Clear as mud...

Apparently I left things in a state of confusion with my last post. You have my apologies.

The master plan (as you know by now this is always subject to change) is to fly back to Texas in June. In the meantime Tillie is cooling her systems in my mother's carport and we're catching up on things in NY. However, mark your calendars. You can start looking for new updates to this blog on June 9. The game plan is to take Tillie on a straight? meandering? path to Seattle from whence she came. Bridge (her rightful owner - she's just been on loan to us) is ready to have her back for adventures of his own. And, although nothing, of course, can replace the one and only Tillie, we do have some alternatives in mind... Your suggestions, as usual, are always welcome...

Goodbye Hippie Dude

All good things must come to an end, and so it is with this latest adventure with Tillie. Today we packed up, John did some last minute repairs on Tillie (the rattle in the dashboard was actually a loose/disconnected heat duct which may explain why it was so hot in the glove compartment & nowhere else...), enjoyed a nice lunch at a new tea room in town, visited an old Brady home family friends beautifully restored, and tried cooking prickly pear for dinner. Except for one person who said he remembers roasting cactus over the fire as a kid, no one I've met has ever tasted it. Now, as an experienced prickly pear taster, I can offer several words of advice. Unless you're looking for a new source of dental floss, look for pads that are no bigger than 5 inches. I used 10 inch ones - hard to peel, hard to cut, loaded with coarse threads, &, unless you swallow your food whole, impossible to chew. Second piece of advice, grill them. I sauteed it and, while it cooked the cactus, it soaked up all the oil. And wear gloves. Before Gene picked me the pads, he put on thick leather gloves and warned me about the little fine cactus needles that are a bear to get out of your hands. (For once, I listened.) How did it taste? Not bad but am reserving judgement until I can cook some up right. Maybe next trip.

While Hippie Dude monkey does look a bit panicked to be left on his own until we return in June (sitting so close to an Obama sticker in Republican Texas can be a bit nerve wracking, I admit), I'm sure he'll survive. Look for the blog to continue in June when we return to pick up Tillie and continue our adventures as we head toward Seattle.

Fountain of Youth...

My mother is very excited to have received her first ever "Official Jury Summons". She lived in Arkansas for 60 years and was never called and now, after just over 4 years in Texas, her name finally comes up. (She may even go out and get a souped up hearing aid just to make sure she doesn't miss anything.) According to the Texas summons you may be excused from jury service if you are over 70 years of age. However, you are not required to claim the exemption and she doesn't intend to (even though reporting for duty does fall on a quilt club day but she'll make the sacrifice). The form also says (and I'm typing this as it appears including the bold and caps) "IF CLAIMING AN EXEMPTION FOR PERSON OVER 70 YEARS OF AGE PLEASE CHECK IF THIS EXEMPTION IS: __ TEMPORARY EXEMPTION __ PERMANENT EXEMPTION"

Do we conclude that once you're over 70 it's possible to get younger than 70? How does this work?! During my afternoon walk I may have discovered that tightly held Texas secret. Mesquite trees are everywhere and are usually host to one or more bunches of mistletoe (it's the green bunches growing in the tree). Lots of mesquite should equal lots of opportunities for smooching (except for those pesky rattlesnakes...) and lots of smooching should equal renewed youth if all those TV ads are to be believed. So do any of you guys out there have any clever new marketing/tourism slogans for Texas?

Spring is where?

Let's see. We left NY in the snow and arrived in Texas in the snow. Today in Texas it was 25 degrees colder than NY and there was snow in the air while it was a beautiful spring day in NY. As my true blood Texas brother-in-law described the weather, "It's colder than a well driller's rear end in the Klondike." (He assures me this is a phrase all Texans know and use. You don't really think I could make that up, do you?)

My family from Brady & cousins from Austin braved the cold and Texas winds to see the Habitat house project, said "That's nice. Can we go back home now where it's warm?" Not only does it get cold here in Texas but the winds blow... HARD! It was quite an exciting ride back to Brady from Mason today. Tillie was blown all over the road (and it wasn't due to drinking either although I did feel that might have been in order to calm my nerves and warm my body. You do remember the lack of heat in Tillie when temperatures drop?) However, I did feel lucky. When we left the campground this morning there were still tent campers. How they managed to still be there is a miracle. When the front came through around 4 a.m. there was thunder & lightning & driving rain & high winds. Tillie was rockin' & rollin' and it wasn't because of anything happening inside the van.

