Seguin (TX) Photo Blog

Working Up High

2012-01-27T19:52:00.000-06:00

Hello there. Way up there. WOW! I was driving back to work after lunch and I had to turn around for this shot because it so captured my attention. The picture doesn't really convey the height in my opinion. There's something about driving under this man as he worked way up there. That's the bridge on Interstate 10, above New Braunfels Avenue along the railroad tracks. See what he's doing up there? Chipping away at that ledge. That man has some guts. One wrong step and it could be bad. Did I mention that cars are zipping by him on the other side of that wall? Likely going 70+ miles per hour.

Lightning, Thunder, Wind, Rain

2012-01-25T16:28:00.000-06:00

It has been a wonderful time of year because we've actually gotten rain in South Texas. Great news for the wildflowers and bees, not to mention every other living thing around here. Last night we had a marvelous storm packed with flashes of lightning and claps of thunder. Thankfully we didn't have any limbs come down from the pecan nor did we get struck by lighting or fierce winds as others suffered. We only lost power for a few hours I believe. I tried to sleep through most of it with a pillow over my head to muffle the thunder. Didn't work great but it helped. This is FM464 on the way to work (well, one route anyway).
And this is what I call Lake Caterpillar - it's at the stoplight for FM464 and Kingsbury/Hwy90.

Clear Springs

2012-01-24T21:35:00.000-06:00

Last week we went to Clear Springs, which doesn't seem like the healthiest of choices BUT if you get the chicken club salad and a soup or the grilled fish tacos on corn tortillas, it's not tooooo bad. Right? :)I liked this darker look - gives the place a totally different feel. As compared to the color shot below. I am really enjoying snapping shots with the iPhone and then using one of these apps to create new looks: Camera+, tadaa, and Instagram.

Chúc mừng năm mới!

2012-01-23T16:31:00.002-06:00

Today is the first day of the Lunar calendar and it's the Year of the Dragon. I wish everyone a very happy and blessed new year ahead. Here are some of the things that I enjoy each year to ring in the new year with Mark. The green rice cake is a tradition for this holiday. My mom has made this every year as long as I can remember. She's not able to make them anymore but she can oversee my older silblings making the cakes. They did a great job and we sure are glad they took on the project. It's about the equivalent of making tamales here in this area. Labor and time intensive but well worth it. The ancesteral table holds offerings to those who have passed on already that they will watch over us and bless us this year.

Sunset Over Our Home

2012-01-20T22:54:00.000-06:00

I shot this last night as I came out of our Honey House. The weather has been unusually mild for winter. I believe the meteorologist said we are about ten degrees warmer than normal. Boo. I want more winter before the heat returns. Please.Check out the other sky shots for this week at Sky Watch. I haven't had time to participate lately but I'm going to try and make time this year. I love looking at the shots posted there!

New Subway In Town

2012-01-19T22:26:00.003-06:00

No, not transportation - food! We're getting another Subway shop in town. This one is next to the Whataburger on Highway 46 at IH-10. One day, it will be completed. Meanwhile, we're all watching to see who can possibly move slowest on construction. Schlotzky's or Subway. :)

2012-01-15T15:58:00.002-06:00

Last night we went on a cruise about town as we both needed to get out of the house for a bit. I was happy to see the Texas Theatre all lit up - they are showing Driving Miss Daisy, great movie. If only the other theatre downtown was lit up a few nights a week (the Palace). I just love seeing their lights on at night.

By the way, this was shot with my iPhone and then I used two apps to play with filters - Instagram and Hipstamatic. Both are free and are a lot of fun.

Foggy morning

2012-01-07T08:17:00.001-06:00

Good morning everyone. I sometimes enjoy a foggy morning. It makes everything soft. Lovely in a way. I just wish I could capture it more fully in this photo. It doesn't appear very foggy but it is.

Oh What a Sky Does

2012-01-05T23:11:00.000-06:00

I'm back at work now after a nice long break for the holidays. Ten days off was awesome and our visit with my family in Florida was really wonderful. I am refreshed and ready for work now - this is the field across from the steel mill. I love it in the different seasons. It has a different loveliness based on the sky as well as what's growing or not growing in the field. :-)

And on a beautiful, sunny day...the greenness of the field right now just takes my breath away! The contrast in grass and sky colors is spectacular.

Happy, Happy New Year!

2011-12-31T22:44:00.000-06:00

From happy, happy us. Here's to a wonderfully crazy busy 2011 - let's hope 2012 will be even better, filled with more adventures I will share with you all here. I hope to be able to do a better job posting to this blog - that's my one resolution! :) Meanwhile, be careful out there and be safe. Meet you back here in 2012, my friends.

Meowee Christmas!

2011-12-25T21:57:00.001-06:00

Merry Christmas, everyone! Hope you all have had a wonderful day filled with love, laughter and peace.

Fall in Our Lil World

2011-12-14T10:41:00.001-06:00

As I got in the car this morning, I was struck by the beautiful coloring of our peach tree. I love having the bee boxes in the yard.

2nd Annual Gretchen Bee Ranch Holiday Open House

2011-12-09T23:44:00.001-06:00

Sorry I've been busy - it's the holiday season so you know what that means! All sorts of events to get our name, honeys and beeswax products out on the market. We're having a great time meeting folks and sharing information along with our products but our favorite event is tomorrow. That's because people get to come to the Bee Ranch and check out the honey house - we'll have food, good music and a lot of fun. Hope you can swing by to visit and shop. Or if you're done with your Christmas shopping, you can just pull up a chair and chat. We'd enjoy that. Off to bed I go. We have class in the morning (10-12p) before the Open House; I'm going to need some energy! Goodnight.

Gobble Gobble

2011-11-23T16:17:00.001-06:00

Hopefully you are baking, relaxing and/or spending time with loved ones...and I don't mean Best Buy. As much as I like BB. :-)

Game Stop Crew

2011-11-13T22:39:00.001-06:00

I went with a friend to Game Stop so she could pick up the newest game out - MW3. I didn't even know what that stood for at first. And I had never been to Game Stop so I wanted to tag along. These two cracked me up! They were so funny and enthusiastic about their work, which I think is great. If it wasn't for them, then the rest of us would have to keep up with all the games and names and scenarios and tips for getting to level 4,506...and who can remember all the Pokemon names! I know Pikachu and Jiggly Puff. They had me laughing so hard, I knew I had to post about them. And as soon as I asked them for a shot, they had their poses ready. I loved that! So, if you need a game, go see the friendly guys at Game Stop in Seguin. :)

Boo!

2011-10-31T21:39:00.001-05:00

Hope everyone's had a good Monday and a safe and fun Halloween today. I never got around to a bee costume but I did see it was a popular costume this year! Go bees! I ran to Walmart in order to shop for our neighbor, who's not able to get out and about easily anymore. To balance out the fact that it's challenging to shop for someone else, I had two really funny conversations --- this couple parked next to me and they were so fun and sweet, trying to explain to me who they were (I still am not sure) that I told them I would blog about them. They were really polite young kids. Then I ran to pick up some dinner and the server gave me my order and he had a face mask on...said it was an evil pumpkin. lol, made me laugh on both counts and I needed to laugh. I love it that people are able to enjoy life. It is a good feeling.

Beep-beep, Road Runner!

2011-10-23T20:13:00.001-05:00

When I was growing up, Saturday mornings were the only days I eagerly got up without wakeup calls from my parents or siblings. Cartoons were on and we got to watch all morning until Kung Fu Theatre came on at noon. After that, the TV was turned off. :-) I loved the Bugs Bunny, Road Runner Show. I mainly just loved Bugs Bunny. I was often irritated by how futile the Coyote's efforts were to capture Road Runner. When I moved to Texas, I learned the Road Runner was called a Chaparral. Hmm. And it was not tall with long legs. And it did not run around, going "Beep, beep." :-) Bummer. But every time I see a Chaparral, I hear the beeps in my mind. And it makes me smile. When I go with Mark out to Deadman Creek bee yard, I get to see lots of Chaparrals so I get to smile often.Have a SUPER week, friends!

