Looks like it's going to be a good year for Jelly

The cactus is in full bloom this year and at the bottom of each bloom is a baby pear.  We all know what happens to those pears- they get bigger, riper and become Little Piece of Texas prickly pear jelly!!!!  How exciting to be able to harvest, roast and mash them all in one place this year.   Anyone ready to place orders????  Also for those fans of the mesquite bean jelly, I have a new place to get mesquite beans so we will have lots of that too! 

 




 This is really just a small sampling, the cactus is everywhere.  Good thing I found a use for the pears or these plants would be a pain in the ass (sometimes literally) because they spread like crazy.

It's moving along rather nicely

We went down this weekend to check on the progress and things are looking good.  We now have most of the roof decking on and had to make a decision about arches in the hallways.  Since I wanted to go with rounded corners on the walls we decided the arch would carry that design element from room to room.  Also turns out the interior doors I chose have a little arch element in the top panel.  So now it all flows.  
 

Archway to back of house

The coolest back porch!!

Can't you just picture the rocking chairs on the front porch like at Cracker Barrel

When we talked to Stanley (our contractor) he told me I had to decide on trim fixtures for the bathrooms.  Did I wanted single or dual controls for the showers and did I want one shower head or two or a rain shower head or a handheld unit.  Did I want the shower to go up 10 feet or  only 8 feet.  Was I going to want marble or tile in the shower.  So many questions, so few answers.  I had no clue what I wanted- except for the tile vs marble enclosure question.  No debate it was to be tile!  Well before the weekend was over we made a trip to Home Depot so I could look at the options.  All decisions made. Single, one head, no rain shower, tile and only 8 ft inside shower- rest of bathroom is 10ft.  We were also looking at ceiling fans and bathroom lights and kitchen lights and fixtures and tile and flooring- So many decisions and so many choices my head is spinning!

On a lighter note it was a beautiful weekend, the weather was perfect!  Our neighbors from Dallas, Laurie and Jeff came down on Saturday to check out the progress.  We had such a fun visit touring and heading in to McGregor for BBQ.  Now they are thinking about a visit with the dogs once the house is completed.  I'm excited for that!  Unlike the city, here they can run around and explore to their hearts content.  Of course we were all speculating on what their reaction to the cows would be.

It's looking like a house

Wow, It's really looking like a house now. It is incredible how much changed in one week.  Jay went down on Friday and sent me a few photos. 

 I had made plans to travel down on Sunday with Jay's cousin's Allison and Andrew.  It was the first time they had been down and just loved it.  Now I think they are going to be counting the days until we are done so they can come and stay for a few days.  Good thing they don't mind small bedrooms.

The weather was perfect and Allison took a moment to just relax under the trees in the hammock. 




 Kristin stopped by on her way back from Austin and spent the afternoon with us.  

Kristin, Laynie and Allison

Jay resting on the porch swing at the cabin

  Walking through the house you can finally get a feel for the interior and the room sizes.  Here are some photos of what we saw.

All I can say at this point is I love it!

The Man Palace (So much more than a man cave)

West side of Bldg

A lot of people have asked me to post some pictures of what I lovingly (okay not so lovingly) refer to as the Man Palace at Millerville.  Jay has wanted a man cave since the beginning and has spent many hours over the years designing exactly what he wanted.  Since the man can’t settle on just one hobby, the place kept growing to accommodate all of his interests and the result was a 3200 sf building with room for his model train layout, radios, guns and a workshop to build the wonderful bookcases and other well built furnishings he loves to create.  Now every woman I know thinks like I do- “Why does he need that much space?” Then every guy I know, says, ”How cool is that!”  Well it is very cool.  It has rooms for everything including his office so he can continue to work once we move, to keep supporting his hobbies.  He has done the majority of the work himself (walls, painting, some of the flooring, electrical etc.) and it is truly spectacular, but I still don’t get the need for 3200 sf- thus the nickname “the man palace”.  Bear in mind our new house is only about 2600 sf.   In the pictures you also need to notice an antenna tower (currently we have that one plus 3 more and hopefully no more!)  This is still a work in progress so none of the rooms are completed yet.

East side of Bldg

Office area with bookcases- because books are our friends and you don't throw away friends

Radio Room

Workshop

Model Train Layout room