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!
Primroses in the backyard. The lack of rain meant a not so great wildflower spring. :(
Hello everyone. What a busy week. Went to work early and worked late so I could enjoy the weekend with Mark before another business trip takes me back to SC. Tomorrow's a big day! We got a date to the Spurs Game 1 against the Suns. Should be a nasty one since they are still sore about losing last year. :)The latest count on our tomatoes in the tub: 25! Mark and I check on the bees and the garden every day and I really enjoy it. Today, as we checked on the the tomatoes, I realized how wonderfully fragrant the plants are. It's been a while since we kept a garden so I had forgotten about the scent. Very nice...I could feel my stress from the week melt off. Made a trip to the library to pick up a novel for the plane ride. That reminds me I have been meaning to snap a photo of the library. I will do that soon. Now I am off to find some knitting to take with me before movie time. Hope you all have a great weekend!
This past week, we got some very exciting news! Apparently one of two winning lottery tickets was sold here in our very own little City of Seguin. No word yet on who it was that bought one of the winning tickets. I believe their share is about $3 million, according to news reports. Very exciting stuff!Back in September 2006, I posted a shot of the fuel price sign in front of Frankie's. It's sad our gas price has gone up so much since that time. It's not $3.39 in town (average).
This was shot late afternoon this past weekend. I love the moon and enjoy looking at it when it's out, esp. during daylight. It's beautiful to me.I'm about to head to work and it's been hectic so sorry about no post yesterday. Hope everyone has a super Thursday!
The mockingbirds are active and though they are often harrassing poor Smokey, they haven't really minded us too much. This one has the nest in our front yard, as I posted the other day. How can you tell if it is a male or female, by the way?
Another gorgeous day and another sign of our spring. The pecan trees are starting to put out their leaves and these catkins (I believe that's what these are called). After work, we went outside to water the garden, watch the hawks soaring way up high in the big, clear, blue sky and, of course, to collect pollen from the hive. It's a nice way to wind down from a busy day. I wish this weather would stay for a long while.
A couple of Thursdays ago, employees at CMC Steel Texas received part of our pay in these cool $2 bills. For years, the company has chosen to celebrate Texas Business & Industry Week during the first week of every April. This occasion highlights the role businesses and industries have in our local economy.We are encouraged to use our bills locally as "visible reminders of the importance CMC Steel Texas and industry have to Seguin economy." Pretty neat and I think it's funny when people do a double take when you give them a $2 bill. It's not easy to find these bills, especially around Lunar New Year time, when I want something cool to stuff in the little red envelopes.
Today was so beautiful that we just had to spend as much time outside as possible! I wish we could enjoy days like this all the way through May but that's wishful thinking. :) It was in the 70s today with low humidity and nothing but sunshine. Gorgeous.We did some gardening today -- check on tomatoes, thin out some green beans and cumcumbers and put in some more okra to replace the ones that never came up. We think the first packet we bought sprouted plants that don't look like okra at all. It was very odd. Also got more seeds to replace yellow squash that some pesky bugs keep eating up. So far, we have counted about seven little tomatoes on our plants so we're excited to see some progress.Also had time to have a lovely picnic with Mark at Landa Park in nearby New Braunfels. It was so nice and we had such a wonderful and relaxing time. Hope everyone had a great Saturday today!
Hi everyone, I'm back. It's been a blur since Monday and I didn't get a chance to post much this week. Traveling is great because you get to meet interesting people and see different parts of the country. Unfortunately, my coworker and I spent more time in airports and on airplanes than in one location. It was pretty tiring so I'm glad to be home and to have the weekend to catch my breathe!Here's a shot of the new nest that the mockingbirds have rebuilt in our crepe myrtle this year and I'm so happy to see them back! Typically, when they are done for the year and their little babies have flown off, the nest remains. Last year, however, a wild wind storm blew the crepe myrtle way over and there was nothing left of their nest. They are back now and have been busy getting their home ready. We see them regularly and they watch us every time we get in the car, which is parked rather near to them. They seem pretty use to us and don't seem to mind us too much.
