First Half of August

Well, Dallas finally hit the one hundred degree mark and has made up for lost time. Whew, but it's been hot.  Early in the morning on a few days, I tried to drink my coffee on the "new" patio but I certainly haven't done it in the last week or so.  Here's the new furniture with added pillows:

I still need to get some metal yard art for the brick wall and some nice colorful big pots with plants.  I've not even looked for such items yet but will when the weather is less hot.  When the weather gets cooler, it's going to be a lovely place to enjoy with coffee in the morning and maybe even a glass of wine in the evening.  But for right now, it's coffee indoors!

Last week, two neighbors, Ann O'Hara and Sandy Russell, and I went to the Dallas Museum of Art to see the Dior Exhibit. Oh, my!!!  The House of Dior had some absolutely fabulous designers.  I wish we could have stayed longer but we really did enjoy the exhibit.  Here are a few of my favorites and a few "interesting" designs:

Love the NYC skyline on this fur coat!

I think the above is my absolute favorite! So beautiful!

On some of these designs, no breasts were allowed!  These are just a very few of the items on display. It was fun watching tweenage and teenage girls get excited about the clothing.

Right now, Rudy, owner of Payless Home Repair, and Eddie, one of his painters, are prepping the exterior of the house for a new paint job! Rudy has worked for us for over 20 years and I truly trust him to make my home safe and strong.

Also today, HOPEFULLY the technician from Pella will replace the locking handset at the patio door.  A tech came out a month ago and jerry-rigged the handset as the thumb turn was loose and I was afraid it would fall off.  He said he'd fixed it with parts from his truck.  NOT!!! The door would lock prior to him "fixing" it but now it won't lock at all.  I called Pella and told them I wanted a brand new, fresh from the box entire handset, key and all, and of course, it took three weeks to order it! We'll see how that goes.  Jay had Pella doors and windows installed, I guess, because they come from Iowa.  Problem is, no one will work on them so you have to go to Pella and they are NOT responsive. I sure hope today will contradict me!

Well, that's about it for the first half of August. If anything exciting happens, I'll be sure to let you know.

Welcome, August!

Looking back, July was a pretty doggone good month.  I finally [fingers crossed] got Delta Airlines straightened out.  I notified them of Jay's passing two days after he'd passed.  For five months, despite calls from me each month, not only did they debit our checking account for Jay's medical dental insurance, they continued to deposit his salary!  They stopped his retirement immediately but despite all the proper paperwork, they were unable to comprehend that he was no longer a citizen of this planet.  I received the reimbursement of the medical dental and saw that there was hope.  Then, a week later, I got a letter from Delta advising me to pay back his salary.  DUH!!!  I knew that but was just waiting for them to stop.  They have been reimbursed and, hopefully, all's well that ends well!

Weatherwise, July wasn't as hot as years gone by.  We didn't get to 100 degrees until July 30th, I believe.  Nice!  And today, we're having a lovely soft gentle rain.

As some of you know, we have a gigantic red oak tree in our side courtyard.  It lost several limbs in the June 9 storm.  Here are a few photos from the neighborhood:

The last photo is of the limbs I lost from the red oak but others in the neighborhood lost stone or brick walls, roofs, windows, and flooded floors due to the torrential rain.  My new roof was completed just days before the storm and it seems to have held up quite well.

Said red oak doesn't allow grass or other plantings to grow there and each year we've gone to the expense of having that area resodded.  This year, I decided to replace it with artificial turf.  After Sam Hill Tree Service trimmed and reshaped the tree due to limb loss, I had North Texas Luxury Lawns install artificial turf.

Before [after Meredyth's arduous work]:

There were large flagstones in front of the patio and half a dozen or more azaleas in front of the guest bedroom window.  Flagstones were re-placed outside the west gate.


During:

I, maybe not so surreptitiously, snapped a photo of the crew during the installation.


After:

That's the back of the amazing Donny Lee who oversaw the project.

Meredyth Petree and her crew did an amazing job assisting me with the planning and removal of unwanted plantings, flagstone move and new plantings outside the west gate not to mention pruning and reshaping neglected or abused shrubs. She's absolutely priceless!

I'm now pondering whether or not I should extend the artificial turf to the back wall!  But I'll think about that another day.

The patio is going to be used much to my delight!  Jay would have loved it!

My good friend, Cindi Eades, helped me select new patio furniture from Yard Art in Plano on the last day of July and it was delivered the very next day - a two seat glider and a rocker. It's grey and shows up a little drab so after it was delivered, I ordered some bright and lively pillows to give it some pizzazz from where else? - Amazon!!!

I also had the help of Cindi in ordering a new vehicle.  Jay's MKX is wonderful but just too big for me.  I'll not divulge make and model of my new vehicle until closer to delivery date - or even after delivery.

So, maybe the first "do" will be Pinot on the Patio!!