Peekaboo Animals & Unidentified Flower

Last week Mark and I went for a ride just outside of town so he could show me some flowers the bees are working right now. While we were looking in a pasture for the flowers, I spotted these little wild piggies. There were a lot of them! And they looked different from the domestic pigs - well, at least to me. Kind of cute but they ran off when they heard us coming. As did some of deer we saw - good points of them, too.



The baby cow didn't seem to mind me and he did well when we called for him to look at the camera. :-) And below is the flower we have been trying to identify. I zoomed in as far as I could since they seem to be located in pastures to which we do not have access. boooo! If you have any idea what it could be, please let us know. It's always nice to know what our bees might be feeding on since they are still making honey.

Hope you all have a GREAT weekend! Another hot one around here - upper 90s into next week and still no rain. Let's pray for some relief SOON.

Busy August

If you have wondering what I've been up to lately and why there's a lack of posting, then here's why - honey harvesting time! :-) It has been a busy, busy but truly awesome year for us. We have been so blessed and here's why:

1. The bees are doing GREAT this year thanks to an awesome spring filled with plenty of rain which helped with all the blooming wildflowers. That was harvest #1.
2. The mesquite bloomed way after the wildflowers faded for some reason. That was harvest #2.
3. Last year we harvested about 200 pounds of honey. This year, we got about 3000 pounds! Yes, amazing but true.
4. Mark's successfully split our strong hives and now we've grown from 25 hives to 40 and they are still looking strong.
5. We are having a TON OF FUN together with this bee and honey business. We are very lucky and work great together.

We've enjoyed steady sales since we first announced the availability of our honey and mostly we have been selling to friends, family and folks who knew about us last year. A lot of word of mouth. After our venture into farmers markets and trade days (Marion a couple of weeks ago), we are ready to take on additional shows in the next two months as everyone gears up for holiday shopping. Wish us luck! And I'll post ahead of time where we'll be in case you want to come out and see us. As always, I love to meet new friends. And I'd love to introduce you to our bees - we got a cool observation hive this past weekend!

Happy Friday Skywatch!

Happy Friday, everyone! I hope you have had a great week and will have an even better weekend coming up. Here's a shot of the sky right in front of our house recently - isn't it lovely? Lately it has been hot, hot, hot here with temperatures in the upper 90s and sometimes a heat index of over 100. Blazing sun with no clouds to buffer the intensity. Still, it hasn't been as hot as last year! :-)

Check out the other Sky Watchers as well for some great shots!

Sky Watch Over The Mill

Mark called me one day and told me to check out the sky because it looked really neat. So here's what I saw outside and I'm so glad I did! Hope you guys have a great Friday!

An Apple A Day

So I'm driving home yesterday and I see this truck and its haul going in the opposite direction - well, it was simply to intriguing not to turn and follow. I couldn't make out what they were at first (besides being apples, obviously). Luckily for me, the driver made a pit stop at a gas station and I got an easy shot.

These are from a ride that you might see at a carnival or fair. They are so beautifully bright and eye-catching, aren't they?

Super Cool Weathervane

I am so tired but I wanted to share this shot with you before I call it an early night. The heat really drains me I guess. I love weathervanes and this one rocks because I am a Taurus and so, how can I NOT love this? :-)

I hope you all have a really wonderful weekend ahead! We have an awesome birthday party for a special nephew tomorrow. Maybe you'll get to see a picture.

Stormy Tuesday

This evening certainly got exciting as we were finishing up dinner - the winds picked up quite suddenly and then the skies opened up and dumped a ton of wonderful rain on us! Yay - no lawn watering for another long spell. :-)

We went out and about after our workout and caught some beautiful skies. We love to sky watch, especially when you have awesome colors and cloud formations such as these.

Thank you, love!

Today was a difficult day and I want to say thank you to my wonderful love for being there for me; for hugging me and holding me; for reassuring me; for making me laugh; for watching How the West Was Won with me; for making dinner with me; but mainly for just knowing when I need his strength.

These wonderful heart tokens were a gift to Mark when I had to do some traveling a few weeks ago. If you haven't been to the Gift & Gourmet shop on Austin Street, then you need to head over there! They are also online and on Facebook if you're interested. It's one of my favorite locally owned gift shops in town.

Summer Bloom

It's been blazing hot lately but nothing like last year, that's for sure. In our garden, we still have several sunflowers left to enjoy though they are fading. I'm still amazed at many different blooms we have seen this year and it's still kicking. On our drive to Lost Pines (Bastrop) this weekend, we saw many fields of sunflowers (the smaller variety) and other very small yellow flowers (not sure what they are). It was lovely!

I hope you all have a really WONDERFUL week ahead!

Happy anniversary, honey!

