Baby Shower and a House Warming...

It's not going to be long until the newest granddaughter makes her appearance. One way that Morgan and Ali have kept themselves occupied while waiting for this event is by buying a new house in the Kingwood area of Houston. This weekend they had a combination house warming baby shower. 

Here is the house. It's a early 1980s Houston neighborhood with lots of big mature trees. They are not far from Lake Houston, I noted a hiking biking greenbelt trail and Morgan says there is a nearby canoe launch on a bayou leading to the lake. It's also a closer drive to work for him.  

Young couples got to play a break your water balloon game. No one asked me to play. 

Mo and Ali, they are two soon to be three. 

More Canoe...

It's been a good summer for the canoe. I think I've lost count of how many times I have had it out and it has even had a hand in producing a couple of fish dinners. These photos are from a Wednesday  afternoon trip. I took a quick dip to cool off before I started paddling and the water temp was about like bathwater. 

I did not keep and fish today, just Catch Photo and Release (CPR) so none of these are swimming in my belly. All fish, 3 bream and 5 bass were caught on the ultra light lure you see here, some kind rattle tap/hotspot knock off in a small size. The water was loaded with small minnows or shad just about the size of that lure. 

Here is the beat bass and biggest bream. This was the only keeper bass. The rest were undersize. I did get my light tackle 4# test line broken by something that latched on with about 5' of line out. That was not enough on the light tackle to play and tire what ever it was. Lucky the  little lure I was using came in a six pack. They knew you would loose some. 

Moon rise on the lake. 

It's Hot and Old Guys Gotta Pace Themsleves...

It's hot in Texas this summer and other places as well but this blog post is not about that. I would not get too hot myself what with being an outside person and spending a lot of time on the water but then I have not had to dig a ditch in the noonday sun in a long time and this blog post is not about that either. It's a review of a couple of acts, Delbert McClinton and Deacon John who we saw on a humid spring afternoon in May at the New Orleans Jazz Fest. 

Delbert McClinton has been on what we call the must see list. I bet we have half a dozen records of his. He's been on the scene since a teen and in addition to backing legends like Lightin Hopkins and Sonny Boy Williamson he's had  Billboard Top 100 hits, Grammys, an induction in the Texas Heritage Songwriters Hall of Fame and he gave Beatle John Lennon harmonica playing tips that resulted in the hit "Love Me Do." 

On this day Delbert who is 77 and had a heart bypass in 2014 seemed to be dragging a bit. The band was sharp, but it was a hot day and they were plagued by some sound system troubles. I don't think anyone was happy. We hope to give Delbert another chance in the future. 

Texas Road House Blues Band. If you live in Texas you should know all about Delbert McClinton. 

There is that harmonica. 

In contrast we also saw another 77 year old dude Deacon John. Now I'll give you credit if you have not heard of this guy. He has never had a hit in his name but was in on the ground floor of New Orleans R & B playing on hits by Alan Toussaint, Irma Thomas, Lee Dorsey and Ernie Kato. He's still a New Orleans favorite and while I had seen him some years ago I was glad to catch this show.  

His set started out with Cab Calloway type big band tunes and continued on like a musical history lesson up through R & B, soul, funk and ended up with the Deacon playing some blistering guitar in the Earl King style and delivering devastating slide licks that recalled Elmo James. 

The man knew how to pace himself in the heat. There were several costume changes and the lady singers all got a turn.   

In addition to his hot licks his back up guitar player was no slouch either. 

Take it easy in the heat. It's got a lot hotter in New Orleans I would imagine but I have found good rates at French Quarter hotels in the dog days of summer because no one wants to be there  Other than me I guess that is. Listen to some Delbert, some Deacon or better yet catch a live show. 

Summer Wildlife on the Lake...

Lot of trips to the lake this summer mean lots of opportunities for wildlife viewing. Here's a few photos from recent trips.

Blue heron fishes a shallow sand bar. I usually take a heron photo anytime I can and sometimes I wonder how often I take a picture of a bird I have already photographed. This guy was fishing right off the Hank's Creek boat ramp in a area that years ago was a sliver of beach that before designated areas and park attendants you could take the kids on a hot summer evening for a quick cool off.  

I sometimes throw a cast net on the concrete boat ramp and catching bait can be hit or miss. Maybe I'll take a hint from this guy and throw over at the sand bar.  

Here's a family of river otters also photo'd at Hank's Creek near the boat ramp. There are four otters in this pictures and one of them is trying to nurse. Some of the photos I made, while not as good as this one can be zoomed up to make out mom's teats quite well. They were not scared of us and put on a show doing all their tricks. I hope they continue to hang out around the high traffic area with lots of folks around. Makes it less likely some one might take a shot or trap them.  

How many times have I taken these guys photo? There are lots of the ospreys on the lake but these hang around one of my favorite areas. I don't know what their plans are but their nest was in poor repair. Maybe damaged by storm and wind or maybe torn up by the bald eagles we sometimes see harassing these guys. These are big birds but the bald is bigger. The ospreys do not lack courage when they need to defend the nest.    