Hello folks. I don't even know which day it is anymore. We're on the South Carolina leg of our trip and we get to go home tomorrow. It's been lots of time spent in airports but it's been fun and definitely a great learning experience.Here is a shot of some beekeeping activity. Mark put a pollen trap on the hive and I recall the bees were not too happy about being disturbed that day. They found a way under Mark's veil and he got 6 or 7 stings. Of course he dealt with it much better than I would have. I think I got one bee sting a few weeks ago and that really slowed me down. :) Guess that's why he the professional beekeeper of the family!The pollen trap is what is sliding out of the bottom of the hive. I have never seen one in action so I enjoyed learning about this. As the bees enter the hive, the trap does its job and keeps some of the pollen. Poor busy bees. Some people take pollen treatments in order to help with local allergies. It's worth a try! You can buy these pollen pellets in stores but it can be pricey.
Here is an update on our tomatoes. I took this before we started playing around with the stakes for them. AND we spotted our first baby tomato already. It's so cute and only about 3/4 of an inch now. Here's a shot of the plants the first day we put them in.
Other plants in the garden are also doing okay. We're going to have to do something about the pill bugs, some people call them rolly polly bugs. Whatever, they are eating up our squash plants I think. And the okra too. But my cucumbers are safe so far, as are the sunflowers.
This weekend has been gorgeous weather for the getting out and gardening and walking and (if you're in San Antonio) enjoying the NCAA Final Four tournament. SA is about 35 minutes from us and we are seeing high traffic on the roads and in our hotels. I guess we are accomodating the overflow.
Yesterday, Mark and I felt very industrious. Did errands, enjoyed the garden, filed our taxas (woo hoo!), relaxed from a crazy week, watched Oceans 13 and I started packing for a 3 day trip to the southeast for work. I hope you all have a great week. I will try and post during my trip.
How can one gal be so lucky? Well, who knows but I sure am glad I am that gal. Yesterday was a blur with work as well as the banquet so I didn't even have time to post. Sorry about that.I can't tell you what a great time we had listening to the stories Fergie and Mr. Marichal had for us. What a privilege to get to spend time one-on-one with each gentleman to get to hear their stories...and do they have a lot of fabulous stories, not just about baseball but also about life and the adventures they have had. Like the time Fergie was fishing in Alaska and came way too close to a bear, who was swimming towards their boat because he noticed the splashing of the fish on Fergie's line. Or how about when Mr. Marichal first learned how to pitch over-handed here in the states (he started out with a sidearm pitch). He told us he didn't even know if he could do it because he'd just never done that before and when he tried, the only way he could see doing the over-hand is to also kick his leg up *really* high. Mark just reminded me he said this is when his "high leg kicking" began. If only you could hear him tell it; it'd be much better. But I loved learning about him. You can visit the National Baseball Hall of Fame for more information about Juan Marichal and Fergie Jenkins. This year's banquet ranks up there as one of my top three favorites (this is the 9th one we've had). The other two favorites are the years Monte Irvin and Buck O'Neal joined us. However, now that I think about it, we've just had so many great guests, it's really hard to not put them on the list as well.
Well, we made it back to Seguin and hit the ground running at work nonstop. Until this evening. As I posted earlier, we are hosting two baseball Hall of Fame greats for the banquet tomorrow night -- Juan Marichal and Fergie Jenkins. By the way folks, tickets are still available if you want to meet these gentleman tomorrow evening. TIckets are $25 and are available at City Hall, KWED and the Seguin Daily News, and the Seguin Area Chamber of Commerce. Or you can email me if you need more information.This evening, Fergie and Juan Marichal visited with the kids and their families down at Starke Park. There was a great crowd and plenty of kids and some adults lined up for autographs. It was really nice to see them interacting with the kids. And of course some of the kids were so cute. Not all of them knew who the ballplayers were but they knew they should get an autograph. Very sweet. And both gentlemen are so great with the kids; I really enjoyed watching them.Earlier today, Fergie and Mr. Marichal also visited the Burgess Alternative School and had a great time they said. They appreciated the attention the kids there paid to them and they said teachers had prepared the students for the visit by having them research the players and by having them think of questions they wanted to ask of the players. It was a very positive and fun interactive learning experience.
Sorry for the very late post everyone. I got delayed in Atlanta coming back from Pennsylvania and didn't make home until past midnight. But better late than never so here's my water post for the theme day. This is a shot of our fountain on the square. I snapped it when I was getting interviewed for that article by our local paper about this blog. That's the reporter, Michael, snapping as I snap. Sometimes it's fun to photograph other photographers. Don't you think?
