Happy New Year...

My house
Originally uploaded by seanclaes

From My home to yours.

Sunset over Baptist Church in Kyle

Sunset over Baptist Church in Kyle
Originally uploaded by seanclaes

The reason for the season.

Christmas items at Old Town Gift Emporium

Christmas items at Old Town Gift Emporium
Originally uploaded by seanclaes

Merry Christmas from Kyle, Texas Daily Photo.

(This is a hand painted yard sign that I found at Kyle's Old Town Gift Emporium.

http://oldtowngiftemporium.com/

The crowd at Lucky Cup

The crowd at Lucky Cup
Originally uploaded by seanclaes

The Lucky Cup hosted a free screening of "Emmet Otter's Jugband Christmas last Friday and I made it the Claes family Christmas party. We had great drinks and chili, and a White Elephant Christmas exchange.

I gave away a fantastic KISS holiday ornament. I received a biography of Harrison Ford. It was great.

Merry Christmas everyone (I'm actailly sitting at my sister's house in Boston right now).

I'm going to be gone for a few days.. headed to Boston for Christmas.

So... until then. I'll leave you with these photos of food.

The family and I went to Los Vega for dinner the other night. I took pictures of what we ordered. The food is REALLY good. I highly recommend eating there when you're in Kyle.

A cool thing is.. they have a drive through.. so you can call in your order and by the time you get there... it'll be ready for you and you don't even have to get out of your car. BONUS.

Los Vega
721 N Old Highway 81
Kyle, TX 78640-9451
(512) 268-8570




My wife had the enchiladas


I ordered the fajitas (I don't like rice so I get double beans)


The kids are all about breakfast for dinner... Los Vega provides.


And here's my youngest's idea of how to eat a tortilla.

Merry Christmas to everyone and Happy Birthday Jesus!

6 Days to go!

6 Days to go!
Originally uploaded by seanclaes

In Kyle we've got this cool sign in the middle of town square to remind us how many days until Christmas.

(I doctored it up to read "6" since there are now 6 days until Christmas instead of "8" when I took the photo.

KUMC New Life Center
Originally uploaded by seanclaes

This is the New Life Center of the Kyle United Methodist Church. It's been in the news recently... well... this week even.. because the original contractor who was supposed to finish it in 2007 walked away with a great sum of money and disappeared... Well.. the church filed suit against him... and I'll spare the details (they are listed in the story that will be linked here - Hay's Free Press 12/16/09 article

Long story short... the man turned himself in on December 8. We pray he realizes what he has done and makes things right.

The KUMC is a church that is very much alive and in the community. You may have seen them at a kickball game (Pray Ball is their team) or at the Dia De Los Muertos celebration (they took 3rd place for booth decor!). Well.. this Saturday theUnited Methodist Women ate hosting a "Giftwrap and Childcare" at the Kyle United Methodist Church New Life Center. They'll watch the kiddos while you wrap your presents. It's a fundraiser for the New Life Children's Center of Canyon Lake. Here's the details:

I've been gone a few days... sorry about that.
In the spirit of being gone... I think I'll post a couple of photos of businesses and places in Kyle that are no longer... these have "gone" in the last few years.

Fonzie's - a 50s diner type place with good greasy burgers closed down.
Now it's a place called Piscis Seafood.

Lucky Cup in Plum Creek is closed. They reopened on Main Street across the street from the City Hall and the VFW.... almost next door to Pizza Classics.

We're throwing a Christmas party there Friday... we're screening Emmet Otter's Jugband Christmas for free.. and having funnel cakes and hot cocoa and Lucky Cup's awesome coffee...

There will be a White Elephant gift exchange if you'd like to have some fun with friends. It's all ages and the movie starts at 7:00p.m.

Karen's Kountry Kitchen klosed... it became a chineese buffet place for a few months.. then.. LEVELED. The spot where it was is now a CVS Pharmacy.

Who knew in October 2006 when I took this photo that it would become the land where Seton Medical Center Hays would build and open in 2009?