But there are still many signs of spring including these wildflowers my mother picked in her yard. I think she picked them just so we could wish you a Happy Birthday, Sarah!

Extra, Extra...

Today was the last day of our Habitat build here in Mason. Somewhere between the camera & the computer, poof, the photos disappeared so you'll have to visit the web site I referenced in an earlier blog to see the lastest pictures. Even more upsetting, I lost photo proof there are at least two clotheslines in Mason! And for even more news you can go to the web site for Mason County News or pick up a copy at your local newstand where you leave your payment in the jar (Mason, of course).

Even though the Habitat home we've worked on will not have a clothesline, Jimie is spending her "bonus dollars" (discretionary money they can spend for a few extras for the home) on a rain water collection tank so she'll have water for the vegetable garden she plans to have in the back yard. Way to go, Jimie!!!


Tonight after chowing down on burgers at the Northside Grocery, Curtis & Reenie (it was their ranch we visited) invited all of us to their home in Mason for one last round of dessert. (It's going to take me weeks to get the extra poundage off my hips...) Anyway, Curtis has a collection of toy John Deere tractors including this one hand carved from mesquite. Truly a work of art.

Tortillas Are Us!

Finally, the long awaited clothesline shot (it was "hanging out" behind the house across the street from the house we're building all this time and I had no idea).
Then there's the metal roof on "our" house project (the team on roof deserve multiple stars for doing that in the Texas sun today). If all goes as planned the roof will be completed tomorrow. It should last as long as the bit more challenging roof on another house in town. Isn't it beautiful?
Tonight was tortilla night in the ol' campground, a southwestern take on the "bring a dish to pass" concept. (Can't believe I never thought of it.) In addition to everyone bringing tortilla fillings we have Fred, a master at making corn tortillas, and Bea, a master of flour tortillas. By the way, Bea was the youngest of 21 children (only 3 were adopted) and helped her mother make a LOT of tortillas. I think Bea's were the best I've ever had but she says her mom makes better ones. Can you imagine how many tortillas her mother must have made over her lifetime?

Siding to a Texas ranch...

We started the siding on Jimie's home today. That's her on the left helping put on the first piece.
At the end of the day, it was off to Reenie & Curtis' ranch to visit their goats and long horn cattle (and play at being kids again by riding in the back of the pickup). The goats are protected from the coyotes by two dogs, Jake &; Nilla who are Akbash, Turkish dogs bred for just this purpose. Curtis said before he got the dogs he lost almost all the kids that were born. Since getting them 5 years ago, he's only lost one kid. On the cattle front, he used to raise Angus but said his herd got too old so he sold them and now has registered long horns instead. The long horns turn out to be mellow and friendly, much less aggressive than the Angus. Even Larry who is a city person was brave enough to hand feed one. (We all begged off feeding the bull.)
Dinner was goat sausage and hamburgers (Try not to think about it. You would starve down here, Susan!)

Dear Jane & more...

Doreen, the lady in the middle, stopped by the job site this morning to show us the "Dear Jane" quilt she made. She made the entire quilt by hand, not machine, (close to 5,000 pieces), all the fabrics are different (most are reproduction fabrics from the Civil War period), it took her 19 months and the work is absolutely beautiful (and, believe it or not, she is not bonkers!). Another lady in their quilt group made one in 9 months and two other ladies are nearing completion of their tops. So if you wondered what women do in Mason besides make monkeys....

Just down the road (within a mile) of Mason is Koochsville. (Loved the name.) It doesn't look like Kooch's old store is being used but it is a beautiful building although I'm not sure why he needed two front doors within a couple feet of each other. Thought I might find a clothesline but only free range chickens were "hanging out".

And, playing a bit of catchup, Monday is cattle auction day in Mason and the auction yard in only 3 or 4 blocks from where we're building the house. When someone stopped by to make sure we went down for a few minutes if we'd never been there, I thought I'd better go. Obviously, if you don't drive a pickup with a deer-catcher attached to the front, you're just not with it. This was a real auction where you couldn't understand a thing the auctioneer was saying. (What's happening with auction attire? Some of the guys were wearing baseball caps instead of cowboy hats! Honestly, what is Texas coming to?)

