The Grass Is Always Greener

Our grass is green. Really green, especially given the half-dead sod we started with. So, what's our trick? I have to warn you, it stinks...



One of our neighbors, Dusty, a master gardener, had recommended spreading compost as an alternative to fertilizing our lawns. We decided to give it a try, and with my parents went out to Texas Disposal Systems to get a truckload of compost, along with a truckload of mulch for the flowerbeds and trees. Their pricing list included Texas Organic Products (TOP) compost, made from clippings, and premium compost. We'd intended to buy the TOP compost, but premium must be better, right? The pricing sheet mentioned that it is used by TxDOT, which sounded like a good enough endorsement for a landscaping product.

The description also included "Class A biosolids." Having no idea what biosolids are, and swayed by the other two points, I ordered the premium stuff. As we transported it back home and spread it over the lawn, I wondered how something presumably made of plant matter smelled so much like manure. The stench lasted for a few days.

Also called Alamo-Gro, the premium compost is made from San Antonio's treated sewage. Gross, but perfectly safe, it has worked wonders for the lawn. Just take a look at the yard of the house under construction across the street and you'll see how impressive the transformation has been.



There's construction on both sides of our corner lot. David Weekley Homes is building on Scales (first photo below), and Standard Pacific has houses on McCloskey (second photo). Can you guess which builder started first?





Just before we moved into our home in April, Standard Pacific already had houses framed, while David Weekley's lots were still bare dirt.



By late May, Weekley had the framing up for the corner lot, with foundations ready to pour down the street. They've gone up in next to no time and will soon be complete, while Standard Pacific's homes seem to move along at a snail's pace. I suppose different builders just have different ways of doing things, but it will be nice when the construction near us is over. I'm looking forward to actually sleeping in again on the weekends. Bad news is that one of the StanPac lots only recently sold, meaning at least 8 more months of torture before they're done.



Further afield, some builders have started houses in Phase 2. We'll have to take some photos to share here soon. And on the northern edge of the old airport, construction has started on the water tower for reclaimed water to serve the parks and green spaces of the development.



On an unrelated note, I wanted to share more photos of the new light, where you can actually see it in context. It looks great with all the stainless appliances in the kitchen, but the light over the breakfast table has to go. Please share any ideas you have for the replacement. We want something understated, that harmonizes with the vintage fixture but does not compete with it.





Also, if you want the lamps we're replacing, they're for sale on Craigslist. So far only one spammer has been interested.

Twinkle, Twinkle

A couple of weekends ago, Timothy and I went to San Marcos with our friend Kristen to pick up a lovely vintage pendant light for her dining room. As an early birthday present, I also came home with the most beautiful light fixture. (Thank you!) Three milk glass cylinders, each surrounded by a band of brushed aluminum pierced by tiny holes, with a triangle of teak to hold them at the proper distance from each other. The fixture was designed by Gerald Thurston and dates to the 1950s.







Kristen's lamp also looks great! Next time you're in San Marcos, visit Accent Lighting Designs on the courthouse square.

Fourth of July Weekend

Does this look familiar? We'll give you a hint...





Yes, we've finally installed our mosaic glass tile backsplash. We did do it ourselves, though I must say Timothy was better at most of it than I was. I spent too much time obsessing over the details.

We did less than a square foot of tile as a backsplash for the pedestal sink in the half bath, just to prove to ourselves we could do it. That project wasn't difficult, apart from misinterpreting the instructions and letting the grout sit too long before wiping it from the surface of the tile. It took a toothbrush to get it off the travertine squares...



The tiling process is fairly simple. First, you affix the tile to the wall with thinset, then allow it to set up for at least 24 hours, fill the joints with grout, wipe the excess from the surface with a sponge, and buff off the grout haze after a few more hours. Once the grout has cured for a couple of weeks, we'll seal it and caulk around the edges.