Nine years ago today, Mark made me the happiest person in the whole universe. After a long courtship, we married and life just gets better and better every single day. I don't know what either of us did to deserve this much happiness. All I know is this - we are truly blessed. Okay, now I need to go get a tissue.

Gorgeous Blooms in the Summer Heat

I have great news to share with you! Mark's book got a great review in Southwestern Historical Quarterly and I am SO PROUD of him! I read it and my chest felt like it was going to simply burst, I was so happy for him. Congratulations, honey!

What does that have to do with these pictures? :-D well...all weekend he tried a source where we could access the quarterly (typically an institutional subscription rather than an individual subscription) and read the review. Unfortunately, our public library didn't renew their subscription so we trekked over to Texas Lutheran University but they were CLOSED since it was a summer weekend! Rats! BUT...the trip was not wasted. I spotted these lovelies right outside the library. They are, by far, he largest Hibiscus blooms I have seen and I loved the color! Gorgeous splash of vibrant life in the sweltering summer heat. I loved it. Hope you all have a GREAT week!

Dad in Action

Yesterday, in honor of World Cup, I had intended to post a picture of my dad and his soccer team from when he played back in Viet Nam. Unfortunately, I could not find that picture (boooo!) BUT I did find this one. And I wanted to share it since my mind was on Viet Nam after reading the story in our paper about our local historian, who also served during the Viet Nam War. That's my dad in the center. He worked with US forces during his time and through his friendships, we were able to find a sponsor and move to the US in '75. We were very lucky to make it here all in one piece and altogether.

This picture makes me think of the story my mom and dad told Mark a couple of visits ago when we saw them. Apparently, while my dad was out in the field at one point, my mom took ME out there so he could see me. WHOA. Out in the field. During war. With bullets flying. What was amazing to me was that I had not known that all these years and Mark was the one who told me about it.

And no, this post has nothing to do with Seguin besides me and our local historian's story. But I just had to share it. :-)

Walking Stick

A couple of weeks ago, before I started traveling, I accompanied Mark out to one of new bee yards, affectionately called Pizza Yard. I love going out to the country around here because you just never know what you're going to see. This year, there's an abundance of flowers AND bugs, insects, and creatures bigger. :-)

I loved this walking stick! I had not seen one in so long and I don't recall seeing one this big before. I believe he was perhaps 4-5 inches. I saw a smaller one in a different part of the yard but it was too hard to get a great shot because it was on the move. Anyway, wouldn't you know it, Mark went to another bee yard without me on a later date and he saw one that had to be about 9 or 10 inches! WOW, that would have been so neat to see and photograph. From what I saw on his phone, it looked a little menancing or at least freakish. I'll see if Mark will send it and I will share.



I want to say hi to a couple of ladies who have stopped by the house within the past several weeks to discuss our bees and honey (I didn't ask you so I didn't want to put your names on here but you know who you are!). They are fans of the blog and told me how much they enjoy looking at it, which made me feel so bad I have not been able to post as often as I'd like. THANK YOU SO MUCH for reading the blog, for your kind comments and for introducing yourselves to me either at the house or at an event or virtually. I love those encounters and they encourage and inspire me to keep blogging. Hope you have a fabulous Sunday and upcoming week!

Sky Watch Welcome

I shot this awesome sky earlier this week as a front came through our area. We've been enjoying some much needed rain while I've been gone. Sure will green things up again. :-)

Check out the other great Sky Watchers for some awesome photographs. Have a great weekend and a wonderful July 4th everyone!

Walnut Creek Project

Here's a look at some of the activity down by Walnut Creek, behind the Voter Registration & Tax office. I can't wait to see how it's going to look once the cleanup and beautification is completed. It'll be nice to walk down along there.

2010 Honey from Gretchen Bee Ranch

Here's part of the reason we have been so busy lately - honey harvest time! We finished harvesting our 2010 crop and it's officially for sale. So if you want to check out the price list and our bee blog at the same time, head over to Gretchen Bee Ranch!

Happy Tuesday!

Another fresh fruit shot for you. This year we have been blessed with abundance in all things in our life. I am not sure I deserve so much goodness! Hope you are all having a great week. We've been super busy between honey harvest and work travels for me. Be sure to check out our blog for the latest on the honey flow!

Peachy

Hi everyone. As you can tell, we've been busy. Honey harvesting is in full motion right now and with my work, we've been neglecting our beautiful peach tree! I guess everything just comes to you when you least expect it. This tree hardly ever bears fruit for us in the past years, though we enjoyed a few here and there. Well look at it now! Not only have we been blessed with over a ton of honey (and they're still making more) but we've also got so many peaches, we can't get to them fast enough!

Hay, everyone!

Happy Memorial Day weekend! Hope it's been a good one so far for you. Isn't it wonderful when you have a three day weekend? :-) Lots of bales of hay can be seen all around town and in the countryside these days. I love the different shapes of the bales - round, small rectangle and very large rectangle. Pretty cool to drive over a hill and see the fields dotted with these. Stay cool out there!

