I'm Still Around - DPChallenge Forums

Canon EF 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 DO IS USM

05/03/2005 09:48:41 AM · #1

In case anyone was curious I'm still around but just very busy at this time. Our schedule since the first part of the year has been very hectic.

I was sick for about one month with this Flu bug that was or is still going around. I finally got a Z-Pak and it kicked it. This made it kind of miserable at our son's wedding :( My ears were all stopped up and the cough was miserable.

Our son got married in San Antonio, Texas on April 8th and my wife and I were assisiting with all the arrangements and etc. The day of the wedding our son and a few friends played 18 holes of golf and dragged me along to take some photos :) I tried to do the best I could even though I felt terrible. We spent a good part of the week in San Antonio and it was great! The wedding and reception were all very nice.

We are now deep into the landscaping of our back yard.

We sold our large Hot Tub which gave us our large deck back. It took the buyer two attempts to get it out of the yard because it was so heavy :) The funny part was the couple that bought the Hot Tub also had just got married and we had to wait for them, to return from the Caribbean.

We installed new fencing along the south side of the house and we are pressure washing all the old fence to match the new.

We finally got our Butterfly and Hummingbird plants in for the summer.
This year we are trying all new varities. The plants we are anxious to see are the new Red Hot Pokers (Bulbs). They are sprouting and should be up and blooming hopefully in August or Sept. They get approx 48" tall and are the center pieces to the main garden.

And we are now deep into installing the new Water Garden/Pond in the backyard. So far it is looking very nice. I plan on having small paths on both ends with seating and plantings. The water fall will be flowing towards the deck/house, curved and fall over 2 or 3 steps of flat river rock or flagstone.

Luckily my two Brother In-Laws are very talented and helping with the contruction.

We have some photos uploaded and you can see the Red Neck Waterfall we set up as a test on Day 2 :)

Day 1

Day 2

We hope to be very close to finishing the yard with the construction of the water garden/pond and have a very nice local wild habitat. The Butterflies, Hummingbirds and etc are all showing up on a daily basis already :) I will hate to see the Gold Finches leave but they will return again in the winter :)

We had a special treat one morning when I had the water spriknler running and the hummingbirds decided to play around in it and take a nice shower. This lasted for some time with them landing on the Crepe Myrtle bushes and washing up in the shower. But I did not have my camera handy at the time :(

We try to keep the camera close buy but when you are working with sand and mortar you do not want it too close.

Well got to go back and do some work in the yard for now I will be back later on.

Edit:

I forgot to add Penny's Mother was diagnosed with Cancer and we are also trying to deal with this and get her the right treatment. She is dealing with it the best anyone could I guess you could say. She does come over and supervise the job when she can.

Message edited by author 2005-05-03 09:55:18.

cpanaioti

Canon EOS-40D

05/03/2005 10:31:17 AM · #2

It looks like a lot of work. (The Chow looks pretty funny without hair - even more like a lion than they do normally).

coolhar

Canon PowerShot Pro 90 IS

05/03/2005 10:32:10 AM · #3

Good to hear that you are still with us. Looking forward to some shots from your "local wild habitat", and maybe some challenge entries from you too.

05/03/2005 08:36:05 PM · #4

Colette

It is somewhat hard because we have that Texas clay soil and it is very hard digging.

The Chow belongs to my brother in-law Billy he had just brought her back from the groomers. He had her trimmed to look like a lion and help keep her cool in the Texas summer. She is still very young and she had a lot of puppy hair they got rid off. She is a doll, her and our female Pomeranian get along so well it is amazing.

Originally posted by cpanaioti:

It looks like a lot of work. (The Chow looks pretty funny without hair - even more like a lion than they do normally).

Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM

05/03/2005 08:39:03 PM · #5

Harvey

Thanks for the kind words :) I have really missed the Challenges and hopefully I will be able to start back in as soon as we finish the water garden.

Our next big project is to enclose the large deck area :)

Hopefully Penny's mom will lick this cancer and come back strong.

Originally posted by coolhar:

Good to hear that you are still with us. Looking forward to some shots from your "local wild habitat", and maybe some challenge entries from you too.

Marjo

Canon EOS-7D

05/03/2005 09:18:51 PM · #6

Hey, welcome back and congratulations on your son's wedding!
Looking forward to the hummingbird shots! (I've only seen one so far this year and he doesn't seem to like the new feeder. I'm going to have to find the same style that I had last year. It's still too early here to put out plants. We're supposed to be down to 30 tonight! Seems like March instead of May.)
When you're done with chores at your place, you are welcome to come to ours. Always plenty to do around here. :D Seems like the "have-to-do's" always outweigh the "wanna-do's".
Good luck on the challenges.