Miscellaneous stuff...

I was looking through some of my older blog posts last night which made me realize that I haven't been posting nearly as often lately. I used to take my camera with me all the time and would take pictures wherever I went. I just don't do that anymore...maybe because I've become somewhat bored with the area where I am and don't think there's anything to take pictures of that I haven't already taken. A few weeks ago, I DID take my camera along when I went down to New Braunfels to have lunch with my son. When I got back home, I looked at the photos I took while I was there and thought, "boring," so I never posted them. I looked at them again last night, and decided to post them anyway, so here they are.

A couple pictures of the Guadalupe River...one of the prettier areas of Texas Hill Country...

I was experimenting with different settings on the camera on this one trying to get a softer effect on the waterfall, but couldn't figure it out. I'll have to work on that one...

I had to stop and wait for a train and took this one across the street. For being so scraggly looking, these cacti sure have beautiful flowers. This one is going to be incredible when all those buds open up. I'll have to swing by there when they start to bloom.

Unless I'm in a hurry, I never mind watching trains go by. I think there is a real art to graffiti, although some of it is hard to read. I wonder if there is a graffiti school somewhere...I would like to take a class.



So, Jonathan and I had lunch at Schobels...a German restaurant in New Braunfels that opened about a year or so ago. Really nice building...

Nice bar area...

Great fireplace, but it would look nicer if they had a fire going. When the outside temp is over 100 degrees, though, I guess I can understand why they don't.

Here's the main dining room. Uh-oh...I see lots of old people. Even though I'm an "old person" myself, I always worry a little when I see that the majority of a restaurant's customers are of the elderly persuasion.

Buffet...

Liver and onions (that is definitely an old people thing...yuck)...

Here's the menu. Kind of on the pricey side if you ask me. While I was doing this post, I checked online for reviews and a LOT of them were not good. Bad service and bland food.

Here's what I had...a chicken salad sandwich. I love chicken salad sandwiches...but not this one. Look closely...what do you see?

That's right...MUSTARD!! WTF is up with that?? Who on God's green earth puts mustard in chicken salad?? I ate half of it, but I'd certainly never order it again. The fries were pretty good, though. Jonathan had a caesar salad which was average. Would I go back? Only if someone else was paying for it. Haha!

So, while I was in New Braunfels, I decided to run by the old homestead and see what they had done to my "yard from hell." Remember how it looked when I moved in six years ago?

And what it looked like when I sold it a year ago?

Here's what it looks like today. Kind of boring if you ask me...

And remember when I did the post on Bad Times in Texas? This is a picture I took in February of 2009 of a nearby shopping center they had built I think sometime around the Summer of 2008 that was still vacant.

This is it a few weeks ago. Only one business has moved in. I guess times are still not so good in Texas.

And kids are still using the sign for target practice.

So there you go. Another fascinating post from South Texas. I need to go somewhere exciting.

New Braunfels Farm to Market...

For all the years I lived in New Braunfels, I didn't know they had a Farmer's Market...or a "Farm to Market" as they call it here. Or maybe they just started it...I don't know. First off, you have to know that they refer to the rural roads here as "FM" which means "Farm to Market." When I lived in New Braunfels, my house was just off FM 1044. Now you know a little bit about Texas roadways. And I guess that's why they call the market "Farm to Market." Enough about that.

I was expecting it to be a lot bigger...it was probably a total of about 30 booths, so it didn't take too long to go through. Orchids...

They really are beautiful...so perfect...


On to Texas pasta. They should put their little pamphlets of information right-side-up in the display case.

Mushrooms. These Shitakes seem a little pricey, but they probably don't weigh much of anything, so a pound would probably be about half of a box!

I can't remember the name of this variety, but they were very photogenic.

Then there was a guy selling cactus...or I guess that would be "cacti" since it was more than one.
This one was pretty...almost looks like the flower of a Hibiscus.

This was just a little guy about four inches tall. I liked it because it looks like little trees from "The Grinch" with sprayed-on snow.


You're always going to find the cowboy boot planter at these places.

Before continuing, I'll have to say that New Braunfels has a LARGE population of elderly retired people. You can definitely tell that in the craft fairs the city has throughout the year. Take these for example...

They are something that my grandmother would have had. Cute, but not an item on my list.

And here's what you do with those casserole dishes that you're not using.

Continuing on, here's all the popcorn you'd ever want to eat...

This kid is running the popcorn stand. He sees that I'm taking pictures, so when I come up to him, he asks, "So, who do you work for??" Now, he looks like he's about 10-12 years old and you'd think that he'd ask that question in a pretty innocent way. Not this kid. It was like he was a seasoned 50-year-old private eye asking where I was at 7:32 on the night of July 17, 2006. I told him I was a reporter from The Washington Post doing an expose on exploited children from New Braunfels at popcorn stands. (Haha...I kid.)

On to the breads. This booth had partially "raised" breads that you were supposed to take home and finish baking. Well, it was about a million degrees in south Texas today, and everyone was sweating up a storm and all these bags of bread were soaking up the heat. Besides that, there were a few booths that had jars of feta cheese, spaghetti sauce and pesto dips that were sitting out in this heat and I was thinking that this didn't add up to a real healthy equation. I tasted a few which were actually quite good, but passed on purchasing anything because of the high temps.

"Bubba's Smoked Meats." Between you, me and the fencepost, why would anyone intentionally want to refer to themselves as "Bubba?" Maybe that's just me, but then I'm not a big beef jerky person to begin with, so I'll just pass on this one.

Pretty girlie things...

Interesting bird feeder...

Painted wine bottles turned into olive oil jars...

The jewelry booths had a bit to be desired...

"Uncertain Farms??" Again...why would anyone come up with a name like this? So....they're not certain what they're doing? Uncertain of what the outcome will be? Uncertain of what's in the ingredients?? Hmmm...I'm thinking this isn't the best marketing strategy, but to each his own.

Mega bird houses. These were actually pretty cool. I want a house like this (which was priced at about $450). It's such a shame that the birds will not have little bird maids to clean them out periodically because you know what it's going to look like when the birds take it over. I guess you could hose it down every now and then.

I like the little propane tank...hahaha!

On to the grapevine lamps. This guy was very proud of his accomplishments, and I'll have to say they were very different...I've never seen this before. And the shades are made out of goat skin. Again, I don't think it's my style, but I'm sure there are people out there who have a decor to fit. I think he said this one ran about $350.00.

Then he also had lamps that did double duty as wine bottle holders. I think the grapes are included. Haha!

Lots of jellies in those 100 degree temps...

Then I finally got to the actually vegetables...which was only about five booths, and they only had about five different veggies each. Not a big variety.


So...did I get anything at the Farm to Market?? Yeah...I had a weak moment at the birdhouse booth. I got this little guy because I have a soft spot for rustic cabins...even if they have spiders in the biff.