Do you ever see a picture and say “I like this”?

While browsing Drake Homes Inc photo gallery, I found the picture, below. It’s a kitchen area in one of the Birdsall 2 Single Family Homes. I like this picture, and I really like these pendant light fixtures.

And the built-in microwave oven. I say that because our counter top microwave oven become recycle material a few weeks ago and we haven’t replaced it. Suddenly we had to re-learn how to heat left-overs, and that crock pots do make wonderful baked potatoes if you remember to start them 4 or 5 hours early!

End of September

Only a couple of days and October is upon us. Time to decorate lavishly with gourds, Indian Corn, and of course pumpkins. This quote from Trader Joe’s site, from October 23010 hits my heart squarely in the middle and makes it  Pumpkin Shaped:

Oh how we love pumpkin season.  You did know this gourd-ish squash has its own season, right?  Winter, Spring, Summer, Pumpkin…. We anxiously anticipate it every year.  ~Trader Joe’s Fearless Flyer, October 2010

Tuscany Woods, perfect autumn colors. Just add pumpkins:

Kitchen Talk

and does Drake Homes Inc have the kitchen for You! And I admit, I almost titled this post “Lets Talk Turkey” but my Mother’s Ghost would haunt me so I didn’t. But consider this a heads-up…>Four days till the first of October, then only weeks left till Thanksgiving and then here comes the December Holidays!

This Tuscany Woods kitchen offers all the charm and all the space you’ll need to make Thanksgiving 2012 your most memorable one yet!

Looked it up and its true: Buttermilk and Concrete

Yes, making new concrete look aged. Hear it on the phone tonight , from the story teller I posted about yesterday, Jeff Carroll. He said something like, “Tell your readers to use buttermilk to age concrete, they’ll enjoy learning about it.”

Jeff and I have been friends for 20 years, but buttermilk? He said he once built a concrete and stone fence, but the concrete looked too new. He got buttermilk and put it in an old hand pump sprayer. Not many weeks later the lichen and algae started growing all over the fence and aged the new concrete nicely.

If you’re interested, perhaps wanting to age a new yard statue,  birdbath or any decorative concrete item, there are several easy-to-find articles about the process. This one, at eHow, uses buttermilk, yogurt, and moss: http://www.ehow.com/how_6143908_make-concrete-look-aged.html

Even Martha Stewart mentions  the technique: http://www.marthastewart.com/268962/hypertufa-pots

As soon as you visit those sites, please do visit Drake Homes Inc Online!!

Are you moving to Texas or considering a move to Texas?

The Texas Department of Information Resources has put together TexasOnline.com, a nationally recognized, award-winning portal for the citizens of Texas.  You’ll find links to websites for cities, counties, chambers of commerce, schools and more.  You will also find answers to questions regarding such topics as state laws, state government and required business licenses.

The site offers some nice photos, posted by visitors, showing Texas at it’s Best….>Flickr: Texas.gov

While there are millions of photos available, just google images “Texas”,  it’s nice to see what other people find interesting enough to take a pic of, and post.

And stories! Do we have stories about Texas and the folks who lived them, and many are true. Go to Texas storyteller Jeff Carroll’s website: Jeff Carroll-Legendary Texas. Jeff offers a story or two every month from his books, here, on the Hitching Post

Everything is bigger, and just maybe better, in Texas. Check out Drake Homes Inc online and see the homes offered to you here in Texas!

Last week we posted an image of a new home going up – with GreenGuard Classic Wrap

and I got interested in just what this is, what it does, where it’s made.

Their website says:

Classic Wrap is the toughest residential wrap on the market. With its cross-woven fabric, it is virtually tear-proof, even during the stresses of installation and after it’s nailed to the wall. Classic Wrap provides a layer of air resistance to increase energy efficiency. Plus it acts as a water-resistive barrier that breathes, allowing moisture vapor to escape and reducing the potential for condensation buildup. The wrap’s translucent design enables quick and easy installation. It stays UV-stable up to 12 months.

And offers this image:

And it’s really good to know its manufactured in the USA:

GreenGuard building products are manufactured and distributed throughout the United States by Pactiv Corporation.

Here is my post: https://drakehomesinc.wordpress.com/2012/09/19/new-photo-construction-under-way/

But as always, be sure and visit us Online!!

Texas AgriLife Extension

It is amazing the amount of very helpful information is available on the Extension website, the home site, as well as the individual county sites. They offer a nice blub on the home site:

Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service offers practical, how-to education based on university research. It’s available to any resident of Texas. You may read it in the newspaper, hear it on the radio, attend an Extension workshop, order a publication, or just call your county Extension office!

For you, the link to Extension Education for Harris County…>here.

 

The days are not so hot now and…

we can spend more time outside, should I say comfortable outside?! I always say:  “It’s September! Getting cooler!” and everyone says: “Not till November!” LOL Yes I know but mentally, 99 degrees in September is far cooler than 99 degrees in August.

We moved from Arizona to Texas when I was very young, oh like 1959 or 1960. I remember my Dad talking to “the old timers” and he was told the first freeze would come around Thanksgiving, late November. While it probably did, I do remember it getting very cold in the old ranch house we lived in at the time. And to this day I’ll tell newbie to North Texas: “First freeze comes around Thanksgiving.”

Which leads to the idea for this post: It isn’t long till there will be a freeze, even in the Gulf Coast area. Start now making list of what needs wrapping, draining, storing too. If you have a yard, fall cleanup will be here very soon.

Even though it is still in the low 90’s  here the tree leaves are turning yellow, dropping off and crunching under our feet. Amount of daylight of course is what the leaves “go by” not the temperatures. Here is a nice article on it, at Science Made Simple.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In another post I’ll list some of the things you may need to do for fall. But before you start preparing for fall and then winter…> be sure and visit us online at Drake Homes Inc!!

 

Backsplash!

Great word backsplash, and when you’ve spent the day cooking foods that pop, sizzle and bubble, having a backsplash that cleans, and cleans quickly and easily is worth its weight in dollars.

Taken from one of our videos at Drake Homes Inc online, you can see a colorful backsplash behind the gas cooktop:

Natural stone exteriors become popular again

Many, or most, new single family homes are using natural store in someway now: exterior, interior, retaining walls, fencing too. At Birdsall 2 for instance, we use it on the exterior of our homes. The natural colors blend with the environment, the warm colors are cozy. We even use stone as the hard borders for the planting beds.