Home Sweet Home

We have been in the house for about six months now, and really love everything about it. Steve Gaines really did an exceptional job in building the house. Every day we appreciate more the quality and care he put into his workmanship. We especially love sitting out on the porch or balcony in the evening and enjoying the cool breeze, and sound of the crickets. Took some pictures of the house at night I thought I would share.

Easter Dinner

I had a couple of request for photos of the inside our home and hope to get to those soon. For now I wanted to share our first large family meal together over Easter dinner. This was our first chance to have all family for a special meal and most everyone was able to attend. This was our first time using the new dinning table with all the leaves and it was long! We quickly realized we had to set up the table at an angle to fit in the space. We had ten at the table and three at the counter which worked out perfectly.
Made several cappuccinos after dinner with many compliments. Dinner together was a very special day it made our house feel like home. We look forward for all our families joining us next year. If you can make the trip we would love to have you.

Landscape Looking Good

The front of the house is looking good after Scherz Nursery completed the landscape work. The little tractor called a Dingo lifted the large Yuccas into place with ease. Then it easily moved the large boulders to complete the landscape. The last of the plants needed will be brought out in May when the weather is warmer.

We had a nice rain last night which washed off all the dusty rocks and watered the new plants.

Landscape Started

The little tractor in the photo is called a Dingo by Turo, boy do I want one of those little things! They are powerful even though they are small.

Scherz Nursery arrived to start on the landscaping Thursday afternoon. These men move pretty fast they had most of the job complete by the first day. They had to shovel out quite a bit of the dirt we just had put in before they could start. We chose to zero-scape the front using drought tolerant plants which will be the easiest to care for. The top level will have most of the blooming color from salvia's and lantana's. The lower level will have Pride of Barbados, Blue-Sotol, Mexican sage and one tree placed west of the granite marker. I will post more photos tomorrow of the big Yuccas and rocks used on both levels.

A First

This afternoon was a first at our house, a first for Daddy to climb up the stairs. Dan was able, with much help from Rita, to climb the stairs and take his first look at our second story. I think his favorite spot was on the balcony smoking his afternoon cigar out of the wind.

Digging Dirt

We moved in our home January 21st one month ago. I continue to unpack boxes, organize items and then carry boxes to the attic. I finally rolled up the last of the corrugated floor covering yesterday in the study. We are just about unpacked.

Today Marcus Herrera had time to stop in and start on the front landscaping. He brought his handy backhoe and started scooping out much of the dirt he originally laid for our house pad. This dirt had to be removed to bring in top soil for the landscaping in our original design. I like to watch that backhoe operate. I wished I could have tried operating the machine it just looks like fun. Have you ever seen a backhoe operator that wasn't happy? I know it has to be fun.

After Marcus finished out front we asked him to dig a few holes around back to plant a few trees. Last fall Rita purchased two burr oak tress for us and dug up one native oak tree from her yard.

Clean-Up Milestone

The garage has been a pile of paper, boxes and funiture for over three weeks. We found a neighbor who was in need of moving boxes which helped in our clean-up. Our trash pick up for the large dumpster is once a week, we really could have used a couple of extra pick-ups to help us quickly with our clean-up.

Elizabeth and I tackeld the garage on Friday morning, after we finished we could park the car in the garage. I should have taken before and after photos in order to show difference our efforts really made.
We still have some furniture we will not use which we remain in the garage. Our little town of Christoval has an annual yard sale in early summer which will help us find new owner for these things.