The 1"x1" tile is secured to a mesh backing, so spacers are unnecessary. That is, unless you decide the premixed blends just aren't good enough. To answer Kristin's question in the previous comments, we ordered the tile from The Tile Guy, though it was also available from American Tile. I'm not sure of the manufacturer, but the line is Rialto, and the color was something to the effect of "garden blend." It was the best blend we found, in terms of a nice mixture of greens, not too sagey, to pick up the green flecks in our tea leaf Silestone. But with most of the counter beige and the cabinets dark brown, we wanted to tie in those colors as well. We ordered two spare sheets of tile, peeled them off the backing, and individually placed them amid the other tile to achieve the look we wanted.





We had hoped to make the tiling a single weekend project, but after a long trip to Home Depot and extensive investigation of tile cutting methods (you need a fine diamond blade to cut glass, which only tile stores closed on the weekend sell, so we rented a score and snap cutter), we were off to a late start. Grouting dragged on through the week, and we finished just in time to show it off to my parents, who were in town for the Fourth of July weekend.

The morning of the Fourth, our neighbors had a parade, with live music, adorable children, patriotically bandannaed dogs, and our next door neighbor Brian juggling!







Late in the afternoon, Timothy's mom, stepdad, and sister arrived for burgers, sausage, and homemade strawberry shortcake. After dinner, we made our way to the greenbelt, hoping to catch a glimpse of the fireworks. The view was surprisingly good, even from better than three miles away.

Thank You

Two months after we moved into our house, we wanted to say a few words of thanks to the people who made it possible.

Kara, our sales consultant, made the homebuying process a lot of fun. She was always friendly and welcoming; regardless of how busy her day was, she made time for us, even if it was just to chat. At first, we were cautious, but she quickly won our trust and friendship.



Stan, our builder, was happy to give thorough answers to our questions, and never treated them as naive. He addressed all our issues, no matter how trivial, whether an explanation or a change to the house. He put up with our twice daily visits, and often stopped by to talk about the progress. Both Stan and Kara went to exceptional lengths to make sure we were completely happy with our home.



And Matt, our realtor, came to every meeting, whether he was needed or not. He sat through tedious home walk-throughs, even though he technically was only required to attend when we signed the contract. Before we decided to buy at Mueller, he took us to many houses on the market, all of which we dismissed as not quite right. We appreciated his patience and all of the guidance he gave us.

Thanks, Kara, Stan, and Matt! We love our home!

The New Space Race

We've almost finished putting everything away, and suddenly our house has a lot of empty space that needs to be filled with more furniture. Half our neighborhood is heading up to IKEA with a U-Haul for tax-free weekend, which could be dangerous. We shouldn't stimulate the economy too much with our stimulus checks, since we have an insurance deductible to cover in the near future.

One of the IKEA-going neighbors has a little extra in his pocket from our purchase of this really awesome sputnik lamp. Apparently Aaron (or Mrs. Aaron) thought he had too many. How could such a thing be possible?



After Timothy wired on a new cord, we hung it, took it down, and rehung it three times. That tiny ball in the center is a tight fit for twelve arms worth of wiring, and our efforts to cram it all back in there had created a short. For inexpensive repairs of lighting problems you created yourself, we recommend the Fixture Shop. It's next door to the giant head with the light bulb on top on Burnet Road. The sputnik now looks amazing hovering over our stairs.



In other home improvement news, we've been searching for the right green mosaic blend for the kitchen backsplash. We need to put something up quickly because presently there is nothing to protect the sheetrock and no caulk around the edge of the countertop. Between Timothy's Uncle Gary and the guy at the Tile Guy telling us how easily we could do it ourselves, we're almost convinced. We may attempt a smaller project in the half bath - a backsplash for the pedestal sink - to gain some confidence first.



The cat would like to contribute to the kitchen decor, but she doesn't quite fit in with the vintage coffeemakers.

Severe Weather Advisory

Late Wednesday, for the third time since we moved into our house a month ago, a nighttime thunderstorm brought hail. This storm made the previous laughable by comparison. We watched out the front windows as unrelenting gusts blew our trees sideways and hail pelted the house and landscaping. This photograph taken after the hail let up doesn't remotely convey how bad the storm was.



