Texans must be heavy coffee drinkers. Very heavy. My coffee table again was broken 😞. Normal use, like putting coffee mugs, plates or anything like that on it would not break it. The only thing that would is jumping on the table. It could be a Texan custom I’m not familiar with to do that, but hey, if that’s what is customary, I will rebuild it in a way that can be done. 🤷
After 3 years of running flawlessly, I noticed I wasn’t greeted by the smart mirror as I entered Ozuye. Technical analyses showed that the power supply for the raspberry Pi inside had failed. So I ordered a new one, and a soldering iron, so now the Smart Mirror is fully functional again.
The picture above shows the guts of the Smart Mirror with the new soldered in power supply in the top left corner.
One Adirondack chair is fine for me, but usually Ozuye has two guests and they should of course both be comfortable on the deck. So here’s number two, same model but made from the last pile of left over aromatic cedar.
This chair doesn’t only look nice, it even smells nice 😊
One thing missing at Ozuye Lodge was comfy deck chairs. So I built an Adirondack chair. The name refers to the place this concept was originally designed. Mine are constructed from (left over) 2×4 pine. I’m writing this post sitting in it without cushions on it, and it’s not uncomfortable at all, so with a cushion they will be quite comfortable.
To do is filling some screw holes and applying paint. As it’s quite heavy, the back legs will get wheels, so when you lift the front, it can roll over the deck.
As most of you will know, I love wearing my cowboy boots that I bought now 5 or 6 years ago. But those are really worn, so I promised myself I would get new boots. As it happens, Wimberley, one of the nearest towns, is also the home of the Texas Boot Whisperer.
By appointment only, the Boot Whisperer ( A lady of German origin) will take a look at your feet, and then come up with a pair of boots that will fit like they were custom made for you. They’re all vintage boots, some quite old, but all in new or almost new condition and hand made to order at the time. I ended up getting the first pair she picked out. I tried on 8 different other pairs, but she was right on her choice being best. She’s not called the boot whisperer for no reason.
Here they are on my coffee table and with pants over them they are understated;
They’re from Tony Lana from El Paso Texas. Those should get me through the next winters.
The weather has been wonderful. Here’s a picture of Canyon Lake at sunset yesterday, taken from the dam.
Life without gadgets is simply less fun. Today my brother Karel surprised me with a new gadget; Tempest. It’s a state of the art weather station. Wireless and solar powered. As Ozuye faces north north-east, most of the possible locations for mounting are shady. So I used a pole to make it stick out above the tree line;
Next time I’m over I may mount it to the home to make it catch sun all the time, but for now this works.
This station of course comes with an app. Here’s a screenshot of the data it collects;
It also includes notifications, so I can get a warning when there’s a storm or cold front coming. But that won’t be this year, as the weather will remain nice.
I do think the pole is asking for something like a flag, but this is a pretty flexible pole and when it does storm, the wind usually comes from that direction, so I’m not sure the pole would hold. Next time I might get an official flag pole and raise the US flag when I’m there 🤠
So today I had a proper test of the hot tub and I have to say, it’s comfy!
I stayed in for at least an hour, and the temperature stayed at 97F (36 C) which is very doable.
Now I could have gone for the easy option, and after clearing what will be the upstairs bathroom, simply put all the stuff that was in there back in in a more organized manor.
But instead of lifting those stone tiles for the zillionth time, I decided that if I put the tiles in with mortar, I would not have lift them ever again. So that’s what I did and the grouts were just finished.
I also put in what I had in terms of insulation and drywall, so next time I will only need 1 board.
On the right hand side will be a shower, and on the log walls I will place a hanging toilet. A small sink will go on the wall on the left.
I just could not resist 🤠
