5 thing Friday - eating out, pick-up parties, Nandina, Maggie, birds

 Hubby and I eat out a lot less than we could.  After all we are a couple of dinks at this point (double income, no kids)

When we do eat out, we make it count.  One of our favorite haunts is El Rancho Restaurant in Burnet, just off the main highway.  The pandemic didn't even slow business down.  The Saturday breakfast special was barbacoa, eggs, potatoes, and refried beans.  YES, PLEASE.

The food is good and the prices are reasonable.  We regularly clean our plates!

Wine club pick-up parties happen every other month for us.  They are a welcome respite with their outdoor seating, live music, and tasty lunches.  Happy people drinking wine and having fun.  Win, win.

On a walk around Highlands I paid close attention to what was blooming and/or thriving.  A surprise to me was this Nandina bush hanging out under a giant Texas Sage.  I'm pretty sure a bird pooped it into existence here  You can find these at garden shops for not cheap.

New brewery in Georgetown for Hubby and I to sit and chat with my sister and brother-in-law.

The beer was OK, the company better!

I regret not getting a pic of them every time we get together - they are a fun couple, just 4 years older than us.

Her name is Margaret, but she goes by Maggie.  Maybe someday I will write about her on the other blog.  {That dog, though}

A couple of weeks ago I identified a tanager couple at Highlands that built a nest just above the front patio of the Barn.  While we sit out there, they chatter and fuss and carry on.  

Walking the perimeter of the Barn I see several nests - some seem empty but I bet I was being closely watched.

Hello, birds, its your human Ring camera!  Anyone home?

I kind of wish I had placed a big rock in these spots that I knew they would pick.  Last year I found a very small egg in one, months old...oh well.  We really enjoy the birds at Highlands, so they can live here at the Barn, too.

p.s.  Goodbye April, Hello May!

Gina

The barn tour - some before and afters

The before pics at Highlands are fun to look at at - if for nothing else than 'look how far we've come' moments.  Below is the inside of the Barn after we added a screen doors, a fridge,  and a few tables to serve as a kitchen. 

You can see the indoor plumbing Hubby added, a table with sink that "drains" into a Homer bucket, the tabletop oven, fridge, coffee pot, TV, storage, and water buffalo.  It was highly functioning camping.

Nowadays!

Under the TV is a storage stand.  Next to it is our vacuum cleaner and broom.  There are mini blinds on the window, too. This table is home to the microwave (from Dutch!), a coffee pot, and water buffalo.  A skirt made of vintage flour sacks is attached with a tension rod under the table.  Out-of-sight storage includes our snake boots, the liquor cabinet, a first aid kit, and the pizza stone. 

Pegboard helps us organize a tiny kitchen.  To the right is dry goods storage, plus a sink with cutting board cover.  Under the skirt on this side is that Homer bucket, the squatty pee potty, and the mats for the camp cots.  It doesn't look like it, but there is plennnnty of space here to open the fridge.  The benches slide under the kitchen table neatly.

Against the wall directly across from the kitchen we used to keep the fridge and a ton of camping items.  All of that went into the shed after we built it.  So the space was freed up for camp cots.  But eventually, those got stored, too.  And we removed the LOUD window unit A/C and installed a portable one.  We already had a heater in here.  It is comfy in here,  no matter the season.

We murdered all of the mice.  Hubby insulated everything.  We installed beadboard and gave a one foot perimeter of the floor a coat of white paint.  Then we laid down RV carpet.  That lamp is also a smart speaker for listening to music.  Extra linens are stored in the trunk behind the folding chairs.  We will one day have a futon in here.  The doorstops are big and beautiful chunks of quartz.  We might paint the ceilings black - someday, not any time soon.

Above is the A/C unit.  That oil heater will probably go live in the storage shed until December.  We built a window sill on this side so there would be a spot to charge/hold a cell phone.

