Squirrel Family Love

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

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

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

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!

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!

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

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

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

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

...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

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

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

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

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...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.