Different osprey above the nest. 

Don't forget about that meeting at work tomorrow. 

Lake Tejas,,,

We made a trip to Lake Tejas in Comesneil, Texas yesterday. The grand kids had a great time on the slides, diving from the dock and tower and we even put the canoe in for a paddle.

Lake Tejas is a place my dad took us swimming when I was a kid. He probably swan there as a child.  It's an old spring fed lake. The Wallace family came to the Comsneil area from Mississippi. My grandfather Sam Wallace was born there in 1892. His father, my great great grandfater E Pluribus Unam Wallace seems to have been born in Mississippi in 1853 and was in Texas by 1870. "Plu" as they called him also had his father in Texas but I am not sure of the date. My great great great great-grandfather William died in nearby Chester, Texas in 1900 and he and Plu are both buried there. I need to check out some of the cemeteries in the area.  

Warren jumps. 

The tower. 

Warren jumps again. 

Cathy demonstrates a can opener. 

Canoe crew. I caught two fish, a bream and a bass. Seems I recall a childhood memory of walking out on one of the several docks around the lake and seeing all kinds of fish around the dock waiting for a kid to drop a French fry. I did not have a fishing pole that day and can still remember the keen disappointment of not being prepared. I try not to let that happen again. 

Very pretty lake. Not crowded at all on a Monday afternoon. 

Pulling Their Weight on a Catfish Boat...

Warren and Coraline needed no help on the fish today. Each one baited their own hooks and caught one apiece. That's not bad on a slow summer fishing day where we only boated 14 keepers.

Pop Pop still caught the biggest. 

Lake Report...

Knee boarding and tubing has been great. As you may have noted on these pages we bought a new outboard, 40 hp last year and it is smaller than motors we have had in the past. Going fast is less important and quite a bit cheaper as it turns out. We have been happy with this new motor. Gas mileage is good and as you can see it pulls fine. Makes you wonder about all thos bass boats with 300 hp.

Various blog characters pictured are Matt, Margret, Grayson, Addison, Cathy, Coraline, Warren and me. Photos mostly by Matt.   

We will fish today. Look for a catfish report later. 

More Boat Paddle Guitars...

Good things and bad things. First the good. The boat paddle guitars are sellers. I have sold at least 4 this month. The bad things, it's hot in the work shop and only a little bit less so in the airier garage area where I have set up for now. 

Here's three and there are a couple of more on sale at Sound Techs and The Museum of East Texas. Coraline assisted with the building of two guitars this week and I had a nice photo of her holding them but I can't seem to find it.    

The one on the right is on it's way to Nashville and hopefully we will have more on that later. The one in the middle, the long diving minnow  job had an unexpected feature. While playing and tuning up that guitar I was palm muting (if you don't know what that is go read some other blog) I discovered that you could get whammy bar type sounds. The other two guitars, made with good old Cordell Hotspots, a rattling bait, and a much loved, fished and depended on lure of my youth can be shaken for percussion sounds. 

Tip for the wise, electric sounds are awesome with a contact type pick up like you might stick on a uke or fiddle. I'm not selling those but I saw a $500 triangle beater for sale on facebook so the pickups I personally own can be had.  

Tried some various nut materials but the best thing I have found so far is a lead sinker from the good old local Army Navy Store. I know, I know, this guitar will cause cancer if played in California and with hooks and lead might hurt a kids. You probably would not let your kid play your Gibson guitar so even thought this is a low fi machine don't let him play this one either.  

Sometimes the strings get close at the nut but by the time they travel to the lure bridge they stay spaced well and I don't see a problem with that myself. It's ok, does not cost as much as a Gibson. 

Summer Ski...

Mary, Miguel and friends rented an airb&b on Lake Rayburn this past weekend. We got invited down with the condition we bring the boat. I can live with that as they cooked us up a hamburger dinner and provided a fireworks display. I think I got in made. After all these years of leading the charge at a party I am getting to sit back and take it easy while my kids and grandkids provide the fun. 

We also went down to Lake Jackson and picked up Warren and Coraline for some summer fun. 

Here's some photos. There are so many good ones it's hard to decide what to post. 

Me and Michael get some sir on the tube. With the purchase of a new Evinrude 40 horse motor last fall we were guarded in our expectations of how well it would do tubing since it was smaller that the 50 we had before. Looks like it is going to be ok. 

Mary and Brittany. 

The we don't need no stinking life jackets photo. 

Titus and Warren get some air. 

Titus, Warren and Mary. 

Maybe you can guess what happened next. 

Cathy, Ezra and Coraline. 

After a year off having a baby from kneeboard fun Mary is back in action. 

Doing the 360. This was quite a feat as with a steady south wind the water was not real smooth for water sports at this location on the lake. 

Mary and Ezra, Brittany and Ellie, Davin and Kaley. 

The cousins! 

Fire! 

Miguel and Ezra. 

Really great weekend with a bunch of good people.