The Old Homestead

You may remember that the last time you saw our house it was a kinda dirty gray because of the concrete sheeting ... that replaced the yellow look of the house wrap ...that replaced the brown look of the plywood ... that replaced the blue look of the foam insulation ... that replaced the blue look of the masonite siding.  

And now we are adding the mesh material in preparation for the stucco...

Rosana has been the main "stuckie" rolling on the glue that will hold the mesh...It has been a challenge to put it in place...Sometimes it doesn't stay when you least expect it...But she always comes up smiling...I don't know if it is because she is enjoying her work or it is finally happening, or both!Then comes applying the stucco which has the consistency of oatmeal...and you know how much I like being alone on the top of a ladder!!!!!But the days have been nice as of late...and Rosana's flowers have been beautiful, that is the late ones like this Dahlia....and the Morning Glory (those are her Mums in the background).We are under constant survelliance by the neighborhood, and the pesky creatures that abound....But we have finished the front and at least half of the south side.  Incidentially, the color change is due to a change in the Base Coat tint we were not aware of.  Not to worry, the Finish Coat will all be the same color!

Also, we wanted to share a fine view (albeit upside down) out of our bedroom picture window of our colorful backyard....could be one of the main reasons why we added the huge windows....Trying to get everything done while the weather cooperates.  Wish us luck and good weather.

Relaxing Drive

It's always nice when one can just sit back and enjoy the ride. :-)  Rosana has been coming with me of late as I stroll around the country side of North Alabama on inspections. 

We were headed home after a long day that had taken us from Huntsville, to Decatur, to west of Cullman, to Arab, and east to Crossville at the end of the day. 

The sun was setting as we crossed Guntersville Lake.

I couldn't take my eyes off the peacefulness of the boat docks along 431 north of Guntersville. :-)

Nice way to end a long, busy, and enjoyable day with some pretty good company!  :-)

Justin's Big Night

Justin had a birthday about a week ago (too much activity to get the shots posted until now, sorry). But it was a BIG family gettogether at the Foroughi Fun House and Resort!

He got some great presents... but one of the very bestest ones was obviously one that took the least room....CASH!!!!
The winning present appeared to be a liquid-fueled rocket that was assembled in the Foroughi's rocket preparation chamber, I am sure much to the delight of the facility manager (Diana) - Ha!

once assembly was complete, pre-launch preparations and fueling continued down range, i.e., just off the back porch in front of a throng of onlookers.


Countdown was not too accurate, and the photo staging area was a long-way off due to the potential of lauch debris striking the camera and photographer...and the recovery crew of brothers and uncles and had a great time.

As the evening wound down, we all retreated to the launch complex lounge for family silliness, and togetherness.

It is pretty much guaranteed that there will be more such happy gatherings:-)

Some More Little Buddies

I frequently send Jameh and Taleh these images as I travel around from farm-to-farm, and I just wanted to share the little delights with y'all.

Guess which one Jameh liked best...and I thought it a little freeky that the butterfly was looking at me while I was looking at him looking at me........

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh Hummingbird

I just wanted to share with you other images of the Hummingbird outside our bedroom window.
Nice screensavers. :-)

Ramblings

We've been out on the trail for a few days...all a little short of the stucco work...but we'll get to that in the next few days certainly. Anyway, this week we all put in a 15-hour day going thru Jasper, Alabama near the far-side of Smith Lake...

and then off to Millport, Alabama which is in really rural Alabama a stones throw from Mississippi. R was driving so fast to keep me on schedule that I couldn't get the shot of the huge, three-story Antebellum mansion with the lake in front, the Cedar Tree lined curving cariage way up to the second-story portico entrance, and the blond-tressed carriage horses roaming around inside the four-rail gleaming white wooden fence (not to mention the huge 24-row pecan tree orchard next door, and the little road-side lemonade stand, 5-cents a glass!) R and Lucia didn't see it!

About mid-day we went back across country to Gordo, Alabama and back home.

Once we got back, there was some great news for the FAM...Calling Dr. Nurse Tyson....Calling Dr. Nurse Tyson....

In recovery now from the big road trip, and waiting for another one this week, trying to rest my weary eyes on some of R's flowers in the back yard...

There was a wonderful surprise visitor this morning!

So I can only hope that we have more pleasant surpirses as we finish off a long, long week.
Speaking of "fly away, fly away" (re: Seals & Crofts, "Hummingbird" visit pandora.com), Brian comes home from Ecuador on Monday, and Lucia leaves for Slovakia in about 8 days or so.

Tuna, Chickens, & Burros

Friday was an interesting day in my farm-visit exploits (aka, the part-time farm inspection gig). I started very early...

it was a very beautiful sunrise driving across the mountain top roads south of Huntsville (well, they are "North Alabama Mountains", anyway), and a pleasant temperature at dawn.

One really neat agricultural item of interest that I haven't seen in North Alabama was this hedgerow of Cactus and flowers...more reminiscent of what I saw during our family trips Mexico in the '90's.

As I took pictures and studied the colors and the Tuna (that's what the flowering fruit on top of the Cactus is called), the sun burst into the morning and I could feel the penetrating heat on my back - it was only 6:30 so I knew it would be a rough morning...

and as I wound down my lengthly stay (the poultry/cattle farm covered quite a large area and I walk most of it), I made new friends along the way by talking to the animals...

I must admit that I was a little suspcious of these guys, they always strategically positioned themselves this way, as if they were saying, "OK, I'll take the left leg, Jorge you take the right one, and Manuel, you flank him and we got'em!"

I escaped the stable area safely...to ride herd on another farm another day. :-)