Meeting up at the Hair Haus

Hair Haus Interior, originally uploaded by tgretchen.

Went and got a hair cut today though I snapped this shot several weeks ago when my friend Silvia was there. That's her with Audra, the owner of the shop.

Spring blooms

Though yesterday and today have been on the breezy side during the day and in the low 30s overnight (I think we actually might have hit 29F), it's actually been warming than average lately so that means lots of blooms around the area. Here's a shot of our redbud in the front yard. Personally, I am very pleased to see flowering plants and trees because that means good eating for the bees!

I posted this today because I saw a similar picture on Ioannina (Greece) Daily Photo, really liked it and was struck by the similarity of the photos.

Another a-frame in town

Another a-frame in town, originally uploaded by tgretchen.

Here's another a-frame I found in town. This one is located very near the coliseum and I liked the way it looked. I had posted my first a-frame back in 2006.

St. James Church

St. James Church, originally uploaded by tgretchen.

This is a church I love to drive by but the great thing is, you can actually see the steeple from many different angles around the area! It's lovely to see the beautiful copper among the treetops.

Update: The school was founded in 1872 and holds the distinction of having the “oldest building in the State of Texas continuously operated as a school.”

Mosheim Mansion

This was taken when I exited the Hair Haus through the back door. The Mosheim Mansion most recently served as the home to a business (but the owners did live there too, that's nice!) called Carter Memorial Co. but they have moved to another Seguin location now. According to a January 25 article in our paper, next up for the house is bed and breakfast -- our only one in town if it opens as expected in June of this year. The property is listed in the National Registry of Historical Places and as it transforms into our B&B, I will keep you posted. I hope they have an open house so I can get a peek inside. Now, if we can just get those power lines buried, as the are close to the square. That'd make for much nicer pictures!

Cool deck

This is one of the neatest houses in town I think. I love that tree deck out back! Not to mention all the green around the house as well as the white picket fence. Nice.

It appears I jumped the gun when I posted the graffiti shot. :) I totally forgot to check theme for March and guess what? The theme will be graffiti/wall mural. Luckily Mark and I know of two other options for this theme so be sure to check back on March 1 and not only will I have my own shot, you'll be able to visit over 100 other photo bloggers participating in the same theme event.

Have a great >week<>

Graffiti wall

I have been in Seguin about ten years now and have always been amazed by the fact that there is a noticeable absence of graffiti around town. That was nice. Then last week, I was driving home on Court Street and I spotted this wall and was really drawn to the bright colors of the wall. I liked it and kept checking for a good day to go back to snap a shot. My favorite feature is the city name is inlcuded. :)

Rosie's Pizza

This little pizza place opened a couple of years ago and seems to be doing well. I have always liked their pizza and you can't complain about the price. You can get a pepperoni pizza for just $6. Hard to believe and it's good, too! My nieces and nephew loved this place when they were visiting and we did pizza.

I also like the colors of their building and have waiting for a great time to take a shot. I was sitting at the stop light on my way back to work after lunch today when I saw this view and really like it that the water tower is in the background. Not to mention we had fantastic weather today. Lower 70F and crisp air. Cedar pollin is finally starting to let up a little. Hopefully it will be totally gone soon.

Breakfast Taco

If you have never had a breakfast taco, you are missing out. I can say this b/c before I moved here to Texas, I had never even HEARD of such a thing despite the fact that North Carolina has a real Hispanic presence!

In Seguin, the best place to have a b-taco is Las Palmas Cafe on Court Street. They are so delicious. We went there for breakfast this morning before work. It was a great treat.

Texas Pride

I thought this building is pretty cool looking. I had read about it in the paper some time ago and finally found it one day a couple of weeks ago. I recall the article mentioned that the owners of the building planned to hold a meeting with folks in the area so that they can get feedback from residents about what type of business they'd like to in their neighborhood. I think that is right neighborly of them. I mean, how many organizations, agencies or businesses do you know, that would even care what their neighbors think or bother to ask? I'll keep you posted on what business ends up in here.

Update 2/21/08: This is at the corner of 8th and W. New Braunfels (Hwy 78).

Railcar options

There is a lot of construction going on around town and I had to go down a street that I don't usually go down and was pleasantly surprised to spot this old railcar! The first thing that came to mind was how cool it would be if this was restored into a diner or something. I'm not one to have a vision of things normally so I thought it was something that I could see beyond the graffiti and poor condition.

Thank you all for your recent comments to the V-Day post. I really appreciate all the visits and your taking the time to leave a comment. I love reading them!

Sorry for the lack of posting again but the allergies have really just been beating me up almost -- every other day there seems to be a migraine on tap. Yuck. Better news is that Mark's last day at work was last Friday so we have been a little busy enjoying the festivities! We took a trip to Fredericksburg (TX) -- our first leisurely out-of-town trip in over a year and it was lovely to relax and enjoy driving around, in no particular hurry and not worrying about what work awaited our return or the phone ringing (which it DID! but luckily not an emergency). :)

Happy V-Day everyone!

