Artful Food

It's been a bit hectic with work and all so I haven't had time to find intriguing shots for you guys. I did, however, think that you deserved something new to check out so here's a work of art that I never tire of really. I don't like cheesecake all that much but I can appreciate the beautiness of artfully presented foods. Just look at this gorgeous dessert! The day of this specific meal, I actually had the flan and loved it. ALMOST as good as my mom's. The picture was not as dramatic as this so I chose this one for looks. ;-) Goodnight everyone. Got an early morning tomorrow -- 7am call with our Croatia location! Better go set the coffeemaker.

Flowers, Candles, a Bride and a Groom

Last week we were happy to be a part of my stepdaughter's happy evening as she married her high school sweetheart. And now they are awaiting news of where her husband will next be stationed with the Coast Guard. They are very happy and we wish them all the best in life.

Well, here we are at the start of another week and it's nearly October! I'm not closer to getting some relief at work so that's a tiny bit of a setback in terms of a return to my happy-happy state. Oh well. I remain hopeful that in this economy, surely we can find some great workers out there! Please send good vibes my way. ;-)

Fighting or strategizing?

We bottled up some of the honey yesterday and had a great time. It's a lot of fun to work with and learn from Mark about how to do these things. And now we have some cool ideas for Christmas gifts that may involve some intense crafting! :-) Watch out You're So Crafty!

A Day with the Bees

Is it me or does anyone else see the great states here in the honeycomb? :-) Today was extraction day finally since rain, travel and illness prevented us both from doing it sooner. It was my first time to extract so I wasn't sure what to do or expect but I had a blast. Tiring, but I think it was because we were both not at 100% as it was. Luckily for me no stings! No so lucky for Mark since one of the backyard hives was pretty mean. He got multiple stings but handled it well, as always. One sting on me and I puff up. Needless to say, we suited up appropriately today and were sure glad we did. Above is honeycomb Mark pulled out from one of the feeders. I loved the colors of it all so I took a ton of shots I really enjoy looking at now. Below is Mark pulling out some frames for extracting.

Here's a shot of Mark uncapping a small frame. I learned that means breaking the wax seal on top of the frame so that the honey can flow freely. It was really neat. And occasionally, we'd chew on a bit of the wax and honey...just like gum. Once the frame is uncapped, you place it in the extractor, which you can see in the bottom picture. You put four frames in at a time and then there's a handle for spinning the frames round and round, flinging the honey to the side of the drum and then it drips down to the bottom.

And then...the wonderful honey starts to flow. Oh my gosh, it was wonderfully sweet! Even though it was a really tough year for the bees, there was a good amount for them to share with us. Sadly, though, Mark did mention he has lost several hives. Don't know if it's the heat, drought, colony collapse or what. Or maybe all of that. At any rate, thank you little bees for our delicious harvest!

Raindrops!

While I was up in Irving this week, we started getting rain...a LOT of rain, actually. I hated missing the action. Apparently 1620 right out front of our mill was under quite a bit of water! It's fantasticly green this week and I love it. Today I am enjoying the cloudy day, with occasional rumbles of thunder, brief downpours, light sprinkles...I snuck out between showers to get some shots in. From where I sit in our office, we have a nice view of our plumeria and I really like the way the raindrops fall and collect on the giant leaves of our plant. Very refreshing.

Last night I didn't get into SA Airport until after 9pm due to the wild weather. Lightning up in the Irving area prevented us from taking off so we sat on the plane for over an hour, I believe. It was sure nice to get home. This is a fun-filled weekend for sure. Date night with friends, including bowling -- we love bowling even if we haven't done it often. Tomorrow is our church in the park (Starcke Park if you want to join us, down at the bowl near the falls) AND a bridal shower. And then a special dinner -- king ranch casserole. I'm gonna be busy! :-)

Dare I say it?

Rain actually arrived today AND it made it to our house - it's wonderful! AND on top of that, it's suppose to rain the rest of this week. AND I got some really cool cloud shots from our deck out back. I'm not complaining about the rain at all; I must, however, share with you the irony of its timing. After months of drought and heat and praying for rain, it looks like the week Mark decides to extract honey, we have 50% to 70% chance of rain. Everyday. Makes it hard to get to those hives in the country, right honey? :-)

Oh, beautiful moon...

...how I love gazing upon you. The beautiful moon called to me last night when I went out to turn off the water on the lawn (poor lawn...it's still dry, dry, dry). I grabbed my tripod and hung out on the back deck for a while to try all sorts of manual settings to try and do justice for the moon. It was fun since Smokey was out there keeping me company and Mark checked on me once in a while. What a fun way to end a wonderful weekend.

Having an extra day to catch up on things AND also to relax made such a great difference. I am so relaxed, I don't even dread going back to work! I am full of positive energy and, dare I say it, excitement! Yes, excitement. I hope to have some very nice news to share soon. Something that should mean a return of happy, happy and more crafting, photographing, blogging, socializing...

Sky Watch

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

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

Bees Get Thirsty, Too.

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

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

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

Workshop and Beehouse

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



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



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

The Wooly Moth

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



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

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

Workshop Project

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

Home Depot & Another Project at Home

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



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



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

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

Sky Watch Friday

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

Check out other skies this week at Sky Watch Friday.

The Ticket

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

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

Sunday Evening Thoughts

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

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

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

Saturday Fun

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

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

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

Baby mocks are back!

They're back! The mockingbirds are back this year and nesting in the crepe myrtle in the front yard. I love it when I hear them making noise for food. Let me back up a bit. First, I really enjoy the nest building activity. It's so amazing to me that little bits and pieces of wood are weaved together somehow into a nest that is sturdy enough to hold three babes and the mom. The nest is up high so I couldn't see how the eggs were doing. I was happy when I finally heard the babies making sounds.



Yesterday I got all excited and a little worried. Why? Because I saw one of the babies in the rosemary bush underneath their nest. So I was all happy because I knew it was a chance to see a baby. BUT I did not want Smokey finding it down there. Yikes. I saw evidence of another grown mockingbird done in out back so I worried for the little birdy in the bush. I don't know if it survived or not but I didn't see a little body around the yard so that's a good sign. And below is a picture of the momma bird watching me as I hovered near her little one. She didn't swoop down on me or anything. Nice.

Bees & Spiders

Here is a shot of us out at the country beeyard. My sister-in-law and nephew are checking out one of the two big spiders "guarding" our bees. It's a little difficult to see but you can spot the spider if you look at the yellow part of Renee's veil. it almost looks like the spider is on her veil since you all cannot see the spider web.

Spider, Man!

Last weekend we took some family members out to see the bees in the country (near the New Berlin exit). We had a blast and the kids such a great job - they were so brave and really were not nervous after a little bit. Everyone got to sample a bit of honey and our nephew announced, "That's so sweet!" Very nice and cute.

Mark spotted two amazing spiders, each on one end of the beeyard. They are HUGE!!! I'm not brave about all animals but spiders don't bother me too much so I was okay getting close to them to get some shots. They look very similar and were pretty mesmerizing. Didn't see any bee bodies in the webs so that's a good thing. :)