About Guadalupe County, TX

After the huge thunderstorm early Sunday morning, I went for a walk in our garden to assess the damage. Surprisingly, there didn't seem to be much, except water had washed quite a bit of mulch downhill, leaving large areas of just mud. They will be ripe for weeds to spring up, so I'll need to haul in some more mulch soon.

Meanwhile, here are a couple of new arrivals:

I don't know what type they are, but I don't intend to nibble on them, just in case!

Some recent posts:

My roof is leaking, and more rain is on the way to the Cibolo - Schertz area

Dollhouse is back! Good stuff to watch on TV

Why do women make less money selling homes than men do?

Every silver lining has its cloud

Texas weather: when it rains, it pours

Celebrating with drinks on the River Walk, San Antonio, Texas

Are you dissatisfied with your weight? Well, here are some great tips for you!

Mesquite should not be a bad word in Texas

It looks so innocuous, doesn't it? Three dribbles coming into the attic from somewhere around the chimney. And yet, after the thunderstorms early this morning, enough rain got through the roof to fill a large saucepan up to 2.5 inches. My husband bravely went up into the attic and took this photo 3 hours after the worst of the storm.

A third roofing contractor is supposed to come by tomorrow and give me an estimate. The first one, who didn't even come to the house, just sent me an estimate for around $750 for what I told him I thought the problem was, the flashing around the chimney. The second one did come by and gave me an estimate of $750, but said he wasn't exactly sure where the leaks were coming from, even after going in the attic, and it might cost up to $950 if he did "exploratory" roofing.

So whichever roofing contractor gets here first with his work crew gets my business. I will drown my sorrows with a cup of tea and go watch the Cowboys play now.

Some recent posts:

Dollhouse is back! Good stuff to watch on TV

Why do women make less money selling homes than men do?

Every silver lining has its cloud

Texas weather: when it rains, it pours

Celebrating with drinks on the River Walk, San Antonio, Texas

Are you dissatisfied with your weight? Well, here are some great tips for you!

Mesquite should not be a bad word in Texas

Who gets to choose the title company? The seller? The buyer? OMG, the agent?!

I never thought I'd call a mosquito THIS, but ...

That post I wrote earlier today, about the rain hopefully ending the drought in south Texas? Possibly going to be part of a series?

Well, a few minutes ago, I sashayed through my sunroom to look out in the yard and watch the downpour and I heard a strange "plink." I whirled around and saw a puddle of water on the table. There's not supposed to be a puddle of water on the table.

My roof is leaking! Aargh!

And this just two sunny days after my rental property had a horrible broken pipe upstairs that sent water cascading all over the hall and down into the kitchen and living room. My carpet cleaning guy took some fans over and is trying to dry it out, and I asked the tenants to turn down the A/C to dehumidify the house. Torrential rains don't help. I thought about that this morning when I heard it start.

I was willing to overlook that, though, but my roof leaking? No way!--I have HAD it with this rain!

Trite, but true! The weather in Texas doesn't do anything by halves. It suddenly started raining again early this morning, and has been raining pretty heavily for the last couple of hours. The forecast calls for more showers for the next few days. Hurrah! I never thought I'd be so happy to see rain, after 6 years in England.

We still need lots of rain to recharge the Edwards Aquifer and dispell the drought. Here is what the drought monitor map looks like after the San Antonio area averaged 5.5 inches of rain earlier this month.

Compare it to August 25's map, showing the worst of it. This is when temperatures averaged 105, too. The forecast demurely says the temperature today will be "not as warm."

Where I live, in Guadalupe County northeast of San Antonio, we tend to get more rain than Bexar County. This is because it's on the east side of the fault line that is the eastern boundary of the Hill Country from San Antonio to Austin. More on that in a future post.

The biggest drawback to the welcome rain will be the flash floods that typically occur here because of the combination of heavy downpours that quickly saturate limestone/clay soils. And of course, the inevitable car wrecks from people driving as if it were dry and sunny.

As I write this, the sun is coming out and it is starting to steam outside. But we are making progress!

Schertz, Texas Hotel ~ The Fairfield Inn & Suites

Coming to San Antonio? Need a place to stay on the North East side? Look no further than the The Fairfield Inn & Suites in Schertz, Texas at the corner of 3009 & 35.

If you want spacious rooms with remote-controlled Cable TV, all the amenities of home (& some you don't even have at home!) including a business library, heated pool & whirlpool, complimentary breakfast and 24 hour fax and copy service, look no further than The Fairfield Inn & Suites.

Close to everything San Antonio, Texas has to offer, the Schertz, Texas hotel of the The Fairfield Inn & Suites won't disappoint you. With a Tri county Business Park 0.5 miles, Retama Park less than 2 miles away, Natural Bridge Caverns and Wildlife Park less than 8 miles you won't run out of things to do!

A tad farther down the road from this Schertz, Texas hotel you will find the amusement park of Six Flags Fiesta Texas (22 miles) and SeaWorld (39 miles) just a tad further.

When you are in need of a Schertz, Texas hotel, look no further than The Fairfield Inn & Suites, you won't be disappointed.

You can make your reservations at 1-888-236-2427. The Fairfield Inn & Suites physical address is:

5008 Corridor Loop Road

Schertz, Texas 78154