Sunset Over Drying Pond

Sunset over the front pond

I just wanted to show a pretty sunset. The pond is drying out after the hot summer, but the place is still beautiful.

 

Dinner at Mesa Rosa

“Say, ‘Cheese!’”

Russell pontificates on something over there.

We had dinner with Carol and Russell at Mesa Rosa tonight. We discussed our grand plans for growing Hermit Haus Redevelopment and how we hope to turn it into a self-sustaining monolith. Judging by the pictures, we also had a good time and consumed some adult beverages.

 

Ranch House Update

Brody will miss the mortar sand pile when it’s gone. We’ll see how these outdoor ceiling fans work out. We may never even need to turn them on.

Suna chose red glass subway tiles for the kitchen backsplash. Every now and then, there’s a matt tile mixed in with the glossy tiles for effect. There isn’t a lot of contrast between the bookshelves and the floors. They will look better once they are filled.

We’re getting close to done. All that’s left of the rock work on the exterior is the front porch columns. The rest of the house is done. Just in time for it to start cooling off a bit. Poor Raul.

Somehow, I let Suna talk me into installing ceiling fans on the front and back porches, despite the constant breeze. She said something like, “There will be calm days,” and I relented. So we have two fans on the front porch and four in back.

Inside, the backsplashes are going up. Suna picked out a red subway tile for the kitchen and a limestone with red glass highlights for the butler’s pantry/storm room and laundry room.

The cabinet maker also delivered the bookcases for the master suite and Suna’s office. They are stained almost exactly the same color as the floors upstairs, so not a lot of contrast there.

Upstairs also has a cabinet for the fancy coffee maker. Between the couch, the dining set, the bed, and now the coffee maker, I may never have to leave the master suite again.

 

Bootcamp

Suna and I enjoyed our dinners together, regardless of how “trendy” the restaurant was.

The view from our hotel room was much better than last time. So was the room. Here’s our graduating class with former Dellite and now Fortunebuilder Linda P. with Suna. I am hiding in the back, as usual for a hermit.

Here’s your ticket; pack your bag

Time for jumpin’ overboard

The transportation is here

Close enough but not too far,

Maybe you know where you are

—David Byrne, Chris Frantz, Jerry Harrison, and Tina Weymouth

Suna and I spent the weekend with Carol and Russell at a Fortunebuilders “Two-Day Intensive.” Folks from Houston to Waco who joined last week were there, so it was a networking opportunity besides being a great learning opportunity.

I learned that when Fortunebuilders speaks of “systems,” they’re not necessarily talking about automation. They mean anything that you can reduce to a series of repeatable, coachable steps. The system we focused on this weekend was evaluating houses to buy.

First they taught us a formula to help ensure we make money on every flip. Then they taught us how to fill out an evaluation form that helps determine how much repairs will cost and plug those numbers into the “secret formula” that apparently “everybody uses.” Then they loaded us on buses to walk though a couple of houses and put what we learned into use.

I’m very happy with the quality of instructional design in the Fortunebuilders educational materials. They actually pay attention to good design and adult learning theory, unlike much of the other stuff on the market.

 

Stained Glass

Raul continued to rock the back of the house, even though I didn’t want to work in the threatening rain. We found two of these windows.

This is the most intricate of the windows we found. I wish there were more like it.

You can't get this great stuff anymore, I don’t know why

But I bet we’ll make some young strangers happy when we die

—Cheryl Wheeler

Since the weather didn’t look promising for [me to] work outside, Suna and I decided to get away to Temple to just hang out and have fun. We decided to go antiquing, something we hadn’t done in a while. Antiquing isn’t as productive as estate saling, but you don’t have to get up as early and it’s just as fun. We found some really nice old stained glass windows in one of the antique stores. They were really the only interesting things we found all day.

So we bought four of them to clean up and hang over the stairway. They won’t be damaged by the sunlight, and they should reflect it nicely.