Caterpillars & Butterflies

This season seems to be packed with beautiful creatures of all sizes. I love butterflies but before they become those beautiful creatures, they are these multi-legged caterpillars that aren't really my favorite things to encounter. I don't kill them; I just don't want them on me. Yet, for some reason, karma or self-fulfilling prophecy or chance or wicked joke of Mother Nature...they end up on me at times or I see them a mile away, wiggling across the road or near the hives in the bee yards. lol

So, I don't know why but I've been wondering what drives these caterpillars to cross the roads as they are doing now. A LOT OF THEM. Especially on the way to Gonzales. We see many fuzzy caterpillars booking it across. What makes them do that, I wonder. Anyway, they have been turning into pretty butterflies that flutter all over the place, especially out in the countryside. A friend pondered aloud on Friday what butterflies eat. I was happy to tell him that I know the ones we've seen enjoy nectar from flowers, just as the bees do. So, they are competing with our bees for food! Good thing there's plenty to go around this year.

Family Project

Tribute to my parents continue! :-) This is my dad and he still has the same smile now that he did back then. What struck me in this shot is how much like my dad my oldest brother looks! Whoa. I'm over halfway done with the scanning project - woohoo! My deadline is coming fast so I'm glad I got over the hump.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend! Hot, humid, wonderful.

Project Picture Scans

Sorry but I am on a pressing scanning project and I have a deadline! So I won't have time to tend to this blog except here and there, as you can tell. ;-)

I have my parents' family album - one left - and I need to scan everything in for everyone in the family before we head to FL, when I need to return the album after having it for toooooo long. This is a shot of my parents shortly after we came over to the states. It's one of the only times we actually had formal portraits done as a family. There is one of nine out of ten of us but that 8x10 is hanging on their wall and I'm not carrying our scanner on the plane, unfortunately. I really would love that one! I need to find someone there with a scanner, don't I?

I hope you all are having a great spring so far. We are getting plenty of rain and everything is beautifully lush. I love the greenness of things all around. The only thing I don't like is the humidity lately and the mosquitos. :-o

Sky Watch Friday

Been a busy week with travel involved so I thought I'd try and catch up here real quick before bedtime. Gotta get up early for a workout tomorrow to get some of my birthday celebration off! :-) Hope you all have a wonderful weekend...rain or shine. At least we got a good shower in to water everything. Yay!

Sky Watch

Happy end of the week, everyone! Made it. :-) This is a shot of a cool scene we enjoyed while riding around the countryside around Seguin. It's a lovely time to do that so we go out every weekend in order to bask in the sun and soak in the wildlife, wildfflowers and everything mother nature has to offer up this spring. It's absolutely beautiful.

Check out the other Sky Watchers this week!

Butterflies Galore

Here's another something I notice we have an abundance of this spring - butterflies! They are everywhere! And of course, so are the caterpillars...my favorites. Not! :-)

Swarm Caution

Just another warning to be careful out there with all the bees. While most are gentle, when disturbed, they may become agitated. The wonderful weather means food galore for the bees this year. That's wonderful, but it also means there have been a lot of swarms. This evening we went to check out some bees (not in a swarm) that had colonized in the wall of a garage. Mark was trying to be helpful but that is likely the last time we do that sort of bee collecting. They sure got unhappy with us. Bee careful!! ;-) (couldn't resist)

Sky Watch

Well, I'm a little late on the Sky Watch for the week so sorry about that. Was feeling under the weather most of the week so I just didn't have the energy to post.

This is a view of the countryside where we're going to have bee yard #4 soon. I love this area and right now, the weather's been pretty perfect for south Texas. Not too hot yet and the flowers keep blooming like crazy. If I'm this happy, then I can't imagine how happy the bees must be.

Flower Explosion

This spring has been one of the best flowering springs I have experienced in my 15 years living here and I am happy I stayed here long enough to enjoy such a sight! Every time I drive somewhere, I am truly amazed at the new flowers that have appeared that weren't there a week ago. And many of these I haven't seen here before. It's wonderful!

Currently, it seems there are a lot of yellow and purple flowers of different varieties blooming. BUT...there are also these beautifully delicate white flowers (anyone know the name) along with the Indian Blanket shown below. By the way, the bees LOVE Indian Blankets. They were all over these as I was photographing at a friend's home out in the country this evening. We ate dinner before heading out to see Jim, who had contacted Mark about a swarm. I guess we took too long for they were gone when we got there though Mark said they were likely nearby as they were buzzing the flowers pretty well. Thanks for showing us around, Jim!

Spurs Fever in Seguin

It's playoffs and you know what that means! The noisy clappers and banging sticks come out as we support our awesome Spurs. Tonight's win puts us up on the Dallas Mavericks 3 games to 1. One more and we move to the next round. :-) GO SPURS GO!!!!!!!!

