Round Top mayhem!

Spent Friday and some of Saturday at Round Top Antique Festival with Dad and Karen (missed you Barb!!!!). My goal was to find a general store bar for our kitchen and a seed counter. Also, mirrors, a stool, and any other fun stuff!

Totally scored on the seed counter! I love it! Will have a hutch built to cover the left 5'. The old seed display windows will face the dining area and I'm hunting old family photos to fill them. This huge piece came out of a general store somewhere in the Panhandle. Below is also an example of how they used to look but I'll go with photos.

After the long day of 'antiquing' we finished up with dinner and of course pie at Royers Round Top Cafe!

No going back now!

Cement trucks galore!

Whirlwind of activity

These people work fast!!! They're here at dawn everyday and they're working Saturdays. CRAZY (but awesome :)

These were taken last night from the bucket of the tractor so you could get a better view.

...and it begins

On Friday we signed the loan that gets us started on the road to our own home....and we're nervous. That's our nature. But good friend Stephen showed up to make us celebrate with a beer at the Fedor Store and dinner at the Wagon Stop. Thanks Stephen! Will keep updates on construction progress going here. Normally we pray for rain pretty much always. Now we pray it stays dry for a little bit so we can get the slab done. But what about my veggies???

Here's 2 pics from this afternoon. You can see the work Michael has done to clear the spot for the house and the stakes the builder put out. The photos are taken from opposite spots and I'll keep posting pics from these spots as we progress so you can follow along!

This last picture is of my gardening mobile and trusty gardening dog, Zoe. OK, it's Michael and Stephen's hunt camp vehicle but I get it in the spring and summer!

In Loving Memory

This has been a hard month. We've had to say goodbye to an old friend who kept a special place in our hearts. Bob came to us not too long ago (about a year and a half ago) when his negligent owner surrendered ownership of him to a friend I work with. Rio needed some pasture companionship and I have a weakness for old animals so he moved in with us. I hope I reached my goal for him in that his last few years were comfortable and peaceful. 26 is a pretty good age to reach for a tough old horse like Bob was.

We won't forget him and poor old Rio is missing him so much he's actually friendly to me ;)

Perhaps next spring we'll look at fostering another old soul.

Ashlyn's Birthday (my niece)

PINK.
For Ashlyn, it's all about PINK. Make no mistake though, little Ashlyn may be all about PINK, and princess...well princess everything... but she's really a little Tomboy at heart. Honestly though, with Nick for a brother did she ever have any other choice?
Anyway, in August she turned 4 and to celebrate this little milestone we went fishing (every proper little princess goes fishing for catfish on their birthday right?)
Ms. Ashlyn celebrated her special day with Uncle Michael, Aunt Arlene, Brother Nicholas & friends Barb & Eddie. She may be a little Tomboy but she knows how to turn on the little princess charm when it suits her to keep folks like Mr. Eddie and Uncle Michael wrapped neatly around her little finger. (Note: it seems big brother Nick is immune).
For the special day this little trendsetter sported just the right shade of face paint, stylish overalls, sporty rubber boots, and of course, her tiara.
As it turned out, Ashlyn was less impressed with the act of casting and reeling...and more into the net action. While Nick was busy keeping every adult occupied dodging airborne hooks and grabbing urgently for his overall straps as the lightweight fought a "whooper" threatening to pull him in reel and all, little Ashlyn waded in over the tops of her "wellies" net in one hand and glass specimen jar in the other. Slimy fish were her personal fascination...that and stealing the bait (bread) for her own consumption...a girl's gotta eat!
Along with the "whopper" and minnow catching we enjoyed a lovely cake decorated by top pastry chefs Nicholas & Ashlyn. Said cake featured (you guessed it) PINK frosting, Trix cereal, smarties & of course, gummy worms.
A trip in the gator followed the sugar fix to top off the day.