71 UPDATE

This from rep. Valinda Bolton:

Hwy 71 from Uplands Ridge to Arroyo Canyon Drive

· Reconstruction of the Barton Creek Bridge with reduced speed limits in construction zones.

· Reconstruction of this segment into a 5-lane Highway with 8-foot shoulders.

· Project will be bid on in Summer 2009.

We were once told this process could take up to 7 years due to the various processes involved. Either that info was wrong, or some thing's changed! Specifically, we were told the environmental concerns of widening that bridge would take years to address. This will be interesting to follow. We wish the salamanders well, but our east entrance/exit needs that turn lane, if not a traffic light.

SKUNKADILLOCOON?

Something has been visiting our landscaping and digging it up at night. Whatever it is, it doesn't follow the rules for when workers are to be on site.

It wouldn't matter so much but this being the year of the Green, we put a layer of newspaper under the mulch to prevent weeds. Now we have mulch'n'paper strips instead.

I spoke to a wise neighbor. He says if you get rid of them they'll just come back. What? For the comic section?

Seriously, maybe I should borrow his infrared camera to see just what it is out there? THEN what, I don't know. If they'll come back, what's the use?

On the garden GREEN front I bought a concentrate (expensive, actually) which is supposed to contain a bacterium which infests caterpillars and kills them from the inside. I've sprayed now FOUR times and they still lounge about on the leaves like divorced women poolside in South Beach. Green is a nice idea I subscribe to, but it has to work. Today I doubled down the dose. I expect the shrubs to be dead in the mulch'n'newspaper garden by morning.

SOMETHING IS READING OUR LANDSCAPING

Since going green is all the rage, this year, prior to mulching, we took an article out of the paper to heart, in which they described putting sheets of newspaper under the mulch to act as a weed barrier.

What the article didn't mention was the possibility that a skunk, raccoon, or armadillo would find our mulch-with-buried-newspaper intriguing, as it is now digging it all up, presumably to read the text.

THE 4TH OF JULY POOL AND LODGE OPENING

"OH MAN, THAT FEELS SOOOOOO GOOD!!!!"


"WATERMELLON EATING RULES!!!"


"I GOT IT I GOT IT I GOT IT"


"MY HUSBAND IS WATCHING OUR LITTLE GIRL - NOW IT'S MY TURN TO RELAX"


"DADDY ON A DAY THAT COULDN'T BE BETTER!"


"TWINS!"


"JUST LIKE ST. TROPEZ. CANNES? LA JOLLA? BETTER!"



"Wow, where'd all those people come from!?" was a repeated phrase as quite the turnout on a beautiful puffy cloud day brought together families, friends, neighbors, new neighbors, potential neighbors, developers, builders, and more.

Beautiful people and sunny mop-tops were sighted everywhere. The food was great and the water inviting.

HERE KITTY KITTY - FOUND CAT

A beautiful little (very hungry) cat found its way to us today and I’m desperately trying to find his owner. Would you mind posting his picture on the website? I’m assuming he belongs to someone in Spanish Oaks.



Thank you so much,

Joni Benson in Barton Creek Preserve

402-1282

jonibenson@austin.rr.com