The Edwards Aquifer - San Antonios Primary Water Source

Written by Randy Watson, Texas Real Estate Agent with Mission Realty

So, just what is this Edwards Aquifer that I hear so much about? And why is the level of the Edwards Aquifer important enough to post everyday along with the weather. SAWS, the San Antonio Water System, supplies nearly 2 million people in surrounding San Antonio homes and businesses with clean drinking water, primarily from the Edwards Aquifer. Our area lakes are not used by the City of San Antonio as reservoirs to supply drinking water. 

The Edwards Aquifer is an underground body of water with sufficient pressure to be considered an artesian aquifer. Not so much like a river or lake or some other body of water you

Dogue, собака, Perro, Hund, 狗, Chien, 犬, Cão, Dog

There is a saying which has been kicking around in the back of my mind for years, to the effect that you do not find your pets – they find you. In some cases, usually those of the feline persuasion, they are the ones who actively pick you, by moving in and making themselves at home. Now and again, dogs have also been known to do this: most recently in my case, the little black dog that I nick-named 'the little shadow' which my daughter found running around in the street in front of a highly trafficked neighborhood yard-sale a number of weeks ago. A nice little black dog, very affectionate, well-behaved and clean, of a certain age in dog-years, and giving evidence in the fact that he had been

Real Estate Agents: Expand Your Brand Through Reviews

Guest Blog Post by Matt Brown

As social media becomes the norm for any business trying to expand its clientele, real estate agents have another very important way of networking. This industry thrives off of referrals and leads of satisfied customers. Now, these leads and referrals are happening online through local data providers and review sites. From the customer’s standpoint, their best referral may be from a satisfied stranger that you helped find the home of their dreams. With this in mind, real estate agents should prompt every happy customer to log in and sound off.

New advances in smart phone technology have made review sites incredibly relevant again, particularly the popular review

Texas Ranks Tops for New Jobs by Forbes in 2011

Written by Randy Watson

Texas Comptroller reports Forbes’ 2011 Best Cities for Jobs ranking in large cities. Texas came in tops in all three size of city categories. San Antonio was ranked 4th by Forbes for best big city for jobs.

Best Big City for Jobs

1. Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX
2. New Orleans-Metairie-Kenner, La.
3. Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, TX
4. San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX
5. Dallas-Plano-Irving, TX

Best Mid-Size City for Jobs

1. El Paso, TX
2. Corpus-Christi, TX
3. Anchorage, AK
4. McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX
5. Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, AR-MO

Best Small Cities for Jobs

1. Killeen-Temple-Fort Hood, TX
2. Bismarck, N.D.
3. College Station-Bryan, TX

Cross-Cultural Curiosities

So, whoever would have thought that there was historically such a strong German influence in South Texas, being that in the popular imagination, Germans, Southern good-ol-boy types and Hispanics could not be less alike? The mind boggles, upon first consideration, and then it starts to make sense. While Texas has never exactly been a cultural melting pot . . . but the three different ethnic groups have certainly melted a little around the edges and certain aspects of each have flowed into the other – in some cases, almost imperceptibly.

This has a long history in Texas, beginning when the German entrepreneur combine, the Mainzer Adelsverein, begin transporting German farmers, craftsmen, technical

Reviving the Garden: Tomato Victory

 by Celia Hayes

The curse on growing tomatoes in my garden has definitely been lifted: we have ripe red tomatoes on the vine, and promising clusters of green ones – and although they are not all very large, they are tasty. So the Topsy-Turvys do the trick as promised; even if they haven't resulted in simply bushel-baskets of tomatoes, they have indeed tomatoes, which is about three steps farther than I have ever been able to go before. Next spring we will try out some of those heirloom varieties, and if my daughter, the queen of all garage sales, manages to score a few more Topsys at marked-down rates, we'll soon have so many suspended from the tree in the back yard that it will be more than your life is worth

Wursfest, New Braunfels, Texas

Follow me on Twitter @satx_randy

Wurstfest is a unique celebration rich in German culture and full of Texas fun located in beautiful New Braunfels, Texas! Enjoy good fun, food, special events and the finest in Alpine and Bavarian Style Entertainment. During the 10-day festival, you'll find a variety of entertainment, food and fun on the Wurstfest Grounds in Landa Park and many special events throughout New Braunfels and Comal County. The following information is provided to help answer the many questions our visitors have.

When is Wurstfest? Wurstfest always starts on the Friday before the first Monday in November.

2011: November 4th - 13th
2012: November 2nd - 11th
2013:

San Antonio Real Estate Looking Up in Late 2011

by Kala Bell

With the fall months dragging on, the San Antonio real estate market has seen some steady times recently. With the summer months ending, area numbers for September were pretty encouraging. The sales volume for the area was to be expected because of the economic situation of the country; however the San Antonio area boasts a different outlook than many of the markets across the nation.

San Antonio has a great job market, at least in comparison to the rest of the nation. The unemployment rate in San Antonio right now is 7.3 percent, as the national unemployment rate hovers around 9.1 percent. In fact, San Antonio was tied with the Columbus, OH market and the Pittsburgh, PA market for

We've Never Wondered About That . . .

by Celia Hayes

We did our usual ramble through the yearly San Antonio Herb Market this last weekend; It used to be much more down-home and funky when it used to be held under the oak trees in Aggie Park, but a couple of years ago it moved to tres upscale digs at the Pearl Brewery, which allowed us to hit the weekly Saturday farmer's market as well. It's been at least a year since we did the farmer's market at the Pearl. To our delight there were many new venders, and some of our old favorites, including the Kitchen Pride folks from Gonzales who sell mushrooms. My daughter loves mushrooms, and indulged in a whole bag of baby portabellas, we sampled some gourmet mozzarella, while she lamented once again

Frugality – Part Two

There are any number of ways to exercise second-hand frugality in San Antonio; one of our very favorite and every-day resources for second-hand books and movies is Half Price Books, which has several locations in San Antonio, although I’ve always been very fond of the location on Huebner. For extreme book frugality, though, nothing beats the regular library book sales, or the huge North East Independent School District PTA book sale, which is usually held in the spring, at the Blossom Athletic Center: acres of books, at 50 cents for paperback, $1 for hardbound.

San Antonio Neighborhood garage sales are a sometime thing – but a venue like Bussey’s Flea Market in Schertz is open every weekend: basically, Bussey’s is a three