Baby roses @ Old Town Gift Emporium
Originally uploaded by seanclaes

So.. I'd seen the diaper or towel "cake" before (a cake made entirely out of diapers or towels to give to a soon-to-be-mother at a baby shower) but I've got to say.. this dozen baby roses surprised me. Pretty inventive. Actually there's a whole display of neat stuff like this.

Found at Old Town Gift Emporium - oldtowngiftemporium.com/

Kyle Automotive
Originally uploaded by seanclaes

I liked the way the trees cast a shadow on the tin Kyle Automotove building.
I've never visited them (this was a Saturday afternoon so they were closed) but they've got a pretty nice Web presence:

kyleautomotive.com

From there:
Business hours are Monday thru Friday, 8am to 5:30pm

"Kyle Automotive services most makes of cars and light trucks. If performance is your thing, then the Fennell Performance side of the company will suit your needs."

So... if you need a Chrome Moly Upper Control Arm Kit.. they've got it. (I don't know what that is I just copied that from their Website)

Prime Real Estate

NO TRESSPASSING.
Originally uploaded by seanclaes

I sure wish someone would come in and buy this building... and turn it into something neat. Like a bowling alley... or a steakhouse... or a bowling steakhouse. It's in a prime location.. the entrance to "Old Town Kyle"

State Capitol Painting at Old Town Gift Emplorium

State Capitol Painting at Old Town Gift Emplorium
Originally uploaded by seanclaes

I thought this was a very, very cool painting of the Austin State Capitol building. Found at the Old Town Gift Emporium.

Christmas items at Old Town Gift Emporium

Christmas items at Old Town Gift Emporium
Originally uploaded by seanclaes

There are several of these hand-painted Christmas scenes for sale. They are all done by a local (or area) person. Pretty amazing. Pretty AND amazing.

Christmas items at Old Town Gift Emporium
Originally uploaded by seanclaes

Here's a member of the Snowberry Fire Department ready to hang on your tree.

It's not a locally produced item... but it is pretty darn cute.

It's a Snowberry Cutie.
http://snowberrycuties.com/

The description on their site is:
"An emergency on your Christmas tree requiring plenty of holiday charm? call in the Snowberry Cutie Fireman!"

Nice.

Christmas items at Old Town Gift Emporium
Originally uploaded by seanclaes

Here's one of the nice hand-stitched wall hangings at Old Town Gift Emporium. I dig the message.

Christmas has arrived at the Old Town Gift Emporium.

I stopped in yesterday to take a few photos of some art pieces to use in the INsite Magazine 2009 Totally Austin Gift Guide (see the original painting that will be the cover on my Flickr Page) and I saw some amazing Christmas items. So... I'll feature a few of them in the coming days.

For those who don't know, The Old Town Gift Emporium is a store that houses about 40 artists items. There are some really neat things handmade by locals and folks from the area.

This is the old man that greets everyone as you walk into the store.

Traffic on I-35

Traffic on I-35
Originally uploaded by seanclaes

Travel safe. Happy Thanksgiving.

Kyle Animal Control Truck

Kyle Animal Control Truck
Originally uploaded by seanclaes

This dogcatchermobile looks so much cooler than it does in the cartoons.

No need for Superego....

No need for Superego....
Originally uploaded by seanclaes

It's Thanksgiving week... you should make sure to have your id ready. As you know... the id is the "fun" part of your psyche. So... have fun. Just be sure to keep your Ego and Superego in check... and save me a slice of pie.

Flag in front of Plum Creek Neighborhood house

Flag in front of Plum Creek Neighborhood house
Originally uploaded by seanclaes

Flag in front of Plum Creek Neighborhood house.

We went to HEB Plis! for breakfast on Saturday morning. Potato and egg tacos all around!Don't worry.. it's Sprite in the cup.

Daddy had his own coffee mug.

KING (or queen) OF THE MOUNTAIN!

KING (or queen) OF THE MOUNTAIN!
Originally uploaded by seanclaes

My daughter and a friend climbed to the top of the big rock at Gregg-Clarke Park. Neat-O.

