Mud

 We are in the mud stage now with the drywall. We put the 3rd coat on over the weekend, hopefully it will just need a light/touch up 4th application, and then we can do final sanding. Last week, we had a lot of rain, so the mud is definitely drying slower between coats with all the humidity. We aren't applying much mud to the seams to the kitchen ceiling, as we have an idea for decorative tiles in there.

 We plan to sand the existing ceiling texture a little, to tone down the texture. It is a little spiky for our tastes.

 The rain... we got nearly 20 inches of rain in 4 days over the holiday weekend. Luckily our house is on a slope with the drainage creek next door, so we could shed all the water better than some. Lots of flooding in the county. One thing about Florida weather we have noticed, when it rains here, it rains, hard. None of this light drizzle stuff.

 The rains brought us a visiting turtle to our front yard. I have heard heavy rains in Florida bring out the wildlife. Visiting turtles are fine, other reptiles, maybe not so much.