We brought these old metal lockers up from Camp Rustown.  They had been in my MIL's Galveston garage for years before that.  They got two sloppy coats of oil-based paint and some chalkboard labels and they are now our dry storage. Command hooks organize caps.  Vintage Tupperware on top has microwave popcorn, nuts and crackers, marshmallows for the campfire, iced tea packets.  That axe helped us kill the third rattlesnake - its staying right there.

The floors are  some kind of wood sub flooring that we have no plans to cover, other than that RV fabric.  Paint did a fine job of disguising it.  And we have plans to add quarter round to the base of the walls to "finish" it.

Mabel is just outside - see her?

We added many pavers out there where there was once just gravel.  And there are tables out there, too.

The inside of the barn overhang was filthy - we powerwashed the heck out of it and hung tiny white lights all around the inside.  Originally, the Barn walls were just bare composite wood, so we painted those.  You can see where Hubby extended the plumbing so that we could have a sink out here, too. {I need to figure out a space and system for hanging our clothes!}

There is a sink table (with a bussing tub for dishes) and a cook's table.  We repurposed one of the giant barrels we found as a trash can.  Looks huge but it regularly gets filled up.  Behind the trash can is our shower mat for outdoor showers and a bench ladder to set things, or yourself, on.  Above it, just out of sight, is a plastic tote with shampoo, soap, and toothbrushes.

We use the cook stove almost every weekend, but there is also a gas grill, too.  This was a table that was left here, and I power-stapled a plastic tablecloth all around the top of it.

Every weekend it seems like I find more trash at Highlands - and every time I say some thing about how the man that owned it was an idiot to trash it up so badly.  Can you believe what a mess it was?  At closing, we made it a condition of sale that the big trash had to be cleared off.  But we have filled TWO construction-sized dumpsters since then.

And we still have more trash to collect, along with about 500 tires to dispose of.

There was trash everywhere.  BIG trash.  Like a dump.

Hubby always saw the potential.

It took a while before we had it all tweaked the way we like it.  We decided to hang solar fabric to protect Mabel from the harsh UV rays.  The tiny white lights help us see all the way around her at night. Mabel now had a safe spot to live, out of the sun. 

We extended the patio out front, too, and added red lights since they make less light pollution.  This Spring I will re-paint the white wall in front and in back - we had quite a bit of hail banging on it recently!

The Barn has come a long way and is now a sweet place to spend weekends.

Gina

Empty Nest Menu #87

 

Monday - Chicken Thighs over Zucchini Stuffing Casserole* {to Brenham for the day}

Tuesday - BBQ Pork Chops in my small crockpot, skillet sweet potatoes

Wednesday - Turkey Sloppy Joes*, chopped salad, lo salt chips

Thursday - Crockpot Pork Tenderloin*, green beans with new potatoes

Friday - Orange Chicken*, small serving rice, broccoli

Saturday - Dinner out {Sippin' on the Edge} 

Sunday - Thai Chicken Lettuce Wraps {pick-up party at Perissos for lunch}

*I'm making full recipes this week so we have freezer containers for future lunches!

Gina

5 thing Friday - energy, healthy eating, lunches, construction, cookies

I have gotten a LOT done this week.  Sometimes when I wonder why I am tired, all I have to do is look at my desk planner and see why!  I think the changes I have made in our diets at home have given me more energy.  I still have a ways to go, but it hasn't been all that hard to adapt to lower salt, less beef, less refined sugar/rice/potatoes, no sugary coffee creamer, no processed foods, and more veggies and whole grains.  I also sleep better - go figure.

I haven't had ANY fast food breakfast on the way to work in months.  My go to breakfast is whole grain cereals with almond milk.  I pack a snack of almonds or cheese stick for my pocket at work.  When 2 p.m. hits, I am ready to LUNCH.

A favorite of mine is Albacaore tuna.  You can mix it up with all kinds of chopped things (this version has apples, sliced almonds, and red onion, with some avocado oil mayo), or a deconstructed "salad" with chopped veggies and chick peas.  Crackers are a once-in-a-while thing, not a regular item.

And I am back to eating outside at work.

