The original money pit strikes again

Although the bulk of our efforts since May have been focused on getting the river house ready for use, we have had to take care of some issues at our primary residence. You can't exactly live without AC during a sweltering Texas summer. Or at least I'm not willing to live like that. Therefore, we had the largest HVAC unit replaced in the main house. We survived with just fans in the master wing for a couple weeks since we have two other units serving the main house. The guest apartment out back also needed a new compressor, so we decided to bite the bullet and replace that one, too. Now we're all set, come triple digits or another freakish snow-filled Arctic blast this winter.

The other bit of maintenance we had done recently was tying the cabana's septic into the guest apartment's existing aerobic system. Today I had three pallets of St Augustine grass put down to cover the trenched areas that left us with dirt patches in the yard. It's hard to list a house for top dollar with a lawn that's looking rather worse for wear.

Yumminess

Since we bought the river house, we've started exploring restaurants in that area on weekends. The whole family was thrilled to discover a favorite sandwich, salad, soup and pie place has another location up there. So one weekday when I was hitting the thrift shops in search of good deals on vintage milk glass pieces, I stopped in for my personal favorite - chicken salad salad and a slice of chocolate peanut butter pie. It was as good as I remembered enjoying at their original location we frequented in our old suburban town.

We decided to give a local Tex Mex restaurant a try recently after seeing it covered up in cars every time we drove by. A sizable crowd usual means good food. Sure enough, we weren't disappointed and will add it to our list of local places to eat. I know some Burleson ladies I've invited for a fall weekend who will be happy to give it a whirl.

Evolution of a hutch

When we purchased the river house, I inherited the bulk of the furniture and decor from the owner. I kept some, repurposed a bit on the property, sent some to the consignment shop and donated the rest. Since this massive hutch imported from Mexico was situated as a built-in against the big wall of the dining room, I decided to work with it. Keeping it the original late 90s orange stain with bleached spots from the sun wasn't an option, so paint was the obvious answer. And new hardware... which was backordered and is supposedly shipping this next week. Fingers crossed.

The decorator thought it should be navy blue and I agreed. When it was first painted, I wasn't so sure. Thankfully, decor softened it. I was taken with how the milk glass pieces really popped against the blue, and decided to take away every other color to fill the entire hutch with milk glass.

I think it's a very striking look. The pic above is my first go at arranging the milk glass. I'm sure I'll be tweaking it through the summer, plus I'm still waiting for a couple final pieces I bought on eBay to arrive. The bits and pieces we originally had in the hutch were moved to the glass fronted kitchen cabinets to give it a bit of color against the white, as well as some personality. Now I just need to take my two inspiration pieces to the river and add them to the collection for the hutch's look to be finished - my granny's little hobnail milk glass lamp and mother's milk glass hen on a nest covered dish.

Drought days don't bother us

Being so close to the river's headwaters means that we still have some flow despite our current drought. Folks downstream aren't so lucky. Last I heard, we've only received about 5-6" of rain thus far in 2022. We are thrilled to still be able to enjoy floating and relaxing on the water.

Last weekend, an old hometown friend I've known for 40+ years took me up on my offer for her and her close family to stay at the river house. We had purchased one of those swim mats recently since that appears to be the thing here. Two of our neighbors across the river have their mats anchored out in the deepest part of the channel, so we had our visitors add this lime green mat to the mix so they could enjoy it.

We're back at the river house this weekend to do a bit more work with organization and storage. You know, secondary things like arranging the fridge and kitchen cabinets in a more usable way since we aren't busy entertaining. Adding more milk glass pieces to my blue sideboard and hutch. Putting our water hoses on those handy reel carts. I think it's this sort of fine tuning that makes everything run more smoothly down the line. There's no doubt I am my granny Doris' granddaughter!

Fumble bumbling around

Back in the day, I always had pretty good coordination. I was a middle school twirler and member of color guard in high school. I could C&W dance with the best of them in my 20s. For some reason, I've become less and less sure footed as the aging process has occurred. May I present to you the following photographic evidence of me needing to either A) wear a suit of armor, or B) invest in bubble wrap to provide needed cushioning. 

Thus far my list of boo-boos includes slipping down on the one day it rained in the past month and skinning my knee. Misjudging the rock ledge in the river and scraping my knee. Slamming this same abused knee into the coffee table at the river house while working to decorate it and having blood running down my leg. Jamming my toe on a rock in the river and breaking it. Getting a big bruise on my arm and having no idea how I acquired it during the move-in process at the river. You've been spared a look at my pinky toe because I neglected to take a pic of the damage. It got sprained and also turned purple when I was unboxing lake decor in the river house garage several weeks ago.

I may need to locate mother's walkers we stored in the workshop to give myself a buffer zone of protection to help ward off running into stuff. Tripping over things. Misjudging distances. Good thing I take vitamin D daily to help protect my bones.

 

Boot fence, a Texas peculiarity

You see a lot of strange things in Texas. A house covered in beer cans. Cadillacs buried halfway in the sand. World's largest killer bee statue. Old boots decorating fenceposts.

That last one is in our neck of the woods near the river house. South of Hunt, you'll find boot fence. I have a small painting on my bluebonnet wall that depicts this. Searching for how boot fence got started, I located a Q&A column published several years ago in Texas Monthly magazine that discusses it. 

We've got Crider's Rodeo on our to-do list. Maybe not this summer because it's already circle-of-hell hot here. Hopefully next year while the temps are more moderate. Who knows... if we keep the river house for a while, we may be adding a boot or two to the collection.

Toe up

The chorkie isn't dead. He's just catching some zzz's on our bed. I'm not sure how he ended up in this position, but that one leg sticking out of the covers cracked me up. I'll be glad when our older daughter is able to have chorkie live with her again. But I've got to admit I might miss him a little because he's such a character.

River house revamp DONE

There are still some tweaks to be made to the interior. Things like artwork for several walls. Bedskirts for a couple beds. But the bulk of the river house was finished in time for us to celebrate the holiday weekend with the husband's side of the family.

 

 

The kitchen got a good trial run, with us baking and making several meals. I'm glad I opted for sturdy polished granite countertops that are easy to keep clean and mostly indestructible.

The back porch was a popular place to gather in the afternoons since we always get a good breeze up there. While the oldest generation lounged on the swing and rocking chairs, the rest of us trekked down our 55 steps to the Guadalupe where we floated the afternoon away. 

One place in the river house that still needs some work is the little chapel area. I've got a good start, but I'll be spending the rest of the summer gathering items to make it complete. One of my favorite things I've found on eBay thus far is the old communion tray, the same sort that held grape juice in my Baptist church when I was a kid.

The angel was originally on the decorative ledge in this same part of the house. I brought it down and placed it on a granite topped table with a light behind it so that it's backlit at night and more visually interesting.