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.

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.

Flags are Flying

Flags were flying high at the McWhorter house Sunday. Marcus Herrera and our builder Steve Gaines set up the poles on Saturday afternoon while we were out of town. They battled the elements of lightning and rain to get the poles up safely. An hour later the rain came through and left three inches in Christoval.

The poles are 50 feet tall and placed in the center of the circle drive. I can see them from the highway before our turnoff. They are really something to see. Just perfect.

Thank you to Mr. Sam Caldwell for making the poles and to Rita for painting them so perfectly.

Rock Men

The rock men were at the house this morning preparing to apply the stucco on all the dormers. For safety reasons they need to complete this small job before the metal roof is installed. The metal roof will be ready in the next couple of weeks.

The rock for the outside of the house should be delivered in a couple of weeks also. Due to the recent rains they are behind in their deliveries.

The framers continue to install the ceilings on the porches. They have the support beams up now on the balcony porch and waiting for the metal supports.

I found our resident landscaper (Rita) on the job again today pruning another oak grove. We appreciate all her talented trim work, she does a super job.

Paper Covering

We were in San Angelo until late last night, too late to post the work on the house after we got back.

The framers started covering the east side of the house yesterday with paper. At the same time applying the trim on the eves.

Our resident landscaper (Rita) started working on two oak groves Monday. She does a fantastic job with anything she attempts. We will soon have a clear view to San Angelo through all the brush if she keeps it up. Attached are pictures of her before and after trimming work. Rita admitted today she had fallen down a small drop off into a cactus while hauling off clippings. She fell on her knee, ouch! And then right into a cactus, double ouch! She said it took quite a while for her to pull all the stickers out of her neck and legs, ouch, ouch ouch! We appreciate all her talents.

After, what a difference!

Waiting on the Framers

There is not much action going on at our place until tomorrow, hopefully, maybe, who knows? The lumber is wrapped and waiting on the framers to begin. I will be ready with camera (and memory chip) in hand if they show up tomorrow.
Meanwhile I am not waisting time. I am busy digging holes planting more sumac bushes and yuccas around the entrance.

Flag Pole Holes

With the recent wet weather we are at a stand still in our construction. We hope the ground quickly dries up this week.

In our turn around drive we wanted to set up two flag poles. I told this to the men installing our last electric pole and they kindly drilled two holes for us with their heavy drilling equipment. The holes are hard to see and are on either side of the rock garden. Rita has made many contacts for us trying to locate someone to build our flag poles.

Hole Digging Faries

I had mentioned to many of our friends how terribly hard it has been to dig holes at our place because we have more rock than dirt. We had been trying to dig eight holes at the entrance to plant some bushes before they start putting on leaves. I went to the property on Tuesday after our recent rain hoping the rain would provide for an easier day of digging our last two holes. I ran into the AEP men installing another electric pole at our entrance. The rain did provide for an easier hole to dig, but as with the other six holes I could only dig about eight inches before hitting solid rock. The AEP men noticed my frustration backed their equipment into our entrance and proceeded to dig my holes for me! Everyone here has been just as nice to us as these hardworking men.