Slowwwwww.....

Why do builders sllloooowwww down when they get to the end...we close on Wednesday and it's been slow going this week...peck peck peck at the house. I really don't think it's going to happen, because at this point, the appraiser is waiting on the sod to go down and that is not happening until Monday, so I'm thinking the appraisal will not be done in time for closing on Wednesday. 

So what's been going on?  I got a Cupola and my lightening rods yesterday. The Cupola is Copper and this picture does it no justice at all. it will age to brown. I couldn't get a picture of the lightning rods because of the sun. I also got blinds today on all the windows, including the boat garage, which we weren't suppose to get, but we did. Can't complain about freebies. The glass was changed in my glass front cabinet from clear to bubble...the trim was put on the pillars on the pillars on my bathtub and the walls were re textured and touched up. The painter is coming tomorrow. The cleaning crew is coming BACK on Monday and I hope before Monday the tile guy comes and grouts my back splash.

Meanwhile, Carl has been putting up the electric fence, with the much needed expertise and help of Nelson, while I've been hanging out in the flowerbed, mulching and planting and amending the clay. Here's what I've done so far:

One privet in the corner...the only one in the city NOT trimmed into a ball...if you remember my island flowerbed in LA, then you recognize this as the canopy type bush that was on either end...the one that the new owners CHOPPED down. Losers. Anyway, two Indian Hawthorn, some perennial grasses and some ivy in the back. That's the beginning of a stone path, made with leftover stone from the house. I made another one on the other side, leading to the water spigot.

And in this corner....we have a Heart of Texas Yaupon Holly,,,which I love. I actually duplicated this corner from my house I had here before. I had a Yaupon Holly with miniature yaupons at the base...which is what I planted here, along with ornamental grasses and Lillie's. To the right is that other stone path.

I couldn't believe my eyes, or my luck when I found this Amethyst day lily at the tree farm for 40% off. I wasn't surprised at the price, just that it was purple...I thought Lillie's only came in white, yellow and orange! Since I only have a tri-colored flowerbed....that is, only white, yellow/orange and purple flowers and bushes, it really limits me with flowers, but visually, it pleases me. :) Finding this little jewel pleases me even more. I will enjoy her for years to come. Plus, an added bonus is that the foliage is semi-evergreen...which I thought was odd for a Lilly, other than a spider Lilly.

Haven't really got to this side yet, other than the stone path, I planted two low growing flowering privets...white of course, and two white Indian Hawthorne's and two tall nandina that are tree like. They are on either side of the window, but I'm skeptical that they'll survive the wind. One had windburn from one day only, and I had to relocate them already.

On Monday, Hannah and i started painting the run-in shed for the horses...since it is toward the front of the house...actually it's in the front/side yard, which will be part pasture on that side. We are painting it to match the house. We have roofing to match the house...the white will be the clay/brown color and the green will be black. Once we put a barn up this next Spring, we will put doors on this like everyone else does and keep our tractor in it. For the first winter though, it will be used for it's intended purpose...for the horses.

First coat down, and 1 to go. Maybe she looks drunk because we are painting with oil base enamel or it could be the 103 degree temps.

The outside was harder than the inside because the inside was smooth block and the outside is that bumpy stuff.

Maybe come Wednesday...I'll have MOVING pictures to post! I hope so!