Deb Dahlberg Rowland

Every day I drive by some of the most beautiful old oak trees that have been growing along side Alum Creek TX for more years than I have been on this planet! These trees are so stately looking from the road I have to suppress the urge to stop the car, hop the fence, and to get a closer look. One of the trees has what we used to called a hobbit hole when I was a child. Looking at this particular oak I realize that my imagination is still alive and kicking and given time could be as vivid as it was back then.

Texas has some magnificent and very historic oak trees through out the state. They say the best way for a big tree to survive in Texas is to have something important happen within close proximity to it. There are a few large oaks that are "in the road" trees that have been saved by local municipalities. Smithville TX has a couple and by the way the last movie filmed there was called Tree of Life with Brad Pitt and Sean Penn and it's signature tree was an oak!

If you are in Bastrop Texas for any reason you and you are looking for a place to grab a cup of coffee and check your email then you should stop by Scooters on Chestnut Street. A hub of community activity as well as a free wifi spot, Scooters makes one of the best Iced Latta Breves, in my estimation which is my drink of choice when I am there working on my laptop, or if I am running to an appt. and using the convenient drive thru. They also have wonderful breakfast items such as the "Scrambler" and bakery items like scones, cookies, croissants, and.....oh my goodness....absolutely awesome brownies! If you are wanting to know what is going on in the area they always have local flyers posted to workshops, and functions, and new shops, etc. Their hours are M-Th from 6 am to 9pm ,F - 6 am to 10pm, Sa - 7am to 10 pm, and Su - from 9 am to 6pm. If you stop in....tell them Deb sent you!

I just completed the three day EcoBroker class hosted by Austin Title/Land America. The course was developed by Colorado based EcoBroker International and has been presented to Realtors and Real Estate Agents all over the world. We were told this afternoon that there are approx. 4400 members of which approx. 4000 are in the US, approx 90 of us now in the Austin area.

Each day had a different topic. The first was Environmental Advantage which covered Radon, Lead, Water Quality, Mold, Asbestos, Indoor Air Quality, Historic Contamination, and Green Buildings and Health. Day two was Energy Adavantage and it covered Energy ratings and "Green" Financing Options ( which obviously are in a flux right now due to the current state of the economy and the bail out!), Energy-Efficient Windows, Energy-Efficient Space Heating and Colling, Energy-Efficient Insulation, Energy-Efficient Appliances, Building Orientation, Solar Technologies, and Green Buildings and Energy. Today was a review of materials and group workshop/discussion about marketing and application.

The course was packed full of information that will be invaluable to Clients both Buying and Selling homes that are "energy efficient" or "green builds" or resale homes Buyers want to upgrade to reap the financial benefits of energy efficiency, or Sellers want to upgrade to increase marketability. We learned that in a recent pole approx. 94% of recent Buyers indicated that energy efficiency was VERY important to them.

I have been fortunate to have experienced first hand living a "sustainable lifestyle" in an "eco-friendly"/"green built" home that was off the grid many years ago when we lived in Colorado. My husband built our "earthship"(bermed homes with water catchement and solar power systems built out of recycled tires designed by SSA out of Taos, NM), and others as well as other types of alternative desinged homes such as straw bale and rammed earth. In my Real Estate business I specialized in the resale of mountain home/estate sized and ranch type properties with upscale "alternative" built homes including domes, sips panels, earthships, etc.

Having built, lived in, and specialized in an "earthship" lifesytle I have a great understanding of the transition that one makes from the standard lifestyle when moving into a solar photovoltaic home with a water catchment system, one of the more extreme changes one can make. Of course there are many Eco friendly applications and changes available to Buyers and Sellers that don't involve such drastic changes and I can help demistfy the "green" and help Buyers and Sellers understand what the benefits and values are in different applications.

Having lived that lifestyle sustainable, eco friendly life style, happily and successfully I already had a good understanding of many of the EcoBroker topics, but this course was a great refresher for me. I am very excited to get my EcoBroker certification and am looking forward to helping Buyers and Sellers in and around the Austin area reach thier "Eco" goals using all of the new tools I have learned in combination with the life lessons I have learned over the years.

This week I finally stopped at the Junk Queens located on 2104 off of Highway 71 in Smithville TX. Don't worry if you head out that way you won't have any trouble finding it, just look for the HOT PINK building on the side of the road!

The three women who started the store have had a sucessful first year, and once you walk past all of the wonderful yard art and exterior decorations and in to the store you will see why!

You can find anything from refrigerator magnets to darling kids clothes, to soaps, body lotions, jewelry, shoes, handbags, kitchen nik naks. The eclectic mix of old an new is totally appealing to any shoppers tastes. Great place to look for that something special for a birthday or anniversary or the like!

I was there for about 2 minutes and already had found three sundresses, and a darling summer handbag to match that matched all three of the dresses. I could have added some jewelry and a pair of shoes to the damages (which came out to under $20.00!) but with gas prices being so high now days I am like everyone else - living on a budget.

The changing room/bathroom is adorable and the cash register is PINK (can you believe it!!) which is the girls favorite color ( but not their husbands!).

Here are the hours of operation:

Make an afternoon of it and come on out Smithville way....stop in and visit the Junk Queens ( I promise you won't leave empty handed!) and then make your way in to town to eat as the new Pockets Grill ( get the fried pickles...they are awesome!)

Click on the link for a Realtor who knows Smithville

or call Deb Dahlberg Rowland

Sky Realty 512-743-0516

We went to Hawaii this last month for some much needed R & R and took our 15 year old granddaughter, Carli, with her new camera. She took a lot of photos but these are a few of her favorites. The American Flag waving in the breeze at dusk, a Maui sunset, swimming with the sea turtles, walking on the Lahina beach, and the final sunset as we drove to the airport to fly home. We are hoping that Carli will pursue photography as she gets older... we really think she has an eye for it!This is our budding young photographer on the plane on the way to HI!