Whew! We Need a Break!! Plus, a Special Visit

Hi all -- Dianne here.  We're behind on our blog because we've been in the middle of a whirlwind of activity at the coach house.  It's all coming together now.  


When we last blogged, Roger wrote of the upcoming cold spell.  Down here they call them "Blue Northers" and they can drop the temperature 40 degrees in a matter of minutes.  That's exactly what happened, with a scary gust of wind to usher it all in.  

I posted on Facebook that there's just something wrong about icicles on palm trees, and I'll repeat it here.  

Here's a photo of Roger holding an icicle he harvested from our baby palm tree out front.  That same morning the driveway was a sheet of ice.  As I shuffled outside with Bandido to take him for a quick potty break, I felt like I was back in Indiana.

This being Deep South Texas, however, the cold weather didn't last long and now it's back in the 70s.  It's predicted to be in the 80s later, so here's a sneak peek at our new pergola that is being finished today.  We'll really need it soon.

Our custom cabinets were delivered after only a week, and my painting duties began at once.  I hurried and got my wall cabinet painted while Raul's scaffolding was still in the room. 

The granite guy came the next day and measured, and brought the granite back to install two days later!  It was already after 5:00 when they arrived, so here's a pretty dark photo Roger took of me spying through the motor home door to watch the installation.  I was so excited!!

The next day I managed to get the bathroom wall cabinet painted before the toilet was installed.  

I'm still not finished painting the cabinets, but that had to be put on the back burner because a very exciting delivery was made Saturday morning...our POD of furniture from Indianapolis!  In order to avoid another (expensive) month of storage, it needed to be delivered in the midst of all the other activity.  It arrived right on time, and Roger crossed his fingers, hoping it wasn't all broken to bits inside from our amateur packing endeavors.

The arrival of the POD sparked quite a bit of local curiosity, as it did when it was loaded in Pendleton, Indiana last August.

We managed to unload the whole thing, and not one item was broken or damaged.  I guess we did okay loading it all.  It looks like a lot of junk in this photo, but that's because most of the outdoor things were loaded last.  Our next thought was:  Where in the world are we going to put all this stuff???!!!


The next two very long days were spent unpacking and fitting it all in.  There was only one box of items that we decided not to use after all, two wall clocks, some small wall prints, a lamp, and miscellaneous stuff.  We offered it to the nice guys that have been working on our coach house these past six weeks, and luckily for us they wanted it all.


Sunday was a very special day for me.  Five years ago, Bob and Linda K. quit their jobs and began their fulltiming adventure.  I happened upon their blog right at the beginning, when they were buying their motor home and getting started.  I became hooked, and I lived through them vicariously for the next two years, while Roger was still working and we prepared for our own fulltiming adventure.  In fact, it was through Bob's blog "Because We Can" that I realized that this life style was so perfect for Roger and me.  Linda began her own blog (Because We Can II), and now I read them both.  I was thrilled to learn that they would be here in Mission for a week and that we could finally meet in person.  (Linda and I have been Facebook friends for a while).  


They came over and we spent a very (much needed) relaxing afternoon getting to know each other better.  We are going to visit them at Mission West RV Park this afternoon.  I'm hoping to entice them into a place of their own here at Retama!

Isn't technology great?  These are two very special people who are now friends.  They started out from Sacramento, California.  We never would have met in a million years if not for the internet.


Check back soon for an updated show and tell of our soon-to-be-finished coach house.

Our doggie photo of the day is a little quirk of Bandido's.  When he eats his food he does it lying down.  I've never seen a dog do this before, although I've since heard that one of his pals, Minka, at the dog park does the same thing.