Saffold Dam

This evening I am feeling somewhat rebellious....I am not checking my work email. Well, I tried earlier but kept having some tech issues so I got out slightly frustrated. It's been a long, tiring week and I feel absolutely drained. I think I could have gone straight to bed when I got home. I don't want anyone to feel bad for me; I often find writing helps me to let go of things - writing therapy. We have so much going on at work but I still enjoy being there and as always, I am learning so much everyday. And I am so blessed to have encountered plenty of wonderfully nice people to balance out the not-so-sunny personalities.

Anyway, to escape a bit, I did or am doing the following this evening:

1. Watched Mark finish up splitting the hive in the backyard. Now there are three!!! I'll snap it in good day light.
2. Went for Chinese food. Comfort food. Some nights, you simply do not feel like cooking.
3. Listened to Mark tell me all about his day with the bees! I wish I could have watched him split the hives of Country Bees.
4. Learned that the queen bee does not just walk out the hive "door." One of the hives did not have a queen and Mark has theorized about how that could have happened...that's another post altogether.
5. Cruised around town, talking through things that concern me with the greatest guy ever. You know who.
6. Talked to my niece about things. Laughed.
7. Missed all my nieces and nephews.
8. Caught up A BIT with blogging and Flickr. Just a bit. Oh, and Facebook too.
9. Listening now to some of my favorite songs, currently we're on Yoyo Ma essentials.
10. Got showered and into my softest jammies.

Fall Along the Guadalupe River

We love to drive along the river, especially next to the golf course at Max Starcke Park. My eyes were so drawn to the colors and I would have walked along except for my fear of allergies. LOL. It's no fun to have to think about pains such as that when the view is so wonderful. We've been staying out of the great outdoors until Cedar Fever season is way past. That stuff is so fun for sure!

Turtles at Starcke Park

We spotted plenty of turtles sunning themselves when we took a cruise along the drive along the Guadalupe River on the golf course side of Starcke Park. Lately there is nothing but hot, dry weather for us so there's no lack of warmth for the turtles. I spotted the one on the log and we weren't sure if what was in the water were turtles or debris. It looks like it was actually a parent turtle and a little baby turtle! I love turtles so I am thrilled to have seen so many. Makes me want to go back down there soon to see how many we can spot. Maybe I can get a better shot if we get to stop at a good spot.

So the answer to the question about yesterday's post is that the bloom came from a mesquite tree! The source of many people's allergy woes but not as bad as the dreaded cedar. :)

State Chili Championship

Bet you thought you'd see a bowl of chili here! Before we drove to San Antonio yesterday (Spurs game, it was amazing!), I asked Mark if we could cruise by the Pecan Bottom at Max Starcke Park in order to see what the crowd was like this weekend. Seguin was the site of the 38th Annual Ladies State Chili Championship and there were a lot of fancy campers out there. We did not have time to walk around and watch the action this year, but maybe next time.

Several other people like ourselves cruised by. I was snapping some shots when this very nice car passed by and I liked it so I decided to include it here. The only thing about unplanned shots is that it's not always exactly as you would like. It would have been nice to get the entire car length in. :)

I'm off traveling again all week but I'll try and post from out of state. Have a great week everyone!

Sebastopol House

I just love Sebastopol and I wish the state could give more money for maintenance and more landscaping. This is where we had our wedding five years ago. It's a Greek Revival style house and it was funny -- on the upper floor where we rented the large room for 30 guests, there is no lighting! So, by 8pm, we had to wrap up festivities b/c the sun had gone down. It was a good way to make sure the wedding lasted only 2 hours!

For the history of Sebastopol, click here.