One of those white pickups with a deer catcher drove by our campsite this evening and the teenagers in the back yelled out the window, "We love your hippie van!" Tillie sat up a little straighter.

Monkey time...

Yes, we do work. But after a long work day, Monday night is gals night out. How can folks with the same size socks come up with so many variations on a monkey?

Finally!

A clothesline! even if it is attached to the back a camper. But I promise, if there's a clothesline to be found in the area, I'll get you a photo. Tomorrow is Monday, traditional laundry day, so maybe that will be the day.

No other keen photos to include. We went to Fredricksburg for a little R&R (as in rock & roll) at the Rockbox Theater. Great songs from the 50's, 60's & 70's played/performed by some very talented folks. A must do if you're ever in that neck of the woods. Our team fully expects to be rockin' it up tomorrow... John's favorite song of the day - "Down in the River to Pray". (I know it's not r&r but they did do a few other types from the era.)

A Day Away...

Mother & Becky picked us up bright & early at the campsite for a day of sightseeing in Junction, a tourist hotspot (or so the Chamber of Commerce rep. would like us to believe).

Photo 1 - As Becky said, this photo op had "blog" written all over it. Please note the "tree" was created by the Kimble (Junction is in Kimble County) Business & Professional Women's Club. It didn't say if it's members shot all those deer "represented" or if they acquired those horns by other means. (The processing plant in the background is for wild game.)
Photo 2 - Head hanging in a Junction restaurant. Looks sort of like our old dog, Hans, doesn't it? (Really gives you an appetite doesn't it?)
Photo 3 - 700 Springs Ranch (the real reason we went to Junction). It opens its gates once a year to the public. Heard a nice talk by the county historian who said, among other things, that this is the true original location of San Clemente (the Texas one, not California; San Angelo now claims that honor) and they have the historical proof. Bonnie & Clyde also spent a night here 3 weeks before their demise. The owner of the ranch at that time reported them as "suspicious" to the sheriff in Junction but it was out of his jurisdiction and Bonnie & Clyde had moved on before they were confronted. And, according to 700 Springs Ranch web site, this is the most beautiful place in Texas. As someone told John, the springs/falls which come out about 20-30 feet above the river on the other side, may not look like much to us, but for Texans, this much water is a BIG deal. The "waterfall" shown in the web link above is the same one you're looking at across the river...
Photo 4 - A trip to Junction from Mason would be almost impossible without going through London. This is (what can only assume to be) the old high school, converted to a pub. The city park shares the parking lot. Looks like a fun spot to us.

PS - In response to someone's inquiry about photos of clotheslines, I'm still looking. Here it is, warm, sunny, a perfect day for drying clothes and our clothes seem to be the only ones drying in the fresh air. Folks in Texas don't seem to believe in drying clothes outside but I'll keep looking.

Bluebonnets...

At last! Bluebonnets in bloom! There are plants just about everywhere so in a couple of weeks the hillsides are going to be blue with blossoms. It's 50/50 whether they will be blooming in mass before we leave for NY.

The women (Mary & Janet up in the air - you couldn't get me on one of those scaffolds for all the topaz in Mason County) are working at installing the windows. An excellent job, of course! I think I have forgotten to mention this is going to be the first certified "Green Energy Star" home with LEED certification in Mason County. Two thumbs up for Habitat!

And the last photo, John working on Tillie. Let's see, wine glass in the cup holder, snacks within reach, comfortable seat & sunshine. Doesn't it look like John's trying to figure out what he's missing?

Texas winds...

There is absolutely nothing like a strong Texas wind. It is unrelenting. By the end of the workday we all felt like we'd been beaten. John may look like he's relaxing but he's just waiting for the final piece of sheathing to install on the walls. And if it looks like someone forgot a part of the roof to the left, that's supposed to be that way awaiting the porch rafters.