Gusts up to 59 m.p.h. and 4" hail were reported in central Austin. Timothy grabbed the largest hailstone in our front yard; though not record- breaking, its 3" girth is nothing to balk at.



With the storm hitting from the west, our house was substantially sheltered by the other homes in our block. We had one broken window, the single second-floor window on the west side, and only the outside pane shattered.



The west-facing portion of the roof over the breezeway and garage has considerable damage, with pock-marks, cracked shingles, and considerable grit washed into the gutters. Most of the roof faces either north or south and may be less damaged, though we've not gone up there to look.





Speaking of gutters, every one is beaten up. Even those on the east side of the house were dented outward.



Our fledgling trees were also hit, though they're healthy and should recover. The wire on the supports for the tree on the alley snapped, though the tree itself is still mostly upright.



This damage report is minor. The morning after the storm, Timothy and I went walking around with two neighbors from our block. Both of their houses had dented and cracked hardiplank siding but no other significant damage. As we discovered, we were all very fortunate.



The blocks further south were harder hit. On two long blocks near the greenway, the west-facing front facades had few intact windows. One street moved in around the same time we did. The other, still under construction, was described by a builder as a "war zone." Damage to homes and landscaping was extensive elsewhere as well. Some street trees were blown over, and smaller trees and shrubs in the parks were also uprooted.





Fortunately, no one was injured in the storm. We're feeling cursed, but I think we should count ourselves lucky.

Oh Hail!

Yes, we're happily moved into our wonderful new home. After a week of concerted unpacking (thanks for all the help, Mom!), and another week of trying to get caught up on everything else, we're still not fully settled in. And I've not taken a single photograph of the house since it became ours.

Or, at least not until this morning. We were startled awake by the loud, repeated impact of hail on the roof. Our perfect new roof we'd prefer not to replace just yet. The hail storm is supposed to come when your shingles are worn out and you want the insurance to pay, right?

Both cars were parked outside. Yesterday we put the last coat of spray paint on the bed frame for the guest room, and it still took up the entire garage, drying. In the time it took to dismantle the frame, for Timothy to find his keys and pull his truck in, and for me to give up on finding my keys, spew the contents of a box across the dining room, and find my spare key, the hail had stopped. Fortunately it was small enough (mothball-sized) that there was no damage. The keys were in the garage, where I had left them while painting.





There's another menace lurking in the neighborhood, waiting to eat dogs, small children, and joggers on the hike-and-bike trail that winds through the southwest greenway (thanks for the photo, Dad!) Its abdomen is full of iridescent eggs. Soon nowhere will be safe from giant metal spiders!

Two More Days!

Two More Weeks

With the exception of trees along the front sidewalk, our landscaping is complete. We have a tree in the side yard that will shade the porch, another behind the back fence, and each street will be lined with a different species of tree. Those in the front are waiting for the root barrier, which, if we're lucky, will prevent complete upheaval of the sidewalks in another 20 years.







Pete was a stow-away in our plants. Timothy says his name is Sparky, but I think it's Pete. We've spotted him one other time, on the fence to the side yard. I hope he sticks around.



Small changes are continuing on the inside of the house. Today we met Jimbo in the attic, finishing the A/C installation. He gave us our thermostat instruction manual, lots of pointers, and promised to pre-program our thermostats the way he thinks they ought to be. Timothy thought he looked like the French actor Dominique Pinon from Delicatessen.

Now that our garage has been cleared of debris and other houses' trim, we've both parked in it. Not yet at the same time, but I think with some maneuvering from the narrow alley to the narrow garage, we should be able to make it work. I guess we'll find out in two weeks.

Closing day can't come soon enough. After four months of commuting from northwest Austin, we're looking forward to living close to downtown again. Our daily routine involves 30 minutes of sitting in traffic on MoPac in the morning, driving to check on the house at lunch, going back by after work, and then heading home exhausted in the evening. This racks up about 40 miles per day on my car, and sometime last week, I missed seeing it roll over 100,000 miles.



Speaking of driving, our neighbor Aaron swerves dangerously fast around the curves! Watch out for his hybrid car, and co-conspirators Toby and Griffin hiding in the back seat.