DE-construction, two steps backward.
when planning this house, we loved the idea of a green roof/deck. we imagined the many hours spent relaxing up there while kids have room to run and jump around under the sun. but the truth is we've hardly used the space at all. maybe once a year kat and I spend an hour up there. the kids never use it. I think we'd use it more if it were more like an atrium, between the kids bedrooms and ours instead of at the end of the hall from the kids rooms. or we should have just used the space for more interior room.
but, there was a leak somewhere. the original roofer is gone and he refused to take any responsibility, the builder is accepting between 33 and 100% of the re-roof (still a matter of debate). while all this was discussed, there was some finger pointing and blame assigned to the one inch of soil and ground cover. I agreed to remove it all. any plants that go back will be in containers.
so there it is, about $1k worth of green roof material and dirt and sedum, now on terra firma.
as I type now, the builder has a crew here removing the deck as the new roofer is dropping off materials to start tomorrow.
sam's had these queen palms for $30 each. each is between 12 and 15 ft tall. we got three.
THE ARTS:
the kids had an audition for a short film. we've found the rehearsals conflict with our mardi gras plans so the movie may not be a good fit for us. the kids love that parade.
took the older two kids to see blue man group at the long center.
I first saw those blue dudes at a tiny off-broadway place in new york. that must have been twenty years ago.... those guys have used a lot of sta-puff marshmallows and twinkies in that time. the show hasn't changed much since that first one I saw. they have scaled some of it up a bit to fit the larger venues.
the kids LOVED it.
you can see the amazement in her face.
sort of reminds me of a flaming lips show...
after the show we got a quick refreshment from guero's and did some wig shopping at lucy in disguise (mardi gras shopping)
RESTAURANT REPORT:
since we were having a bit of summer weather, we let the kids loose on the playscape at austin pizza while we enjoyed.... the weather.
the best meal we had this past week came from El Arbol. kat and I arrived early for the reservation to enjoy some happy hour on the third floor deck. the octopus was fork tender and delicious.
temps dropped quickly but that did not prevent us from sampling the $3 happy hour frozen margaritas. then we joined friends inside.
the corpse reviver #2 still works. I highly recommend the braised pork belly. it had a sweet crunch top similar to a creme brulee
VAN:
I cut out some mangled sheet metal and replaced it with new.
a program writing vanner made a great app to help play with different paint schemes. even the kids here have enjoyed swapping wheels, colors and right heights using the link below:
http://boroop.webs.com/econopainter.htm