Revitalizing Rains

2011-10-21T22:24:00.001-05:00

It's been a couple of weeks since our last great rainfall but we continue to see how alive the landscape has become with just a touch of rain. No amount of hand-watering can work the magic that real rain provides. It's wonderful! Things are green again and we even have flowers blooming, which is great news for our bees as well as for us. The color bloom we are seeing most is yellow - blooms of all sizes, large and small. The bees are loving it!

The Palace, A Goat & A Turtle

2011-10-14T22:33:00.001-05:00

This evening we actually had time to rest and work on things around the house and prepare for our bee class tomorrow morning. Then we drove around town to see what was happening here and there - the Palace was nicely lit. We wish it could be a current run sort of theatre - would LOVE that! But any time it or the Texas Theatre are lit up it's beautiful.Below is a shot from a friend of ours when he wandered around the fairground last weekend when he came by to visit us at the GBR booth his honey was working with me at the time. I love turtles and I think goats are cute when they are small. This picture just cracked us up! Crazy goat! They do the funniest things ever. Like one minute they'll be standing there and then the next minute they kick up and trot around. Hilarious. Makes me laugh every time.

The Biggest Pecans Ever!

2011-10-10T20:36:00.000-05:00

Recently my wonderful friend, and roommate of several years during college, came to visit. It was so awesome! We talked non-stop and Mark couldn't even interrupt our flow at some points, poor man. LOL. We also got to show her the bees. AND we took her to see the big pecan on the square. I sat in the back so she could have a good view of the sights of Seguin and I watched as we neared the square to see if she'd do the same thing I did when I was first introduced to the World's Largest Pecan. She did. She looked up, into the sky. She was looking for the World's Largest Pecan the same way I did fifteen years ago. I laughed so hard! And then I told her to look down! I love that. And she loved the pecan. And then we had to take her to see the new World's Largest Pecan (For Real). :-) We had a lovely weekend together.

Rain vs Fair

2011-10-09T12:52:00.001-05:00

Well we are sitting around with all the other vendors, blogging, listening to music or a football game, checking the rain and the parking lot, and wandering around. Rain doesn't help to get folks to visit our honey booth but we'll take it over sales right now :-). We sure needed this rain.

I finally loaded Blogger on my 'company phone' (GBR) so hopefully you'll see more posts more regularly.

2011-09-13T17:08:00.001-05:00

It's nice someone is enjoying the great, hot outdoors. See the green grass? We pay a nice price to keep it going for our bee classes. Who wants to learn about bees or light a smoker when the grass is brown and crunchy. I get scared just thinking about it.

Beware the Bike Cop

2011-09-09T23:27:00.001-05:00

Beware - they are out in full force now that school has started! I have seen two officers on bikes but luckily they haven't gotten me! :-) I've been wanting to snap a shot of them in action for a while but I'm always driving or without the camera. Plus it's tricky trying to discreetly snap a shot while they are stopping someone. This is a favorite spot of theirs on Cedar near Guadalupe. So be careful and you won't have a problem. There's a school zone right around the corner and people often don't slow down.

Rain Gutters & a Dove's Nest

2011-09-05T14:10:00.002-05:00

You never know when we'll get rain but you do know you want to be prepared. We've neglected the gutters for a while now so Mark took advantage of the 80-something degree weather to clean them out and guess what he found!?! Dove's nest! The mama flew off and managed to avoid Smokey's clutches (thankfully). I did yell at Smoke and throw sticks at him to distract him from hunting the poor mama dove. :-( I was just wondering the other day where this shell came from and what came out of it. Now I know.

Hello Clouds

2011-09-04T16:47:00.000-05:00

I am writing on what we hope will be the LAST 100 degree day of the year! That's right; I wrote it. Let's hope it comes true despite my putting it to writing. We have had either 52 or 53 days of 3-digit heat this year and we are eagerly awaiting an unusual 54F degree night tomorrow. WEIRD to go to such extremes but I'll take it. I believe this week should only be in the mid 90s. I can't wait for even cooler temperatures. But until those days get here, we are happy to see clouds in the sky so that we get a touch of cover from the intense sun.

Pigeons' Watering Hole

2011-08-25T20:43:00.005-05:00

Today we had a TOUCH of rain but we'll take it. It was enough to create a few good puddles here and there and to green up things a bit. Maybe that's because the dust was washed off things and so things looked like the popped a bit more than they have been as of late. Sure wish we could get a little Hurricane Irene action.

This is a shot I took with Mark's iPhone this morning as I watched the pigeons through the back door - explains the weird coloring in the picture. The birds are taking turns watering from the dish we use to put rocks in when we collect them during travels. I had watered the lawn in that spot last night and I guess some water collected in the dish. I'm glad it provided them with a bit of relief. You can also see how brown our garden is - I gave up on trying to keep it going. Too hot. Too dry. Maybe next year we'll get more done in the garden.

Dublin Dr. Pepper for Friends

2011-08-16T21:51:00.002-05:00

This special Dublin Dr. P is just for my special friend Down Under - hope you are well, friend! :-) Thanks for continuing to check on me.

And another special shout out to my other special friend Little Jess - thanks for bringing us some special Dr. P! Love you.

In the Year of the Drought

2011-08-15T22:30:00.003-05:00

You know it's a bad rain year when the prickly pear is looking like this. :-( We need rain! And some relief from 3-digit heat wouldn't hurt either. Just saying...

Here's how lovely the prickly pear can be -

Drink, anyone?

2011-08-07T15:24:00.002-05:00

We have a new liquor store in town, in case you haven't noticed it (if you live here). It's where the Blockbuster used to be - that's right. No more Blockbuster video rentals! I haven't been inside the new store but when we drive by there in the evenings, I am always drawn to the beautiful and colorful glass bottles on display. Unlike most other beverage stores I've ever see, this store has the bottles displayed quite nicely against the clear glass windows. Nice design. Snapped this with an iPhone - doesn't do the colors justice but you get the drift.

H-O-T

2011-08-05T20:14:00.002-05:00

Today's temperature as I reached my driveway after work; the car had no shade all day while I was at work. Lordy, it is blazing hot. I accompanied Mark to a bee yard for about thirty minutes as he fed the bees some pollen supplement (they are also struggling in the heat and drought conditions), I wore shorts and tee. I could only stand the direct sun (around 5:45p) for about a minute on my bare legs. After that time, the burn of the sun was quite hot and somewhat unpleasant. It's not so bad in the shade - you're still hot but at least you don't feel as if someone was holding a magnifying glass between the sun and you. Stay cool, everyone.

Camo Lizard

2011-08-03T21:59:00.002-05:00

Anybody know what kind of lizard this is? He was very fast when he saw me coming and I barely caught sight of him before he dashed up the tree truck and went up pretty high. He changed colors very quickly which I thought was pretty neat. I spotted him while I was visiting a friend out in the country.

Hot As All Get Out!

2011-08-02T18:59:00.002-05:00

Have you heard that saying before? We used to say it all the time when I was growing up and then I grew out of it. But these days, I have been using it again because it's funny. Makes me smile. Speaking of it being hot, this week is suppose to have record high temperature days. Awesome! Not. I wish we had a pool summers like this.

So this picture is what happens when you go to a bee yard and you have your phone in your back pocket one minute....and then next thing you know, it's not there. Luckily it was a small parameter I kept walking so I could easily retrace my footsteps. Took me two rounds but I found it! Face down in the dirt for maybe ten minutes. Luckily it did work after it cooled down for a while in the truck. Safe and sound. Below is a shot of the yard where I lost it. :-)

Rain!!!

2011-07-19T19:22:00.001-05:00

No huge writeup on this but I just want you all to know how wonderful it was to see this sky and to finally get some rain. WOO HOO!!!

