Rain at the Saffold Dam

This morning we drove by the dam to see the waters after all the rains we've been receiving lately. Nice to see it flowing well again. The second shot is a vintage filter I enjoy using from an app called tadaa.

Hello Clouds

Saw this pretty sky across from the mill this morning. :) More rain forecasted.

Early Flowers

The weather's been pretty mild lately with a few days of cold sprinkled here and there; pretty mild winter overall really. The wonderful thing is the rain we've been getting. Everything is so green compared to this time last year and the bees are building up for the flowers that are coming. Here's an early bloomer - the Agarita. I love the name and the look of it. If it bloomed in winter, I'd definitely cut some and put in a vase for Christmas. Very lovely.

Valentine's Sweetness

Happy Valentines' Day, everyone. Sweetheart or not, I hope you each have a special day and a lot of love in your life.

Windows & Birds

Here's a shot of some windows on the second floor of a building not currently being used for anything, that I know of anyway. I wonder what happened to the one with the broken pane. And I have been meaning to share this one of some beautiful little birds I saw last Saturday in our pecan tree in the backyard. I don't know what they are, perhaps finches of some sort? It was raining a bit that morning and chilly also. But the birds numbered in the twenties or maybe even thirties and they chirped and twirled a lovely melody as we waited for bee class students.

Gift & Gourmet's Future Home

Today after work, I drove home, saw Mark was not yet back from the bee yard so I swung by my favorite gift shop in Seguin. I just love that shop! This is a look at their new location down on the square. Soon, the space will be finished out and then the gift shop will move. We are thrilled G&G will be on the square. It'll be very visible during downtown events and it'll certainly add a touch of class down there.

Here's my favorite thing I saw at G&G today right before Mark walked around a shelf and surprised the heck out of me. Okay, you can get the extra small size or the extra large size. Holy moly! I have never seen a GALLON of Tabasco in person. lol

Tuesday Treat Day

After a somewhat stressful morning, my honey bee whisked me away for lunch. And to listen to me vent. What a great husband he is and a super friend, too. I am a lucky girl. So we went to Amy & Cathy's on the square and I had my usual portabella on ciabatta. Next time I want to try the Ultimate Turkey. My friend at work says it's super awesome so I need to give it a whirl.

Another Rainy Weekend

Wow, I can't wait to see what the wildflowers will be like this year with the rain we are getting. We had puddles by Saturday morning but it cleared up and warmed up enough to have twenty students for bee class. Nice! Then we got a little more this afternoon. Awesome news for our drought.

Skies About Town

Above is how the sky looked this evening above our backyard in town. This week we got additional rain and this evening, they forecast maybe two more inches. Wow. This may already be more than we saw most of last year. Just kidding, I don't know that for a fact but it seems like it. We are very happy for clouds and rain! Even if we do have a bee class in the morning! Below is another look at the mill where I work. We make steel and it's a dusty, dirty job and environment but I look around and I often see a lot of beauty around me.

View other lovely sky shots at Skywatch Friday.

Schlotzsky's Update

Coming along quite nicely. Just thought you'd like an update on Mark's favorite sandwich shop. We'll be there opening day. :)

Man Over the Melt Shop

Here's what my office mate and I saw out our window while we sat on a conference call...that crane was so high up in the sky! Wow. And we couldn't imagine being the person in that cage. Yikes. We watched it descend. Too fast for our taste. And then later during a break, we had a slightly brighter, more mellow view. Thanks, J, for the lovely, tasty distraction!

Working Up High

Hello there. Way up there. WOW! I was driving back to work after lunch and I had to turn around for this shot because it so captured my attention. The picture doesn't really convey the height in my opinion. There's something about driving under this man as he worked way up there. That's the bridge on Interstate 10, above New Braunfels Avenue along the railroad tracks. See what he's doing up there? Chipping away at that ledge. That man has some guts. One wrong step and it could be bad. Did I mention that cars are zipping by him on the other side of that wall? Likely going 70+ miles per hour.

Lightning, Thunder, Wind, Rain

It has been a wonderful time of year because we've actually gotten rain in South Texas. Great news for the wildflowers and bees, not to mention every other living thing around here. Last night we had a marvelous storm packed with flashes of lightning and claps of thunder. Thankfully we didn't have any limbs come down from the pecan nor did we get struck by lighting or fierce winds as others suffered. We only lost power for a few hours I believe. I tried to sleep through most of it with a pillow over my head to muffle the thunder. Didn't work great but it helped. This is FM464 on the way to work (well, one route anyway).
And this is what I call Lake Caterpillar - it's at the stoplight for FM464 and Kingsbury/Hwy90.

Clear Springs

Last week we went to Clear Springs, which doesn't seem like the healthiest of choices BUT if you get the chicken club salad and a soup or the grilled fish tacos on corn tortillas, it's not tooooo bad. Right? :) I liked this darker look - gives the place a totally different feel. As compared to the color shot below. I am really enjoying snapping shots with the iPhone and then using one of these apps to create new looks: Camera+, tadaa, and Instagram.

Chúc mừng năm mới!

Today is the first day of the Lunar calendar and it's the Year of the Dragon. I wish everyone a very happy and blessed new year ahead. Here are some of the things that I enjoy each year to ring in the new year with Mark. The green rice cake is a tradition for this holiday. My mom has made this every year as long as I can remember. She's not able to make them anymore but she can oversee my older silblings making the cakes. They did a great job and we sure are glad they took on the project. It's about the equivalent of making tamales here in this area. Labor and time intensive but well worth it. The ancesteral table holds offerings to those who have passed on already that they will watch over us and bless us this year.

Sunset Over Our Home

I shot this last night as I came out of our Honey House. The weather has been unusually mild for winter. I believe the meteorologist said we are about ten degrees warmer than normal. Boo. I want more winter before the heat returns. Please. Check out the other sky shots for this week at Sky Watch. I haven't had time to participate lately but I'm going to try and make time this year. I love looking at the shots posted there!

New Subway In Town

No, not transportation - food! We're getting another Subway shop in town. This one is next to the Whataburger on Highway 46 at IH-10. One day, it will be completed. Meanwhile, we're all watching to see who can possibly move slowest on construction. Schlotzky's or Subway. :)

Last night we went on a cruise about town as we both needed to get out of the house for a bit. I was happy to see the Texas Theatre all lit up - they are showing Driving Miss Daisy, great movie. If only the other theatre downtown was lit up a few nights a week (the Palace). I just love seeing their lights on at night.

By the way, this was shot with my iPhone and then I used two apps to play with filters - Instagram and Hipstamatic. Both are free and are a lot of fun.

Foggy morning

Good morning everyone. I sometimes enjoy a foggy morning. It makes everything soft. Lovely in a way. I just wish I could capture it more fully in this photo. It doesn't appear very foggy but it is.

Oh What a Sky Does

I'm back at work now after a nice long break for the holidays. Ten days off was awesome and our visit with my family in Florida was really wonderful. I am refreshed and ready for work now - this is the field across from the steel mill. I love it in the different seasons. It has a different loveliness based on the sky as well as what's growing or not growing in the field. :-)

And on a beautiful, sunny day...the greenness of the field right now just takes my breath away! The contrast in grass and sky colors is spectacular.