GOOD FOOD AND HOBART SUNDAY

 Gosh, time is flying by.  Already Sunday.  It's been a hot weekend.  Saw the house yesterday, pics coming tomorrow (AMAZING!).

Time for some good food and Hobart!

Got some marinated leg quarters that are cut in half (for grilling) and 2nd Man made some brown rice with corn, homemade corn tortillas and we added fresh avocado.  Delicious!

While we worked on dinner, Hobart was sleeping on the couch, cuddled up with his catnip sock (his most favorite toy).  We let him enjoy his sleep because...

#notspoiled

GOING TO SEE THE HOUSE

As this posts, 2nd Man and I are off to see the house.  The cabinets were delivered last weekend but they weren't installed.  Just sitting around.  Nice to see of course, but it will be much better now that they are in place and mounted!  We can't WAIT to see them where they belong.

Pics coming next week on new house update post.

After that, we'll stop at the store, run a few errands and get back before it gets crazy hot.

Hope you have a great start to your weekend!

FRONT PORCH AND CHAIRS

 We're going to need some rocking chairs!

Probably just getting two for the front porch.

Speaking of, here is what our front porch will look like. They won't put the railing on until closer to finish so it doesn't get damaged and it's easier in and out for the workers, so I mocked up this image (probably not to scale, ha) and added the railing to have a better visual of how ours will look.  The porch posts will be white.

It is 15' deep x 14' wide.  Not as wide as we had before of course, but this one is 5' deeper than our last one.  That makes it 210 square feet of new space to decorate and hold some furniture.

And of course, two rocking chairs are a MUST have.

Saw these the other day.  They are definitely neat and very "Texan" but they might be "too much" for the front porch.

Saw these at another store.  Just normal, old fashioned rockers.  Probably not black, that would disappear onto the porch, we'd rather have the white that will pick up the white trim colors around the windows etc.  We'll just buy two for now, one for each of us.

But this also means we will have a front porch to furnish.  A couple of these, a small table in between, some hanging plants...heck, with 200 square feet, we will probably be able to put much more on there than we realize.

Let the planning begin!

A MINOR PROBLEM FIXED

So our builder called and said "we had a little bit of a problem".  No one ever wants to have a conversation that starts like that, right?  

He said that when one of the workers left, he bumped the pot filler pipe sticking out of the wall and it ran...for a couple of days.  

When we got there to see on the weekend, they had already removed all the water and had a dehumidifier running.  This was before the permanent power, so the cord had to run from the temp pole, into the bedroom window and around on into the kitchen area.

Here it is (the dehumidifier) and you can see the spot.  More on that in another pic.

He said it didn't run in a heavy stream it was akin to turning on your sink faucet to where it was the smallest stream you could get, but it was for almost 48 hours.  The good thing is the floor drain in the laundry room worked because water that found its way there drained out and they swept water that direction to get rid of it.

Here's the pantry...you can see where the water came through from the other side.  

This is a clearer shot of where the leak was.  There is no faucet on yet, it's just a cap that covers the fill pipe and that's what they bumped and loosened the cap.  They used a moisture sensor and checked everything, all the walls, the wood, any insulated walls, etc and it was dried out (our heat helped that).  There was no insulation in this particular wall and our insulation is a foam type and doesn't absorb water like regular insulation.  Because of the gap at the bottom of the drywall, it didn't soak up into the drywall either.

So they cut out everything to check, dried it all up and repaired it as you can see below:

And here it is fixed and repaired!  All dried out (slab and drywall) and now it looks as good as new. 

**EDIT PER COMMENT QUESTIONS**

They did spray anti mold stuff inside the walls, the wood they use that touches the slab is all pressure treated (to avoid absorbing moisture from the concrete in general) and this stayed open with the dryers going for about a week.  They also had their warranty team out to verify at the end to make sure everything was good.

As he said, if this was going to happen, now was the best time, no baseboards, no paint, no cabinets, and no flooring.  Let's just hope that's the only time we ever have to worry about that.  On to fun stuff now! 

SATURDAY SUCCESS

So I made it out there early Saturday.  Got there about 8:15am, it was a little overcast at first and reasonably "not as hot" as normal, ha.  

Above is what I was looking forward to.

