Duck #4

I like the feathers on top of his head, very cute. They have a nice way of tilting their head to check me out as I snap their photos. I guess they are wondering why I keep pointing that silver thing at them.

Update on the tomatoes -- they're doing super! I guessed they would grow about 5-6 inches while I was away but they actually look like they grew more than that. Also, there are tons of tomatoes everywhere. I was thinking I'd post updates on them each Sunday since so many of you ask about them. Still waiting on the first red one but it's fun to check on their progress each day. Still smell wonderful.

Ducks #3

If you don't like ducks, tune back in next week because I think I'm going to do a duck series this week. They're so cool and I couldn't decide which shots I loved best so I will share some this week.

This is the same pair I photographed in the first photo -- that's the oak tree they seem to like to hang out in at Second Baptist Church. Here are two observations and wonderings:

1. How in the world do the ducks not slip off the trees and the tip of the church roof? I notice their webbed feet do not form and cling to the surfaces. Interesting.
2. That cool hole in the tree that one of the ducks is standing in has also been home to an opossum, a snake (unconfirmed but that's the story) and who knows what else. I am curious to see how deep that thing goes down. But I'd need a ladder in order to get to it.

I want to share with you all how much I have enjoyed being a part of this photo blogging community. I learn so much photograpy, blogging and other cities. Thank you for all your support, visits and comments!

Ducky

I got some nice shots of the ducks so I decided to dedicate this week to them since they are so active around town it seems. I think they are very handsome birds. Anyone know what they are?

This was shot last Saturday, same batch as yesterday's post. The ducks were standing on the roof of Second Baptist Church on Guadalupe.

Ducks at Second Baptist

We were at church over the weekend and these pretty ducks kept flying by us. They come back by the church every year I am told. It's so funny because I have never seen them on land. They are either flying or they are perched on a building or tree. I'll find a close-up shot so you all can help me identify them.

These two hung out all morning Saturday. They stuck together even though there were several other ducks hanging out across the street behind the church. Walnut Creek runs behind there and it seemed the majority of the ducks were by the creek. I shot this standing on the ground, looking up at the church roof. I liked the sky a lot that day.

The Tractor

Got in late last night but still had enough left in the tank to watch the Spurs go up 3-0 in the series with the Suns. It makes for a nice welcome home. We also had a good storm with lightening and thunder. I love a good storm. The yard looks amazing and I enjoyed checking on things today. The garden is coming along fine; the tomatoes grew about 5-6 inches in my absence, it seems. They look wonderful.

The lawn also looks great; Mark had gotten the mower out. When it's dry, we like to use this sprinkler. You put it on a long, long hose and it does a great job pulling itself along the hose and it covers a pretty big area without you having to go out and move it here and there. Who needs an expensive sprinkler system. This classic, heavy-duty (and plain ol' heavy in general) tractor costs about $50 and will last for a very, very long time.

Redbud, Mark & the Bees

I love technology. I can sit in SC but online chat with Mark who is back in Seguin. It makes traveling not as bad as when you couldn't keep in constant contact. :) He was on his way out to the yard to check on the bees this morning. Last week he got a second package of bees and new queens. He wants to make sure the new queens are doing well. I'll do a post of the beautiful golden bees we got recently. They're still getting settled in.

We're almost done here and will catch a flight home this evening. Woo hoo!

Tomatoes - Week 3

Here are the plants at about 3 weeks. We have been very pleased with their progress. :)

A note from SC: We have had a blast but we're tired and missing home for sure. Looking forward to our trip home tomorrow!

Fiesty Bluejays

The bluejays have been flying all over the neighborhood lately. I know they are not so friendly and often swoop down on poor little Smokey, but they sure are pretty to look at.

Cranking up the grill

Since Mark is home more now, we are back to doing some things we really enjoy...like grilling! He makes great ribs and the barbeque chicken is pretty yummy.

We put in the Crepe Myrtle you see in the picture a few years ago and we've been amazed how fast it has grown! I love the arching branches of this particular white myrtle (don't know the official name) and the way it partly shields the grill. I wanted to provide a bit of shade since the summer sun is so strong here. And yes, it has been warm enough for lots of grilling.

