Galveston Homecoming!

It's been over eight months since Ike ravaged our little Galveston Get-Away and this was the first trip for the cats. Actually, it was only the second over-night trip for Jerry & me, since we're still in construction phase. After such a long absence, I didn't know how the trip would go, but all FOUR cats were well behaved in the car and as soon as we arrived Little & Denny headed straight for the 3rd floor balcony door to go outside.

Little turned 21 in January and I was worried that he might never see his beach house again. We're grateful he's doing so well and still able to enjoy his favorite things. Here he is with Denny, hanging out on the balcony.

First order of business ... deck inspection!

Most important ... get a drink from the fountain while Denny chews up the pony-tail palm plant.

Just chillin' on the deck in our normal sleeping spots. For them, it's like nothing ever happened.

We played in the Galveston Country Club Memorial Day tournament on Saturday and here's Jerry & Connie celebrating a long putt. We came in second, which was a surprise!

Sunday was a long hard "work day" ... scrubbing mold off a variety of surfaces and throwing ruined things away. It's such a bummer to still be dealing with storm related clean-up, but that's life. Since we just got things "dried-in" we're behind a lot of people who had insurance payments just after the storm.

We're still missing walls outside, but the double layer of sheetrock we installed to close-in the inside entry way is holding strong. Cracked floor tiles and bare stairs with carpet tacks greet you when you open the front door, but the second and third floors are getting back to normal. We have a long list of remaining repairs and will have Juan down to quote on the work this weekend. Slowly but surely, it will come back together.

Clorox wipes are a great thing when you're killing mold EVERYWHERE. We've been through the storage closet on 3, the entire pantry, most of the kitchen and the extra bedroom. Lower kitchen cabinets need work, as does the downstairs bath. The dishwasher seems to be giving up and needs replacing, but all the other major appliances survived the storm.

As things have "settled" on the property we're discovering cracks here and there that were caused by the building being torqued from the intense winds. All in all, we're lucky it's even still there. I have some photos of first row beach houses, but I think everyone has seen enough. It's sad to see people's belongings inside shattered windows. Mother nature can be tough.

Here are some beautiful shots of West Beach ~ there are no dunes and some areas of the beach are very shallow. However, it's still there!

City of Houston ~ Bite Control

Well, they have just removed the bat body from Kitty's garage and will test for rabies. She won't know anything for 72 hours but Ms. Rico assured her she would be the first person they call.

This lady said she has removed at least 9 bats from the corner unit on the upper floor of The Forum ... alive! She said they love that apartment for some reason.

Also, this lady was bitten by a bat she was picking up and said it was the longest 72 hours of her entire life waiting on that rabies test. Luckily, the bat did not have rabies. She said that she was so freaked out that she immediately got a fever and then everyone around her was afraid she had it. What a nightmare!

Bleepin' Bats!

Tis the season for bat trouble on Trianon. Earlier today, our friend Kitty's little dog MacKenzie found a bat on their patio and when she realized what was going on MacKenzie already had the bat in her mouth. Lots of screaming and running took place and Kitty got MacKenzie back in the house but the bat was gone. She later found it in her garage ... sort of crunched up, but alive. She and her friend Rick put a large plastic box over the bat and a couple of bricks on top of the box to hold it hostage until the City can come get it for rabies testing. She'll be leaving the light on in the garage tonight ... ;)

You all know that we've spent a FORTUNE sealing all the cracks around our house to keep the bats out. Jerry and I sealed ours ($2200) when Bat #2 got in the house last August. Unfortunately, the source of the problem is my neighbor Harry's Spanish tile roof. Nothing to be done about that because Harry "isn't bothered" by the bats and has no intention of replacing that expensive roof. Rusty, our bat man, says there are over 150 living in his roof and attic.

We just found a dead bat in some bags in the attic a few weeks ago and when I told Rusty this, he said I have a "guarantee", so I think he'll come back over to look around the attic and make sure there aren't any more up there. I don't think there are because Juan put a bunch of new flooring down for us and they didn't run screaming from the attic!

Just for fun, I shot a little video of Harry's bats flying out of his roof tiles. I had to go out early because I needed light for the camera, so when you watch this remember that they sort of "dribble out" until it gets darker. That's when the real action takes place. Sorry for the shaky camera work ~ I wanted a close-up of the tiles so you might get that "Saving Private Ryan" feeling while you watch.

Let the video clip fully load and then watch it again all the way through ~ there may be some "buffering issues" with BlogSpot.

Celebrity Watch ...

Looks like Zach's hard work at the Stonewall Gardens has paid off ... he's a local celebrity!

Jason & Melissa said his poster was on every table at Jason’s Deli ~ he’s the new poster child for saving the Stonewall Gardens in Dallas. They were trying to eat in peace, but everyone wanted his autograph. He told someone he left his autograph at home.