Hootin' Anni's Day Trippin'

Kitten is hosting this week. Her task set up for us is to show/write about our home.

"I think it would be neat to hear about the story behind your home and the road you live on. It doesn't have to be historical, maybe just something that stands out to you. It would be nice to have pictures to go with your little story. I also would like to know who has the oldest house. Whoever has the oldest house will get a little Christmas treat from little ole me."

I can't even begin to make it in the contest here for the age of our home...it was built in the early 90s. That's 1990's...not 1890s or 1790s....LOL I'll begin with the story of how we ended up here in the coastal area of the great state of Texas. You see when hubby decided to buy out and retire early, we sold our home in Colorado. Now we had two choices of relocating...San Antonio Texas or Tucson Arizona. We traveled one week to San Antonio. Found several homes --but the one thing that made us choose Tucson over San Antonio was the high property tax in Texas. You see, as I said he retired at an early age of before 55, Tucson's property tax was much much lower. So we traveled and found a home and moved in. The first few years went by and we loved having no snow and mild winters. But, before the eleventh year was over I saw the hot white sky in the morning one August [eternal white hot skies of the desert] and went in and told hubby...'it's time to get out of here'...go where there's more water, the sea. We put the home up on the market and it sold within the month. Ummmmmm, we had no home or no house-buying plan yet. Texas has always been one of our favorite states...so, I did some research with realtors in the gulf shores area. Galveston and Corpus Christi. Corpus Christi properties were more resonable, within our retiree's price range for the square footage. And besides, I DID find the home we live in now; ON THE INTERNET!!! A whole unique concept for me. What a way to shop. Well, the day we signed the agreement on the selling contract in Tucson, we had a whopping 30 days to get a new home, get a mover, etc. etc. etc.

The next day, hubby stayed in Tucson while I flew into Houston and then took a side trip to Corpus where the realtor met me at the airport. She knew the home I wanted, and to make it all much shorter, before I flew back the very same day to Tucson, we had a contract written up and the sellers agreed to my terms.

Now the one thing besides the house itself that appealed to me was the neighborhood. Each and every ONE of the homes in the small community was DIFFERENT...not off the rack, same ol floor plan as you see in some newer developments. And ALL very well taken care of...yards manicured...and the street our home is on is a dead end street....no through traffic. A church within walking distance...convenient to all shopping and main roads of the city....and far enough from the water/coast to be 'safe' from the full force of hurricanes. Yet, close enough in proximity to the beach within a 10 to 15 minute drive.

Brick home...very pretty high pitched roof...fireplace, and the interior was like a brand new home. An older woman used to live here and she really took pride in it and kept it up in perfect shape. The first thing I really liked was the sunken living room. And IN the living room was a wooden 'dome' recessed in the ceiling. It gave it a 'regal' look to the room. Also the kitchen was quaint, and small enough yet large enough to move around in...and the unique style of the floor plan there was a neat thing for me...all open just off the dining room, and 'closed-in' with carved wood from counter to ceiling. And all angled. By this I mean the walls are NOT a sharp 90 degrees. Very unique.

The master bedroom was grand too. The part I was really impressed with is that this room has 20 foot ceilings....very victorian like yet modern with the finish. And if you know anything about room interiors, heat rises, so when it's 100 degrees outside and the air conditioner is set at 80 degrees at night in the summer, the extreme heat rises and the room remains cooler.


Another wonderful selling point was the entire house was guarded [ALL windows including doors and patio] are equipped with hurricane shutters. And they can remain on the windows and doors permanently --they open and close with a push of a button.


The yard was landscaped nicely...but the photo here ---the figurines were not here at the showing, of course, they're ours. But the white stone and the turf were here...



The patio is covered, patially, and I like the sun's effect during the afternoon hours.


AND!!! I fell in love with these flowers/plants when we went to Hawaii a couple of times....bird of paradise...There was one in the YARD!!! =the plant was HUGE and blooming as it is right now...Of course it's grown some since we've moved in, but believe it or not, it too was a selling point!!!


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Our Home on the Bay.

Next week, the F M themes will be taking a break for the holidays.
Our Next Host will be: Peter
On: December 31st


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Robin has debuted a new meme in which we participate! "P P L" for short [Pensieve Poetic License]. And it looks like it may be quite a lot of fun. In fact, I know it will be...

Here's the scoop!
Here's this month's assignment:

December: Form: Cinquain Theme: Celebration Post poem week of December 17th If you haven't already indicated you'd like to participate, it's not too late; simply write a poem, and once it's complete, link your post (not your homepage) to Mr. Linky."

CELEBRATION OF CHRISTMAS through the eyes of TWO different people....
....and here are my two entries:


C IS FOR THE CHRIST CHILD
© 2007 Hootin' Anni

The horizon glows pink -- Christmas morn
Hints of amber rays, the snowflakes glisten.
Rising in the east the dawn'll break...
All God's children, soon, they wake
Giving, celebrating, amongst the laughter, we listen---
Of the story when Christ, the savior, was born!

---

GIVING THANKS AND SAYING GRACE
© 2007 Hootin' Anni

Fragile, weak, and weary - holiday depression no more
Homeless, I march in, to the house of charity
Cold and alone, I'll not leave hungry, they say
My heart, happy again, it begins to soar
I kneel and pray and celebrate the rarity
"I'm thankful you're here for me"..."please fill my tray."




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Welcome to my tour. I see you've chosen to do the thumbnail, condensed version of my holiday sequences. You'll have ten images while the slide show has 42 images I've shared. With the slideshow I'm sure it'll take a high speed connection, and I didn't want you left out in the cold winter's day if you're here to view some and you have internet access with dial up connection. Come on in...there's egg nog on the table, cookies on the hutch...and hot chocolate on the stove ..........

My house virtually turns into a North Pole Extravaganza of Kris Kringle. It's like walking into a Holiday Toy Store. I have many many many Santa Clauses. The last time I counted was about ten years ago and then it was 179 [give or take a few]. And I receive Santas as gifts and I buy about 5 new ones myself each year. So, my guesstimation of the total is now way over 200 Santas. In and around the house are Christmas Stockings, snow, vilages, animated Santas [and Mrs. Clause too], fiber optic Santas, miniature Santas, sleighs and reindeer, one Santa that even recites "Twas the Night Before Christmas" at the push of a button! Poinsettias touch off the holiday ambiance. Real ones, velvet ones and snow frocked ones. All very festive. [yes, it takes me about a week to dismantle it all

Below top left to right are photos of:
Our fireplace decked with Santas on the hearth. [candlelit inside fireplace]
A very tall, lanky metal Santa with Christmas Gifts as his hat.
A heavy resin Santa all decked out in his Christmas best...a tree
A "Coat of Many Colors" Santa tree top

My Scarecrow from Halloween [it was a witch then - with a wardrobe change it became a 'farmer' for Thanksgiving and now it's a Santa 'crow']

then, a plush stuffed Santa with his friend, a stuffed moose.
A holiday wreath I made with velvet poinsettias AND of course, a wooden Santa!
A natural clay pot filled with poinsettias
A lamp table strewn and covered with snow and several Santas

and last:
A Hallmark "Polar Express Santa" with the magical bell.






Thumbnail Version - Anni's Holiday Tour





Happy Holidays from my house to yours.