I've noticed on lake weekends we end up playing this repetitive morning game when it's coffee time.
Is this my coffee?
Whose cup is this?
(takes sip) This isn't my coffee!
I guess that's inevitable when you buy a plate set that includes eight matching coffee cups. So I decided to remedy this issue by purchasing a variety of lake themed coffee mugs to keep us all straight.
These are a few of the ones I ordered on Etsy. I especially like the last one!
You know you've hit the usual summer drought conditions in our neck of the woods when you're longing for a tropical depression. Just a little one. Nothing big. No high winds or storm surge. Just some rain to feed our poor parched flora and fauna, in addition to helping recharge the aquifer. When I got a good look at this forecast for the weekend, I was super excited.
It didn't matter that we were headed to the lake - rain was the priority. And we got one good downpour, plus a few instances of sprinkles and lots of clouds. But we were sorely disappointed we didn't receive anywhere near these projected rainfall totals for the little storm that actually turned into Cat 1 Hurricane Hanna before she hit the south Texas coast on Saturday.
In anticipation of having the husband's parents with us at the lake, I made a run to stock up on some more games. They particularly love to play dominos.
The older daughter and I headed up to the lake with our dogs on Thursday in order to wash sheets and towels from our guests the weekend before. Plus vacuum and mop, as well as hit the local HEB for food supplies. We also made time for a lunch stop at Marble Falls' famous Bluebonnet Cafe. My lunch special of chicken sour cream enchiladas were great. We finished up the meal by splitting a piece of fudge pie just like my granny used to make, only with a big blob of soft serve ice cream to pack on a couple hundred more calories.
I took the final pieces of decor up to the lake house this weekend for placement. I had to add a second end table to the downstairs living room between the sofa and new club chair. After waiting two weeks to get it framed, I was happy to shift the bluebonnet house picture to its new home so I could hang the ten vintage Marble Falls and lakes/rivers postcards in that spot. The fossil also found its resting place.
Saturday morning, while the clouds rolled in and we were still holding out lots of hope for rain that afternoon, we went for a boat ride. As you can see in the pics, Brutus joined us. And he's quite the confident boater. My husband's parents love their darling yorkiepoo Brutus, and he did really well with joining our pack for a weekend at the lake.
I'm still working on the very last few odds and ends for the lake house. One item that just delivered is a fish fossil. I was looking for something to compliment the fish figurine and fishing creel on a console table in the living room. And who knew there were so many fish fossils, very reasonably priced, on eBay. For less than $50, I bought a really cool one from the Green River formation in Wyoming. I can't wait to place it in its new home this weekend.
I've had a fun time finding the last few items, some a bit quirky, to make the knick knacks less straight-from-the-catalog and more conversation pieces. So I think the fish fossil find is really cool since it's dated to the Eocene Epoch, from 33-50 million years ago. Decor can't get much more vintage or antique than that.
It's that time of year, when I hate living in the great state of Texas. Time seems to drag starting in July because I'm ready for the slide from my fall pumpkins to Christmas Santa decor, along with the move back into temps that don't rival the gates of hell. Plus fall means Bible Study Fellowship kicks off a new year and I get to return to mentoring my sweet little elementary girl. So I'm just sitting around sweating in this miserable heat while trying to get beneath an AC vent, wishing my life away looking forward to the wonder and joy I find every year when we finally get into autumn.
Thanks to our local wild critters, we're having a really hot AND stinky summer in our house. It seems at least one squirrel, raccoon, ring tailed cat, opossum, etc made its way into our attic and has obviously died up there. Overnight and into mid-morning, the smell isn't bad. But by high noon it's starting to reek again. And then at supper time, I'm decidedly NOT ready to eat because the smell is nauseating. At least to my super sensitive bloodhound nose.
We're getting someone to come in and reattach the mesh that has obviously come down and allowed critters into the attic. Again. We initially had attic dwellers that required critter evictors. All was well and access blocked until we had the roof replaced. And then we had part of the gutters reworked. So I guess it was only a matter of time before the furry little suckers found a way back in. I just wish they had the decency to vacate our premises before expiring!
This weekend I'm taking a break from the lake, my only one this summer. However, the older daughter and some friends have gone up to enjoy it. So that leaves me in charge of her furry child Dewey, the chorkie beast, for a couple days.
He turns one next month and is still high energy, all nine pounds of him. It's like having a toddler in the house, one who tore up a plush dog toy this morning and was eating the stuffing out of it. One who brings his rope and ball over to me to whine or make this snuffling bark noise until I throw it for him. Thankfully, he considers our female cairn Pepper his buddy, so he often pesters her for attention instead of me. Best part of him being a grand dog instead of kid is that I can put him in his kennel when I want a break!
It always happens around the 4th of July, when we hit the triple digits here in south central Texas and are resigned to the oppressive heat until late September. This year at the lake was no exception.
We had a small gathering of the younger daughter's friends from Clemson visiting us, so we tubed, jet skied, lounged in/by the pool and cooked most meals on the grill.
We also fed the usual cast of web-footed characters who paddled up to the dock looking for handouts.
I found a new insulated tumbler at the local market to add to my lake house collection. I'm absolutely NOT Real Housewives material, but it tickles my funny bone to pretend.
Although the fireworks display in our lakeside community was canceled, we enjoyed watching the random fireworks that popped up over the trees on occasion.
But I think I got an even bigger thrill out of the gorgeous full moon rising over the water in our cove - truly spectacular!
