Monday, April 16, 2007

Wildflowers in Texas

We finally got out of Houston for the day and got to a prettier part of Texas. The hills really are blue and red and orange and pink with all the blooming wildflowers. I couldn't tell which was more interesting - the flowers or the tourists stopped on the side of the road taking pictures. Of course, I was one of the tourists, so I can't do much other than laugh. At one place, we found the holy triumvirate of picture taking: cows lying in blue bonnets next to a quaint pond. Cars were lined up for a quarter mile. Pictures are here (still working on them).

While out, we stopped at the Antique Rose Emporium in Brenham, TX. They rescue old roses from ditches, cemetaries, old homesites and places destined for the bulldozer. So I bought 3 roses to put in. I'm slow at that like everything else, so it might take me a few days to get them in. But hopefully, eventually, I'll get my yard all cottage-y.

Painting the Bathroom

Respite Blue or Raindrop Blue? How can there be so many shades of blue and none of them just right? I finally got the old wallpaper off the bathroom walls. That took me about a week. Then another week to tape and prime the walls. Now I'm studying the two shades of blue I test painted on the wall behind the mirror to see what I like best.

Now explain to me why people would hang wallpaper over plain drywall, then take the time to plaster a spongy pattern on the wall, but only behind where the mirrors are hung. There's no paper there, but plenty of plaster. It took me 2 hours with a sander to smooth off the plaster bumps. Then another hour to vacuum up the plaster dust and mop up. I still need to find some new lights to replace the standard builder's lights they put in originally. And finally, I'm trying to figure out what I can do to fancy up the mirrors. Gives me excuse to buy and browse through the home improvement magazines.