The McClure's: September 2014

Another month has passed and we begin our 5th month in our house. We still have my famous list to complete, but it's not as major as it was in the beginning of this adventure. We start out on Sunday the 3rd going to the store ---- which is around the corner from our FAVORITE home improvement store ---- Home Depot. They had smokers on sale -- so needless to say we got one. Lee has been known to do outstanding meals on a smoker. He got it seasoned and we're now anxious to put it to use. Settled down in the afternoon to watch the race. It was definitely a great race day -- YAY DALE!!!

The New Smoker On Monday the 4th we made a trip to the meat market. Did nothing the rest of the day. We both needed some down time. My leg was bothering me more that usual. I'm HOPING it's healing pain. On Tuesday my chef got the smoker going with ribs, tenderloin, chicken breast and beef sausage. Meals for the next 4 days -- YUMMY!!! I spent the day painting the laundry room. That was a room the prior owner never finished. Looks so much better!!!

Beef Sausage, Tenderloin, Chicken Breasts, and Ribs. Wednesday started out very lazy. Didn't last long though. We got out the yard tools and started cleaning out another area in the yard. Wish we could have done more, but the heat arrived earlier today. We're still adjusting the the August heat here in Texas. This is normal for this area. Debi had always told us not to vacation out here in August, now we have a better understanding as to why. We're able to stay outside a little longer than a month or so ago.....but not when it's 100 with an index of 105. The picture below is from last year I used it as and example. We put a canopy together on Thursday which will cover the grill and smoker. There was a heat alert for the day so that was it for outdoor chores. We were able to do some more work in the yard on Friday. Lee had put the kayak and equipment up for sale. Got a call wanting to come by and check it out. I finished up in the yard while he got everything organized so the guy could get a good look at everything. In a matter of minutes after his arrival --- "DONE DEAL".

Nuff Said

Gone but not for gotten Lee headed out early on Saturday the 9th to Cedar Park to a gun shop. He used some of his money from the kayak sale to purchase a gun --- a Rock River AR-15. He was like a very excited "kid" on Christmas morning. On Sunday the 10th, Lee took me to Gruene to meet Debi and 4 other gals. We were attending the Gospel Brunch of Gruene. SO enjoyable....had a GREAT time. Debi brought me home so she could check out all the projects we had completed. She was very impressed with our accomplishments. Totally different since the last time she came down. After Lee dropped me off, he picked Chad up (in San Marcos) and headed to Cabelas. From there they headed to the shooting range. A great day had by all.

Shoots great On Monday we were off to Target for a bit of shopping. Stopped by Bucees to get a few muffins. If you're ever by one of their stores, make sure you try a blueberry and cranberry muffin. Day ended with some rain -- HALLELUJAH!!! We set on the front porch for a while listening to the rain hitting the metal roof. Brought the temperature down about 20 degrees also. WONDERFUL!!!! Lee left early on Tuesday to get some tires put on the PT. I started taking stuff out of the closet in the fly tying room. In case you don't remember --- it has been painted that horrible HOT PINK. I started applying the Gripper (primer). Once Lee got home he helped with the high areas.

On Wednesday the 13th we were up at 5:00 am. We were off to the surgery center for Lee's cataract surgery on the left eye. Surgery was a success!!!! Once we got home he headed to bed and I got in my corner of the couch with my kindle and my leg propped up. A great "do nothing" day!!!. On Thursday he had his post op checkup. The doctor has to relieve some pressure on the eye. Otherwise all A-OK!! I started painting in that closet. Painted it white. So clean looking - and it even looks bigger. The last of the hot pink is now GONE!!!

