Today was a mostly cloudy day with an occasional sprinkle of rain. Never any real rain but just when we were going to get the grill out to cook lunch, we had one of about three sprinkle episodes.
Last night we decided we would walk down to Whataburger for breakfast today. On our way this morning about a block before we got there, we passed Side Door Cafe. It was finally open. Every other time we passed it was closed. We did discover that it is only open for breakfast on Friday and Saturday. They are open for lunch most days and dinner some evenings. And we think, like most of the local restaurants in Falfurrias, they open when they don’t have something else they need to do. Culturally, things seem to be pretty laid back in this area. Anyway, since we had read a couple of good reviews on the tiny Side Door Cafe, we decided we would give it at try. So glad we did. We each had the breakfast taco which was scrambled eggs with chorizo, cheese, onions, and peppers on a flour tortilla. We ordered 2 pancakes as well but they didn’t have pancakes today. After eating our taco we were so glad they didn’t have pancakes. It was a large taco and we did not need anything else. We are glad we decided to support one of the local businesses and will probably try them for lunch or dinner while we are here.
Breakfast taco with beans
Local lore on the wall of the cafe
The rest of the day was a little of this and a little of that. We did laundry, and cleaned house, got some good walking time, and some good reading time. We grilled some hot dogs and hamburgers. It was a relaxing day.
Today was another day about like yesterday. Cloudy in the morning with bright sunshine in the afternoon. The high was 72 and with the wind it was still quite cool. It was another beautiful day.
Today is NOMADS Friday, the last work day for this week. We all worked really hard to get things done today and then leave the homes secured for the weekend.
Max, Anne, Stel and Jodi went back to Gilberto’s and began working on Bedroom 2. We got most of the flooring down in bedroom two. It is looking good. Max finished the exterior trim on the new back door. It looks really nice. Jodi worked on the baseboards on Bedroom 2.
Stel and Anne laying more flooring
Stel preparing baseboard for painting
Finishing outside trim on new back door
The family gave us a delicious box of chocolatesDiane, Rita and Bev painting siding
Back out at Josefina’s, Rita Diane and Bev started painting the final coat of paint – peacock blue. The guys continued to handle the siding and started installing the siding late this afternoon. Before installing the siding they removed the old siding and some old insulation and place some R-13 insulation into the walls. Then they install the new siding. It was a good day of good work.
Tonight some of us went to eat at the Star of Texas restaurant in downtown Falfurrias. They primarily serve Tex-Mex and steaks. We had Tex-Mex. It was good. Not as good as Munoz at home but still good. The company was of course a blast. Lots of laughter. Now, what do we want to do this weekend?
Today started as a brisk, cloudy day. Temperatures were about 10 degrees cooler than yesterday with a cold wind. The clouds did break up late afternoon and we had a little sun. The forecast is for it to stay cool for the next several days. However, our Minnesota team members reminded us that it was 7 degrees this morning at their house and “that’s warm for January.” Note to self: never go to Minnesota in the winter!
Bev and Roger brought our devotion this morning. It was from the devotion book, “Together with Jesus.” We need to remember that when we work with God, the works that can be accomplished are so much greater than our own puny efforts. We also learned today that people from Minnesota call crow bars, pinch bars. Roger used the illustration of using a pinch bar vs a puny hammer to tear down a wall. Never heard of pinch bars before. Amazing the things you can learn totally unexpectedly.
Everyone reported good work days yesterday and were all anxious to get started. Today, Anne, Max, Stel, Jodi and John went back to Gilberto’s. We continued to make progress, and today Max and John completed the installation of the new back door. Max previously installed a gutter above the door to channel the water away, which is what caused the old door and frame to rot. There is still a little door trim to paint and install. Jodi painted the base board we removed and sanded. Anne and Stel completed the installation of the vinyl plank. Max and Anne reinstalled the base and bedroom one is now complete. We then helped Gilberto, Jr start moving furniture from bedroom 2 into bedroom 1 so that we can start in room 2 tomorrow. It takes a lot more time to work around everything in an occupied house that is full. We still aren’t quite sure how we are going to work around Gilberto’s wife and hospital bed which are in the living room. She seems to want us to move her down the hall to the bedroom but the family hasn’t agreed to that. We will have to let them figure that one out.
