Home!

4,112 miles. (We're refusing to share how much our butts have widened from this experience.)

Managed to stop for a wonderful lunch at friend Pat's in Buffalo today and managed not to take a photo. A very pleasant treat especially after the rather awful meal we had in Lexington yesterday. Pat says we should have eaten at Alfalfa's. http://www.alfalfarestaurant.com/  We'll file that away for future reference and you can too.

Winding our way home from Texas over the last three days, we gradually saw spring disappear. You can see from the photos we're going to be in NY to enjoy spring after all. The cats are happy (although Jeff & Susan spoiled them for us) and the garden is calling. So until our next trip...

Tennessee, Kentucky, & now Ohio

Just in case you were thinking of traveling through Tennessee with your livestock, be forewarned that you can't unload them at their rest stops. (Other states aren't that particular, I guess, as we've seen no signs.) From the placement of the signs we gather Tennessee is particularly concerned with car owners doing this.

All the others except the last photo were taken at the Maker's Mark Kentucky Bourbon distillery.  A couple of their buildings are on the National Historic Registry and the tour is great.  They are currently aging more barrels of bourbon than there are people in Kentucky. In December, to help meet demand, they decided to reduce the alcohol content from 45 to 42%.  Two hours later the Pope resigned. (No comment on whether the two were related.) Their decision to reduce alcohol content resulted in 4 times the number of tweets the Pope got. Less than a week later because of all the customer complaints they went back to the original ratio. To meet demand they're currently building two to three 40,000 barrel storage facilities each year but it takes 5 to 7 years before the "taste" is right so, for a while at least, their bourbon will be in short supply.  Not to be shut out, we bought the two kinds they make and John got the honor of sealing them with the customary wax.

The last photo is the route our GPS took us upon leaving the factory.  Reminded us of the road to Peyrissac, France. Luckily this route only lasted about 5 miles before we were back to divided highway again. Tonight we're outside Mansfield, Ohio (Football Hall of Fame).

Leaving Texas...

Bright and early this morning (okay, maybe we weren't so bright but we were early), we left Brady.  Thought you might enjoy one last photo from that city.  Apparently the Brady Monument Company took to heart everything they'd learned in small business school... Be creative, innovative, diversify, think outside the box. Not quite sure how much the flamingos were selling for or perhaps you got a free pair with your monument purchase.
P2 - A change of scenery - Arkansas!
P3 - 6 - When we saw the billboard for the "world famous glass restrooms" in the courtyard park no less, how could we not stop?  P2 shows the outside of the restroom. P3 is John showing there is actually a john inside. P3 & 4 is the view from the "throne" inside. We both tried it out and it worked just fine. That's a giant checkerboard next to the restroom in P3.  And if you enlarge P4 you'll see another glass restroom beside a giant chess set. It all looked rather European.  Can you guess where we were? Sulfur Springs, Texas. One might think they chose to build fancy restrooms in the town square because of their name/smell but we're here to testify there was absolutely no odor.
PS - We made it as far as Jackson, Tennessee, the home of Casey Jones. He had something to do with railroads but it's too late to think about that...

The BIG D!

Today was dedication day when the "ceremony" was held to turn the new home over to Audrey & Kristen. Kristen is in black in the center (a track star at the high school) and Audrey is just behind her to the left.  This is the very first home of their own.  In fact it's  the first time they will each have a bedroom of their own (and a bathroom each!).  They are surrounded by many of the volunteers who helped build their new home.  The volunteers who worked on the previous part of the build are there in spirit.

And this is a hodgepodge of photos from the day. Audrey receiving the keys to their new home.  My sister, Becky, with Audrey & Krista holding the quilt she made them.  The quilt has leaves appliqued on it with the signatures and hometowns of all the volunteers who worked on the house. Center is my mother & sister and a couple of quilting friends who came to the dedication. The other photos are shots in and around the home.  Please note the front and side lawns in the lower left.  They've been freshly seeded (in what Texans call dirt). The group just finished this afternoon.  It rained, briefly, overnight and the "dirt" was like hardpan again this morning so had to be "reloosened" before it could be seeded. How anything grows down here is beyond me!

A new beginning...

P1 - A tradition at this Habitat build is for all the volunteers to sign a board with their names and where they're from and mount it in the peak of the attic.  It went up today, the space cleaned of "debris", and the attic door closed for hopefully the last time.  Our colleagues were all questioning John to make sure he'd made the bed up there (because of the amount of time he spent in the attic) before he closed things up. Tomorrow is the house dedication so things are wrapping up.