Texas Sky In July

2011-07-17T22:01:00.002-05:00

Hello folks. Was feeling under the weather a bit this weekend so I am behind. I actually wanted to share this on Saturday but oh well. My world was tilted so no posting from me. Anyway, this is our lovely, hot sky above Seguin from one of our bee yards. It has been about 100 degrees everyday, not counting the heat index. We sure do need some rain and tomorrow is predicted to have a 40% chance of rain. Come on rain!

Intro to Beekeeping - Explore the Hive Video

2011-07-13T11:56:00.003-05:00

This is part of our beekeeping class we did in our backyard last Saturday. I just realized it was posted on the KWED YouTube channel. Cool!

Monday Sky

2011-07-11T18:18:00.001-05:00

Here's what today looks like from our backyard and on the ramp of the honey house. It's HOT. Oppressive really, but the sky is lovely. Hope you had a good Monday. Four more days until some chill time. :-)

Bee Suits, Not Aliens

2011-07-10T17:54:00.009-05:00

No, aliens did not land in Seguin this weekend, in case you drove by our house and wondered that. It was the first official beekeeping class in Seguin, as far as we know and have heard. We had a great time and we think the students did also. It's a lot of fun to introduce new things in our community to people. Already looking forward to the next one on Saturday.

Here are two write-ups on the class in case you're interested:

Our official GBR post from the beekeeping couple's perspective (or the wife part of the couple, at any rate - Bee Ranch Blog

Our friend and reporter, Jessica Domel's perspective (very hilarious) - Jessica's Blog

Team USA Rocks!

2011-07-06T22:38:00.002-05:00

Today Team USA was welcomed home when they arrived at San Antonio International Airport, which is about a 40 minute drive from Seguin. It's either here or Austin. I pick SA every time. :-) Very manageable traffic and airport. This is the softball gold medal team that beat Russia in the championship round of the Special Olympics World Games in Athens! I work with one of the team coaches and his son is a team member as well. We are so extremely proud of everyone. I just had to share!

Circus Train

2011-07-05T22:14:00.002-05:00

Here's what Mark saw passing him as he drove to Marion to restock the honey shelves - the circus train! I wish I could have seen it with him. He said there were passenger cars, then animal cars, then equipment cars. Neat! I haven't been to the circus in so many years but it's always a fond memory I have of elementary school and going with my class. Though I do recall not volunteering to go down to walk around on the floor because no one explained to six year old who just came over from Viet Nam that participating with the circus folks won't mean that they'll take you away for forever.

Watermelon & Bees

2011-07-04T23:07:00.005-05:00

Hope everyone had a great fourth of July today - filled with friends, family, parades, good eats and plenty of fun and laughter. But one thing I know we didn't have at all this year are the fireworks - banned due to the drought. Oh well, it is better to be safe than burnt up more than we already are. I'm glad for the precaution because we are still in need of rain.

This is a gloriously sweet watermelon a friend brought us in exchange for some honey. Her family apparently has quite the garden and we bartered for fresh veggies and fruit. Wonderful deal for us! We've enjoyed cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, squash and zucchini, cantaloupe and now this. It was so sweet and delicious. Nothing said holidays more to me than snacking on watermelon all day. Especially after a hot spell out in the sun as Mark helped a faithful honey fan get rid of some bees whose home had tipped over to reveal all that honeycomb. Luckily they were not Africanized. The watermelon on the trip back to Seguin sure quenched our thirst.

Look Up for Mistletoe

2011-07-03T11:34:00.002-05:00

One of the things I love about Texas - abundant mistletoe. It just doesn't matter if it's 20 degrees outside or 100 degrees. If you look up, you will see mistletoe here in South Texas. I LOVE mistletoe because it always makes me think of the Christmas season and that's one of my favorite times of the year.

Hope you are all having a great Fourth of July weekend.

Pictures, Honey, Pictures

2011-07-02T21:50:00.002-05:00

Ever wonder how I spent time? It is still behind a camera oftentimes, but now it's behind a camera at a bee yard a lot. I am very blessed that I enjoy working with Mark and I get to learn about bees while still doing one of my favorite hobbies - photography! Here we are doing a product photos shoot for our new website we are working on furiously. Hope to get it up and running this weekend but we needed some specific product shots of each type of honey we have. It's always a lot of fun to add props and especially nice when we get to include nature in our photographs. I had a lot of fun doing this one.

Bee Biz Hits Groupon

2011-06-30T12:37:00.003-05:00

Hi everyone. I am so excited I just had to share this - our little bee business has just hit Groupon! We are venturing into formally educating people about beekeeping, something we both enjoy a great deal and have been wanting to do on a larger scale and in a structured environment. This partnership with a honey company out of Round Rock will benefit both parties we believe. So far, we've had over 20 takers of the coupon. By the way, if you haven't checked out Groupon yet, give them a try. They showcase different coupons localized to your area or you can search by big city. Pretty neat and growing in popularity these days as we all try to stretch our money.

Hair Haus Revisited

2011-06-29T23:28:00.004-05:00

I had the nicest visit to my favorite beauty shop in town! Recently I returned to get my hands and feet beautified with Katie at the Hair Haus and it was WONDERFUL. I'm just not a mani/pedi gal though I always enjoy it when I do have one (or both). I just don't have time for it and it's a luxury I don't often treat myself to for some reason. BUT...if a certain sweetie pie of mine gives me a gift certificate, well then, it's really a pleasure!

If you like having your hands and feet pampered and looking beautiful, visit the Hair Haus. I love that place because it's really beautiful inside. It's welcoming and calming and there is a lot of prettiness to look at - my eyes like it in there for the warm colors and the modern decor. I'm going back for a massage soon so I'll take my nice camera for a shot of the update shop. :-)

Texas Sky in June

2011-06-12T11:24:00.002-05:00

Have you wondered how Texas has been weathering the drought? Here's a shot I snapped Friday when I went with Mark out to our Pizza Bee Yard, between Seguin and Gonzales. The sky is gorgeous, isn't it? Especially if you're at the beach! We sure could use some rain here - not just for us but for our bees as well. It sure has been dry this year. Last year was fabulous with all the rain that kept things blooming almost constantly. This year's a different story and while the bees are hanging in there, it does stress them a bit to not have a lot to live on right now. Notice how brown and dry the surrounding grass is around the yard. The tanks are drying out though fortunately there is still water in the tank at this yard so that our bees can water when they need to do so.

Peaches, Kitty & a Friend

2011-06-05T21:54:00.003-05:00

Finally getting to enjoy a couple of the peaches from our tree. Nothing like last year but still adds a nice sweet and slightly tart flavor to our fruit salads. Doubt we'll get enough for any peach preserves this year, sadly.

I would like to send a shout-out to Donna P. who is still reading my blog AND following our Gretchen Bee Ranch blog as well. I ran into Donna at the vet's office when I went to pick up Smokey at the end of the day. It was his annual visit for shots and he got a nice little flea dip. Anyway, I want to say hi and thank you to Donna for her encouragement about the blogs. We met when I taught some computer classes here at the Seguin Library many years ago and it ALWAYS warms my heart to see students again. Especially when they remember me and let me know how we met. So, thank you, Donna. You made my whole week last week and I really appreciate your kind words and your continued support of the blogs! Hope you and your family have a great week!

Summer Sights

2011-05-28T10:00:00.004-05:00

Here are some things happening in our yard so far this summer. It's been hot and dry though we did get a bit of rain a couple of weeks ago. In the above shot is borage - anyone use it for any cooking before? Someone gave it to us and we've never used it though I read you can use it in drinks and saute it as you would spinach. It's got a lot of white fuzz on the leaves and stems. Interesting and pretty plant.

