Saturday, June 28, 2008

Crape Myrtles and a New Old Couch



The crape myrtles have been planted! They are so pretty. Jeremy did a great job on researching and narrowing down which ones would do well in our area and I got to pick them out. Patton approved of the selections and promptly marked them as ours. Now all we have to do is love them and watch them grow.

The ceiling fan was installed in the main living room this morning. It's better than the standing "Hawaiian Breeze" that did not take me back to our honeymoon, such as it's name would suggest.

Thanks to Uncle Ron and Aunt Jackie we now have a couch in the sitting room. It was apparently my grandmothers. The cushions have springs in them and they weigh a ton. It needs to be reupholstered and refinished, but it has great wood detail and a lot of potential. We really appreciate Uncle Ron and Travis dropping it off.

Last night we had Lane and LeighAnne over for an impromptu engagement party. They are getting married in March. We had a blast and maybe a little too much wine. At least we have the rest of the weekend to recover while sitting on our new couch under the breeze of the fan while admiring our crape myrtles.



Thursday, June 26, 2008

Keeping up with the McDannels...



Jeremy, Patton, and I are 3 weeks into our first house! Although the furniture and decor are not up to my standards as of yet (cue Jeremy's blue cloth recliner) the house is absolutely perfect. It has three bedrooms and two baths, with an attached two car garage in the rear.

Patton is still adjusting to life sans carpet. He has made good use of the back yard and gives the term "weed eater" a new meaning. He spends most of his time on a perch in the sitting room's big bay window. The highlight of his day consists of barking madly at the mailman, his natural enemy, as mail is delivered through the slot located between said window and the front door. Jeremy and I especially love walking Patton through the friendly neighborhood of Lake Highlands, where he has been, for the most part, on his best behavior.

Jeremy is taking increased pride in the yard and has quickly become a Neil Sperry addict. I'm convinced he is turning into his father. Hopefully the green thumb genes were passed down to Jeremy.

We are getting two crape myrtles for the side of the house this weekend from the Crape Myrtle Trails of McKinney:
http://www.crapemyrtletrails.org/.
One will be a Tonto, with bright pink flowers, to be planted in front of the dinning room window and the other is a white flowered Acoma for the living room windows.

In the meantime I have planted a small potted herb garden harboring lemon mint, basil, oregano, thyme, and rosemary. They are all doing quite well. I'm excited to cook with them and will also try drying a few. So far Patton has more of a palate for crab grass than my herbs, thank goodness!

Other big house purchases include Radiant Barrier for the attic that will be installed on Monday and landscaping for the front and back yards. Hopefully a mechanical gate will be in the near future. Although it is a toss up between that and a new chair for me... I mean Jeremy.