Power was finally hooked up to the house and the temporary pole was removed.  During that time, there was a wire running over the ground to the well.  I couldn't mow near it because, well, live electrical wire.  Finally, the builder was able to move the electrical for the well from the temp pole and wire to an underground line that runs from the house to the well.  Above is that wire safe and disconnected.

Here is the before.

The foreground is where the pole was and the grass all along the back toward the well that I could not mow.  I had to mow several times with the mower deck lifted up and driving very slowly.  Then I went back over it a couple of times with the mower deck back down.

And here it is after.

Lots of grass mulch but it will blow away in the wind and/or just add nitrogen to the existing grass.  At this point in this August heat, we don't really care, as long as it's mowed, ha.

I used the trimmer to clean up around the well since the wire is gone now.  I also mowed around it as much as I could, there was still some soft ground where they dug the trench for the power to the well.

Here's the "new" area that I couldn't get to before, but now I can.  I love that it's all clear now.

I did about the usual time and distance, just doing it in different spots, ha.  I also used the trimmer around the fruit trees and got it looking neat again.

The other good news is now that there is some power in the house (they have a couple of live outlets for their tools/equipment), I am able to plug in a fan!  I can take a break inside where it's already cooler than outside and have an additional nice breeze blowing.

I left about 12:30 when it was creeping toward the upper 90's and there was some rain moving in.

It is driving me crazy that there are so many areas I still can't get to and it's getting SO out of control so a few successes like this weekend makes me feel accomplished.

 

OFF TO THE FARM

 As this posts, theoretically, I am at the farm!

I said theoretically because I'm typing this Friday night, HOPING I don't oversleep.  I want to get out there early so I can start before it gets unbearably hot.

We didn't go last weekend because of rain and so that means it's been over two weeks since I mowed and ow over three weeks since I edged.  

It's gonna be a jungle out there I'm sure.

I can't wait to get some pictures of the inside of the house, there was a minor issue, we'll share that next week, and then other big stuff happening too!

We hope you're having a great start to your weekend!

SANDING AND TEXTURING NEW HOUSE UPDATE

Another week, another milestone.  Of course, some of these photos might seem redundant to last weeks update but it's another new major step forward.

Sanding and texturing the drywall!

They boarded up the entrance into the house from the garage just to kind of be able to seal things up inside the house.  You can see the walls, smoother from sanding the seams and then texturing all around.

This is the guest room, you can see the difference on the walls and ceiling.

Here is the ceiling of the living room.  They cover the a/c vents and return vents to keep the texturing from getting in the ductwork.

A little more of a closeup around the door frames and then above is the other attic space in the house, also closed up to keep texturing material out of the attic.

Here's a glimpse into the study/third bedroom.  It's funny how we both now can see a photo of even a little part of a room, and know exactly where it is in the house.  It's really ours, ha!

And lastly, here's a closeup to show the texture.  For those wondering around texturing and the "why" behind it, here's some interesting and good info we found:

Drywall is textured before painting primarily to improve aesthetics and hide imperfections. Here’s why:

1. Conceals Flaws: Drywall surfaces often have seams, screw holes, or minor damage from installation. Texturing helps mask these imperfections, creating a more uniform appearance that’s less noticeable after painting.
2. Enhances Visual Appeal: Texture adds depth and character to walls, making them more visually interesting than flat, smooth surfaces. Common textures like orange peel or knockdown can complement various interior styles.
3. Reduces Surface Prep: A smooth drywall finish requires meticulous sanding and priming to look flawless, as paint highlights every minor defect. Texturing is more forgiving, reducing the need for extensive surface preparation.
4. Improves Durability: Textured surfaces can better withstand minor scuffs or dings, as the texture helps disguise small damages that would be more apparent on a smooth wall.
5. Paint Adhesion: Textured surfaces provide a slightly rougher base, which can improve paint adhesion compared to a perfectly smooth drywall surface, ensuring a more durable finish.

So there you have it, our walls and ceilings are fully textured and ready for painting.  But next comes...CABINET INSTALLATION!

