Tobin Hill Work Camp

Nasty Trash Pile!
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.Runner Up in the Wet T-Shirt Contest
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Do you have a license to drive that thing?
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This is what 10 cubic yards of construction waste looks like.
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Where did the trash pile go?

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Shhhhhh! - Cat hard at work - Sorry we roused you for the photo, Grey Girl

The inaugaral plug
Dani and Dennis - friends from SBC Mexico days
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Cousin Nettie and friends from Sabinal .

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We enjoyed scones and coffee on the balcony with Kathryn --
Web, Emma, Meagan, Benjamin
Can you hear the theme song from "Gone with the Wind" when you look at this picture?




HIGHLIGHTS FOR THE WEEKS ENDING JUNE 17 AND JUNE 24, 2007

1. Whoever thought that moving a trash pile would be a highlight? If one considers "highlight" to be synonymous with "welcomed relief", then we have a highlight. In the first few pictures, you see "before, during and after" of the move. Even OSHA Babe pushed the wheel barrow. Did you ever hear it said that you need to get a good education or you would end up digging ditches? Well, both the Babe and I have college degrees and we're still hauling trash. What's wrong with this picture?
2. The picture of the air conditioner unit with Grey Girl napping on top shows that the cats have this thing figured out - Eat, sleep, stretch, repeat. We try to keep the noise level down while we're working so that we don't disturb their rest.
Incidentally, there have been no further raccoon sightings. However, there was some sort of midnight animal ruckus in the neighbor's front yard several nights ago. I suspect that Rocky Raccoon was defending himself against a dog or something. It sounded pretty scary.
3. The Zoysia King has resurfaced. The zoysia has taken hold splendidly and is spreading rapidly. It hasn't overtaken the neighbors' yards but is working on it. To help the spread, I bought a "sod plugger" and posed for the obligatory "Kodak Moment." The cats think that it was nice of me to improve their outdoor facilities. Nasty cats!
4. We do continue to work inside the house. There are actually clothes rods in the future master closet. Most of the clothes are out of the moving boxes and onto the rods. Knobs and drawer pulls are beginning to show up on the kitchen cabinets and there are plates on most of the light switches and outlets now. OSHA Babe bought an old dresser that fits the time period of the house. A jewelry case, bookshelves, and the entertainment unit have been brought upstairs and put in place. The Bose system is hooked up. We're catching up on rerun episodes of "24" that we missed. Life is getting better in Tobin Hill.
5. Visitors keep coming and we love it.
.....On May 31, we had a passel (whatever that is) of company.
..........Dani and Dennis, dear friends from SBC-Mexico days were in town for an anniversary lunch and stopped by. They had the choice of staying to work around the house or going on to celebrate their 30 somethingst anniversary. Needless to say, they chose wisely.
..........My cousin, Nettie, came from Sabinal with her dad, Uncle Joe, and two of her friends. (Ladies, I apologize for not remembering your names. This is a test to see if you're reading the blog. Send a comment back and I'll edit this entry to include your names.) One of Nettie's friends remembers that during her younger days, she dated a guy who lived a few houses down the street from us. Isn't it a small world?
.....Just recently, another guest was Kathryn. She is my sister's mother-in-law and was in San Antonio helping her daughter prepare for a move to another house. She particularly enjoyed coffee and scones on the balcony. What a delight.
.....Repeat visitors - Web, Emma, Meagan, and Benjamin - were here last Saturday. You loyal blogsters can see their pictures from previous visits. There is even a picture of Web shoveling dirt for the berm earlier this year. They may be moving soon. It was good to have them stop by for OSHA Babe's famous spaghetti.
6. What do you think of the exterior paint job? It is a real pleasure to drive up and see such a transformation. We need to keep looking at how much we have done and not get discouraged by how much there still is to do.

NEXT STEPS:
1. Finish putting on the knobs/pulls in the kitchen.
2. Begin building shelving and run a clothes dryer duct in the master closet.
3. Restart work on the remaining two bathrooms.
4. Watch the zoysia grow.

A Full House

Home Sweet Home-it's official

Wood floors-even prettier Feeding the Jaguars

Cousin Rebecca-first official overnight guest

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Michael, Jasmine, and Trudy visit the Alamo

Out of the apartment and into the house
Rocky Raccoon
Column painting in progress

Highlights for the Weeks of May 30 and June 3, 2007

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We unloaded the U-Haul and took off to Missouri for a very special reunion of the James family. Three of Pat's mom's siblings were there and her dad's sister, plus cousins and in-laws. We also got to visit long time friend Ken Callis and meet his newest grandson, Graham born May 24. An unexpected guest greeted us when we returned home. The raccoon mentioned in the previous entry seemed to have claimed the front step as a dining table (the neighbor boys who fed the cats while we were gone were very generous with their portions). You can see from the picture why the cats leave him alone!

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Bo's cousin Rebecca was our first official houseguest and wins the Good Sport Award for braving no airconditioning and no covering on the windows. The motion detector light outside her window was probably a night-long alarm clock since it seems to detect the slightest movement of leaves when there is a breeze. She was awake in plenty of time for her early morning flight to visit her son Bradley and his kids in Missouri. (P.S. A visit from the air conditioning repair guy next day revealed absolutely no freon in the upstairs unit. Freon for the air conditioner $350-a good night's sleep-priceless)

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We took a break from our unpacking the week of June 3 to help get Katy and her sister Rachel move into their new Bless Your Heart quarters. They were remarkable orchestrators of a hardworking crew. What an achievement to move the wonderful, extravagant inventory of two stores, get everything set up, and be open on the 5th day! If enough of you request it, I will post a picture with Bo next week entitled, "Why a Man Needs a Pick Up Truck in Texas." It has to do with shoes, and lots of them!

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Nephew Steven and his wife Michelle arrived with Sean and Maddie for a long weekend on the 7th. Aunt Pat got to choose the pictures for the blog this week....can you tell she's smitten?

I told their Gran (Shanna) that they were the only way our wood floors could be any prettier. What a beautiful way to furnish our guest room! Sean enjoyed feeding the cats which he called "jaguars" since he had just watched a Discovery program on jaguars.

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We also had the honor of introducing Jasmine and Michael to Texas. They accompanied mom Trudy from San Jose, California and though their time in San Antonio was short they got to experience The Alamo, The Riverwalk, and Sonic! They are in Texas because Jasmine qualified for a national speech competition in Belton and will hopefully take home honors along with her pink cowboy hat (with tiara) purchased on the Riverwalk.

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Yes, we did get a little work done on the house. Francisco and Daniel worked carefully and conscientiously to scrape the capitals and posts to get them ready to paint. The last picture shows one completely primed. Wait til next week when you see the finished job!

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What's next-

1. Electric circuit for washing machine and inventive venting of dryer

2. Install transom windows upstairs.

3. Get window coverings

4. Unpack boxes (we need shelves and rods in the closets)

5. Ceiling fans

6. Cheer for the Spurs!