Improvements in Late September

Posted by Les

                                              The New Color All the Way Around

         After watching me hand paint and roll on the new color scheme on the front side of the house, our              neighbor who is a handyman and Jack of all trades offered to spray paint the rest of the house.  He did
               3 sides of the house in 5 hours (about half the time it took me to do the front porch area).
                                    Now I just have to finish painting the eaves and window trim.

                      

      

                   
 Homemade cedar shutters give the
 front window a more finished look.

             

Remember the old lean too carriage house?   Well . . . it went bye-bye . . . slab and all.
   
                   
        

             

And don't forget the ugly greenhouse made out of salvage materials.  It went bye-bye too!

Chicago Wedding

Last weekend we were part of a special wedding. Les has a cousin, Debbie, whose daughter, Courtney, was married near Chicago. Courtney was raised in Illinois, and we only met her once while she was growing up, but she moved to Austin a few years ago, and connected with us. During the couple of years she was in Austin, we enjoyed getting to know her, and she became part of our family.

She moved back to Chicago, met a special man, fell in love, and became engaged. Courtney called me this summer and asked me to perform the ceremony. I was honored and thrilled to be a part of her special day. 

So, Friday we flew to Chicago, and drove to a beautiful location to be a part of Courtney and Levi's wedding. This is Mora Farm, located Southwest of Chicago. As we drove there, I was surpirsed by how beautiful the area was; green grass, tall corn growing, huge red barns, stately homes. 

Here is Les with his cousin Debbie, the mother of the Bride, and her sister, Jeri the day before the wedding. 

Here I am with Debbie, ready for the wedding. 

The wedding was beautiful, sweet, and personal. 

 
My favorite part of the ceremony was a surprise that Courtney and I had for Levi and his daughter Brooklyn. In order to include Brooklyn, after the Bride and Groom said their vows and exchanged rings, I announced, "Today Levi and Courtney are beginning a new life together. A child is also entering into this marriage, and it is Courtney’s desire to extend her commitment to Levi by making some promises to his daughter." Courtney then spoke to Brooklyn, promising to love her, to make a home for her, to listen to her, and support her. Sweeeet! 

Besides being at the wedding, we enjoyed some sight seeing. The following pictures are not the most important thing to see in Chicago, but, we were extremely impressed. As we drove to the Saturday afternoon wedding, we stopped in some charming towns for a bit of window shopping. 
We stepped into a chocolate shop and found "chocolate sculptures" below.

These are actually made completely of chocolate. The first one is a tree, with leaves and little critters made from spun sugar. 

Full size hockey player and astronaut.

And, here are some normal pictures of Chicago; the lake shore, and the city skyline. 

We took a Segway tour of the shorelone...soooo much fun, and in 3 hours, we saw what would have taken all day walking.

Since we were staying in Elgin, an hour from downtown Chicago, we only spent one and a half day there. 

Sunday morning, we went to Willowcreek Community Church. Willowcreek is one of  my "bucket list churches." I have heard Bill Hybels via Satelight and read his books. Being at the church in person for worship and to hear Hybels was incredible. 

We flew out Tuesday evening, so we spent that day driving along the Fox River, relaxing and enjoying the beautiful day. 

The Grand Dame of All Geyesers

Posted by Les

Old Faithful 

   
              Since Yellowstone National Park was opened for tourism in 1902-03, the most famous and
      popular attraction in has always been Old Faithful, spewing her steamy water spout over 150 feet high.
              Every 90 minutes (that is, plus or minus 10 minutes these days) she puts on her show to vast
                                                             audiences as she's done for eons.

                              

 

                              

     

             The Old Faithful Inn was equally spectacular as a piece of architectural history constructed with
                                                      trees and stone from the landscape.

                              

    


                      

                  

    Four story atrium made of tree trunks.

Time to Switch Back to Our Vacation Pics

Posted by Les

More Scenes from Yellowstone's Geyser Basin

       From Mammoth Springs and Yellowstone Village, we trekked southward on the western park road,
                and quickly came upon an rock slide area that was like a cemetery full of monuments.

                                                     

                               
  
 

                           

  

 Just beyond the rock slide area we went through a scenic pass between two mountains with a spectacular                                                 bridge that is built out from the side of the rock.

                                     

      Continuing on we soon enter the Geyser Basin area that makes Yellowstone so famous.  The geysers
          appear everywhere and on every kind of surface, including flat land, valleys, lakes, and hillsides.
       This particular hillside had hundreds of steaming vents at work like a big commercial kitchen range
                                           with 20 burners and a boiling pan on each burner.

                        The park road is a panorama of beauty no matter what direction you are driving.
                                                    Windshield time is like visiting an art gallery.

                 The largest concentration of geysers, mud pits, and sulpher cauldrons are surrounding
the Old Faithful area.  The variation of colors is amazing in those natural hot tubs.  Crystal clear ponds of azure blue, violet and orange boiling water, that look bottomless.  I can remember as a 5 year old being terrified of falling into one of these and never being rescued.  My dad probably warned me that would
                                         happen if I got too close to the edge of the boardwalks.

                          

      

                          

      

                                                        Mud pits are creepy and they stink.

                         

    

                                           Jeannette always looks good in the great outdoors.

                                         

Curb Appeal on the Rise

Posted by Les

Fresh Colors for the Outside

   For the last two weeks, I've been painting the front side of the house for some much needed curb appeal.
                     I just couldn't put it off any longer, even though I have lots more to do inside.
        We purchased paint months ago, selecting an old favorite color scheme based on the color palette
      we used on our first home, purchased way back in 1974 in Arlington.  This house we're working on
      39 years later, is beginning to look so fresh as it brings lots of contrast to a neighborhood of houses
                            adorned in your typical drab colors that don't make your head turn.

                                                  

  The neighbors and passers by are giving us lots of thumbs up in approval.  It reminds me of the fresh fruit       salad I made the other day with honeydew melon and cantaloupe.  FRESH COLORS.  There's almost a       scent of  melons if you stare long enough.  We found these beautiful cushions online to upgrade our porch                           chairs too.  They bring a perfect accent and focal point to our curb appeal.

 
                       

Names Out of the Past

    In addition, we've been picking up a number of vintage bricks scattered around our acre estate that have     old manufacturer names stamped on the faces.  I gathered them up and bordered our porch with them just                   for the sake of adding another little feature that corresponds with the age of the house.

                   

        

                  

        

Sneak Peak at the Hall Bathroom

               

      

                                                Tiling the shower enclosure is well underway.
        In case you've forgotten how much needed to be done, take a look at our posts back in January.