June 5, 2012 already?? Texas summer is coming on fast.

Where has the year gone with summer knocking at our door?
The best (and only)  reason to welcome summer is for fresh and ripe tomatoes!  I hate the heat and stickiness of summer weather, but we LOVE fresh tomatoes.  This sight is as good as the best vacation photos:

We shall soon be indulging in bacon & tomato sandwiches made on fresh home-baked bread garnished with Hellman’s Best Mayonnaise.
Stay back all bugs—this beauty is ours!!!
What have we been doing to pass the time while here in Texas?
We added some concrete to the base of the posts on the new RV port to make sure the water doesn’t pool at the wood,

added a downspout landing to direct the water off to the lawn area,

and concreted in the area around the new RV hook-up area so I wouldn’t be stepping on dirt—or fire ants—when I have to unplug the camper in the middle of the night.  We unplug everything we want to keep during lightening storms in the area.  Unfortunately for me, most storms seem to pop up during the night time—while Larry is asleep.  I am always afraid of stepping on a fire-ant hill in the dark.  No more!

Not real fancy work, but it will do the job and was cheap—less than $10.
We go for rides on country roads,
and laugh at road signs.

(You can’t drive 70 mph on most freeways, but Texas allows it on curvy two-lane roads.  Population control?)
Some times there are other laughs waiting for us like this “for rent” sign, (Yes, there was a contact phone number on the sign)

or things like this cute mail box

in front of a house next to this small inviting lake:
East Texas is filled with hundreds of small lakes surrounded by housing tracts built as vacation homes for Houston area residents.  Some are nice and some are filled with shacks.  My favorite name is "Hawg Heaven" just south of us on Highway 146.  Doesn’t that invoke a nice mental picture in your mind?
Between getting repairs and maintenance done on the house, I spend some of my time in my pottery shop:



These bowls are drying.  They were thrown on the wheel on the left and trimmed on the wheel on the right.

and this this is what happens when things go right:
Yes, they are all bowls.  I have a love of bowls—of every shape, size and color.  I have little interest in throwing other shapes.  A bowl is beautiful art, decoration and useful.  It meets all of my creative needs.

We have finished most of the this year’s chores around the house and yard.  Larry’s last tests results were consistent with May results, so we are able to stay in Texas until the end of June.  We will head west for the rest of summer. 
Wishing you a happy summer too.