P2, P3, P4 - This is the patio area at our building supervisor's home where tonight we once again enjoyed their hospitality.  Since last year they've enlarged the patio area with some recycled bricks, put in a "dry Texas garden", and built two keyhole gardens P2 & 4.  The notch is so you can reach all parts of the garden. At the point of the notch is a large piece of plastic pipe that Keith has drilled holes in and into which they put the compost to fertilize the bed.  Pretty neat and made me start thinking of our "gardens in waiting" in New York.

"Not a hand out, but a hand up"

The meter man arrived last night and our crew flipped the main breaker on today.  No more extension cords from next door - yeah! But wait... Why do those arc fault breakers just keep popping?  Noggins together, manuals out, testers out, noggins together, endless discussions (do I dare say boring?) over break and lunch but finally most of the problems are resolved.  Not exactly what the guys had in mind but at least they figured it out so perhaps we can hear them speak of other things tomorrow.

P2 - Where's Tom Sawyer?

P3 - Is Ron cut off at the knees or just in a rut? Actually he and Jane are in the process of planting the first of 5 trees.  They get huge praise for doing this in the afternoon when the temp was in the 90's. No wonder the "electricians" kept saying they still had problems.

"Not a hand out, but a hand up" is the "cheerleader" call we Care-A-Vanners say together each morning to start the work day.  Since none of us have very good memories, we all learned/relearned that this quote actually originated with President Johnson in 1970 and his War on Poverty. Okay, be honest Judi & Karol, do you remember it from VISTA?

Men Gone Wild....

There they are - the good male volunteers of this Habitat build.  In case you don't recognize him, John is the one practicing to be a pole dancer. We had thought we might enter them in the next Roping Contest except none of us quite understand what's involved.  For instance...
- Enter 1 draw 2 or draw all three for $100
- 4th progressive after 1
- Custom headstalls to fast time header and heeler
This part we all understand - BBQ Meal.

The second photo - some Mondays just start out worse than others.

Around Mason

Once again on a Sunday afternoon (in 95 degree heat this time!) we headed back to Mason on a route not taken before in search of blue bonnets.  First stop, Fredonia. The store (wish it had been open) is also their post office and, according to the sign in the window, sells pork & chicken tamales on Fridays. P2 shows the entire "block". There appeared to be vacant space in case you're looking to start a business.

Next stop, the Union Band Cemetery. Take note Karol. You may want to organize and start a subsidiary on Vinalhaven.  There were a few bluebonnets. The ones in the photo are in front of the Crocker tombstone.  Bottom left are bluebonnets along side the used clothing collection bins in Mason.

The last shot is of the Red Top Jail in Llano. The sheriff used to live on the first floor, the prisoners were on the second, and the gallows were on the third and fourth floors. The building is no longer used and has been designated one of Texas' "Most Endangered Places". (One can interpret this information all sorts of different ways.)

Women Gone Wild

These are the "wild women" on our Habitat build. We feel like we could probably have a chance at winning one of the Annual Outdoor Women Gone Wild competitions in Junction, Texas on April 20th. There's team wagon driving, trailer backing, tomahawk throwing, shooting, photography, make mosaic crosses and more.  Unfortunately, our build will be over by then but if you're in the area you might be interested...
http://www.junctiontexas.net/

Stay tuned for Men Gone Wild...

Upstairs, downstairs...

John spent the day working with the "inside upstairs" crew on installing the solar hot water system. The Habitat project acquired a bunch of the solar collectors free of charge from an army base. They'll work perfectly here. P1 is called "John's World". P2 is "John on a Hot Tin Roof".

"Outside downstairs" the team has leveled most of the front and side yards. Some tractor work involved but also a lot of good old-fashioned hand labor.

Of interest in the Mason County News this week...

• Terry Hensley just picked up her 10th Mary Kay pink Cadillac. She has over 150 "consultants" and over $600,000 in sales. (I'm surprised we haven't seen her around town.)
• For Sale - Boer Billie. Big, stout, young. $400.
• For Sale - Good Thick Commercial Angus Bulls.
• Employment Opportunities - Pedernales Cellars in Stonewall is looking for Saturday Tasting Room Help. (How many bottles do you suppose you have to taste?)
• Looking For Deer Lease. Must have hogs and allow bow hunting.

Baby goats to old goats...