Here's one of our little tomatoes - we got a late start on them so they are just now starting to bloom out a bit. We planted eight but only six are left with us and I'm working hard at keeping them well saturated to fight the extreme heat and sun. Our squash and zucchini didn't make it sadly. Asian Long Beans are doing fine though no white blooms on them just yet. I plant a LOT of them since we liked them so much last year. I also put some sunflowers in so hopefully they will continue to grow and then bloom for some photos. :-) Below are some of the peaches on our little tree out back. You may recall last year we had so many peaches we had to give a ton away because we couldn't eat them fast enough. They were delicious! This year, we have a decent number of fruit on the tree though nowhere near what we saw last year. I think they look lovely when they turn this beautiful blush color.

Finally, this morning I continue to try and keep our grass from drying up too much so I put the sprinkler out for a bit. I also like to do that for all the birds - they love to come to the water and get a bath in while they can. They fluff up and twirl all around - a lot of fun to watch. I especially love the red cardinals since they remind me of North Carolina.

Concrete Art

2011-05-10T21:44:00.001-05:00

I loved the shapes and look of these! We passed this business as we went to one of our bee yards in Kingsbury. Technically I don't know if this is Seguin or Kingsbury and I don't even know the name of the business since there is no sign that we could see. Anyone know? It's no 90A. You see these at construction or staging sites for road and building projects. I bet they are heavy! And I think it'd be neat to do a photo shoot there among these things.

Trade Days on the Square Saturday April 30

2011-04-29T19:57:00.001-05:00

Quick post before bed. Gretchen Bee Ranch will be in booths 36 and 37 tomorrow; that's behind the courthouse on the square (near the gazebo). Come on down for Trade Days and visit us! Please. :-)

Gardening, Bees and Jets

2011-04-20T18:25:00.003-05:00

Still no rain this month. I don't even remember the last time we got a decent rain. Please, please rain soon. In between everything else we've had going on in life, I did manage to clean up three sections of our garden. It had really gone to the weeds since we had no time for a garden last year, nor did we manage the space at all. Oh well, there are six tomato plants, a ton of Asian long beans, one surviving egg plant, two yellow squash and two zucchini plants - let's see who makes it this long hot season. I can tell it's going to be a tough summer because we are only in April and it's already been in the 90s. Not unbearably humid YET. But it's coming.

And here is a beautiful sky shot (missed my Sky Watch Friday post) from one of our bee yards which is now located where the Schulz Nursery on Highway 123 was, ever so briefly. Pedro, who owns My Father's Farm, relocated there and we moved our bees from his first farm location to this one. It's an organic farm operation. These jets flew by for a while. I think there were five or six fly-bys and I think they were all different planes but I could be wrong on that so don't quote me.

Butterflies and Thistle

2011-04-18T23:31:00.002-05:00

This one if for Alan. :-) Thistle is here and so are the butterflies. We saw these along Big Oaks Road south of town a bit when we went to check on the bees out there. So many black butterflies everywhere - it was amazing! We had too many bee yards to check on so no time to get out of the truck. I got a few shots of the activity. We were wondering if these butterflies were competition for our bees as they all searched out nectar in this dry spring. The butterflies must be winning or the bees must not yet want thistle in their diet because we saw not one bee on the purple blooms.

Wildflowers in a Drought

2011-04-16T21:46:00.002-05:00

This spring is nothing like last year's spring, that's for sure. Last year we had abundant rain. This year? Dry, dry, dry. And more dry. We need rain! And yet we still are able to see and enjoy some beautiful wildflowers. I know it's nothing like in the years we have rain, but I'd say we're lucky we have what we do! This is a variety that Mark picked from one of our bee yards for a photo shoot for our honey products. I just LOVE all the colors and how different each kind of flower is. The color, shape and scent of each is amazing. This is what goes into our honey that is being made by our bees. I love it.

Rain, Rain - Come Our Way

2011-04-04T16:49:00.003-05:00

Warmer, dryer weather means it's time to get to watering of the plants and grass. This is one of Smokey's favorite pastimes - watching the watering of anything in the yard. He is fascinated with sprinklers and loves to be just out of reach of the water. Here he is watching as I prepare the tractor, which I love to watch also, as it winds its way around the yard, aided only by the water pressure.

On a less funny note, we went on record for one of the driest month of March in history. Not good. We sure need some rain!

Mom's Plumeria

2011-04-01T22:51:00.003-05:00

When I miss my mom a lot, I like to look at things that are hers or remind me of her. There are special pictures I like to revisit of her garden, her flowers, her scrumptious, edible works of art.This Plumeria is so beautiful and she has several in her Florida yard. It's perfect weather there for these. She has yellow and pink and one visit, she sent home a couple of cuttings for us. They did well for a couple of years until a hard freeze killed them, sadly. Anyway, if I want to see the most beautiful ones, I know where to go.

My mom had a bit of a health scare this week and she's on my mind and in my heart. But I think of her and my dad constantly and I have them in my heart always.

Wildflowers & Artfest/Trade Days

2011-03-26T00:14:00.003-05:00

Today's post is brought to you by some of the gorgeous yellow wildflowers currently in bloom in our lovely state. Hope you have been able to get out and see some of the blooms in the fields. This year we've not had the rain we needed, yet flowers are popping up all around. Perhaps the dry winter and spring gave these rare flowers an opportunity to pop up more noticeably. Not sure. All I know is that I've not seen these before so I thought I'd share here. Anyone have any idea what they are called?

It's been a crazy week for us so we haven't had a chance to share that Artfest is happening down on the square tomorrow from 9a to 5p. There's also a Trade Days and that's where Mark, Belinda and I will be all day - selling our delicious Gretchen Bee Ranch honeys and bees wax products. Hope you will stop by our booth near the gazebo if you are down there tomorrow. We'll have our first double booth with our big ole double canopy. We're big time now! :-) Mainly, just come by, say hi and sample some honey. We'd love to see you.

Squirrel Family Love

2011-03-19T11:32:00.002-05:00

These two were sooooo cute yesterday over by the honey house in our backyard. I came home to grab lunch and Mark told me they had been hanging out in that tree for some time already and at first he thought they were yelling at him to go away. Our squirrels are like that in the backyard. They think they own the great outdoors and they will let you know when they want you to leave their area. :-) Anyway, Mark watched for a while and he said the Mama had been trying to Baby to follow her and for some reason he would not. Maybe he was scared. Maybe he was hurt. We're not sure. At one point, she had a hold of his little paw and was tugging at him. CUTE! I wish I had caught that. By the time I was snapping pictures, she was showing him how to jump from the tree to the top of the honey house. That's probably about three feet but the drop to the ground is a lot farther, maybe ten feet. Poor thing. When I got home after 5p, they were gone. I guess she finally got him to follow her. Good for them. I'm not a huge squirrel fan but they were cute.

Don't forget today is Spring Fling at Maldonado Nursery on Highway 90. It looks like the perfect day to stroll around for great deals on plants and other products. We're headed over there after lunch. Hope to see ya!

More Springy Signs

2011-03-16T01:20:00.001-05:00

Nothing says spring like flowers blooming everywhere - in fields, on trees, on fences, in flower pots and in gardens. It's everywhere and I have spring fever. I need to get out and dig into the flower beds and our little garden. I just need about 20 more hours added to my weekend to get it all done. :-)

The above picture is from a trip we took to one of our local bee yards. This year there is an abundance of these wild berry plants growing all over pretty much everything. Good news for us and the bees. Last year Mark and I sampled a few berries we found and they were very tasty. Maybe we'll have even more to sample this year.

Below is a shot of a Bluebonnet I checked out in the same field as the berry blooms. I like pulling down the petals and looking at the bright pollen and the cat-claw inside. It is such an intriguing flower and it lifts my heart each time I see it; whether it's one bloom or an entire blue sea of it. It's one of the most beautiful wildflowers I've ever seen and it's one of the best things I love about coming to Texas so long ago.

Maldonado Nursery

2011-03-15T23:52:00.001-05:00

I am sorry it's been so crazy busy, friends! I haven't forgotten about you, I promise! Today I got to visit this awesome nursery in town for a few shots of our honey going into the shop! Exciting news for us!! What I really like is the shot below. Have a great week, everyone!