GETTING ORGANIZED FOR HOLIDAY STORAGE

You may remember this picture:

This is (kind of) what our garage attic space will look like.  It will be floored, and I will partially wall it after we move in, so we can use it for storage.  I figured if we had a ton of boxes up there, it would be hard to figure out what is what for different holidays even if they are labeled (a box gets turned around, etc).

So, I thought of putting things in color coded boxes to correspond to their contents.  What?  See below:

Here are a few of the ones we have already acquired (that I could get to).  There are a few already in use but this is just to give an example.

We have a couple of these already, though I am not sure they are the same style.  But they are orange with black lids.  That's screams Halloween decor.

I decided black with a red lid would be good for our Day of the Dead decor.  We have three of these since, as you know, we already have a lot of those decorations, ha! 

Of course, hello, bright red is Christmas.  We have four (five?) of these and that's where we keep the majority of our Christmas decorations.  But we MIGHT need some more later this Fall, ha.

This pink one is obviously Valentine's Day!  OK so red may also be obvious but since red was already taken, and pink wouldn't work for any other holiday, Valentine's Day it will be!

This pale green has become our Easter color.  I bought two of them and they are perfect for the Easter decor.

In fact, here is an example:

This is one of them with some Easter items in it (including that awesome garland I found).

This one is for...4th of July decorations! We have two of these since we have quite a few things.

Hello, St Patrick's Day!  Perfect color green.  Again, these colors are also used at Christmas for storage, but since we're trying to keep our holidays sorted, and we already have red for Christmas things, this was perfect for the luck of the Irish!

This one is going to be for Mardi Gras decorations.  They made a dark purple one that I would love to have had, but they are sold out.  Since the colors of Mardi Gras are purple, green and gold, this will still work!

Here are a some more that I bought recently, just because these colors come and go throughout the year and once gone, they are next to impossible to find.

This will be where you all come in:

Suggestions for what holiday or decor to use them for?

This is an aqua/teal blue green.

They call this one orange but it's definitely different from bright Halloween orange.  I was thinking that this might do as Fall/Thanksgiving.  But as Fall gets here, they might just have an even better new color for Thanksgiving so f I don't need it for that, any ideas?

                                                                                        

This one is marine blue.  It was the original one I chose for the 4th of July box but the other blue is a much more patriotic shade of blue, so this one is up for grabs as far as holidays.

I also have a white one.  This one could have been 4th of July for sure, but it can be for something else.

The good thing is that for now...

...they stack up easily for storage until we have the attic space to put them.  After that, we can begin sorting through our decorations as we find them after the move and start getting them filled.

GOOD FOOD AND HOBART SUNDAY

 It's been a busy weekend and the weather (at least yesterday) was sketchy.  Didn't get to mow or edge, way too wet out there.  Time for some good food and some Hobart!

But it WAS a good day for a roast chicken and vegetables.  Always so good.  And we can eat on it for a few days!  Win/win!

Hobart was on the floor relaxing, just waiting until we finished cooking the chicken so he could get some on his own little saucer.  Because...

#notspoiled

ACRYLIC STORAGE BINS TRASH TO TREASURE

 Regular readers know that I have a favorite place to look for bargains...our downstairs trash area!  Our building has trash chutes on every floor, and they feed into a separate room, but for boxes and other things that people can't put in the chute, there is an area (indoor) near the loading dock where people can put the things they don't want.  I've found quite a few cool items over the last few years.

Saw these, they were all piled into a box that was closed, on top of the dumpster.  I opened it and found a bunch of acrylic plastic storage containers.  I brought them upstairs and sorted through them.

Here they are:

There is one long narrow one, one smaller bin, two 4-compartment bins, and four bins that have air flow holes around the sides.  There were so many, they didn't all fit in the same picture...

Here are two more very large bins, with handles on each end for carrying!

We're thinking of plenty of uses in the new pantry but they are also used in fridges and freezers and I was just thinking how wonderful some would be to store things we put up in vacuum sealed bags in the freezer.

We popped them all in the dishwasher to make sure they were clean (though they looked brand new) and then we put them in a box to await the big move.

Hey, for whatever reason, someone didn't want them and so we'll be happy to get a jump-start on storage solutions for the new house.  A few less things we'll need to buy to stock up our pantry/freezer!  Win/win!

Nope!  Not this weekend!

#farmshark