Last night was our "wecome dinner" at the Habitat president's ranch.  The Branch's raise mainly boer goats (sold to market for meat).  This year many of the goats had triplets and, because the mothers can only raise two, Judy (our hostess in the apron P2) has bottle fed the "runts".  We got to help with the evening feeding of the last six.  Someone asked if she had a problem with sending them to market.  Judy replied that since she was raised in the city she just tries to believe they are going away to camp.
P3 throu P8 - photos so you believe we are actually still working.
P9 - This is where "old goats" such as ourselves end up when they "retire" in Mason. Please note they call it "The Wildlife Ranch"...

Busy as bees...

• Topsoil brought in - black - where did that come from?! Everything we've seen is red.
• Wiring continues
• Ceiling fans going in
• Baseboard & trim going on
• Caulking and spackling
• Finish painting started
• Shower stall being tiled
• Solar hot water being installed
• HVAC ready for pros to finish
• Dryer vent in place

Of course none of these I got pictures of.  Give me a break - it was HOT here today - 87 plus some humidity. Am waiting for the cold front to come through tonight. Just hope it won't be quite as dramatic as parts of the north are having.

Oh yes, as you can see from my one photo, the kitchen cabinets are almost in.  Audrey can't wait to start filling them up.

For all you hunters and others out there - plan ahead. Was just reading where the little town of Eden does a hunter appreciation dinner every November.  They call it their "Camouflage Cotillion". Oh dear... what to wear?!!!

Masters of...

George is one of our "master electricians".  He just became engaged this weekend to his wife of 35 years. Rosanne had never had an engagement ring so, since Mason is pretty much the capital of star topaz, she took George's stunned silence to mean now was the time to get herself a ring.  It's being sent away to have the topaz and the birthstones for their daughters mounted in a beautiful setting. (The two extra stones are because she had to wait so long to get the ring.)  Now about those wires in George's mouth? Is it a trick to release the electricity in case the wires in his hands prove to be live? Or is he just deep in thought on just how much that ring is going to cost?

Judy & Ron are truly the "master yardmen". The front yard has been prepped for seeding and now they're working on the fenced in area that the homeowner wants graveled.

And I'm the "resolution master".  This week my resolution is to finally start calling Rosanne, Rosanne and Rose Mary, Rose Mary instead of vice versa.  I'm also working on getting Ron & Lee straightened out in my head.

The answer to yesterday's comment - "Are spudnuts made with potatoes?"  Potato flour is used in addition to wheat flour.  It makes the donuts lighter.

In search of the elusive bluebonnet...

P1 - Goodbye dust & grime. Hello clean, paint spotted clothes. According to the Texas weatherperson it wasn't even windy enough to be described as "breezy" but any stronger and the line behind my sister's house probably wouldn't have taken the beating.
P2 - An elegant women's luncheon hosted by my sister's church group. Each table was decorated differently and the one in the photo was done by Becky with some flowers from mother's garden.  Mother & I both got to sit at this table since we were arranged by birth month and we both have July birthdays.
P3 - Gerry (from the pool) was just in Charlottesville VA (not Idaho) and visited one of the few remaining "Spudnut" donut shops in the country.  Waiting for us when we got back to camp today was a special delivery of spudnuts.  Wow! Thank you Gerry!!!
The rest of the photos are from one of Mason's bluebonnet trails. The historical marker is where the Todd Mountain graveyard is and the photo next to it is the "mountain". John Wayne's western, "Searcher", was based on this story.  The road was scenic and, yes, we did ford those crossings except for the one in the last photo which was the end of the trail, at least for us.  The cattle tried to hit us up for a little food on the way back but... And one photo has the few bluebonnets we saw. Can you find them?

Finally Friday...

It's Friday and an absolutely beautiful day in Texas!  Not too cold or too hot or too windy or too cloudy.
P1 - Francis stepped up, waaaaaaaay up, to the plate this morning and took on the task of sanding and staining the bottom of the beams to look like the top side that is now next to the roof.  Somehow the beams got flipped during installation.  P2 - Rosanne is on the porch cutting baseboard while crews are inside working on installing the doors and trim. P3 - Judy & Ron start the process of hand raking the yard before it's seeded. Angela wants a grass front yard.
Across the street - P4 is the place to go for fresh eggs. P5 - As you can see the hens have a first class chicken coop and are ready to travel at a moment's notice - something about "free range"...  I think the 2 geese have claimed the baggage compartment down below. P6 - Some of their wares.
P7 - These signs are all over town.  The message was a bit too late for the cat behind the Habitat warehouse who was giving birth to kittens earlier in the week.

