Binky Pretender

On our way to the grocery store.

Love

Destin Harbor Beach "Baby Pool"

"Baby pool" beach in Destin Harbour waiting for Daddy and Bubba to get back from sea fishing.

Walter playing tractors in Destin

Backhoe at the Beach

Destin Bound!!

Skipped the container home in Smithville this time.... for Destin, FL!!!!  Wahoo,  white sand beaches here we come!  Here are my two babies, 13 and almost 2!

Wawa Kisses

Great Sunday morning getting Wawa kisses. I love him sooooo much!!

Cool Pool

Daddy and Wawa having so much fun in the Lightning McQueen baby pool!

spa bathroom add on to container house

spa bathroom add on to container house, a photo by wenhoo on Flickr.

container house

container house, a photo by wenhoo on Flickr.

Thunderstorms, Hughes Net, Netflix & YouTube in a Container Home

Rainy days mean spending time inside hoping that the internet works so we can have Caillou on Netflix!  I could really use some Caillou DVDs.  We have watched all the kid friendly DVDs we have out here.  I keep forgetting to update the DVD library because I have high expectations of our Hughes net service.  BTW,  Hughes net is pretty bad.  The only time it works we'll is early in the morning.  I have to say that even when the internet is slow, and we blame Hughes net for Netflix's speed, YouTube works pretty darn fast!  So, we have determined that Netflix prolly has a speed problem of its own, but YouTube rocks most of the time!

Our Baby Boy

Walter picked out this bear statue at Lowes last Fall.  He usually gives it a kiss as he's passing by.  It had been sitting across from the container house under a small oak  tree, but after we completed the landscape we thought it would look cute closer to be house.  We decided to move it to the steps.

Before Picture Landscaping Container Home Porch

before landscaping container home porch, a photo by wenhoo on Flickr.

Here is what the front porch landscaping looked like before.

Solar Panels at Off the Grid Vineyard

Solar Panels at Off the Grid Vineyard, a photo by wenhoo on Flickr.

Our 10 acre slice of paradise has been called "the ranch", "the farm", but so far nothing is sticking for a real name. We planted 20 grapevines a couple of weeks ago, and I have been thinking about really having a go at the vineyard thing. We want to add an olive tree orchard as well.

I remember taking evening strolls through the small Italian community where my sister, Robin, lived near Ortona in the Abruzzi region of central Italy. Everybody had a little bit of everything Italian: artichokes, grapes, olive trees, tomatoes. Most of the homes had less than an acre of land, but they crammed a lot of vegetation into what small bit of soil they did have. It was lovely! I think central Texas weather is so similar and I really want to grow these same items at our property in the Hill Country.

We plan to run our place off solar power, and so far we can watch TV, charge our cell phones, have lights and power the mini fridge, etc. And that's just with the set up seen here. (above photo) We have about ten more panels, batteriesm and a larger power system in production this week. We run a pump off the solar power to water the vines with a hose from the pond to the vineyard which is planted along our fenceline. We plan to plant 20 more vines in the coming weeks, and I'm researching olive trees as well.

After Picture Container Home Landscaping in Texas

container home in Texas, a photo by wenhoo on Flickr.

Landscape!

container home in Texas

container home in Texas, a photo by wenhoo on Flickr.

Our landscaping turned out amazing! Dale did such a great job. We found these corkscrew grass and pansy container garden "fillers" on clearance at the Bastrop, TX Lowe's for only $5 each, so we got eight of them. There are five on the right of the stairs and three more on the left. Walter added his little baby bunny metal yard art to the right side. It kept blowing over in its previous location under the little oak trees across from the container home, so this is a much more appropriate spot. I think some seasonal kale plants would look really awesome near the bunny too!

I decided to go with cedar instead of pine fencing boards to build the skirt around the deck. For now, it is very aromatic when we pump water from the pond to water the plants because it's fresh. There is plenty of cedar on the property to keep that aroma going! I also told Dale to place the cedar boards horizontal rather then vertical for the deck skirt. This adds a much more interesting and modern feel to the deck. We spread rye grass seed all around the container home so hopefully it will be sprouting up in the next 10 days or so. And have I mentioned the vineyard in the back along the property line? Dale planted twenty vines of black marukka grapes! Grape stomp next Fall!!!

Welcoming 2013 at the container was sublime!

Walter container new year eve 2012, a photo by wenhoo on Flickr.

Why we live here

nature forest after soft rain raindrops, a photo by wenhoo on Flickr.

Our container home is surrounded by 9.25 acres of the most amazing nature! Trail cam pics coming soon!