Peaceful Sleep of a Kitty

2011-03-05T07:19:00.002-06:00

Ah, to be this chilled out, right? I came home yesterday to this sight and it brought a smile to my face, which I sure needed; rough day at work, friends. Smokey is capable of falling asleep almost anywhere, at anytime and at any moment. And when he sleeps, he is OUT to the world. Plus he has interesting positions, like this one. I think it's adorable. He is like our kid - mischievous, loving, chatty, demanding, hilarious and almost bringing home a friend. Last night I couldn't stop laughing because he has a new "friend" who hangs out with him and even follows him up to the back door! Before I went to bed, I looked out the front door and who's sitting in the middle of the street but Smokey and friend. Just sitting, staring at each other, wagging tails...crazy cats. I wish I knew what they were doing out there. Speak of the devil, here he is sitting next to me. Probably means he wants me to go hang out with him. Or snuggle time. Or food. He's a simple cat. Y'all have a great day today!

Lights, Camera, Honey!

2011-02-26T22:08:00.002-06:00

Today was dreary pretty much most of the day but we got ourselves to the gym early, had a nice mid-morning snack and then got to work on photographing our company products in the light tent we just got. Developing and building a new company website takes a lot of work and we're still working on several components, one of which is product shots for the online store. That in itself has been a real learning process and challenge for both of us but we are happy to learn. Back to editing. :-) Hope y'all are having a good weekend. We are suppose to have a few great, gorgeous days next week! Yay!

Spring is Springing!

2011-02-21T22:49:00.002-06:00

Once I see these two sights, I KNOW spring is right around the corner for sure. The Redbud is about to burst with blooms this week and the mockingbirds have returned to their nest in the Crepe Myrtle. Plus I saw our third sign though I couldn't get a photograph - our woodpecker is back and digging out treats from our pecan tree. He typically arrives when fall gets here and then again when spring is hitting us. Though I have enjoyed some cold weather (and snow even though I had to see that out of state, I count it), I do enjoy wearing short sleeves and shorts and sitting outside on the back deck. I have to enjoy this before the 95 degree weather comes along, right??

Still Dry Out There

2011-02-12T22:20:00.002-06:00

On our way to the Capote bee yard today, we were worried to see what looked like a big fire. Later we learned that it was about one hundred acres and something like seven fire departments worked together to get it under control. I hope they did and that everyone was okay. This winter has not seen as much rain as last year and things are still a little bit "crunchy" out there. Pretty easy to toss a cigarette or something out the window and cause some trouble. I see burnt patches of grass and field here and there as I drive about my business so I try to be conscious of the hazard.

Besides that bad news, we did manage to have a great day with our bees. Hope you got out there and enjoyed the warm weather a bit. So nice for a bit of glorious sun, right? The bees loved it and so did I. Here's hoping tomorrow will be just as lovely. :)

Juan Seguin & Fountain on the Square

2011-02-06T20:04:00.001-06:00

Today was a glorious weather day - sunny, no clouds, 76 degrees. Amazing. But I still wanted to share two shots from our visit to the fountain on town square on Friday. Juan Seguin was frozen. :)

Arctic Blast

2011-02-04T10:27:00.002-06:00

Today we are currently at 34 degrees and it's sunny. It sure makes a big difference, I can tell you that. The weatherman says it's the first time we've been above freezing since Tuesday. That's a long time for South Texas. :-) It's been a fun evening and day of looking out the window to see what's new and listening to the news and seeing pictures of other local areas. We didn't get much but it is still a nice weather event to see. And the snow looked different. I went out with Smokey this morning to take a look and snap pictures - noticed the snow was super dry and more like small prefect pellets rather than the fluffy stuff. Interesting.

Happy Lunar New Year

2011-02-03T20:28:00.003-06:00

...also known as Vietnamese New Year (Tet) or Chinese New Year. :-) It's the year of the Rabbit or Cat, depending on which book you read. Either way, it's off to a brand new year for us and that meant a day off from work, whic I have been trying to do for many years now. I make time in the morning to quietly pay my respects to my ancestors and to give thanks and ask for blessings in the coming year. This is part of the little prayer table I put together and it includes some fresh fruit as well as sweet treats, flowers, candles and incense. I know it will be another great year for our family!

Having a day off also means when I run errands and see something interesting, I actually have time to stop the car, get out and snap pictures. I had a great time today doing that despite nearly freezing my legs off in the 10 degree wind chill we had here in Seguin. I had not put on a second layer under my trousers and boy did I feel the difference. But more than that, my eyes watered to the point I couldn't see clearly to photograph after about seven minutes. What a wimp. It's so different from the cold I felt in Virginia last week. That was tolerable. I'm sure it had to do with the humidity levels. Anyway, here's a shot of an ice sculpture on Kingsbury/Highway 90 before you get to the Guadalupe River bridge as you drive towards IH10 West. Someone stuck their water hose up the tree. Hope it survives its encasing.

And here's one more shot of another tree that was iced because the sprinkler system was not turned off. We're expecting/hoping (I don't think I'm in the minority on this one) for a few inches of snow over night. I will certainly post a shot if we get anything worthy of mention. Keep warm out there!

Weather Chaos

2011-02-01T10:21:00.002-06:00

I finally got my warm weather outting photograph loaded! It's from the bee yard visit with Mark on Sunday. This is our Deadman Creek yard. I had not seen it since it was established so I was so happy we had a gorgeous day, filled with sun and a cool breeze. My bee suit can get warm but I sure appreciated the security of knowing none of the little ladies could get me.

Monday turned out to be a nice, mild day as well though a little less sunny. I did manage, however to spend a few minutes sitting on the back deck with Smokey when I went home for lunch - we have this nice little area where we planted non-running bamboo years ago and the shot below if of the leaves hanging over the deck. I love bamboo. If we had a big piece of property, I'd want to plant the HUGE kind that have poles that grow to 4-6 inch diameters. These are delicate and only grow to about 1/4 inch or so.

Today brings a cold front - the one that's dropping blizzards north of us! It is currently in the lower 30s with gusting winds that drop the wind chill to the mid to upper 20s. Nice! I feel like I'm back in Virginia! The forecasters are calling for snow later this week. I am not letting myself get too excited about that because I don't want to be disappointed. :-) Still, I'm hoping...

Hello All

2011-01-30T19:52:00.002-06:00

Greetings, I'm back and so is Mark. Last week I had to go back to Virginia but this time it was awesome since Mark was able to go with me. It turns out he has been wanting to look for confirmation that Joe William's (Seguin's baseball Hall of Famer, 1999) grandfather, Calvin Williams, had once been a slave in nearby Orange, VA. It was about an hour's drive from where I was for work so it worked out great. Anyway, while we were there, look what we got to enjoy together!? SNOW. It was so awesome and not enough to make travel a truly huge ordeal - I was still able to get to work and Mark was still able to get over a mountain that separated Orange from Harrisonburg. So, we were thrilled to be there for the ocassion.

We're back in Seguin and I'm still a little weirded out by the drastic change in climate, to be honest with you. Today we were up in the lower 70s and had a lovely time out at one of our bee yards. I'd show you a shot of it but there's something funky going on with my laptop, which I unaffectionately call PC (you know, like in the Mac commercials) and I think my internet connectivity is spotty. Maybe it can't handle my large photo files. Who knows but your warm weather shot will have to wait. I'm off to figure out why I can't transfer files from my desktop to a thumb drive. PC, you gotta just love it or else you end up throwing it out the window.

Signs of Spring

2011-01-21T17:02:00.002-06:00

Not that this is from this year's crop, but I love persimmon and I like to photograph them. Not sure if it's the sentimental since I typically only enjoy their deliciousness at Lunar New Year time (Tet in Viet Nam or Chinese New Year, as it is known to most). Anyway, today turned out to be a lovely day. Actually, beyond lovely - perfect. Yes, perfect. Nip in the air but a clear blue sky to enjoy. Plenty of sun.

