Austin ModHouse

we skipped $2 fish taco night (FTN as we call it) and went to Zandunga for $3 lobster taco tuesday (LTT).  they are small but very good.

#1 son saw a kid with a nintendo, he asked me if it was ok to go see what he was playing.  a few seconds later, he had the kids' game in HIS hands.  I told him to give it back and he explained, "he NEEDS MY HELP!"

the band sounded good too. 

#1 son really enjoyed his computer game creation camp. 

airstream has completed the next wave of upgrades, electrical system has a new 12 volt power supply. 

we were trying to find the korean taco truck, walked quite a bit so we ducked into coyote ugly.  I have not seen the movie, had no idea what to expect.  hard to get my head around this, but the place was more girls than guys, and the girls pay $20 for something called a "body-shot" from the bar maidens.  they got quite stern with me when I said "I didn't know this place was a lesbian bar".  anyhow, there was also a lot of writing things about us on the bar and tic-tac-toe games.  it was fun and obnoxious. 

skyline view from the Hangar

this is his "little Bill" look

Posted by paul at 08:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

quiet week here at amh.  I've been busy working on the airstream and shuttling kids to various appointments and errands.

airstream bulkhead cabinet has been rebuilt, reading lights replaced and kat made new curtains with an orange and chartreuse pattern to tie the room together.

I had some major setbacks in the stereo install, one of the speaker wires that was carefully snaked through the wall had a short in it somehwere.  after I figured that failure out I took a few days off for the weekend.  while I was not working on it, a loose power wire from the stereo managed to ground a piece of trim and that caused the 12volt power supply to fail.  there is a series of fuses that SHOULD have blown before the supply took the hit, but they didn't.  we were planning to upgrade the power supply anyhow, new one should be here in two days.  used a sealed lead acid battery to get the 12V up to finish the stereo install.

ran a new power lead and replaced the shorted section of speaker cable, now the stereo works great. 

kat has a thing for rocks.  I got her a rock tumbler from harbor freight.  we are testing the waters with this first batch to see what works and what doesn't.  an assortment of rocks were harvested from the pedernales river. 

this is after 20 days and two grades of abrassives.  they will be done after another 20 days of tumbling in polishing media.

the food section of the post!  #1 son at zocalo in clarksville area of austin. 

I wish I could tell you how the carnitas were, but the two older kids made them disappear rather quickly.

kat approved of the mango bellini (rear) and I enjoyed the watermelon bellini at $1.50 each!  cheaper than the agua frescas.  kat also enjoyed the posole.

the chilaquiles were really good.

the daughter has a new chips and salsa hobby, she finds a chip with a "pocket" (blister) and fills it with the salsa.  then pops the whole thing in her mouth.

the best meal we had this week was at la condesa.

my scallops did not suck at all.  kat really enjoyed the squid tostadas and mango jicama salad.

made the pizza at home, amh garden grown onions, gruyere cheese, roasted garlic and capers.  some yard harvested rosemary was in there as well.

if you like to try different varieties of beer, the gingerman might be a place you would enjoy.    that is a lot of taps!

Posted by paul at 03:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

nothing gets a blog post up and running like one of these!  really sort of commands attention doesn't it?  anyhow...

it may be hot, but mornings have been cool and breezy, and afternoons are tolerable enjoyable with a well timed swim. 

had a nice dip with friends at the north tip of red bud island.  this space is usually not as crowded as the main part of the island.  a slacker/bohemian/punk rock party was already in swing when we arrived.  austin-rip van winkle seemed to be their spiritual leader, if a nihilist could have a spiritual leader... OK, he had a big sack of wine and this had them falling in line (he can be seen swimming with his wine sack above)

they would gather in the cool water, in a circle and pass the bag.  always in an orderly clockwise manner.  even an urban gutter-punk can follow rules. 

only a few of them wore bathing suits.  most swam in their underwear or street clothes.  it's good to be free, urban underwear swim session fueled by a communal wine sack, officiated by rip van winkle just a byproduct of freedom. 

TAKOBA

best restaurant we visited this week, takoba.  the mango habanero margarita is interesting. 

the two older kids were quite enthusiastic about this bacon, nopales and cheese taco. 

the torta al pastor was fantastic and kat enjoyed the huevos rancheros.

brunch mimosas are just $7 per carafe!  they had a childern's sand box to keep #2 son happy.

enjoyed another picnic at the long center, music provided by the woodwinds section.

it was windy! 

another father's day passed without any thanks or recognition.  half way through the non holiday I decided that instead of being "dadda"  I should be called Hutch, and #2 son became Starsky.  he played along and we both enjoyed being somebody new.  he would say, "you HUH-tch, I SCAR-skee"

NO DEER ALLOWED:

the deer nearly wiped out our tomato crop last week.  I purchased another fence section and welded up a gate to keep those big urban rats away from our fruit.