Mega-Moth

Bees are not the only flying creatures in our backyard. Last week I ran across this little guy on our step up to the deck. He was very big in my book of moths. I didn't take a measurement and I wish I had put my hand up there so you can see the scale but trust me, he was B-I-G. Stopped me in my tracks. And reminds me of that Richard Gere movie. The name escapes me and I'm tired so I won't Google it right now.

Note from SC:
We actually had no delay in Atlanta this time, unlike the last 4 times I went through there a few weeks ago. I am really enjoying traveling with 3 other ladies from work. I do fine going solo but when you are sharing laughs with friends, it's even nicer. The weather is great and after a great dinner (I love eating in Columbia, SC) and some prepping for training tomorrow, we got in a workout and now it's time to relax. I'm off to my David Baldacci book. Good night everyone.

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!

Pink Primrose

Primroses in the backyard. The lack of rain meant a not so great wildflower spring. :(

Ladybug

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!

Where's that lotto ticket?

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).

Moon over Seguin

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!

Perched and watchful

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?

More signs of spring

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.

Celebrate with $2 bills

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.

Perfect day to be outside

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!

Mockingbird Nest

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.

Pollen Trap

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.

Tomato Update

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.

Me & My Dandies

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.

Hall of Famers in Seguin

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.

April Theme Day: Water

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!
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Smokey & a Rosebush

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!

Progress in the Garden

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.

Landscape with wine bottles

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.

Fergie Jenkins & Bill Greason

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.

Smokey Joe Williams Scholarship Banquet

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!!

Tub o' Tomatoes

After all that prepping, we got three tomato plants into the tub. This tub is pretty cool and I'm sure it's had quite a history. We live in an old house (circa 1860) and we have spent about 8 years really working on renovations and it's finally looking pretty great and we love being home to enjoy it.

This tub used to be in the bathroom and we thought about refinishing it with a kit from Home Depot when we saw the cost of a new cast iron, clawfoot tub a few years ago. However, prices came down and we decided to get a new tub. When we turned over the old tub, we saw information about the company who made it and the year. You can see a shot of it here.

Updated 3/26/08: Abe made a good comment about how we're going to water this. We put bricks and then a layer of gravel on the bottom for drainage and the drain is open. We'll see how it works out. We've water lightly everyday now. Once the full Texas heat arrives for summer, it means a lot more water everyday.

Digging in the dirt

Do you know that song? It's by Peter Gabriel and I like it a lot. It's an oldie. Not a golden oldie, but considered an oldie these days.

We got to work on the garden this weekend and really enjoyed being out in the yard together again. Here I am working on mixing up peat moss, manure and rich soil for our tomato plants. We also put in green beans, yellow squash, cucumbers, okra and sunflowers. And I'm going to try to grow some rosemary too. I'll take pictures of the plants once there's something to look at. Right now, there's just a lot of dirt. :)

I'll post more pics of our gardening this week. Hope everyone has a great Tuesday! Thanks for all your nice and sometimes hilarious comments. As usual, I always enjoy reading what you think.

Happy Easter!

The garden post will have to wait because this little man was so sharp with his suit for Easter. He is a sweetie and I adore him. And the look on his face and exclamation were so sweet. We had an egg hunt for the kids after the youth's Easter program. Lots of fun. Hope you all had a wonderful Easter.

Kicking off the Easter weekend...

Yesterday morning, we both had the day off for Good Friday so we had a full day planned. At 7:00 a.m., we went to Second Baptist Church for the annual Easter Prayer Breaksfast. There was a great turnout and we had singing, a wonderful guest speaker, a great breakfast and a lot of fun. I helped out in the kitchen with a fun group of ladies. Here's one of them preparing one of my favorites for b-fast...grits! I had some later with sausage. Yum!

After that, we took a coworker into San Antonio for lunch at our favorite Vietnamese restaurant and so that we could get to know him. He was visiting from Australia on a work exchange program. It was really fun to learn more about him and Australia. After lunch, we headed up north of Austin to see family in Burnet. We visited for a while and still got back in time to catch the last quarter of a Spurs game. Full day, full of fun. Hope you are all enjoying the weekend as well. Today was work in the garden day so I'll post something about it tomorrow!

Austin Street House for Sale

Do you like it? It's on the market. I don't know the price but I'm sure it's up there, perhaps a few hundred thousand, based on prices for other houses around town. If I find out, I'll update this.