John installing new door
Jodi and Stel cutting transitions strips
Stel and Anne laying flooring
What happens when you drop your animal crackers in the paint
Meanwhile, Dave, Rita, Bev, Roger and Diane went to Josefina’s. The were very busy today. They completed the installation of a new window but the major accomplishment was getting all the T 1-11 siding primed. That was 32 sheets of T 1-11. The had a little assembly line going where the guys kept moving the pieces of siding for the ladies. Tomorrow they will begin the painting of the top coat. That means another day of moving 32 sheets of siding around for the guys. There may be a little muscle soreness by the end of the day.
Roger showing the how much siding was primed today
Today started as a very cloudy day and was predicted to be cloudy all day. However, by noon we had blue skies and sunshine. Another beautiful day. The high today was 80 and with a light breeze it was a great day to relax outside.
Enjoying the summer-like January weather
However, we didn’t do much relaxing. We started the day by sharing a devotion with the team. We used 2 Timothy 2:15 as the basis. We talked about being a worker and as NOMADS workers we all had tool boxes full of tools. Then we talked about individual tools in our box and how they could apply to our faith walk. Hopefully it makes each of us think a little differently the next time we we pick up our hammer, safety glasses, pliers or level etc.
After devotion we discussed who would start work where, on our houses. Dave, Rita, Roger and Bev would work on Josefina’s house. Anne, Max, Jodi, Stel, John and Diane would work on Gilberto’s house, but first John and Dianne would go meet with the homeowner another house, Sara. John was born in Mexico and spent his first 10 years there. He remembers a lot of Spanish so since Sara speaks no English, John went there to try to discuss what needs to be done. The work there may be more than we can handle in the short time we are here. We probably can’t do the necessary work there and repair the other homes we have been assigned. We are hoping that we will be able to do some of the repairs. We don’t get to make some of these decisions so we will wait for some answers.
Dave, Bev, and Robert headed to Josefina’s to start building new front steps. Rita and Joel, a church member with a truck, went to the small local lumber company to purchase building supplies. Max and Anne went to purchase materials for Gilberto’s at the Ace Hardware and then the lumber company. We then met up with Diane, John, Stel and Jodi to begin work at Gilberto’s. When Joel had delivered materials with Rita, he came and picked up Stel and Jodi to go to Kingsville, the closest Lowe’s, to purchase the vinyl plank flooring for Gilberto’s. Kingsville is about 38 miles away. Are you tired yet?
Even with all the running from place to place to get material there was a lot accomplished today. Anne and Diane completed the prep for the vinyl flooring in the first bedroom at Gilberto’s. That was a big job because after the old tile was removed we had to scrape the remaining sticky glue off the slab. The new flooring has to float not stick to the slab. John, installed a new sink faucet and new cabinet floor to replace the cabinet floor damaged by the leaking faucet. Max installed a new sweep on the front door and started working on the new back door. John got all the base removed from the hallway, Diane began removing the vinyl flooring from the kitchen. Anne and Stel began installing the new vinyl in the first bedroom.
Anne scraping old tile glue off the floor
John installing new kitchen faucet
Flooring delivered
At Josefina’s there was demo and construction and by late afternoon all the materials Rita purchased this morning had been delivered. Rita did the demo on the back stoop. The guys built new front steps and worked on replacing broken windows. We have lots to do but we make a good start today.
On our way this morning about a block before we got there, we passed Side Door Cafe. It was finally open. Every other time we passed it was closed. We did discover that it is only open for breakfast on Friday and Saturday. They are open for lunch most days and dinner some evenings. And we think, like most of the local restaurants in Falfurrias, they open when they don’t have something else they need to do. Culturally, things seem to be pretty laid back in this area. Anyway, since we had read a couple of good reviews on the tiny Side Door Cafe, we decided we would give it at try. So glad we did. We each had the breakfast taco which was scrambled eggs with chorizo, cheese, onions, and peppers on a flour tortilla. We ordered 2 pancakes as well but they didn’t have pancakes today. After eating our taco we were so glad they didn’t have pancakes. It was a large taco and we did not need anything else. We are glad we decided to support one of the local businesses and will probably try them for lunch or dinner while we are here.
RVing With a Purpose 