THE BLACK DIRT IS IN AND THE SAHARA BERMUDA IS PLANTED

I understand why families decide to hydromulch rather than hand-sow grass seed.  But.....because we are people who want to do everything ourselves because labor is so expensive, we decided to go the hand-sow route.  $80.00 for seed versus $2000 at least for hydromulch. 

After doing some research, I decided to go with Sahara Bermuda.  It is supposed to be drought resistant and hearty.  This is important in the rugged West Texas heat.  Worse case scenario....we've lost $80 on grass seed and a couple of weeks with a muddy loblolly.....and we have to call in the experts. 

This is before the black dirt is trucked from a fertile swag in the pasture....

This is after.....

And here is a garden update......everything is growing....we should have our first produce by the end of next week.  Notice the corn stalks in the back left corner....That is CORN on the top. 

I smushed two more gigantic green horned tomato worms.  I picked them...bare handed....from the tomato vine and stepped on them.  It was empowering... ;-)  These grape tomatoes will be the first to ripen.  They are beautiful.

See the damage the tomato worms have done to this plant?  They are really becoming a problem.  What to do......I guess this will be my next research project.

THE CANDY CORN AND BLACKEYED PEAS HAVE "BROKEN THROUGH"

Not only do I have 18" sweet corn stalks, I now have 4" candy corn stalks and the blackeyed peas have poked their little green heads out of the ground in the garden.  PLUS, I planted an experimental crop of candy corn and blackeyed peas in my 10-acre wheat field.  The field crops will depend solely on rainfall....we planted this crop right in time for the forecasted rains....that have yet to come.  Maybe tonight. 

Then there is the field.  It has been planted with wheat; however, it now has corn and blackeyed peas at the end.  We marked our rows with piles of rock...so we can find the produce amongst the cow feed. 

Pray for Rain....no tornados....and no hail....

MY YARD IS GOING IN....HOPE THE RAIN DOESN'T WASH IT ALL AWAY....

I thought I was going to have to wait another season to get my yard in.  But....after constant wrangling with dirt contractors, we got started today.  Man....everything costs an arm and a leg.  We are providing our own dirt and it is still costing over $3000 to get 8" of dirt on the yard....some contouring work done....and all of our flowerbeds filled.  And the economy is bad?  And we got 4 bids???  Wow!!!

The retaining wall looks great....the flowerbeds around the back porch may need another level of cut stone.  The dirt guys put dirt inside the stair area....but this will be replaced with professionally installed stairs...depending on the price! :-)

All of this dirt work was done in one day...I think the dry-stacked retaining wall is amazing.  Honestly, this was erected by two teenage boys and my husband....back-breaking work that was bid out at $3600.00!  Can you imagine?  Manual labor...teenage boys....$360.00!

Furthermore, the professionals wanted to dig a trench...pour a footer....then build a masonry retaining wall.  The man who rocked my house told me..."retaining walls not built on virgin soil will crack and crumble and your hard-earned money will be wasted."  So we dry-stacked....smart and asthetically appealing to me.  When my home is completely finished, it will look like it has been here for 100's of years....

SUNROOM / GAME ROOM / ???

This is my favorite room in the house.  When I was designing, I had plans for this to be a game room....pool table...poker table....a game room.

However, I had all of this awesome authentic Davis Furniture Company Ranch Oak that came straight out of my grandparents' ranch house.  I also ran in to this awesome wall hanging last summer and decided that whatever I did, this wall hanging would be my inspiration for color and theme.

So....because I have so many western antiques, it ended up a television room and my favorite room in the house.  The only thing it is missing is a fireplace.  The thing is, during design, I put the fireplace in....took the fireplace out....put it in...and finally, took it out.  Oh well, we have a family room, complete with double-sided fireplace, that needs to be used. 

You will be hard pressed to find furniture like this coffee table with hand-carved longhorns all around.  The cowhide rug adds the finishing touch in front of a black leather loveseat with recliners.

This corner...is where the fireplace would have gone...it is also my favorite corner of the room.  On the right are my dad's boyhood chaps and belt.  The little red boots were mine, and the bronzed baby shoes...made into book ends....were my dad's.  He wore these in 1936.  Honestly, this is why my Tuscan-inspired home is quickly becoming Western heritage...it is what I know and it is what I'm proud of.  These things don't belong in the storeroom.

This next piece of Davis Ranch Oak is one I have never seen anywhere else.  This lamp stood beside my grandfather's chair all of his life.  The wagonwheel is edged in copper, and the shade is made up of old family photos.  Incredible!

