suggests) or just go to bed and wait to be awakened by the storm and it heads into our area. I suspect we are going to get a lot of wind and tree's down. I sure hope we don't lose power. I did down load Curb your Enthusiasm to my Iphone to watch in case of power loss. Everyone took time today to do their preparation. It is so strange and such a long waiting period.

Anderson Cooper from CNN is reporting live from downtown Houston tonight. This storm is big news, and will be really bad when we see tomorrow.

Here We Go Again - Ike is Approaching

This one seems to be heading closer to our neck of the woods. Time to get ready, and hunker down.

Gus the Snake Killer

Gus the little terrier that is is, killed one of these guys that had managed to slither into our yard from the reserve behind the house. With only an iron fence between us and the great outdoors, we have various wildlife visiting from time to time.

It is a Diamondback Water Snake. Non poisonous, thank goodness for all of us. We heard a big commotion in the yard in the afternoon, with very strange sounds coming from beneath a tree. More than the usual barking at something in the woods. Tom rushed out to find Gus going at it with the snake.

I managed to get Gus and Greta(who had come out to investigate) back inside. The many dollars of dog training -"drop it" did pay off. I corralled the dogs inside, while Tom got his long reach pick up tongs to pick it up and out of the yard. We worried that it might be a poisonous snake, and that Gus could have been bitten. We quickly pulled out the Texas Snakes Field Guide. Pretty useless book, to find a quick ID or indexing for identification, especially when Tom had quickly gotten rid of the snake into the woods behind the house. I did see the "yellow underbelly" so we continued to try and figure it out. It was quite long.

Tom finally figured it out and we were releaved to learn that it was harmless although quite an adventure.

We still have not seen the armadillo that is visiting the back yard at night, turning over the soil. It probably knows not to cross over the fence until late at night. I would prefer not to run into it myself.

Tom Petty Show

Tom Petty came to town. I had to have one of those horrible frozen fake margarita's. They were over $10.00 each and in a really stupid long plastic glass, that you have to hold as it would fall over. Probably to get you to drink fast and have more.

Show was great, fantastic seats, Steve Winwood opened.
Tom Petty was great and it was so much fun.

Storm Watch

We are watching this storm as it could hit anywhere along the coast. Tom sure thinks I am silly for getting gas in the car and buying water.
I will be keeping the weather tracking up on my computer for the next few days.

London 2012 - Sure Looks Cheesy

I couldn't believe how terrible the "London Bus" hand off was at the closing ceremonies in Beijing.
It is impossible to follow what the Chinese did, but driving out in the little bus with the spinning umbrellas with Jimmy Page of all people. What were they thinking?

It looked like something from the local 4th of July Parade.

Wildlife in Suburbia

My neighbor Toni forwarded this to me. She lives around the corner, in a patio home with a small yard with neighbors on all sides with fencing all around. She was surprised to see this deer in her back yard. It had jumped a 6 ft iron fence on the side. By the look of its ribs, it must be hungry.

We are having a nightly visit by an armadillo, but I have yet to see it. The back beds have all been turned over, but not other damage to the plants. I asked our neighbor James (he is all Texan, and knows all about such things) as to what might be causing this type of digging, and he confirmed it would be armadillo. Seems they are looking for worms, grubs and other crawly things under the top layer of dirt. Since it has been so dry, they are coming up from the creek that runs behind our house. I was surprised that they can get through the iron fence, but he said they can. They must be very quiet as Gus and Greta have not been on guard to any intruders in the yard at night. I would like to see it, but it also might be a bit scary if encountered.