Some things never change...

67 years ago John celebrated his second birthday with just about the same amount of hair (weight wise).  At 2 he sat on the floor and got frosting all over his fingers and clothes. Today he's 69 and miracle of miracles, he's still able to sit on the floor and gets up pretty much the same way (butt in the air first) except with a good deal more vocal accompaniment. And, today, rather than messing with frosting, he got to mess with the glue/caulk that binds the heater/air-conditioning vent hose to the "unit". The difference is the stuff isn't very tasty.  However, he still managed to get it all over his fingers and clothes.

Birthdays usually end up well.  He counting the minutes until Happy Hour and then dinner compliments of his mother-in-law and sister-in-law.  He's a lucky boy!

Lookin' up & down...

P1 & P2 - Edging = patience.  And, yes, you're seeing right.  All the walls except for the girl's room are gray.
P3 - The covering comes off the beams in the kitchen/living area.
P4 - The yellow guy is John disappearing up the ladder into the attic.  He & Richard are "installing" the ductwork and HVAC system. (The spots on the walls are from my camera and I'm not sure what to do about it.)
P5 - The Christian School treated us to lunch today.  It also turned out to be pajama bottom and crazy sock day.  If they'd only told us. Darn!
P6 - How do you hear on the phone when you're at the worksite? Stick a paintbrush handle in your ear.
P7 - Texas bluebonnets in someone's front yard.  Wow!
P8 - And, just in case you're thinking of moving to Mason, this little house is for sale at three-quarter million. It comes with its own water tower and sleeps a whole lot of volunteer workers (or so we think).

All smiles...

- The painting continues with the final coat going on most of the walls tomorrow.  That's Betty Jo smiling from the door to the master bath.
- Front and center is Audrey, the new homeowner.  She works as one of two animal control officers in Mason. (Population 2,120 with 24 hour animal control coverage - think about that.)  Anyway, Audrey has Monday & Tuesday off so she's been able to help us the last two days.  A very impressive lady.  In addition to dealing with the usual dog and cat problems, she occasionally has to deal with squirrels, raccoon, steers, even goats.  When I commented it must be hard to catch an errant goat, she said is was easy.  She just lassos them.  Obviously dealing with a group of volunteers such as ourselves is no problem. (That's Ron from Michigan standing next to her.)
- Top right - part of the electrical & HVAC crew. John's the one leaning against the wall. He missed his nap.
- And at the bottom right - Joe wiring the zillion-est electrical outlet. He's smiling because it's the last one for today.

50% Chance

If you followed our blog in the past, the first photo shows the house we worked on last year.  Now it's been personalized and very much a home for the mother and son who have it.  To the right of it is the house we're working on this year.  We're with the fourth group of volunteers and, if we work as hard as the other volunteers did, the house will be finished for the new homeowner and her daughter to move in on April 19th.  She's chosen a nice, cooling gray as her interior color scheme; a refuge from that Texas heat.
The last photo is for all of you who like to watch the weather.  There's a 50% chance of rain predicted.  Any guesses where that's going to happen?

Where's Waldo?

My mother sends a special thanks to Jim for the honey from the busy bees of upstate NY. The quilt (isn't it pretty) was made by my sister.  Notice the lump?  Susan, you can tell Bertha she's not the only cat to hide when company (in the form of a dog) comes to visit.  Center photo is Easter brunch with a beautiful bouquet Mother put together with flowers from her garden.  Even though the pecan trees haven't leafed out yet, spring is happening.  Speaking of pecans - the bowl under the rosemary bush is full of "left over"pecans from my sister's lawn.  She said she was sick of picking them up and any more that fell could just stay there. In spite of the dry weather it was obviously a decent pecan crop.
Bottom photo - our campsite in Mason.  Can you pick us out among the other Habitat campers?  We're "hiding" behind that gray pickup in the middle. Harvey, the guy in the first camper on the right, said it had been a long time since he'd seen an outfit as small as ours.  We seem to be settled in just fine though.  It's very cozy.

Just for Bruce...

We always seem to give Bruce a lot of grief about using his phone to look up "stuff".  But here my family is sitting around doing the same thing.  Scott (our nephew) and Jessica (our niece-in-law) come equipped with a travel kit that includes a router so we can go wireless with ease.  Mother is smiling because John hooked up a new computer for her this morning. It's all set up so she can do her email and listen to Diane Rehm with ease. Becky is exploring the wonders of an iPad. She was heard to say "I want one". And John is doing whatever John is doing.
It's in the 80's down here folks and the AC is on. Is that good or bad?