We had a bit of rain lately and I'm hoping that means good things for spring blooms. Come on rain. We could use a little more and on a regular basis. Not asking too much, are we? :-)

This persimmon was on a little tree that was in a customer's yard when we went to deliver some honey. He has an orchard he's trying to bring back and I think that would be sooooo lovely! I'm excited at the thought of being surrounded by beautiful, orange persimmons to photograph!

Celebrating Martin Luther King

2011-01-17T21:47:00.003-06:00

Saturday was a busy, busy day and even though I was super tired from getting up at 4am to get home, I was sure glad I went with Mark to the MLK Banquet at the Coliseum! This year was special, not just for our keynote speaker (Dr. Marcos Nelson above) and music (Cristal Smith and her band), but also because Mark delivered the invocation. Sadly, I did not get a great shot of my honey in action. Hard to snap pictures while you're suppose to have your head bowed and eyes closed. :-) Still...wish I had a shot of him! This year's banquet was awesome!

Chilly Nights Mean One Thing...

2011-01-12T20:17:00.002-06:00

While I'm in my own cold climate traveling for work, it seems you guys are also enjoying some chilliness back at home in good ole Seguin! That's one of the few times Smokey will want to curl up inside. That cat loves the great outdoors typically. Once it hits 30s or 20s, he's on his favorite spot - Mark's jeans and bee suits. :-) Y'all stay warm! I'm in Virginia and it's in the low 20s at night and 30s during the day. Hardly a snow storm, however. Boy was I disappointed! Here's all I got -

New Things in the New Year

2011-01-05T21:08:00.002-06:00

Happy 2011 everyone! I thought the new year deserved an appropriate new shot. This is our new county justice center. It actually opened a little while ago but I had forgotten to show it to you. I like the color and the modern look. And behind here is the Walnut Creek project, which I posted on before and which I need to update this weekend if I have a chance to go photograph the progress. It's all coming along nicely.

Hope your year is off to a great start and that you have a wonderful year ahead. I'm off on a work trip soon so not sure when I'll post again. Take care, in the meantime.

Wrapping Up the Year with Family

2010-12-31T22:02:00.002-06:00

Today was the best way to wrap up 2010 - spending it with family. I hope you also got to spend some time with those you love as we wind down this year and welcome 2011. We got an awesome visit with our Mark's uncle and cousin and his wife. We don't to see them very often and it had been too long. Granpa, as we affectionately call our uncle, started keeping bees with my honey bee about thirty years ago. I have loved listening to all their crazy, fun adventures and they never fail to make me wish I had been there for the entire ride.

Granpa is getting up there in age so we appreciate any time that we get with him. To see him out in his element with the bees was a truly amazing gift for which I cannot even begin to express my gratitude. It's moments like today that make life worth living. I hope you have many of those in 2011 and I hope we will also.

Thank you stopping by here and checking out my photos and my talk. I met some of you this year and it really always made me wish I had more time to devote to roaming the city and countryside in search of things to share with you here. And just when I think I should hang it up since I'm neglecting this too much for my taste, one of you tells me how much you enjoy the blog, even now that it's sporadic in posts...and then how can I bring myself to stop? It really means a lot to me and I just wanted to thank you for all your kind words this year. Happy new year, my friends!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

GBR at My Favorite Gift Shop

2010-12-27T21:23:00.004-06:00

If you are a fan of Gift & Gourmet (best gift shop in town, hands down), then check out our Gretchen Bee Ranch honey and bee skep candles! They are now available at the store. I'm tickled pink to have our stuff there since it's my favorite shop for gifts. I also am a lucky gal because my honey bee knows I love pretty much anything from that shop so I got a little something for Christmas from there that will come in handy when I hop over to Virginia in a few weeks. :-)

In the picture above, the shop owner has packaged the honey and candle together in cellophane and it is there in the center of the picture, middle of the middle shelf.

A Very Merry Christmas

2010-12-26T21:22:00.002-06:00

I hope you have enjoyed your Christmas weekend with those dear to you! It's been a fabulously restful weekend for us and I am thankful we have plenty of time to rest on top of enjoying time together - not just working but also having actual downtime. Nice, very nice.

Here's to a good and quiet week ahead as a lot of people are still celebrating the holiday break. I hope you have a wonderful week ahead as we prepare to ring in a new year!

Rusty Rooster

2010-12-23T13:40:00.002-06:00

Last night we finally tried out Rusty Rooster, the newest little restaurant in Seguin. Love the name and the decor there! I was tickled pink by all the hens they had on display in one form or another. The fried chicken was awesome - moist and tasty, as were the biscuits and okra. It is always nice to have another new eating option in our little town. And I am such a HUGE fried chicken fan, I'm thrilled they opened.

Hope you are all doing well and that you're enjoying the Christmas week. I love this time of year despite this year flying by and dragging me along. :-)

Countdown to Christmas

2010-12-16T23:52:00.003-06:00

We are busy, busy, busy - making candles, wrapping gifts, prepping our honey house for Open House on Saturday, watching the Spurs, washing jars for more honey, etc., etc., etc. I bet you're busy, too! :)

Here's a shot of my favorite gift shop in Seguin - Gift & Gourmet. Went there this week to show the owner some of our honey and candle products. If you haven't checked out this shop, you should. It's a wonderful little gem in our community and I'm so glad they are here!

Vote!

2010-12-14T12:10:00.002-06:00

Don't forget to get out and vote in our special election today! We received this reminder in the mail from one of the candidates and we thought it very clever. It was cute, funny and informative - loved that they provided the voting location for us as well. Nice! We've also received daily calls from candidates and various organizations reminding us to vote. It's awesome! And a gorgeous day for voting. :-)

Fall Colors

2010-12-11T22:09:00.001-06:00

On beautiful days like those that we've had lately, we had to get out and enjoy it this weekend. I accompanied Mark out to a couple of bee yards so I could see what was happening in the countryside; it's been a while since I did that. I loved the cool air and the clear skies. Though we don't have the gorgeous fall colors I'm used to from growing up in North Carolina, there is still beauty to be seen and enjoyed. We do have Lost Maples Park a few hours north of here but we were too busy to make it out there so perhaps next year. Meanwhile, here are a couple of shots from this past weekend.

Hope you had a good aMonday and that the rest of the week will be a great one for you! I get my wisdom teeth pulled manana so we'll see if I feel like posting this week. You never know...there might be something interesting to share. There is always something interesting going on around us, right? :-)

Sky Watch Friday - Downtown Decoration

2010-12-09T21:07:00.002-06:00

Happy Friday everyone - less than 20 days until Christmas. Can you believe it? Can't we slow down time somehow? Isn't it funny that when you are young, you want the time to move along faster. And as you get older, it moves so fast that you have no idea sometimes when you'll get a breather. Someone once told me, when I was young, that time only goes by faster as you get older. REALLY??? Is it because we have so much more we are doing or want to do? Is it because we are distracted by things around us that take our attention away from what's in front of us at the moment? I don't know. The Buddhist way of thinking involves being aware of the moment we are in right now so that we can fully appreciate what we are experiencing. I try to do this but sometimes fail; I guess that's what life is about - trying.

Soooo...on a lighter note, here's a shot of one of the wreaths decorating our square downtown. I really liked the sky that day (couple of Saturdays ago) and snapped this as we were getting in the car. There are some really neat old buildings downtown and sometimes I wish we had the money to convert one of those old buildings into a store front for our bee business on the first floor and a personal living space up top. That'd be so fun!

I hope y'all have a wonderful Friday tomorrow and a glorious weekend ahead. It's suppose to be EIGHTY DEGREES Saturday. Can you believe that??? Then it'll drop back down to a more acceptable 50 or 60-something Sunday and so on. Yay! I love wearing my jackets, and scarves. This morning we had frost all over the windshield. It was nice!

