Sweltering in Texas and a New Driveway

Damn it’s hot! We’ve been home from the mountains a little over a week and my internal thermometer has still not adjusted. More and more, I detest Texas summers. In fact, I wonder how I’ve stood them this many years. It seems to me that they’re getting hotter every year, even though I keep being reminded by people that this summer is so much cooler than last. But the difference between 98 degrees and 100 is so negligible it’s almost unnoticeable.

We made an offer on a house we found while we were up in New Mexico. We came home excited and nervous. I talked to the real estate agent on Friday and the people had decided not to sell, had pulled the house off the market. It was too good to be true anyway. Completely furnished. A doll house. They live in Florida and the man had had a heart attack last spring. His doctor told him to stay out of the mountains. I suppose they panicked and put their summer home up for sale. We fell in love with it, too, so I don’t blame them for having a change of heart. But the disappointment overwhelmed me for a few days.  Finally, my SO came to my rescue again, after getting a little miffed at the way I was acting. Disappointments like that have always affected my entire mood. But anyway, now  we’re back to perusing the internet, looking at other options. We really like that area and plan to revisit it again in September when we go back through there on the way to the SO’s Denver market.

A few  good things did come out of it, though. At least we found out our credit scores. And we know  we can get a loan. For some reason, it also made me get off my duff and get some things done around here that have needed doing. We had a construction company out to rebuild the road, or driveway. They came with a maintainer on Sunday, scraped the ground down, then brought in six loads of pea gravel. It’s a huge improvement, no more potholes to splash through. While the road crew  was here, we had them knock down the dirt pile that’s been by the fire-ring for two years growing weeds. That looks better as well. 

I’ve also scrubbed the marble shower stall in our bathroom until it gleams ... well, gleams as much as it’s capable of gleaming. It’s been scratched and scrubbed with too many aggressive cleansers in years past to truly gleam. The door leaks at the bottom and it’s caused the sheetrock on the wall between it and the jacuzzi to crumble and mold. I’m planning to call someone to come measure for a new glass shower door this week; the wall I will attempt to repair myself. Bought some dry wall patch and paint. It’s a small area. Once I get into it and see how much water damage there is, I may change my mind and try to find a handyman. The SO is not one. In fact, I think I know more about this sort of thing than he does, which is saying something since I know almost nothing. He can fix anything mechanical but really hates everything to do with construction or repairs of structure, if that makes sense. His father died when he was in his early 20s and I think that may have something to do with his lack of knowledge in this area. But there’s also a lack of interest. Daddy says he has no self-confidence about building or construction repair, and there’s probably some truth to that. Anyway, I’ve learned to tackle these tasks myself or they don’t get done without a fuss. I actually don't mind that kind of work, I just wish I knew more.

Meanwhile, the three little crepe myrtle at the end of the driveway seem to be thriving this year. I think they’ve finally put down deep roots and are ready to grow. They’ve been so busy surviving and rooting-in that they forgot to bloom. All over the countryside, the crepe myrtle have been spectacular because of the abundant spring rains. But these three skipped the bloom, and root growth is the only explanation I can come up with for it. There have been several times since we planted them that I thought they were dead, or dying, but they've hung on, with us hauling water down there to them when it didn’t rain. The effort has paid off. They will eventually, I believe now, make beautiful trees.

I do still love it here. But I will love it better when it cools off enough to get back outside and do some things. As it is right now, it’s all I can manage just to go out in the mornings and squirt around a little water. Come on autumn!

Onward ....