Sky Watch

Happy Sky Watch, everyone. Tonight it is actually raining in Seguin AND over our house. The sound of thunder and raindrops sound wonderful. I love falling asleep to those soft sounds.

Check out other sky watchers for some great shots and have a wonderful Friday!

Bees Get Thirsty, Too.

I believe we are on day fifty-two or -three of our blazing hot 100+ days. As I write this, Mark says the temperature is 103! 103 at 5:18 p.m. is just too much. This makes me think back to when I lived in NC. It'd be time to gear up for school and though it was hot, we knew that within twenty or thirty days, cooler weather would arrive. Then the beautiful fall. Hmm...not here I'm afraid.

Friday night we actually did get about ten minutes worth of a good downpour so that was very nice though we need many more of those to fight the drought. I haven't given an update on the bees in a little bit and Alan's comment about the beehouse made me think I should write about them.

Here they are doing something that astonished me, and to be honest, mesmorizes me everytime I go out in the backyard -- they are drinking water! Have you ever thought about the fact that they do that? And have you seen them do it? I enjoy watching them because I'm amazed they found the water bucket we left out for Smokey since he's outside so much. All day, you can find at least several of them drinking from there and it's pretty cool to watch. If you want to see a video, you can watch this clip. I have other bee clips there as well. Enjoy!

Workshop and Beehouse

Tuff Shed paid us a visit this past Friday and Mark now has his workshop/beehouse in the yard! Ready for customizing. I had to work so Mark had the camera to document the event for me. It's incredible that a 16 by 20 foot shop will be made from that bed of materials the guys brought to the house.



When I saw this shot, the first thing that came to mind was that it'd be a great dance floor. :) Just kidding. The guys were grateful for the solid foundation on which they built up the workshop. Most of the time, people don't prep for their new building so it makes the guys' jobs more challenging. I'm very impressed with Mark's work because I know that workshop is not going anywhere. Good job, honey.



And the finished product! I love it and can't wait to see how Mark finishes it out. Smokey loves hanging out underneath, naturally. Steps will be placed and then tables need to be built inside. First priority -- the beehouse part! I can't wait to see how the honey extraction works.

The Wooly Moth

Update on August 22: Here's what I found on wiki: The moth Megalopyge opercularis has numerous common names, including southern flannel moth, pussy moth, puss caterpillar, tree asp, and, asp caterpillar.



What is this creature?? Anybody out there know? I am so intrigued by it. Mark noticed it hanging on our front door and when we looked closer, we saw how unique he is. I mean, look at all that fuzziness! And the color is so cool. I'm totally fascinated. And we check when we go by and it is still hanging there on the door. Weird but neat.

I'm home from Dallas! Yay! This was my one day trip. Flew up early, had meetings, flew home. :-) Happy to be home.

Workshop Project

Here's a shot of the space Mark's been working on in preparation for his workshop, which is being delivered by Tuff Shed on Friday. Hopefully. I can't wait for it to get here already!

Home Depot & Another Project at Home

I noted today to friends that this was a seesaw week, filled with highs and lows. I guess, however, that's just how life is and all you can do is try and focus on the highs so you can get through the low spells. I'm very blessed because it seemed when I was feeling particularly down (e.g., wanted to throw something Monday, had an urge to shake some sense into someone Tuesday, etc.), it was soon balanced out by a laugh, a hug, a reminder of good things or a story of someone else's troubles, which then made mine seem very trivial. Anyway, all of this gave me little inspiration or motivation to write. I like to keep this positive as much as possible. We have enough downers in the world. So, on to something lighter. Sorry about that.



We have a new home improvement project! Well, we usually have something going on but this is a big one. Mark has torn down the OLD shed out back and is going to put a new and bigger workshop where he can set up all his tools as well as his beekeeping equipment. We are super excited! Above is a shot of some of the lumber at Home Depot in town. It's so nice to have them here. I went with Mark to get out and away from the computer for a bit.



While he was busy working with a nice gentleman, I was playing with my phone, taking pictures and so on. Then I saw this CUTE display! I used to LOVE watching the Pink Panther cartoon when I was young and I still love the theme music. There was no question I was going to take a picture of the display. :) Below is a shot of some of the posts Mark's been working deligently on before we get the workshop in....I'll share a bigger view later. I just liked the way some of the posts shots came out.

I hope you all have a very wonderful and relaxing weekend. Thank you for stopping by the blog and sorry I am sporadic in posts lately. I hope that I will return to more regular posts soon. Goodnight. :)

Sky Watch Friday

The moon is so lovely that it makes me forget all my troubles, stresses, chores, work...just about everything. Mark called me out to see it and I'm glad I did. I imagine a day in my lifetime when we can just hope on a shuttle and visit the moon. Not as astronauts but simply as citizens of Earth. Wouldn't that be cool? I don't want to stay there nor do I necessarily need to touch down and disturb it (though if I'm up there, you never know). Just to get closer to it, to see the craters up closer -- wow! I think that would be awesome.

Check out other skies this week at Sky Watch Friday.

The Ticket

We have a new bar down on the town square now and it's called The Ticket. The top picture is the front part of the bar, the bottom shot a look at the rear of the bar. It is nice to see something new on the square but I wish it was still The Grill. Remember that? It was a great restaurant! Great atmosphere, great food, awesome wait staff -- my stepson used to work there. :) Anyway, that's more my speed than The Ticket but if you want to try something new, be sure to let me know what you think of the place.

Mark and I went when they first opened so they didn't have a full menu yet. We had the nachos and a couple of beer. I'm no critic so I won't offer a review here since you should be allowed to form your own opinion. It does offer a sitting area/balcony on the second floor, which is a great spot to be in if there's a music event on the square.

Sunday Evening Thoughts

Since some of you liked yesterday's shot, I thought I might share a follow up of the flower. The top shot is the lotus in full bloom. I am intrigued by it and love looking at the bloom -- look at all that's going on inside the bloom! It's multi-layered inside amazes me. Each part like it's own flower really. I just think it's neat.

Below is my favorite shot for many reasons. I love pink and green together because it always reminds me of one of my favorite memories from childhood. It was when my dad colored with us kids once. I remember he used this green and pink combination and at the time, I had never seen that put together in such a way that it just really drew my attention. I don't know why that stayed with me but it does. More than likely, I just really liked that he colored with us and then he showed his creative side, which we rarely got to see. I'm all mushy for a Sunday night. I should call them tomorrow. :)

Hope everyone has a great week. No Dallas for me this week so I am very psyched about it! :) Nothing like being home.

Saturday Fun

Happy Saturday everyone! If you have some time today and want to have some fun, come by Second Baptist Church between 9am and 12pm. We're at 609 S. Guadalupe (1/2 way between the Coliseum and the Court St. intersection). Mark and I will be there along with other church members at our first annual SBC Bazaar & BBQ.

It was a busy week as we cooked beans (Mark), brownies and lemon squares (me). Plus I am donating eight pairs of earrings I made to our rummage sale. There will be lots of things for the kids to do so hope you can make it. By the way, I am in charge of the bake sale and I understand there's going to be cakes, cupcakes and cookies on top of my two items. Come on you sweet tooth...you know you want to swing by SBC. :)

This is a lotus bloom, very symbolic in Asian culture and especially if you are Buddhist. I don't have time to go into detail. I just wanted to share its beauty with you and wish you all a wonderful weekend with family, friends or on your own if you are just chillaxing solo (that's what the kids say these days, lol). Take care.