178 City Photo Blogs are participating in the April Theme Day so check them out!Adelaide, Australia by Gordon, Albuquerque (NM), USA by Helen, American Fork (UT), USA by Annie, Anderson (SC), USA by Lessie, Ararat, Australia by Digger, Arradon, France by Alice, Ashton under Lyne, UK by Pennine, Athens, Greece by Debbie, Auckland, New Zealand by Lachezar, Austin (TX), USA by LB, Bandung, Indonesia by Guntur Purwanto, Barton (VT), USA by Andree, Belgrade, Serbia & Montenegro by Bibi, Belgrade, Serbia & Montenegro by Paja, Bellefonte (PA), USA by Barb-n-PA, Bicheno, Australia by Greg, Bogor, Indonesia by Gagah, Boston (MA), USA by Fenix - Bostonscapes, Boston (MA), USA by Cluelessinboston, Boston (MA), USA by Sarah, Whit, & Leyre, Brighton, UK by Harvey, Brookville (OH), USA by Abraham, Budapest, Hungary by Isadora, Budapest, Hungary by Zannnie and Zsolt, Canterbury, UK by Rose, Cape Town, South Africa by Kerry-Anne, Chandler (AZ), USA by Melindaduff, Chateaubriant, France by Bergson, 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This past weekend, we managed to get outside for a bit though I think my sinuses nearly made me want to remove my head. Smokey just loves it when we are outside. He performed many feats of bravery and insanity to entertain us and entice us to play with him. Here he decided to climb into the rosebush I was trying to photograph. What a funny nut.Today I am in Lewisburg, PA. The closest photo blog I can find is for Bellefonte, PA. It's definitely fun to explore new parts of your own country. I have not been in this area before. During a jaunt out to find sushi for dinner, my coworkers and I stumbled across the downtown area of Lewisburg and we hope to do some exploring before leaving tomorrow afternoon. It looked lovely at night!
Smokey went with us yesterday to check out the garden. Things are going well. The tomato plants in the tub are bigger and we saw some of our seeds sprout within 6 days of being put in the ground. This is the sunflower seeds we put in. We also saw the okra come out as well. We had a few sprinkles the past several days but no significant amount of rain has fallen in Seguin. It's been overcast and in the upper 70s and low 80s.
I spotted this interesting new use for wine bottles. I never thought about using them in landscaping but I this looks pretty cool. Spotted this in the front yard of a house on Austin Street.
This is a photo of Fergie & Reverand Greason at the 2005 Banquet. They were fantastic and really enjoyed meeting the people of Seguin. They also liked what the City was doing to honor Joe Williams. The players who have joined us have not only been great athletes but also great people. Past speakers have included local news celebrities, Monte Irvin, Buck O'Neal, Reggie Rivers (Broncos) and many others. One of the nice things about having this kind of event in a small town like Seguin is that you have a chance to get up close to the players and really talk with them. If we had the same players in San Antonio (35 minutes away and 1.5 million in population compared to our approximate 26,000), more than likely fans would not be able to get too close.Another thing I love about helping Mark when he works on the Banquet is that we play host to these fascinating men and we get to know them as friends. We try to schedule press conferences, meet & greet opportunities particularly so they can talk with young athletes, dinners out and other activities which allow us to show them some good ol' Seguin hospitality. Mark and I are already working on an itinerary for Fergie and our keynote speaker Juan Marichal. So far, we're thinking of a Spurs game and also a tour of our steel mill, and of course an interview on the local radio station.You can read more about Smokey Joe on the National Baseball Hall of Fame website and also on Mark's blog. Mark has been researching Joe Williams and his family for the past nine years. His research has become his passion and has taken us from Chicago to Washington, DC, to New York City and back to the court house here in town. It's been a fascinating adventure. There's not many people still living who knew Joe Williams so Mark's trying to find and interview as many as possible. There are no immediate family members left that he has found but he has been in touch with a second cousin of Joe Williams. We'll see where that takes us.
In case you are in town or will be in town, think about checking out the banquet with us! It should be a lot of fun that evening and it's for a good cause. The money raised goes towards a scholarship for Seguin High School athletes; one for a male and one for a female athlete.I'll write more about this later. We're off to SA for a Spurs-Clippers game. Go Spurs go!!
