Glass Blocks

Glass Blocks
Originally uploaded by neillsmth.

Glass Blocks

A high school was undergoing renovation here in Austin and I scored a few hundred 8X8 glass blocks. I don't know yet what I will use them for but I think they might be good for the fence. Four feet of adobe with sixteen inches of glass block with a cap of adobe sounds neat to me. I may incorporate them into the gate somehow. No reason to let them go to waste. They may work in the addition too, as a shower or the base for an island in the kitchen. We will see.

Light Polution

It's dark out here. UT operates McDonald observatory in Fort Davis just because of the lack of light and the clear cold air. This is what you would see if you were looking down from space trying to see me sitting on the roof in my shorts drinking a Mexican Martini. You can see that ther are not many lights Southeast of El Paso.
It cools down really fast when the sun goes down and believe me shorts are not the uniform of the night. That's what is nice about the Davis Mountains. Even in the summer when temps get into the nineties the mountain thunderstorms cool it back into the seventies/eighties and when the sun goes down it drops into the sixties at least and add in a little wind (yes the wind blows, a lot) and it starts to feel even colder. It is super to toast the end of the day from the roof and watch the fantastic light show that changes with each cloud or passing plane.

The wall

Finished laying up the blocks for the corner post this weekend. I need to find a 18ft cedar beam to lay across the top and the gates will be ready to hang. The neighbors are wondering what I'm doing with the crane and all the blocks. One of them came by Sunday morning and stayed for the whole tour. His place is right across from the bunker at about the same level.
We talked about the guy down the hill that had told me about the mountain lion that might be living under the bunker (in the escape tunnel). If there was a lion he must have been on the move like the bear that wandered through years ago. No signs of either of them. A small herd of desert bighorn sheep came through Sunday and some deer so that sort of shows the big preditors are not around. All in all a pretty nice weekend.

Playing with blocks

Playing with blocks
Originally uploaded by neillsmth.

Vacation to the North

The 4th of July is our time to seek the adventure and coolness of Canada and the NorthEast Coast of the US. We flew into Manchester NH to avoid Boston and its problems. First stop was a resturant called Legal Sea Food in Burlington. I had read about it and wanted to try their Clam Chili. Being a Texan I Know chili and the clam didn't measure up. It may have been too much chili powder or the beans but I'll pass.
Next it was on to Gloucester and a really neat seaside inn. We were off in the morning up the coast to Ipswich for another resturant called the Clam Box. What a terrific meal, 25 fresh clams, as many scallops, all deep fried with about 2 pounds of fries and fresh fried onion rings as well as a bucket of cold slaw (or if you prefer cole slaw). It satisfied my clam hunger and then some. On up the coast to Portland, Augusta then inland to Quebec City. This city was as close to Paris as I will ever get. Old town was narrow streets and open cafes. We were there on Moving Day and along with an international bike race and Canada Day so it was really crowded. Still, we have made reservations to go back on Barbaras' birthday.

Back from Quebec

Back from Quebec
Originally uploaded by neillsmth.