Articles in and around South Texas including San Antonio real estate trends. Focus on San Antonio and South Texas area events, festivals, places, food, cooking, happenings, even some Texas history and folklore. Collaborative thoughts and observation

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Last news: February 6, 2012 03:16:33

Headlines, latest news and Press Releases, notices and announcements from San Antonio Real Estate - Mission Realty. 210-744-4514

Total news: 5
Last news: March 10, 2011 21:42:44

 SATXBlog Crossword Puzzle 2-"Papas Gems" Papas Gems Crossword Puzzle #2 by Myles Mellor Print and Solve the Crossword Puzzle. We also have a daily interactive crosswords puzzle, too! Across 1. Young salmon6. Kisser10. Droops14. Lowest point15. ___ believer16. Small gull17. 1952 novel, with The20. Split21. Rowboat adjunct22. Not too brainy25. ___ Rebellion of 1857-59 26. Twisted30. Hoodlum32. Fuse35. Sniff out 41. Author of 17 and 63 Across 43. Meager44.... - [Read more]

Cold-Weather Supper – Chili and Cornbread San Antonio online Home Search by Celia Hayes On those few days in South Texas when the weather is cold, dank and rainy, our thoughts for what to have for supper turn to something solid and warming: chili, which goes with cornbread like chocolate and peanut butter, like popcorn with the movies, and like salsa and corn chips. Over the years, weve experimented with various chili recipes – there was one from the Sunset Favorite Recipe... - [Read more]

TEXAS EXISTING HOME SALES UP 4 PERCENT  COLLEGE STATION (Real Estate Center) – Sales of existing single-family Texas homes in December were up 4 percent from a year ago, according to the most recent Multiple Listing Services (MLS) data compiled by the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University. More than 16,500 homes were sold, data showed. The median home price was $150,700, about the same as a year ago, and the states overall inventory was at six months. December 2011 MLS... - [Read more]

SATXBlog Crossword Puzzle #1  Crossword Puzzle #1 by Myles Mellor Across 1. 60s rock group, with Corner5. Slight9. Partition14. Lions beard?15. Type of insurance for owners16. Pointed arch17. Nose out18. Tapi endings19. Rich tapestry20. Place for pessimists23. Virgo mo.24. Cries at a circus25. Keen28. Swimmers gear30. Banned pesticide, for short32. "Star-Spangled Banner" preposition33. Tongue35. Conundrum37. Invest in a risky fashion40. Witch41. Bean42. Greyhound,... - [Read more]

Checkout the Online Services of the State of Texas Website by Randy Watson I drove by the DPS Licensing office yesterday and there was a line out the door and around the building. Luckily, I didnt have to get my drivers license renewed, but what if I did? Could I renew my license on line? Hopefully, so... I wouldnt want to wait in line at the Drivers License Bureau if I didnt have to. So, I did a quick check online to find out what all can be done.  This is just a sampling of what... - [Read more]

Never Too Early Garden Start  … in the spring to begin reviving the garden. But if I knew then what I know now about the topsoil in the yard around my San Antonio home, when I first moved in, I would have hired someone to come in with a small bull-dozer and scrape off the top few inches of topsoil. Then I would have had a third of it put back into place, and mixed with another generous third of sand and a final generous third of well-rotted compost. This is what I have... - [Read more]

OIL INDUSTRY BOOSTS TEXAS JOB GROWTH  COLLEGE STATION (Real Estate Center) – Texas’ mining and logging industry ranked first in job creation in the past year, followed by the professional and business services industry, and the leisure and hospitality industry, according to the latest Monthly Review of the Texas Economy. Overall, the state’s economy gained 205,100 nonagricultural jobs from December 2010 to December 2011, an annual growth rate of 2 percent compared with 1.3... - [Read more]

Overall 2011 San Antonio Home Sales Show Stability by Randy Watson The San Antonio Board of Realtors summarizes the 2011 San Antonio real estate market, stating that 2011 ended on a slow and steady note, but like the old adage says, “slow and steady wins the race”, and it looks like San Antonio is doing just fine. The year to date median sales price of San Antonio home sales increased over 2010, up very slightly 1% to $152,000. The total number of sales for 2011 was 17,914, no... - [Read more]

 MAARs Pizza Restaurant Review-2 Thumbs Up! by Celia Hayes Well actually, MAARs doesnt want pizza – they actually want you to want their pizza. The Red Hat Ladies group that we belong to tries to rotate around to various local restaurants in the north-east quadrant of San Antonio. We have a monthly dinner event once a month; nothing fancy or expensive, just good eating for a reasonable price. We swap gifts now and again, and dress up for Halloween, all good fun. My daughter insists... - [Read more]