Mark and I think the house is very pretty. One person I know told me she heard it was haunted. Makes it interesting, doesn't it? ;)

Rio Nogales Power Plant

Here's a wide shot of the plant to show you where yesterday's photo came from in Seguin. Power from this plant actually is sold to other cities and none of it's power is used in Seguin. They sell to larger customers; our population is about 25,000 and it can power over 200,000 homes.

But even though they don't power the city, they are active in the community and are involved in many different economic, educational and social efforts. I read you can tour the plant as well so I should check into that. I bet it would be very interesting.

Thank you everyone

I want to thank everyone for sending well wishes and suggestions for allergy relief. We got some rain and that always helps to wash down everything floating around in the air so I am feeling back to normal so far this week. I always appreciate all your visits and comments.

Today it started off muggy and warm and when I left work, it was very breezy and much cooler. We got dinner in and a walk right before rain came again and it's a good thing we got inside. The dust from Mexico is up in our area and the rain coming down is creating a "mud rain" so everything is filthy.

And while I'm on the subject of things in the air, I thought of this picture. It's a sort of quiz for you. Any ideas what this might be? I'll post a wide shot late tomorrow if you're interested. And no, this is not at my plant. Good night.

Another puppy school pal

I'm back to checking the pollen count everyday. Saturday was off to such a great start and then after I posted to the blog, I enjoyed the outdoors but but it ended with a bee sting on the head (we weren't even checking on the hive, it was just a poor bee tangled in my hair due the wind) and a migraine from sinus pressure. And that wiped me out Saturday evening and most of Sunday. It's hard to deal with allergies late in life, especially when you've never had to worry about it before.

So, all that to say this...I have not been out and about a whole lot so I am posting another picture from Thunder Paws. This mastiff was so sweet, just like Gracie. She just let Gracie run around and jump on her and act all wild like a puppy will and she just sauntered here and there. Very cute. I can't remember her name but she was cool. And her paw filled my hand. That's one big dog. :)

Floyd & Gracie

Last Saturday, I went to meet some friends at Thunder Paws, which is a dog training business on the town square. Gracie is their dog and I posted about her a couple of months ago when she was tiny. Now she's growing and learning how to do things to keep her safe and in control. There were other dogs there as well and one of them was Floyd (on the left). Here he was trying to help the trainers wear out Gracie a bit. She's an energetic pup.

It's a gorgeous Saturday here in Seguin. Sunny and on the warm side, will probably hit 90F today I imagine. It feels as if it has already. Mark and I are working out in the yard, taking care of neglected flower beds and also preparing for our garden! I'll take some pics of it when we are done prepping.

Cool shadows

Having a blog also means that your family and friends start looking around and seeing new things and saying, "Oh, take a picture of THAT, it'd be a good post!" I love it. So, my mother-in-law pointed out this cool shadow to me when we were together last weekend during their visit. I really liked the crisp shadow that the grass cast upon the sidewalk. It sort of reminds me of the media player screen when I play music. Or the medical equipment monitoring patients. Or a graph of how stock is doing (sort of).

Blue A-Frame House

There's just something about these a-frames that is so intriguing. I have lived here many years now and have traveled back and forth on Austin Street countless times and somehow I only saw this house for the first time this past week. And I may never have noticed it or maybe I would have eventually -- how could I miss that pretty blue??

At any rate, I credit my seeing it to the fact that since I started doing this city photo blog project, I try harder to look around Seguin and to try and see it with new eyes.

This makes the third a-frame in town I have spotted. Here are number 1 and number 2 from previous posts.

Chicken Fajita Salad at El Ranchito

El Ranchito is a local favorite with many in town (and out of towners as well). It's located on Highway 123 and is a great place to get delicious chips and dip as well as other meals. This is my usual when I go. El Ranch does it best of all the Mex. food places we have been.

Collecting Pollen

I couldn't believe how busy they were today when I got home from lunch. I just had to get outside and see what they were doing! I was able to shoot for a long time and even caught some videos. They didn't mind me being there so close. See all the bright yellow? That's pollen! I wonder where they went to find all of that.