This is the best piece of graffiti I've ever seen.
I know... I shouldn't feature it. But it made me laugh... a lot.


You have to really look... but it says "Me + Your Mom = You"

It's so wrong that it's funny.
This is at the playground at Greg-Clarke Park in Kyle.

Gregg-Clarke Park
1300 W Center St
Kyle, TX 78640

Kyle Trash Day
Originally uploaded by seanclaes

This was the scene at Gregg-Clarke Park on the morning of Saturday, November 14th. It was FREE TRASH DAY. It was provided by the Texas Disposal Systems to Kyle residents as a way to get rid of items that cannot be thrown out with your regular bins.

These trucks were full of stuff like sofas, BBQ grills, lawn mowers, swing sets, scrap wood, branches and brush. Air conditioners, refrigerators and freezers. I even saw a big screen TV.

As promised here's part II of the Inn Above Onion Creek. It really is a beautiful place. I've made sure friends and folks that have come in on business who are going to be in the Kyle/Buda/South Austin area know about this Bed and Breakfast.

Here's a few photos of the main honestead and the surrounding area.

Here's the main building with the kitchen/dining inside.


Here's the other main building. I believe there are 6 rooms in this one.


The main garden area.


My daughter rocks. Literally.


The dining table is set for a wonderful meal.


A peek into the kitchen. She was icing a carrot cake with orange cream-cheese frosting. Looked REALLY good.

The Inn Above Onion Creek
4444 W FM 150
Kyle, Texas 78640
512-268-1617 

http://www.innaboveonioncreek.com

So, I went out to the Inn Above Onion Creek last week to drop off some pumpkins they purchased from the Kyle United Methodist Church pumpkin patch. While I was there Mary Mattis invited me in for some wonderful flavored tea and fresh cookies. I had my camera with me and she allowed me to wander around the main homestead area to take some photos.

I took a good number of pics, so 'll give you 2 days of multiple photos for this Kyle Daily Photo.

First... the information:

The Inn Above Onion Creek
4444 W FM 150
Kyle, Texas 78640
512-268-1617 

http://www.innaboveonioncreek.com

 


Here's the sign on FM150 that greeted me when I got to the Inn.


Along the mile-long driveway I found this.


At the entrance to the homestead I found this photo op. Don't know what kind of flower this is... but it's pretty fantastic.


The pool is directly to the left of the homestead.


We were invited inside and were offered one of their homemade cookies. I've been to visit folks staying at the the Inn Above Onion Creek several times and I must say I always look forward to the cookies.

... I'll publish part 2 tomorrow.

Which way to go?

Sign leaving Inn Above Onion Creek
Originally uploaded by seanclaes

This is the sign leaving Inn Above Onion Creek.
It's --> way from Kyle.

Another of the vendors from Kyle Market Days was Deborah Thomas. She was selling some of her paintings and some jewelry. I was interested in her scrabble necklaces. Apparently game pieces are now viable as jewelry (see yesterday's domino pendants), but her paintings were beautiful as well.

Here's the scrabble necklaces:


And one of her original paintings.


She can be reached via her blog - http://deborah-thomas.blogspot.com or via e-mail at deborahkth@sbcglobal.net

Kyle Market Days
Originally uploaded by seanclaes

I stopped in and chatted with Judy Thomas and DeNay Simpson of S&T Jewelry and Etc. of Stockdale Texas. This is a little bit of their Handmade Jewelry they had for sale at Kyle Market Days.

Here's a couple more photos of their offerings. They don't have a Website, but if anything catches your fancy call 1-830-996-3619 (got it from their business card).


Dominoes as jewelry


Old Buzzard Welcome Sign


Beautiful cross pendant

And... oddly enough.. TURTLES (that's part of the "etc." in their name.





This was the last Kyle Market Days for the year. I'll post a few more shots later this week. The next Market Days is April 3, 2010. Check http://www.cityofkyle.com/marketdaysschedule.php for more information.