The prior owner had left a bunch of old towels. On Saturday we decided to take them to our local animal shelter. While there we went on a tour. They have such an assortment and sizes of dogs (and cats). A couple of them were very tempting. We were able to get everything back in the fly tying closet. Afterwards I headed for the couch and put the Iceman (ice machine) on my leg. Having a lot of swelling in leg and ankle. On Sunday the 17th we were off to church - First Baptist Church of Canyon Lake. Been checking out several in the area and this was on our list. Very friendly -- and very enjoyable. Home, lunch and settled down to watch the race. On Monday I got all Lee's dress shirts washed and ironed. Since his retirement he has not worn any of them much less a tie. Most of them had been in storage for a few years, so they definitely needed to be freshened up (LOL). At this church it is not the traditional type where you wear coats and ties, you can wear them if you want but you can wear everything from jeans, to shorts also. Because of the new issues with the leg, I decided to call the doctor today. Got an appointment for the 29th. I feel like I shouldn't be having these problems, so I'm hoping it's nothing serious. Prior to this I was doing so good -- no pain, no swelling, just stiffness.

Tuesday the 19th we ran some errands most of the day. Stopped at Cabelas for ammo. They seem to have more available and prices have come down also. Also stopped at a furniture store. Getting ideas for living room furniture. Last stop was the meat market. Love this place. They have the freshest meat's and veggies around. Used our seal a meal to separate some of the items. Word of advice --- DON'T use a seal a meal for hamburger buns. Decided to split them up -- 2 to a pack. Sealed them alright --- sucked every ounce of air out of them. Should we have know better -- probably. OH MY GOSH we both hurt from laughing so hard. Butter them on top and put them in the toaster oven the following morning.

Regular on the Left and self explanatory on the right After the store on Wednesday, we stopped at Beall's to get Lee some dress pants. Home to do miscellaneous chores. On Thursday we went back to the eye doctor for Lee's one week post op checkup. Sight is 20/20!!!!! On Thursday Lee went for a haircut and pedicure. I started painting the cabinets in the laundry room. Lee mowed the grass and trimmed on Saturday. He then started piddling with an old table that my Dad had made and it was going to ruin as it sat in storage. He got the idea to make a Texas flag on it. As you can see it turned out great. I continued painting on the cabinets in the laundry room. After church on Sunday we just kicked back and relaxed. The afternoon included a wonderful nap for both of us.

New table for the porch

Every morning we start our day off with the newspaper and coffee on the front porch. As I was coming out the front door on Monday morning, I see movement and a bushy tail on the ground by the corner of the porch. I'm NOT ready for this critter..............a skunk!!! Needless to say we knew NOT to scare him. He sure had an attitude though. Walked around the property like he owned it. I'm not going to argue with him. Lee worked on the Texas table while I painted the front door. The table turned out really cool. The skunk showed up again on Wednesday. Still had "this is my territory attitude". Lee is checking out options to get rid of him. Ideas -- trap, moth balls ---------- a 22!!

On Thursday the 28th we headed to Cedar Park to see my surgeon. Long story short -- this is normal, because I had overworked it. I felt like I was limiting my workload I was doing on the house (taking breaks, quit early afternoon), but it wasn't enough. Because of the severity of my injury, I'm to cut back on the work and rest the leg more. We will discuss taking the plate out on the left side of the leg after the first of the year. The top part is sticking out which could cause skin problems later on. He like to wait at least a year before removing plate. It will be a year on January 18th. Stopped for moth balls on the way home. We were advised to spread those around the property. HOPE it works -- Mr. Stinky is not welcomed here. We also did the manadatory stop at Cabelas for more ammo, it was on sale. You never can have enough.

On Saturday Lee had to replace the faucet in the kitchen. Debi came down for the weekend. We had purchased a canopy for the back porch. Lee and Debi did a marvelous job putting it together on Sunday. Her help was greatly appreciated!!!! On Monday the 1st I finished up on some domestic chores I didn't get done over the weekend. Lee put the final touches (screens) on the canopy. He had to reconfigure part of the bench seat to make room for it, so he worked on putting it back together. On Tuesday he got the seat sanded. We'll start painting those areas tomorrow. Thursday - back porch/canopy completed. Also he took a picture of my new plant called "Pride of Barbados or Mexican Bird of Paradise". Also in the yellow pot I put some Bell Pepper seeds and in the other pot I pot some Lemon seeds to plant for next year. As of today (September 5th).....leg doing a lot better!!!