Be sure to check out the Skywatch site if you would like to see some more cool sky shots for this week. :-)

Seguin Donuts Now Open

2010-12-07T21:47:00.003-06:00

My upper wisdom teeth need to come out and all I can think about is food so appropriately enough, I have these shots to share about a new bakery that recently opened here in our little town. We stopped by Seguin Donuts one Saturday afternoon as we went from one bee yard to another. I am in love! I love kolaches!!! Much more than any sweets, that's for sure. Don't get me wrong, a sweet, glazed donut now and then is ok but give me a kolache any ole day and you'll see a super happy girl. Look at them. Aren't they lovely?

The service was super as well so be sure you check them out. They're in the shopping center on Highway 123, next to Radio Shack and Little Ceasar's Pizza (around the corner from Beall's). And finally, here's a shot of the usual sweets that most of you like. :) I found the "hand" looking pastry on the bottom right rather interesting!

Yulefest 2010

2010-12-06T20:18:00.002-06:00

Looks like the three day sellathon really wore me out - sick today. Going to post this and then head to bed despite sleeping most of today. Gosh, I simply have no energy and just felt yucky.

We had lovely weather in Gonzales Friday and Saturday as we participated in their Winterfest and had a booth at Santa's Workshop. After the evening parade Friday night, we were inundated with parade-goers and business was hopping and fun. Love seeing repeat customer/friends and making new friends also. Then we went to the icebox Sunday - :-( a non-functioning heater meant a cold full day. I was so tempted to light more candles just to warm ourselves a bit. I think the sudden temperature drop and the lack of heat did me in. Anyhow, here are some of my favorite sights from this weekend (sorry we missed the Holiday Stroll since we were prepping for the shows):

My friend's dad made me a similar lighted post like above several years ago and I still have it. I love it. When we don't put our big tree up due to traveling or some other reason, we like to at least have the holiday post up because it nicely illuminates the living room. We'll probably do that this year.

This booth was very interesting with the man theme pillowcases. Reminded me of my buddy who sewed a quilt with a similar fabric for a friend of hers. lol

This booth was next to ours and was one of our top two favorites! This is Nuluv Nubians and they feature goat milk products such as soaps, lotions and lip balm. Oh, and my favorite - body butters. LOVE IT! They smelled awesome thanks to all the samples they had open. It was nice to be placed next to each other since soaps and candles (and honey) seem to go hand-in-hand in peoples' minds. They were a very nice young family from the Kerrville area. Glad we met them.

Water Tower Makeover Part 2

2010-12-03T00:19:00.003-06:00

Time for another facelift for our poor, neglected water tower on Kingsbury. I hope they do a good job this time and it looks awesome. There's something so cool about the old fashion, round water towers. I like them.

Hope y'all have a great Friday! Oh, if you're in the Gonzales area, come by the square Friday evening to say hi. We're going to be selling Gretchen Bee Ranch specialty honeys and bees wax candles! We'll be in Gonzales again Saturday and then at Yulefest in Seguin at the Coliseum on Sunday, 10a-5p. Hope to see some of you at the events!

Thanksgiving Means Family & Good Eats

2010-11-25T22:59:00.002-06:00

Hope everyone's had a great day filled with love, happiness, laughter and good eats. We had a really nice visit with family and then made it back home safe and sound. And we didn't overeat which is good! Wanted to share with you some delicious treats we were sampling this past week.

If you like pecans or want to give some as gifts, then you should really check out Charlie Willmann's orchard offerings this year. The Cheyenne 2010 crop is incredible! Light and with a slightly sweet flavor. It made a great pecan pie but it is also a great snack we much on during the day. Can't wait to share this treat with others.

Below is a shot that includes two other treats we enjoyed this week - other friends' honeys! The amber color honey is wildflower from California and the light color honey is clover from Montana. Both are yummy and I'm glad I get to try them. If Mark wasn't in business, then I would have missed out on these new honeys. I LOVE the clover - smooth and light, just the way I like it. Nice addition to our growing personal collection of honey jars. :-) Should get me through the winter.

If you're going shopping tomorrow (as we are for display stands for our shows next week), then GOOD LUCK! Stay patient and try and have some fun. That's what I'm telling myself already. :-)

Ready Your Turkey

2010-11-22T20:08:00.002-06:00

As we all prepare for the big feast this week and the general feasting between now and January 2, I thought I'd post something I saw at our local grocery store recently. I don't often go down the spice aisle these days except when we need some sugar for bee feed. :-) Anyway, on this trip down that aisle, I spotted these interesting looking packets. Wow, did you know these existed?? I didn't. lol - I understand the appeal for people who don't cook, I guess. It's not hard to mix spices. I thought. Maybe it's a convenience thing. I don't know. But it's sort of a pricey way to go because you really only get enough for one dish it looks like. So, are YOU ready for the big meal? What are you making? Who's going to Black Friday festivities? I'm seriously on a mission this year for some display stands for our candles. Wish me luck as I fight the crowds!

Skywatch Friday

2010-11-18T21:10:00.002-06:00

Happy, happy day, everyone! Not only is tomorrow Friday but it's also the day I get to fly home. :-) I haven't had to be a full week away from home for work in a while so it's been a little hard. I miss my honey bee and my home. So...I was looking through some picture when I was feeling homesick and I wanted to share this one with you. It's a sky shot of sunset just outside city limits at one of our bee yards. It's lovely out there in the Big Oaks area. I hope you all have had a great week and that the weekend is EVEN BETTER!

Check out other awesome sky shots this week over at Skywatch Friday.

Bailey's on Court Street

2010-11-11T22:47:00.003-06:00

I am determined to get this posted! I have been wanting to tell you all about Bailey's since we went last week for the first time. In our town of about 26,000 people, we have a decent selection of food options, compared to other comparable towns. Average, I'd say. It's always nice when a local eatery opens rather than your typical chain places. And while I LOVE all our Mexican food restaurants, it is nice to have other options as well. We met a marketing items sales person at Bailey's for lunch - we want to get some snazzy bags for our honey sales. Anyway, the converted building looked great inside and the food was very good - we'll need to go back so I can try the chicken salad. Mark had it and said it was GOOD. My lemonade was very good (hard to find) and my Veggie Delight on shortbread was very light yet filling. You get a lot. I wish it had just a little more flavor but I'd still recommend it. I love veggie sandwiches sometimes.

The seating is limited and a bit on the tight side, but they do have two tables outside on the back porch, which is under some huge oaks - so go early and grab one of those great tables so you can enjoy your food outside since our weather's been so awesome lately. There's also a little gift shop inside so check it out. I saw several things that were reasonably priced that'd make nice little Christmas gifts. You know what that means - another trip back to Bailey's for sure.

Happy Friday From the Llamas!

2010-11-05T22:41:00.002-05:00

Have you seen a llama lately? Up close? I had not until last weekend when we went to visit our newest bee yard off Capote Road just outside the city limits a bit. It's so lovely out there that I can never turn down an opportunity to be out there now that my allergies are better. And I'm so glad I went because these two llamas were really making me laugh with their inquisitive nature. They were really fun and I'm glad they are the bees' new neighbors.

Hope everyone has a great weekend - enjoy the gorgeous weather if you're in the South Texas area. It's going to be another great weekend.

Election Day

2010-11-02T18:23:00.002-05:00

There's still some time left in case you haven't voted yet. We went to our usual polling location at Our Lady of Guadalupe and as usual - no wait, no fuss, friendly assistance. Voting rocks and I'm glad I live in a country where I can do it so easily and safely. :-)

Halloween Sweetness

2010-10-30T23:38:00.003-05:00

Hope you all are enjoying your Halloween weekend so far. It's been a gorgeous day and tomorrow is suppose to be more of the same. It'll be good weather for trick or treaters so I hope we have plenty of visitors tomorrow evening.

This cake picture is one of my favorites and has about 3,700 views to date on my photostream in Flickr. People must find it as fun to look at as I have. It's fun to see how creativity people can be with their baking and decorating!