The Splendid Hanging Gardens of Spring Creek Forest  by Celia Hayes As the backyard of my Spring Creek Forest home is small, I must make the absolute most of it when it comes to plants both ornamental and vegetable. Space is at a premium, and those places which offer a favorable exposure to maximum sunlight are at even more of a premium. The back yard of our Spring Creek Forest home looks to the west south, but half of it is shaded by a very large mulberry tree planted by the original... - [Read more]

Spurs Lead Division; Ginobili Out with Broken Hand by Randy Watson The good news for Spurs’ fans is that, due in part to an underperforming division as a whole, the Spurs are in first place in the Southwest division. The bad news is that Manu Ginobili broke his hand in the recent loss to Minnesota, and is expected to miss 4-6 weeks. In this year’s condensed season, that comes as very bad news to a team made up of aging veterans and many untested younger players. There is no way... - [Read more]

 Looking Ahead – 2012 by Celia Hayes Its axiomatic that the year seems to fly faster, the older you get. Someone explained it to me, thusly: the year is merely a portion of your total life. When you are four years old, a single year is a whole quarter of your entire life. By the time you are forty, that year is only one-fortieth of your entire life. This makes sense, if you dont think too hard about it. But 2011 was a year of events, portents and wonders. Sometimes I felt as if we... - [Read more]

Starting Fresh New Year Quotes by Randy Watson Here are some of my favorite quotes to start the new year. If you have any favorites, please use the comment form below: Beginning today, treat everyone you meet as if they were going to be dead by midnight. Extend them all the care, kindness and understanding you can muster. Your life will never be the same again. Og Mandino The object of a New Year is not that we should have a new year.  It is that we should have a new soul and a... - [Read more]

Christmas Eve With Tapas by Celia Hayes Our family was long in the habit of having pizza on Christmas Eve; it’s easy to organize for a crazy, mixed-up and chaotic evening, with about three generations present. Either take-out or deliverer - even a selection of frozen or ready-made grocery store pizza would do. There’s a variety to suit every taste, everyone can have as much or as little as they like, eat it off paper plates, and clean-up is a snap. This year, we varied the... - [Read more]

Take a Hike Forty-Plus Texas State Parks to Offer Hikes on New Year’s Day as Part of National Program Written by: Bryan Frazier, Texas State Parks Media Contact (512) 826-8703, [email protected] Committing to a healthier lifestyle continues to be one of the most popular New Year’s resolutions for millions of Americans. And this year, Texas State Parks are providing more than 40 places where folks can do just that—many of which are located close to major metro... - [Read more]

‘Tis The Season… By Celia Hayes   To consider the 153,000th way in which I do not resemble Martha Stewart. Today, I am running a medium-warm iron over sheets of tissue paper, to take out the wrinkles and fold marks. Yes, indeedy, I reuse Christmas tissue paper, which was only slightly crushed and added to the top of a gift bag which we received last year. It’s only slightly used! It’s perfectly good.   I also re-use the heavy paper gift bags, as is our family custom.... - [Read more]

Land, Lotsa Land by Celia Hayes So – thinking about land in the here-and-now, after having spent so many months and years considering it, owning a couple of parcels of it – the tiny residential lot where I live now, the scenic and slightly larger bits of it that I hope to purchase someday, once I become the Margaret Mitchell** of the Hill Country, looking wistfully at bits of it that other people have to sell, the acres that I own of it in California and hope eventually to sell to... - [Read more]

Spurs Set to Tip Off NBA Season. . .Finally by Randy Watson With the NBA lockout finally over, the NBA will hold an abbreviated pre-season before embarking on an abbreviated season that will get underway on Christmas day. The last time we left the San Antonio Spurs, they had just finished up a successful regular season (division champs) with a most unsuccessful post-season (1st round exit to the Grizzlies). How successful was last year’s regular season? The team won just under 75% of... - [Read more]

Written by Randy Watson November 2011Off-Season Buying Trends Affect Housing Sales and Prices The San Antonio Board of Realtors (SABOR) released their monthly housing report for the month. 1239 Single family residential homes closed, a 2% decrease from November 2010. The average price declined 8% for a single family home compared to November 2010.  "This month, we saw a sales decrease for homes priced between $200,000 and $500,000, as well as homes priced above the... - [Read more]

What Park City, Utah Has to Offer to the Texas Vacationer by Ben Fisher There is nothing more that Texans love than stepping out of their hometown for a vacation that is filled with the highest levels of luxury and comfort, and that is exactly what a vacation to Park City, Utah offers. Park City, Utah is a mountain community that features three world class resorts that is an oasis of beauty and a hub of outdoor activities. Park City offers the Texan a truly memorable vacation, whether... - [Read more]