Raindrops......
Raindrops, heck, it was a deluge. From one lone thunderstorm sprouted 70 mph winds, hail, and one boatload of rain. Close to an inch and a half by my measured eye. The winds and hail weren't too bad, as wind and hail go out here, and Lord knows we need the rain. Needing rain is a constant condition in West Texas and this downpour actually put us over the "average" mark for the year. Something in this drought ridden decade that hasn't happened often.

The rain cleansed my soul.....yeah right, but it sure cleansed my street and it's curbside gutters that had many months worth of decaying detrial material from the pecan trees. So much decayed pecan matter that the street had been stained brown in front of the estate. But, hopefully, this is history.....floated off down The Draw on it's way to the Colorado River. For out of towners, our Draw is what you would call a dry creekbed. The Draw wends it's way through town becoming the main mechanism for carrying off our excess water since we don't really have a storm drain system. A dry, sullen, weed choked gulley except when it rains hard like this when it quickly becomes a raging torrent sweeping away unattended children, pets, and Yugos.

The downside of the storm which blew hard first from the East, then the West, was that the one foot high accumulation of pine needles on the roof of the estate came wafting down on the patio [have you ever tried sweeping pine needles...it's hell]. Additionally I discovered that my recent roofing repairs need a tad more work. One of my chimneys still has a minor leak somewhere, directing it's disgorge down through the canned recessed lighting in the den. *Memo to self: don't turn on the den lights in a heavy downpour* But none-the-less the rain was appreciated.

And in ongoing news, I've made real progress on my website project, the $25 interior designer is coming back tommorow with fabric samples and ideas, and we've gotten into action on the redo of the estate. Well actually Julie has gotten into action, purchasing a new desk/bookcase piece for Jack's new room......some assembly required.