Gorgeous Day after a Cloudy Week

(These are tiny blooms from our bush but they are packed with sweet fragrance!)

Today was absolutely gorgeous here in Seguin after what seems like two weeks of mostly to all cloudy days, one after another. And there was a ton of activities in the community I noticed as I drove around on errands. We had a fundraising BBQ plate event at church and I know friends whose church is also having a festival this weekend. Then there was the Trade Days event along with Farmers' Market and we think an Earth Day event, too. All at one time. BUT...I still made time to enjoy sitting on the deck for a bit with Smokey, who was snoozing. It looked so comfortable I plopped down next to him but in the sun to soak it in. The breeze was PERFECT - no humidity. Gosh, if we had this sort of weather more often, then I'd never dream of another state with four seasons! :-)

Good Eats - Grain Bin on Hwy 123

On my way home from work, a friend called to say that there may be a swarm out in her area so we got our boots and gear together and headed out there to check out the area. While we did not see the swarm (too bad), we did enjoy the lovely evening out in the countryside. We also decided to stop at a restaurant called The Grain Bin on Highway 123, just past Geronimo. This is about 15 minutes from Seguin, headed north.

We had a burger and shared onion rings. And dessert. It's a treat since we've both been working out pretty regularly and dropping some pounds. The food was delicious, the staff wonderfully friendly and the environment clean. Can't ask for more. Oh wait! You can...there's a shop in the front area of the restaurant sort of like The Cracker Barrel. Nice! Check them out if you are traveling between Seguin and San Marcos.

Rain, Rain, Rain, Boots

Well, if you've been in the area, then you know exactly why I am posting these pictures. We have had rain, rain, and more rain. I'm not complaining because it means a lot of food for our bees which translates to happy bees and more honey for everyone! It also means rainboots are really needed if we want to check on the bees without worrying about our shoes getting muddied, which is what's happened in the past.

Two weeks ago, Academy stores had tons of rubber boots on their shelves. Now, however, the shelves were pretty picked over and we had difficulty finding what we liked in our sizes. After checking three different stores and Dick's (btw, they do NOT carry rubber boots other waders for fishing folks), we finally found some options! I love the patterns - very fun. But in the end, I went conservative. No leapard spots for me.



As a side note, I loaded these boot pictures on my Flickr and was then totally amazed at how my views spiked in one day. I think it was a record for me...something like 700+ total views in one day! The bottom picture has over 200 views. LOL...really? Who knew rubber boots drew such attention!?

In other news, my sweet friend Tammy is celebrating her 700th post! That's right...700! She's one of the nicest people I have ever met and we'd both love it if you visit her site and check out a chance to win one of her paintings. :-)

Sky Watch Friday

Happy Friday, everyone. Today I was told that I seemed more invigorated, energized and happier. I think it had to do with the fact that I was at the Texas Library Association's Annual Conference yesterday with Mark. He's manning his publisher's booth this year at the Exhibits. It's so much fun! Especially since neither of us work in libraries any longer. Got to see friends and make new ones. Anyway, I am feeling very contented today and that makes me feel good.

Here's a happy sky watch shot for you - sunset sky with more Mesquite trees and a little bee. Do you see her? They've been enjoying the fair weather of recent weeks though the past couple of days have been rainy on and off. This will really give the trees, grass and flowers a real boost! The Mesquite trees should be blooming soon and the bees love that. You know what that means - good honey!

Have a great weekend! And for you San Antonians - HAPPY FIESTA!

Swarm Season

Normally this picture would likely go on our bee blog, but I felt you should know that we are expecting an active season of swarming this year. Mark has spoken with our fire chief and he is ready for it and so are we! The other day Mark got his first call to go out and see about a big swarm of bees at a local business. I was able to join him during lunch and I caught a few snaps of the swarm capture. Then I got a great lunch at Shrimp Barn on top of the excitment. It was so much fun to tag along for that!

Just so you know, most of the time during swarms, bees are actually pretty gentle. You should NOT panic and assume they're going to attack because more than likely they won't. Mark taught me that. If you want to see just how gentle they are, be sure to see the video we put on our bee blog where Mark's about a foot away from a big swarm out at one of our bee yards. Just call the authorities and if you're in town, they'll probably call Mark. Then we'll get to meet you!

Good night! :-)

Miniature Donkey & "Quotation Marks"

I didn't even know there were mini-donkeys!!! Poor little thing. If you can help them, please do so. Otherwise, isn't this just a great way to kick off the week? I love great signs. :-)

That reminds me, I need to check on one of my favorite blogs - the "blog" of "unnecessary" quotation marks. If you have not read this and you want a GREAT laugh, then go there. It's hysterical!!!