Movin' to "Cruisin'"

We're back aboard, so I'm switching blogs again: Back to the original, "Cruising on Second Fantasy." See you there! Cruising on Second Fantasy

More CLS Scenes/Moments

Inside the House

We have put some of Tom's turkey prints up the wall along the stairway since this picture was taken.

After spending the night out on the town about ten days ago, Annie slunk into the house beat up and bedraggled, minus her collar and her usual swagger. A few days later we realized that the scrape we had seen was not the only injury under her chin; she had a large puncture wound there as well. A vet visit entailed being gassed, stitched, and shot up with antibiotics, resulting in a renewed if slightly less delinquent cat.




In the Garage

Anyone familiar with our garage/dump in Baytown would be amazed and impressed, or maybe just relieved, by the organizational impulse Tom brought to the garage here.

He has artfully hung mementos, . . .

constructed and filled shelves,

and devised ways to simplify his work there.

Tom has had well-appreciated help from Tommy and Art (who, amazingly, picked up and hung the Mercury 25 outboard by himself) and also from our young neighbor Cody, but he has also constructed wenches and levers and other devices to lift and install items such as this heavy hose reel. I've always admired the way he approaches a problem, taking his time, thinking it through, and gathering tools before finally tackling and solving it, and this hasn't changed.

Credit also needs to go to Ronnie R., who rebuilt the garage, adding high, sturdy shelves, after Hurricane Ike brought several feet of water into the structure. Tom is placing the more valuable items up high, in hopes that Ike will be neither repeated nor surpassed in the near future. If it is, we still feel fairly secure, in that our living space is probably eighteen or twenty feet above the water.  

Around the House

We found a place in the flowerbed for St. Francis.

So this is why they call these flowers "birds of paradise." I can't believe we have these in our flowerbed!

I love this tree down in Sundial Park, in the area (about a half mile from our house) where golf carts gather to watch the sunset each evening. I will probably do a long-term photographic study of it at some point.

Still Here

I need to go back and check how many times I've titled a post this (or a similar) way . . .  does seem to be a frequent motif within these pages.

Second Fantasy has not yet splashed down, and we don't plan to leave our wonderful new home until we know that we can move directly into it upon arrival in Little River. So we continue to unpack and organize and decorate . . . and play.*

After relishing a month of gloriously unrivaled Texas spring weather (70ish days, blue skies, breezes, no mosquitoes!), we can feel the tide turning toward hot and muggy. The high will reach 90 today.  Time to leave!

*Best play date: Hearing (and dancing and singing to) The Fab Five, along with Arlene and Jim, at Jackie's Brickhouse just down the road, as they took the crowd on a Magical Mystery Tour of the Beatles songbook. What fun!

Sunset after a Storm

Clear Lake Shores Drag Races

Karen, Ray, Debbie, and Ken, after a lovely dinner (mostly provided by them) on our deck, escorted us down to Sundial Park to view the CLS Drag Race, an annual parade of and contest for men dressed in drag. Todd won the coveted trophy for the third time.

A Dove Couple Moves In

"Wonder if this spot would work for us?"

Let's go for it; time to build.

Annie

 Annie has forgiven us for leaving her in a stable for months and months, and has taken to the easy life. She was happy to accept the attentions of Elizabeth and Nathan, and they were happy to use her as a Bauer substitute until they were able to see their own baby again back in California.

We have agreed that, given the total freedom to which she became accustomed at Gerri Lynn's place, it would be cruel, unusual, and impossible to enforce a stay-inside policy on our cat, so she comes and goes. As I write this at 9 p.m., we are concerned that she remains outside somewhere, but we will accept the anxiety that comes with granting our youngest the freedom to which she was born.