I made some good progress with the front section of the airstream this past week.  I am rebuilding the bukhead cabinet and I painted the front fiberglass section bright white.

AUSTIN ZOO:

the bohemian mermaid of red bud island

Posted by paul at 12:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

we got a late start to a camping trip to palmetto state park (not our favorite tx st park).  we had planned the trip with hopes we could take our vintage econoline van to a small ford gathering in seguin.  btw, #1 son insists he is smiling.  I took three different pics and the one above is the closest to a smile, or least frown. 

besides the econolines and mustangs, there were many very nice falcons.  I've always liked the early falcons.  what is it about those round tail lights that attracts me?

big version link

big pic link here

and there you have it, one falcon van, one econoline window van and an econoline pickup.  our 65 econoline is getting a newer/larger drive line installed so it did not make the event. 

the boys are obsessed with beyblades.  picked up a travel battle arena that got several hours of use.  #2 son wanted to battle all day and night, nothing else. 

yeah, he looks guilty and cute at the same time.  he now talks a lot, repeats everything, even if he has no idea what it means.  this past week his mother was helping him sit straight in his chair and he said "HEY! don't kill me Momma!".  we were all floored, shocked and trying not to laugh at the same time.  we have no idea where he picked that up.

kat is in love with the 64 airstream overlander.  this is the part where we feel like we are over the renovation hump.  the twin beds gave us each a good night's sleep and that's never happened on a camping trip before.

kat made some curtains from retro boomerang pattern barkcloth.  they worked out great!

I just finished making twin sofas up front with a dining table between.  the table top drops down so that there is space for all three kids to sleep up there at night, or 7 of us can have dinner indoors if mosquitoes/weather become a problem.  I need to rebuild that front window protector, looks a bit sad.

we stopped at the Luling farmer's market on the way home.  they grow a lot of melons there.

the pic above is what a watermelon shaker looks like if you don't get around to drinking it.  I know, doesn't sound like something we'd let happen but we've both had some evil funk of a sickness/summer cold.  I'm sure we'll get around to shaking it up and pouring it down the hatch!

fresh peas being processed, three varieties. 

had lunch at Luling barbecue.  the brisket and sides were pretty good!

the two older amh kids had piano recitals sunday eve.

then we raced down to the long center for their free summer concert series.

big it up version click linky here

we met up with some friends from yelp.  you can always count on an abundance of delicious food and wine when you get together with yelpers.

like it big?  click it!

#1 son spent most of his time in this position.  he said it is NOT yoga, but I'm not sure.

strawberries with mint, cinnamon and sugar coated fried tortilla strips drizzled with a delicious aged balsamic vinegar.  there was good stuff being shared!

#1 son had his first guitar lesson.  time to buy him his own guitar and have a guitar based portrait, and #2 son just HAD to have his picture taken as well.

big pic 

larger here

big pic

Posted by paul at 01:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

one of our favorite happy hour stops has scaled back on the happy.  part of an alarming trend among the upscale HH spots.  notably absent from the HH menu, the fried goat cheese balls with pickled red onions drizzled with honey.  we still managed to enjoy ourselves.

some of the happy hour food offerings and several varieties of sherry for only $1 per glass.

attended b-scene at the blanton museum of art.  we enjoyed the member's lounge with some gifts, free white sangria and el john selector (from thievery corp) as DJ.

free sangria is a good enough reason to buy a membership!

not in the face played a show on the inside stage.

600,000 pennies, 800 communion wafers and 2,000  bones all cloaked behind a black veil . It is called Mission/Missions (How to build a Cathedral).  part of the blanton's permanent collection by Cildo Meireles

I made a run down to san antonio to fetch my brother and a few of his new army friends.  they got released late so I killed some time in the seoul market right by base.  I was shopping for my wife, emailed her pictures of things and called her so she could instruct me on which items she wanted.  THEN, when I took a pic of their menu, this lady got very upset at me.  she really chewed me out good. 

I took the army crew for a float down the river.  this being a drought year has the river going slow...  we ended up doing a lot of paddling to get where we had planned to get out.  I did not take a phone or camera after last weekend's iphone river loss.  kat says I am having a knee-jerk reaction and am now too cautious.  missed some hilarious river pics.  what a sight to see army dudes deflating their rafts on the dock by smashing them with their person.  after the long float, we landed at deep eddy cabaret and then took them to guero's

this was only the third margarita of his life.  we've set the bar pretty high once again.  nothing but top shelf ingredients and fresh lime juice.

let the kids destroy some fried oreo from pluckers

drove the van to the shop where they will install a 300 ci engine that will double the current torque and hp.  I had one false start, made it about 100 ft and ran out of gas! 

as I am nowhere near done working on kat's 72 bmw daily driver, and it was not very efficient for me to be using the excursion as my daily driver, I found kat a e30.  these cars are known for good mpg, and reliability (when properly maintained).  and the ice cold a/c is a welcome modern comfort too.

Posted by paul at 08:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)