October - Breast Cancer Awareness Month

2010-10-29T07:31:00.000-05:00

Check out how great our new hospital makeover is looking these days! I had a 7:30a appointment so the lighting is a bit on the dark side. I’ll try and go back on a beautiful afternoon to show some panned views of the completed front – it looks so great and really adds a classy look to Court Street in that area.

My appointment was for my annual mammogram. We all know how important early detection is so I hope all you ladies out there are taking care of yourselves! This was my third year and every time I visit the Imaging Department at the Guadalupe Regional Medical Center, they are so wonderful to me. And while I have heard not-so-great stories about mammograms, my checkups have been just fine – no horror stories, no pain, no drama. The machine below is what is used and I can’t remember what that white plastic piece is called that’s above the plate but it is was purchased about 1.5 years ago as a trial to see if it would help with the discomfort of the exam for some women. Seems to work for me. I hope you go. :-) Please visit the Susan G. Komen site for more information about breast cancer.

Sky Watch over Texas Agricultural Education & Heritage Center

2010-10-22T05:47:00.000-05:00

Recently Mark participated in Ag Week at the Red Barn here in town. We call it the Red Barn but officially, it is the Texas Agricultural Education and Heritage Center, founded in order to educate the public about the importance of agriculture as part of our heritage and how it impacts our lives today. Mark was out there speaking about the importance of bees so I was glad I had a chance to visit during lunch one day because I had not been to the center – it is really neat out there! I still need to go back sometime and check out all the buildings since I only had about twenty minutes there during that visit. Here are a few shots of my brief visit.

Above, Mark is speaking to one of the many groups of fourth graders from surrounding area schools that have been scheduled to visit during Ag Week. They asked questions if there was time and shared stories about getting stung and interesting things they know about bees. When asked if they knew what food bees make, he said one of the kids told him bees make cereal (as in the Honey Nut Cheerios from the commercial that many kids like to tell us about when we go to fairs and shows). Too cute.

Below is a shot of another group I passed by out in the garden area. I think it’s great that the kids are learning about gardening and the benefits of growing your own in addition to having produce from the farmers in the area. There are so many other things to see out there, I will be sure to visit again and highlight other things for you.

The skies have been gorgeous lately as we move from summer to fall. Be sure to check out other skies on the Sky Watch page. Have a great Friday, everyone!

Busy as a Bee

2010-10-17T21:53:00.004-05:00

Here's where I spent most of this beautiful weekend so I thought I'd share it with you so you'd know why there aren't other photographs to share right now. We are super focused on our bee biz and that means getting lots of photos and some videos for a new website we are building. We are so excited about it but it does take a lot of our time getting all this going so for a while, that's what will consuming us. :) If you'd like to see the video I was shooting in this photograph, you can visit our GBR YouTube page.

Check out the bees below. They are carrying pollen into the hive like there's no tomorrow. Do people still say that? LOL, I do! Anyway, I LOVE to watch them doing this - the way they land, the little steps they take to get into the box, the way they sometimes flop over clumsily. So cute.

Evening Out

2010-10-12T21:26:00.003-05:00

Things are settling down just a tad now that the Fair is over. Our bees are back home in their hive at the bee yard and Mark and I go back to work. Me at the mill and Mark at the Heritage Farm, educating hundreds of fourth graders. Tomorrow I'll go visit him during lunch and take some pictures of that place and event. I've been wanting to go check it out!

Here's a lovely little nest I spotted as we departed the Big Oaks bee yard this evening. It was a perfect Texas evening - I love this time of year. The weather is gorgeous and the air was perfumed by the numerous flowers still in bloom. Seriously, this year has been an incredible flower year. AND my allergies are in good shape - maybe because I've been downing quite a bit of our honey the past two years. No severe headaches after an hour or two outside. I couldn't have done this before so thanks little bees!

And thank you to those of you who stopped by our GBR booth during the Fair. We enjoyed meeting you and we're glad you stopped by and talked with us. Always fun to meet folks. :) Y'all have a GREAT week!

Grand Champion Honey!

2010-10-07T22:12:00.002-05:00

Hooray for us - our comb honey entry won Grand Champion in the Home Products category. We are very happy and proud as can be. :) Here's where we'll be spending all our time through Sunday.

Guadalupe County Fair - 2010

2010-10-06T22:05:00.004-05:00

Time to hit the Fair again, folks. Come out and enjoy the beautiful fall weather for us since we'll be inside the entire time! :) If you come to the fair, be sure to stop by our booth in the Coliseum and sample some Guadalupe County honey - mesquite and wildflower. AND meet about 20,000 of our sweet little bees and their queen. Mark's got the observation hive ready to go. We had a lot of fun in Gonzales and we look forward to seeing how this year's Fair goes for everyone. Check out the Fair's website for more information.

Here's when we'll be there:
Thursday, October 7, 3-8:30pm (Free until 6p)
Friday, October 8, 11am-9pm (Students Free until 6pm, Military Free All Day)
Saturday, October 9, 9am-9pm ($5.00 per person – Children 12 & Under Free)
Sunday, October 10, 11am-6pm (Free for everyone!)

Come See Us in Gonzales!

2010-10-02T00:16:00.004-05:00

Sorry but it's been a super busy week between work and prepping for the Gonzales Come & Take It Festival. Gonzales is a quaint town about 30 miles from Seguin on 90 - come and visit our Gretchen Bee Ranch booth if you are in that area. We're on the square on the side closest to the theatre (can't recall the name right now). We're there through Sunday and so are about 20,000 of our little bees in their snazzy observation hive. You know you want to see them up close! :-) Have a great one, everyone!

Mushroom Beauty

2010-09-26T11:10:00.002-05:00

I have noticed some really interesting looking mushrooms around lately and wanted to share two of my favorite shots. The top one is one that Mark noticed out in the countryside along a fence line as we excited one of our bee yards just outside town on Highway 123. The one below is a tiny little one (of many) that I saw hidden under all the overgrown grasses at the same Big Oaks bee yard. Both times were evening lighting and I changed the lighting just a touch on the shot below. The shot above I changed lighting a color just a little also.

Seguin Trade Day Fun

2010-09-25T22:05:00.004-05:00

Today was tiring but a LOT of fun - thank you to those who stopped by to visit with us. :-) Always great to see friends (like you fellow blogger, Hope!) and meet some blog followers (hi Lisa T. - sorry we didn't make it over to visit your booth before you left! Next time.) We sold a good amount of honey but what was even better was getting to give customers some face-to-face times with the bees thanks to the observation hive. Very nice and everyone seem amazed by their activities. Pretty neat that we can watch the queen lay eggs about six inches from us. Cool stuff for sure.

Below is one of my favorites during the day's event - this is Dino, is he cool or what? Loved it and had to get a shot. :) Hope you all have a great Sunday! I'm going to crash now. Talk about tired.

Seguin Trade Day - Sept. 25

2010-09-24T23:40:00.002-05:00

Would you like to see what's behind that wooden cover? :) I think if you have checked out our bee blog before, then you might already know. But if you'd like to meet us and some of our bees, we're going to be downtown on the square tomorrow all day (8-5p) at Seguin Trade Day. Our lovely booth will be directly behind the Court House and we'd love to meet you if you are in the area.

This event happens about every other month though with the holidays coming soon, we will be at the October one as well. Hope to sell all our honey by the end of that event!

Here's a peek inside:

Sheep, Sheep, Sheep

2010-09-17T22:53:00.002-05:00

Recently I got to visit a dear friend of mine and her kids breed show sheep. I have often wanted to stop by and snap shots of the little, little ones but haven't managed to do that yet. At least we have some grown ones to oh and ah over. The babies are even more adorable! I love these black face sheep. Something about them that appeals to me more than the pale face ones.

Fun fact: You can "rent" male sheep for breeding. TRUE! :) Just like breeding other animals to maintain a high caliber stock. Interesting. I just never thought of it until they told me that during my visit.