The window behind the lamp is about 10 feet wide.  It needs some kind of accent around it.  I don't want to cover the windows....I want to make them look finished.  Maybe I will find some light-weight burlap to frame the window....I like texture and I like different.

Finally, this phone actually worked when I was growing up.  It did not call out on Ma Bell...it did, however, call the other house in the pasture behind headquarters.  The "All-Day Roping" sign is real and was produced to advertise the annual roping held at the ranch when my dad was a teenager....and the metal string of stars go up and over the patio doors that also lead out onto the covered porch.

PLANTING MY PATIO FLOWERS...FURNITURE ASSEMBLY TOMORROW!

After several trips to the nursery, I about have my patio plantings finished.  This hanging pot is my favorite....my first spaghum moss basket and I think it turned out pretty good.

The basket is planted primarily with geraniums and sweet potato vine.  I love the vine because it falls over the edge of the basket and will grow to the ground.  The geraniums are bubble gum pink and in the middle is a spiky grass.

Here is my favorite planter.  I bought this frog several years ago and he always wears an heirloom daylilly...it will eventually look like he has big hair and a bow!

Frog is talavera pottery made deep in Mexico.  Because we live close to the Mexican border, we had easy access to pottery.  Now, with the drug cartels wrecking havoc in Mexico, no talavera is coming out of Mexico.  The trip, 22 hours from the Texas-Mexico border, is just not worth the risk.

And here are my tried-and-true red geraniums.  I have several of these pots for my porch and the brilliant red is the first thing people see when they drive up.

  These talavera pots have antique petunias....a petunia I have never raised before....but they are gorgeous.  The other flowers are a cascading flower that are very dainty and go well with these petunias.

This wall will also have a hanging metal hose hanger.  Hopefully tomorrow while we are assembling the patio furniture!

MY "NEW" DINING ROOM FURNITURE -- PRICELESS!!

I have shopped and shopped for the perfect dining room furniture.  Everything I find is extremely expensive or not fitting for my high ceilings....textured walls....and ornate doors leading out to the front porch.  Tuscan, Old World lends itself to bold, massive furniture with metal accents...I thought.

I found a few suites I liked...either they were extremely expensive, the buffet did not fit in the 66" opening on my shorter wall, or the buffet was exquisite with an ultra-disappointing china cabinet.

Sooooo....My sister just bought a home that does not have a dining room. Honestly, times have changed and there are more and more homes that feel like their square footage is better utilized without a formal area. My sister's home is awesome...Texas Hill Country....gated community....but no dining room.

"Yes, Little Sister, I will store your furniture for you....

Well, here it is, and it looks pretty good in my dining room!

I do want to explain that these 8' doors are not the entry doors.  I designed my house to have a medium-sized dining room that would open up to the expansive front porch when entertaining.  The purpose is to better utilize the front porch by being a part of my home's living area....genius....right?? :-)

Soooooo....Why you understand now why my furniture is new and priceless?

It is my SISTER'S!!!!

And it looks great!  No more dining room stress for a while....Now we can move on to another room.

Now we have to decorate!!!!

Soon.......

We aren't going to tell her that the trip in the gooseneck trailer took its toll.  She should know that traveling in a real livestock trailer is going to result in cow manure to be stuck to the bottom of her ivory silk-covered dining chairs and a few bumps and bruises elsewhere. LOL

RAIN....RAIN.....GIVE ME A BREAK....I NEED TO PLANT TODAY!!

We woke this morning to clouds and mist.  And I sooooo want to plant today.  My garden is thriving because of the rain.  The plants and trees on the back porch are surviving on well water....better than city water....but not the same as good old rain water.

Notice the peach tree on the back porch. It has 3 peaches on it!! Amazing.  I'm not sure if they will mature because even though dwarf fruit trees do mature and produce faster than regular trees, I'm pretty sure they are not supposed to produce fruit the first year.  We'll see! 

Do you see why I am so ready to get these flowers and veggies planted?  Notice the squash plant....twice as big as when I bought it.  And the antique petunias are beautiful.  I have a spaghum moss hanging basket for these.  Does anyone know what kind of flowers are beside them....they are going to really complement the petunias because they will flow nicely over the side.  Finally, I will add sweet potato vine to the hanging basket.  It will literally touch the ground before summer is over, and it is bright light green.

My best buy has to be the two grape vines seen in this picture.  They were reduced from $10 to $1 each because they really looked dead.  Not dead!  They are looking great!

I'm still looking for the sun  --  mist and 58 chilly degrees is not what I was looking for today.