Texas at last!

     First - the answer to yesterday's trivia was b.  "Wash out" refers to washing out the interior of one of those big trailers on an 18 wheeler.
   The top row of photos is a promo for my birth state of Arkansas.  They have an absolutely beautiful state park system.  We stayed last night in the lodge run by the park service at DeGray Lake.  Terrific accommodations! A place for you to consider Joe, or any of you for that matter, if you're heading west.  The 18 hole golf course looked great and the fishing is reported to be the best.  They even serve beer in the restaurant. And the waitress had an answer to "why that pyramid in Memphis?".  They're putting in Bass Pro Shop... They also have bald eagles that nest there.  John is standing by a life size replica of one of their nests. Suppose if you offered them enough they might even let you spend the night in it.
   On to Texas, hands firmly on the wheel as we made it through Dallas/Fort Worth.  Tillie would not have been happy. Stopped for lunch at the haunted Weatherford Downtown Cafe (center photo). Notice the ghost in the bottom left hand photo? OK - you're right.  That's me.  Not all photos come out perfect.  Am sure you can pick out the photo of John with Peter Pan (Weatherford is the birthplace of Mary Martin).  The bottom center photo is their courthouse.
   Heading off to the heart of Texas... Mother had homemade noodles waiting for John and homemade soup for me. And my sister Becky is putting us up in her spare bedroom.  The life of luxury for a couple of days until we start our first week of camping.  You don't suppose those three beauties in the bottom right hand corner are related, do you?

Meandering...

Today was sunny - yeah!  It was 70 - yeah! And the scenery was much more interesting - yeah! We're through Kentucky & Tennessee, home of many horses, many bourbon distilleries (that's Kentucky), many whiskey distilleries (that's Tennessee), country music, dinosaurs in Kentucky P2 followed by what were either dinosaur barricades or road construction in P3.  Cousin John & Judy will probably recognize the Corvette Museum in P4.  We noted it looked like mostly "wanna be" Corvette owners in the parking lot.  I picked out Only, TN to have lunch in but P6 was just about all there was to Only so we had lunch instead just down the road under the buffalo at Loretta Lynn's Kitchen - turnip greens, white beans, grits, fried chicken, her own pork - smoked.  It turns out she's still alive and lives just down the road from Only.  Hers is another April birthday, 4/14/32.  P5 - the pyramid in Memphis (why?). Finally we were over the Mississipppi and into Arkansas to find daffodils in bloom.
Trivia question - What does the sign in the last photo mean?  a) be careful entering because the entrance is washed out on the left. b) a truck driver's answer to detailing. c) a quick fix when your home hair coloring project went amiss.  You'll have to wait until tomorrow for the answer...

Off again...

A bit later than in the year this time out, but we're again on our way to Texas to visit family & work on a Habitat project.  So we don't miss too much spring in NY, we've decided to take the shortest route rather than meander.  P1 - John's stockpiling his "driving" energy. (Am not sure what Bertha the cat is stockpiling but she's very dedicated.)  P2 - Leaving our house this morning. Goodbye snow!  However, the sun was out and the redwing blackbirds were singing away.  The robins at the bottom of the hill, where there are bare patches of ground, are biding their time before visiting us. P3 - NY. P4 - Pennsylvania. P5 - Ohio. P6 - N. Kingsville, Ohio (where my mother grew up). P7 - Kentucky.  Let's see... that's 5 photos of boring highway = dull, dull, dull, dull, dull! Unfortunately, I was too slow to get a photo of the only interesting billboard we saw but it was huge.  Oh yes, all it said was "HELL IS REAL".  You don't suppose they'd just driven over from NY, do you?

Wrapping it up... finally...

P1 - Yes, that's Gus.  He's already wrapped it up for the day and it is only ten in the morning.  Some snowy days are more trying than others.
P2 - The finishing touches on the bedroom.  Captain's bed with storage underneath (now if we can only remember which storage cubby we put stuff in).  The headboard is part of Debby's picket fence she took down this summer.  I had originally thought porch posts again but the picket fence turned out to be a better idea.  John is still adjusting to the idea that the color I chose for it is a lot pinker than it looked like in the store.  Although you can't see it in the photo, the chairs face the wood burning stove.
P3- Curtains finally up in the new room and odds & ends strewn about just like someone is enjoying living there (which we are!).
Stay tuned - another trip to Texas & a new Habitat project starts in April.