Happy Mother's Day to everyone to whom that is appropriate!  It was a beautiful day here in the Hill Country.  We had quite a bit of rain last week, including that hail storm that I drove into from the Austin Airport Thursday night.  It was an amazing light show from my vantage point coming across the Devil's Backbone, and then all hell broke loose...

 The day after was pretty foggy, but clear and sunny before another round came in that afternoon.  Seems like no one likes to work, especially outside, when it is stormy.

 This is the view our future neighbor to the west will have on sunny mornings.  We're thinking he will want to build on the other side of his lot...

 Close up with the rain still beaded up on the metal.  I don't think we got any hail at the site.

 Current status of the stone work on the north side of the office/bedroom wing.  The window on the right is my office, the large one on the left is the guest bedroom and the little ones on the end are in the Master Bath.

 Current view of the east side of the house from the street

Detail of the north facade.  The white blocks are styrofoam.  They will be shaped and much thinner when finished, and then they'll get a couple of coats of stucco.

We are planning to use travertine tile for much of the flooring.  Recently I went to Houston and picked out these 3 plus 1 more crate from the dealer.

 Another good one...

Some exciting news...about 3 June we expect to close the purchase of some additional land below the ledge.  Two lots came up for sale a while back so we decided to make an offer, to protect the views and limit additional development below the house.  Also the larger lot actually angles down to the Guadalupe River, and now we will have about 90' of river frontage.  There's only one problem with that frontage, the river is a tad low these days.  Elissa, Cory and I did a little foot exploration last weekend (we'll take Sandy with us when her ankle recovers a bit more): 

 

 

 

 The climb down to the River is steep and rocky.  This part is actually on the neighbors land.

 The cactus was blooming profusely, thanks to the rain.

 Our part is the rocky part behind Elissa

That's about a 12-15' drop off-note the kayaker.  The Guadalupe is a fairly deep river through here-the center channel is 20' deep or more, but I don't think there will be any diving off this ledge anytime soon.

This past week (this was actually written in April, before I went dark) we have seen a lot of different trades in the house.  Progress, however, was set back slightly when ace framer Billy Birt and his crew were called to start a new project in another development, leaving the final final framing work unfinished.  This is causing some coordination problems with the new trades, and we are seeking his speedy return to the project to complete his work.
Now on the job are: the electrician, Mark; the plumber, Pat; the stucco guy, Juan.  The drilling company that will drill our 400' well is drilling down the street, and we hope to have him move up the hill to our site when he completes the neighbors house.
The lot that adjoins our lot on the south (down the hill) is for sale, as is the lot next to it.  That lot actually has access to the river, sort of.  It's almost a cliff, 30-40' down to the water.  Anyway they want 3-4 times what we're willing to pay, but it would be good to have these sites as it would keep someone from building in our view...donations anyone?

 

 Here's a view of the Lake from the Parkway.

 

 Picture windows

 Some stone samples

 

 Some more sample stones

 Heartsledge Civil Air Patrol

 

The bunkhouse view needs a little work...

 

 

 

 

This week we hope to get some paint on the roof eaves, and if the Juan the stucco guy is able to finish the stucco work around the roof, Robert, the roof guy will be able to start that work.  Stay tuned!

 

Okay, a lot more has happened since April 7, so I will try to get everyone caught up in the next few days.  Hopefully whatever took me down is gone now, and normal operations will resume!