Here’s what we’ve been working on this month:

The San Antonio House: We didn’t spend much time there, but we did work on a few things.  Mr. L crawled under the house (with assistance from Daphne) to make some measurements and refresh his memory on where that project stands.  We also trimmed the alley hedge for height and width, including the space between the hedge and the fence. I mowed the back yard.

The Ranch: Nothing at the ranch this month.  I bought a bag of apple-flavored corn for next month’s deer census.

The Store: I mowed at the store. Grass was way too tall there, but it should be good for the winter.  I closed the vents and moved my nine chicken boxes of glass to the shop in preparation for inventorying.

The Shop:  Mr. L set up his trains he bought at Hershey. We finally emptied the open car trailer of stuff from the swap meet, because we had to go pick up the fourth ’46 Mercury for our inventory, the business coupe. Mr. L found some more trash, bagged it, and put it out for pick up.

The Central Texas House: Mr. L set the scaffolding back up and has been scraping paint of the upper level shingles.  He’s done a few repairs and replacements. We’d searched for places selling pre-cut cedar shingles like ours, but in the end, we learned we can pick bundles from the lumber yard that look to be in good shape and cut them to fit.  This included soaking a few in water to make them shape-able.

Mr. L is attaching braces to the first two levels of scaffolding in preparation for adding a third level so he can prepare and paint the upper section of the second floor.

The pecan trees have been laden with nuts this year, and I’m picking them up. Mr. L even bought a second pecan picker so we could both pick more easily.

Since we got some freezing weather this week, I also covered the outside faucets and prepared the doghouse on the side porch that’s available for outside cat usage with fresh “sheets.” I pulled out the dirty towels to wash and replaced them with a fluffy queen size mattress pad I’m preparing to throw away and two old pillows also destined for the trash.  Before they wind up there, they are stuffed into the dog house to insulate and help any kitty who chooses to use the house retain body heat. I sprinkled some catnip into the doghouse. So far, no sign any kitties have even ventured into the doghouse.