The other photo is of a yard we pass every day and pretty much has everything you'd want. The home water tower; a windmill that presumably pumped water for the tower; a birdhouse; a flag held nicely out by the wind; a cast iron bean pot hanging on some sort of rack which I suppose held it over a camp fire (it is filled with faded artifical flowers for a bit of cheer); and to the left of the flag pole is some sort of sculpture that I do hope you can enlarge - it's composed of assorted deer? horns and rusty iron stars. The gray thing? Maybe a gas tank? There's no telling what's behind the house.

The Pampered Bladder...

Let me assure you that pampered describes your bladder, not ours. While Tillie (and us) have joined the group at the campground (look for the yellow), Tillie's "facilities" in no way equal those of our neighbors. John was the first to enjoy a "in the middle of the night stroll" to the public restroom. A couple of hours later I remembered that "exercising" in the middle of the night sure beat laying in bed dreaming of bathrooms. You, on the other hand, probably missed out last night on that "extra" bit of exercise (a plus for any weight loss program), the invigorating smell of fresh air (I'm sure that wards off all sorts of diseases) and the unanticipated excitement of wondering what that animal was running along on the edge of the campground lights... It's still too cold for the snakes to be wandering around at night, thank heavens!

This being Jimie's day off, she joined us at the work site with her daughter (who's on spring break). Among their new skills, use of a caulking gun and a cordless drill (Texans are always quick on the draw...) put right to use in the installation of the first window. Jimie has been posting pictures to the web site where she works, Gems of the Hill Country, if you'd like to see more photos than are on this blog. You might also want to visit that site if you're interested in topaz. To see her photos... on the left of their main menu choose Pictures; from that menu choose Habitat...

Tillie at the worksite...

John knew you wouldn't believe Tillie actually made it, so here is photo proof positive. From left to right, me, India & Jimie (the new homeowners), and Tillie. That's their new home in the background. Many of the rafters went up today as did the shrink wrap. Have you ever tried to hang onto to an umbrella in a rainstorm? That's sort of what putting shrink wrap on a house is like in Texas winds. It's supposed to be even windier tomorrow, so everyone hustled just before quitting time to get the rest of it up and secured. We don't want to hold up progress. India is already "arranging the furniture" in her bedroom so we've got to keep making progress.

And then it was off to the campground and getting organized. Trying to remember where the socks go as opposed to silverware is proving to be a bit taxing after the end of the work day (not to mention happy hour...) If we can just find the sheets before we go drifting off to sleep...

Sometimes photos are worth a thousand words...

The first photo is especially for Garry & George. It's the 1960 Jaguar Curtis is working on for the doctor. (From the amount of dust that's gathered "over time", I certainly am grateful that Curtis was able to work Tillie into a more prompt repair schedule...)

From the outside, Curtis' repair shop has 5 large garage doors in good condition that look like they open into your "regular" repair garage. From the inside... Well, there was no way I could begin to describe it, hence the photos. The last one is Curtis giving us thumbs up as Tillie is finally running again. She starts without being hot-wired and the use of a screw driver; the turn signals work (both directions at that!); the horn honks!; and just as important, the steering wheel is back in place (steering is just a little difficult when the wheel is sitting on the passenger seat.)

John drove her back to Mother's with no hiccups this time so we deemed it safe to add Texas to Tillie's "I've been there" map. (I suppose I should look for some gold or platinum stars to indicate repair shops where she's also been.)

No, Susan, no tent camping (yet). We've been staying at my mother's. Perhaps that's why Mother is smiling... she will no longer have to jockey with us for the bathroom in the mornings. Tomorrow night we plan to be parking Tillie next to the other Habitat folk in the campground (that is if Tillie hasn't gotten persnickety overnight!).

Ready for spring...

Is this a peach tree? Whatever it is, it sure puts you in the mood for spring doesn't it?

The owner certainly thinks it spring too. That backwards red Texas next to the tree on the left is a hummingbird feeder. I haven't seen any hummingbirds yet but will now be on the lookout.

Today was a "landmark" day in terms of eating. It's the first day we've been in Texas that we haven't had pinto beans. When the USDA recommended eating more legumes I don't think they were talking about Texans. You don't suppose pinto bean consumption has anything to do with how windy it is in Texas, do you?

Where oh where is Tillie?

