We really need some rain out at Avalon. Darrin found a crack in the wildflower field that is about 4 inches across. We put some small stone gravel on the ground under a metal gazebo in the wildflower field and the ground is so dry you can see the cracks in the gravel and it is really falling into the cracks. Looks like we had an earthquake out there or something. We are installing a watering system for the crape myrtles that should make them a little happier--most of them are blooming or are getting ready to bloom. We are dragging water hoses around and setting up sprinklers to make sure we don't lose any of our new trees or grass.
Here are a couple of shots of Avalon:
This is one of our brides that got married near Shiner, TX but did her bridals at Avalon--
This is a picture of our sign with the house and gazebo in the background...
Work is going well for me. We are currently working on updating our Community Plan that was written 5 years ago about criminal justice related issues in the Brazos Valley. Very exciting. Our bioterrorism/public health grant, which has been the main source of my salary, is getting cut in half for the next grant year. This starts August 1st and means that I will be spending even more time on Criminal Justice to cover the other half of my salary. But it is interesting so that is okay.
Darrin has been working setting up some new stuff in the bird cage that we hope will improve production and health of our birds. We went to visit a friend who is a fellow finch breeder last weekend in Gatesville and his set up is quite impressive. He gave us many new ideas. We got a new timer for the lights...apparently the other one got fried because we had too many lights on it. Darrin has also installed some black lights that are supposed to provide some of the nutrients the birds normally get from sunlight in the wild. So now our bird cage really glows. He has also added some nutrients to the cornbread food that he feeds them a few times a week. We'll see how all of this helps.
As far as our schedule for the rest of the summer:
- June--This weekend we have a wedding here and then next weekend we will go see my parents in San Antonio and do some relaxing. We were planning on going to the Antique Roadshow in Dalls but did not get any tickets.
- July--Booked solid on Saturdays with weddings for the studio and we have one wedding and one bridal shower out at Avalon. That will be our really crazy month. May was like that too with 4 weddings out at Avalon.
- August--We have two weddings for the studio and one of them is at Avalon. My brother also turns 30 (really makes me feel old....).
I hope you have a wonderful weekend. Our wedding tomorrow is thankfully shorter than most(About 7 hours total....2 hours of photography before wedding and then 5 hours for wedding and reception). It's the 10-12 hour weddings that really wear us out.
Take care and talk to you soon!!