I hope you all have a wonderful day. Been busy, busy with work and just trying to get more done at home so I can enjoy more crafting time like last night, when I furiously quilled little hearts for some friends today. Have you heard of quilling? The next time you are in a craft store, just check out the quilling section. I was amazed by the variety of papers and tools one can purchase for this cool craft. Amazing. I treated myself last year to one tube of paper and a small quilling pen (the blue tool you see) but really, you can use a paper cutter to cut regular paper and then use a pencil or skewer stick for the same effect. That's how we did it growing up! :)

Hello there

I'm back. Sorry for the lack of posts. My computer kicked off the new year by acting funny and moving like molasses. It was so frustrating. It just goes to show how much I have come to depend on the computer for things. Sigh. At any rate, I am back.

I have seen this big guy for a while now and I finally had a chance to pull over and snap a shot of him. He's in a small field that I pass everyday to and from work. I like his wavy fur.

Chúc mừng năm mới!

Happy new year everyone! Today's been a long, busy but very fun and happy day for the beginning of the Year of the Rat. My friends at work helped make the day fly by and we worked but managed to have plenty of fun. I took several Asian candies and cookies in and shared it with folks. Also shared some traditions b/c I think many of them didn't know much about Tet.

This picture of a lion dance is technically not shot in Seguin but since Mark and I are Seguinites, I hope you don't mind it too much. There just wasn't a lion dance in Seguin as far as I know. I have not been to a Tet celebration in years and we had a great time this evening as guests at the San Antonio Taiwanese Chamber of Commerce dinner and celebration! The evening kicked off with this dance of not one but three lions, that's rare. The costumes were great and the dancers managed well in a small space. The food was fabulous and companionship very enjoyable. There was singing of tradition Taiwanese songs, much laughter and wonderful door prizes. Mark and I won a very neat framed setting of several jade carvings.

This has been one of the nicest Tet I have had and I am glad to share some of my day here with you. Hope you all also had wonderful days as well. Good night.

Lucky flowers for the New Year

Well here it is, the eve of Tet. I am finishing up the last of cleaning chores after a long day of learning how to record training sessions at work (learned a LOT of new things today about training delivery methods, it's awesome) and then a long meeting at church.

This flower is called Bong Mai in Vietnamese. I don't know the English translation for it but it a symbol of good luck and it's always been difficult to find. I found this plant on our recent trip to Houston and it was full of beautiful blooms. It only has a few left now but at least it survived and seems to be thriving. After the new year, I'll have to ask my mom or sister where it should go next. Potted on a porch or in the ground, shade or sun? My sister is named after this bloom. You may have seen the name Mai here and there; it's not an uncommon Viet. name.

In preparation for tomorrow, here is some advice for those born in the Year of the Rat (from Suzanne White's The New Chinese Astrology):

Enjoy! This is your own personal year and you are going to have a whale of a time being happy, healthy and preposterous as ever...you'll be on top of the world...in this year, you should plan the next dozen years carefully.

To find your Chinese zodiac sign, visit this site or read about it on Wikipedia.

Nopalitos at HEB

Yesterday I went to our local grocery store (HEB) and saw these two ladies preparing these for sale. Nopal means cactus in Spanish and nopales is term for cactus stem. Nopalitos are the pads after they are prepared for cooking. These are from the prickly pear cactus.

Before I moved here, I didn't know these pretty cactus plants could also be eaten in tacos! I have tried a chicken taco before with nopalitos. It looks a little bit like sliced bell peppers but the taste is not the same. I'll have to try it again to refresh my memory since it's been a while.

Writing cards for the New Year

This evening I am feeling well again and realize I have lots to do to prepare the house for Tet this Thursday. At my previous job, I had plenty of holiday leave so I always knew that I could take a couple of days off to clean, shop, cook and so on. Starting my new job means no leave and preparations were to be made this past weekend but as you read, I spent most of it totally out of it with a throbbing head. I won't describe the rest of what the terrible cedar has done to so many of us around here.

I am hoping these cards will make it to their destinations on time! Mark and I wrote our well wishes to everyone and tomorrow they go in the mailbox. It was very hard to find Tet cards this year. Normally we've had good luck finding them in Hallmark, HEB and even Walgreen's stores. Not so this year in Seguin. Luckily my wonderful sister stopped by Saturday and shared her cards with me plus she also gave me some TLC. Thanks to Mark and Lan for taking such good care of me.

Cat in a House

I have been down and out with the allergies I'm afraid. Yesterday was the worst of it and I feel better today. At least good enough to post but I had to dig through some pictures to find one since I have't been out still.

One day on one of our walks, we passed by the Baxter-Fennell-Tips House. This is one of the small houses that is found on the perimeter of the main house. There were lots of cats in the area but I like little guy most. He just sat quietly watching us from his house.

Hope everyone has a good week. Tet is Thursday!

Volleyball night

A couple of nights ago, I went to the Seguin Activity Center where some friends were playing volleyball. It was hard to get a great shot b/c the lighting is challenging in the evening there. The flash can't do the job b/c of the distance but no flash was pushing it. I tried several manual settings but I still have a lot to learn. However, that said, I did find this one shot that I like. It looks like my friend Sonia could be playing basketball and not volleyball. I caught her at the right moment. Looks as if she just made a basket!

I am still fighting whatever it is I have -- can't tell if severe allergies or some bug going around that I have. All I know is I'm tired and the coughing is getting worse. :( So I have not been out and about too much for photo opportunities. Sorry. I'm now off to take the Theraflu and head to bed.