Off to Brownwood today to get a better (or any) "handle" on what was happening with Tillie. Figured we'd just show up around ten since Curtis says he comes to work at 9 even though we've never yet been able to raise him by phone at 9... We were there at 10. Curtis wasn't. Is that Tillie we spot through the junk cars next to the building? Nope. That one's in worse shape than Tillie. Peeking in the garage windows Tillie was spotted inside next to a beautiful old Jaguar leaving us ponder if perhaps we weren't going to be financing its restoration.

Enough worse case scenarios! Better to do some shopping and leave the junkyard in charge of the dog. I tried calling every half hour or so to no avail. At noon John said let's just swing by one more time and, sure enough, Curtis is "in"!!!

Curtis was right. He is "sickly" (has the flu). And I was right. He is "older than dirt". However, he also really seems to know what he's doing (when he's well I suspect he moves faster...). The problem with Tillie was in the ignition which was so bad he said it was a miracle we'd made it all the way from NY. Some of the wires had melted and others had been badly spliced. He has made progress as he was out driving Tillie around last night and she started right up for John. However, during the "test drive" Curtis discovered the turn signals were also messed up (John had noted that on the way down, too) and something else wasn't working right so he had the steering wheel off again redoing those wires. To my way of thinking, working on the bus is probably a good project for someone who's sickly. He can take a nap in the back whenever he needs to which, noting the boots on the floor next to Tillie, may not be too far from the truth.

At any rate, John feels Tillie is in good hands and we're hoping Curtis feels better soon. I really didn't want the hassle of having her towed to the shop on the way into town that advertised "Horse breaking" and "engine tuning".

PS - The Jaguar belongs to a doctor in town who may have been waiting longer than we have...

And then it was Friday...

A framed house (part of our week's effort) and another group shot, this time not for the obit page even though the empty seat does make it look like we're missing one of our own. A bit of trivia particularly for John & Judy. The guy (his name is Law, upper left in the floppy white hat) used to wear a similar hat similar that said "HEAD". Pre-retirement he was an engineer who helped design the machines used in the manufacture of Head tennis rackets. Joe (standing to the left of John) is also an engineer. Why oh why didn't we just have Tillie towed to the campground and let these two guys get her running for us? On the Tillie update front - John talked to Curtis again this morning. He's still feeling "sickly" (obviously Tillie is too since he hasn't fixed her yet...) We're going there tomorrow to determine (among other things) if this guy is alive enough to fix her so stay tuned...

Back at the building site, part of our sheathing crew are still having a good time and dressed to the nines, of course. It was only this afternoon that someone brought to our attention that it was "dress-down" Friday. As one of the ladies said, "If I'd remembered I wouldn't have shaved my legs."

And the last photo is "happy" hour to which we are all dedicated as you can see. Temps in the 50's and that cold Texas wind blowing but neither stops this hardy crew. I think Jan, the second from the right, depicts it all. Hat, heavy coat with layers underneath, yellow gloves and a glass of wine in each hand. Her blood's gotten a little thick (or is it thin?) since she left Buffalo...

Birthdays & the Press...

Today was my sister Becky's birthday so of course I made her smile for that dreaded "Oh no, it's for the blog..." photo. Becky and friends have started a new fad - birthday "breakfast out" celebrations instead of some sort of evening "do". (The big advantages, of course, are no birthday candles to blow out or million calorie cakes to consume no matter how good they may seem at the time.) My sister & I gave up exchanging birthday gifts long ago but since we were in town and since we were being invited to breakfast it seemed only appropriate to take something. So last night before we left Mason we went shopping and found a book (previously read by someone) and a block with her initial. We had hoped to spell out her name but the antique/junk store was all out of vowels so we settled on just "B". John whipped out a ten for our purchase (obviously we were sparing no expense...) but Sam didn't have change so he told us just to take them and settle up the next time we were in town. By the way, Sam is the same guy who leaves the front door of the store wide open in case you want to look around and a note saying he'll be back shortly. Mason is an old-fashioned type of town.

And then there's the weekly newspaper, the Mason County News. Their "reporter" was at our lunch on Monday to take our photo and "get the scoop" and assure us of a good place in the paper. Sure enough. In this week's paper, there we are on page 3 right under the Obituaries (it's the most read part of the paper after all). We must have looked hungry because under the photo it says if "you would like to help feed these hard-working folks" to call Carlene.