Backdoor Bees

The weekend was so lovely, we had a chance to check on the bees as I mentioned. Here they are buzzing in and out of the hive --- using a back entrance! On the opposite side of this, they have a very wide entrance at the base of the hive. Mark says they probably chose this entrance for a number of reasons. There aren't as many bees during winter so the small entrance can accommodate them for now (the bees kill other unproductive bees so they don't eat up all the honey supply and then contribute little or nothing in return).

They are probably congregrated on that side of the hive since the sun is warming it up and so they might come and go this route for convenience. He says once the hive starts growing again as the weather warms, they will likely return to using the big entrance.

More spring today

I have no idea what this plant is but I really like the color and the shape of it very much. We've had some lovely weather lately and the mountain cedar pollen has finally subsided and so we are able to get out and enjoy it now. Today it's cloudy and windy and on the cool side but still nice. More and more blooms are coming out and that means more activity from our bees. I'll post a picture of them tomorrow. Mark and I are enjoying watching them as they start venturing out more and more for food. We watched them for a while yesterday and Mark noted they are carrying a good amount of pollen back to the hive. Good news for honey production!

Ordination Council

Tonight was a special night for our family. Mark (in the gray suit) was ordained a deacon of Second Baptist and we were able to share the occasion with some of our family and friends. The church has been around for 142 years, as the banner on the right notes, and is rich with history. We love it there and have learned much and made great friends. Please stop by when you can, we all love it when visitors join us and you'll certainly be warmly welcomed. The singing is fabulous and our pastor is great!

Mountain Laurel & Ladybugs

Though these past few days have been on the cold side, we have actually had some very beautiful and warm days. There are lots of blooms coming out like the Redbud I posted earlier. This is from a small Mountain Laurel in our front yard. The flowers are very fragrant and the ladybugs just love it. I saw so many of the little bugs on the plant when I looked closely.

How many ladybugs do you see? I love the little baby one. :)

Bath Time

Yesterday was a trying day at work and on the way home, I had a car accident. It ranks somewhere between minor and major. No one was seriously hurt thankfully but it was a scary experience to sit there and know that you can't do anything but brace for impact. Luckily my airbags did not deploy. The jolt just left me achy and kind of stiff though.

On the bright side, this event forced me to relax by making time to soak in a hot bath to help ease the tension. The water color against the white was so pretty I had to take a shot. Then Mark made me hot tea and tucked me in on the sofa in front of the TV until time to sleep. It is really nice to have someone pamper you when you aren't feeling so hot. :)

Also on the bright side, the accident happened at the intersection of Kingsbury and Hildago, which happens to be where Shanafelt Auto Shop is located. So...we didn't have to drive the car but a couple of hundred yards in order to have it at the repair shop. They are also very nice folks and have done great work for us in the past. I highly recommend them.

Riverside Cemetery Research

Into his second week of retirement, Mark is already working on some research but this project actually belongs to someone in Chicago! When Mark was at the Seguin Library, he helped a lady with some family research since she was all the way up there. She recently wrote to let him know that her research project has the attention of History Detective, which is a PBS show, and that they might contact him for the story. I thought that was really neat. By the way, this lady is wondering if her great, great grandfather is Robert E. Lee!

In doing his own research for"Smokey" Joe Williams, Mark has discovered a variety of sources on African-Americans in our local history room at the Seguin-Guadalupe County Public Library, in the courthouse records of the County Clerk's office and in church records at Second Baptist Church. We've also travel across some parts of Texas and into the archives in Washington, DC, as well as to City Hall records in New York City. As you know, the past was not always well documented for this group and so the past nine years has been a lot of digging around but I think he's gotten far through persistence, creative researching and luck. For example, Mark was trying to find a certain headstone in the Riverside Cemetery but it just wasn't where it was supposed to be according to the records. So Mark returned to the Cemetery again but this time he was checking on the grave of an early pastor of Second Baptist, William Ball, and wouldn't you know it, there was the other grave he looked for the other day! There it was right next to William Ball's grave. Why it was there and not where it was documented to be we don't know at this time.

Mark took this picture along with others during his visit today to Riverside Cemetery. It's a very pretty little cemetery and is located on South River Street. It is the resting place of many of our early settlers and Confederate heroes. And most importantly to US, it is the home of at least two Union soldiers -- William Ball and Calvin Williams (grandfather of "Smokey" Joe). The City of Seguin is listed as the caretaker of Riverside.