The views in the back of the hospital are very peaceful.  I don't know why there aren't more folks out here.  Occasionally I will see patients out here, too.  This is a million times better than our sad breakroom.

The other side of the building has big things going on.  This looks out of our waiting room window to what used to be the employee parking lot. Next week they will be putting finishing touches on the new medical building and a parking garage out here.  Construction on the side of the building is for another bed tower.  And in North Austin, my employer is building a smaller pedi hospital - one I hope to transfer to and commute to from Burnet.  Austin is growing.

In order to give us a small treat, I made up some freezer cookie dough like I used to do.  A couple of cookies make a small dessert mid-week.  This batch is oatmeal - one half with craisins, the other with chocolate chips.  I could easily add in a tablespoon of almond butter or some cinnamon, too.  Wrapped in plastic, into the freezer they go.  I cut off slices and lay them frozen on a baking sheet, then put into a cold oven.  I set it at 350 for 15 minutes, and they are perfect.

Its about the only treat we allow ourselves if you don't count wine - ha!  I know its sugary and all, but compared to the amount of sugar I was eating before, this is nothing.  It makes the house smell good and is something to look forward to.  

Just like the weekends - AMEN!

Have a good weekend,

Gina

Weekend re-cap: cleaning up at Highlands

Its already Wednesday so last weekend seems far, far away... 

We planned a work weekend at Highlands to address the condition of the storage unit (which was a GIANT mess and had mice) and repair or replace things damaged by the recent hail storms (see bird feeder above!)

And since the weather was late-Spring perfect we also enjoyed a dinner out by the firepit on Saturday evening. (flip flops at firepits, only in Texas?)

One of the projects I worked on while Hubby reinforced the weather stripping on the well head was this meandering row of stones along the drive in front of the barn.  Have I mentioned we are situated on a hill, for the most part, that was once sea bed?  There is very little dirt to speak of and LOTS of rocks.  This isn't a great pic, but trust me, it was a solid two hours of moving them from a pile next to the BBQ area.  I have plans for the green area on the other side.

 

The storage unit sustained some hail damage, but is still standing.  We hauled everything out of it, then decided what to keep, what to toss, organized it, discarded a mice nest, and set a couple of glue traps down.  We also set out some scrap wood to make owl houses the next day.

It still looks full, but Hubby can actually drive the mower in and out of it.  Our aim was to store nothing on the floor but there is not enough rack space for that.

I hung some things from the wall using bungee cords.  And its not pictured, but there is a strip of leftover pegboard above the doors that is a home from small things, like paintbrushes and safety glasses and such.  Some folding tables hold miscellany, but at least we know what all is in there now.

The pumphouse is headed for a refresh.

We removed the stacks of ceramic tiles that were next to the well head, and will paint the interior of it this Sunday.  It will freshen it up and make it feel brighter and bigger.  We already have the paint so we might as well make it friendlier.  When I show you the pics of that, you will cringe!  But it is sooo nice to have a place to take a hot shower.

Outside of the pumphouse is this cactus in a piece of junk I unearthed outside of the barn.  I added marbles from Hubby's Cub Scout days.  And there is a rope of solar light around the perimeter.  Before and After spiffing pics to come soon.

We made a trip to Lowe's for supplies and a new bird feeder - I sure hope this one can survive as long as the other one did.  The UV light out here is also very damaging to all things.  But on Sunday I was treated to cardinals, tanagers, wrens, and finches!

Previously, I moved the firepit to directly under the pergola.  I scooped it out, moved some random wood that was nearby, and Hubby pulled down the red Christmas lights that had been strung around the top - damaged by hail.  Searching for new lights is on my list of things to do.

Eastern Screech Owls will have a new home - although I think these will live at Camp Rustown.

Our bluebonnets are pretty sparse.  And all of the trees have not quite recovered from the triple whammy of the polar storm, followed by two hail storms.

A lot of the cactus is damaged but a lot of it is also getting ready to bloom:

It was a good weekend and we were both sore and tired coming home!

Gina