More Beach Aquaduct fan fruit spider etc

We have gone to the beach the last three weekends.  A great way to relax and try to get the rest of the feeling back in my toes.  I guess that I hit them sometime a couple of weeks ago so two were turning black and I had a spot so I went to a Dermatologist - no cancer just trauma in the toes and the spot was benign.  With no feeling in the toes I guess I hit them and they turn black and I don't remember them being hit.  I have feeling in the soles of the feet but the toes and finger tips are still an issue.  I have an iphone for work so trying to get the screen to feel my fingers is tough sometimes...

We bought a fan/light for the back deck for our anniversary present so now I am sitting out here at 8:30 at night and it is very comfortable.  The fan helps cool it down and also gets rid of some of the flies and mosquitoes.  James sent us pictures of it snowing a little this weekend back home so I guess we can put up with a little heat.  The waves were huge at the beach yesterday so I recorded them so am going to try to attach the video to this blog.  Maybe I will figure it out some day.
We had a huge spider trying to live on our deck.  Jim threw it over the fence and the next day it came back.  He threw it over again today and we will have to check to see if it comes back tomorrow.  Today is the first day since we moved in that it has been cool enough to turn off the air conditioning and open the windows.  It is now over 80 in the house but it is starting to cool down outside so hopefully it will be ok for sleeping without turning the air back on.  We have a fan over the bed so hopefully it will be ok.
Took Sparky to the river bike trails by the famous aquaduct this morning before it got too hot so you will see pictures from there too.  Not sure what the fruit is lying on the ground growing beside the trail... oranges or lemon like but on a ground vine.  I also picked some pecans up off the ground from some pecan trees and also took a picture of a banana tree growing wild on the side of the trail.  We are going to bring our bikes back with us so I am looking forward to going further down the trail since now I keep doing the same section when we walk.  Jim golfed this morning with some of his friends so Sparky and I got to explore on our own.

Jim and I on our 28th Anniversary on the Beach

Our big spider visitor

As Jim says we don't need hallowe'en decorations

Pretty good work all in one day since Jim took the previous day down.

Info on the aquaduct that was built Years ago  Amazing what was done way back then

This is the duct but even reading it and seeing it ... not sure how it works

This is the top of the duct and it is all full of water

Here is the name of the Aqueduct so maybe if you google it you can figure it out.

This is the bike path that we walk on next to the river

trusty map to know how much further to the next mission etc

you are walking/biking along this see up in the middle the path winding along.  Kinda like the path from Billings Bridge to downtown.  This one goes from our area through the missions to downtown Riverwalk.

Do the stones look familiar... same ones as on the front of our house and the ones we took for the garden.  The white stones are natural stones everywhere here.

Mystery fruit growing on vines beside the path

closer up picture of the fruit... see the deep green one I think it is not ripe and they turn yellow when they are ripe but what do I know.  I took two and will take them to work and hopefully some one there will tell me.

More of them... they were everywhere

Banana Tree

Closer up picture - see the bananas now - top middle

At the very top above the purple bell thing hanging below them

Our new fan - had the strips hanging for all of the flies but now we should be able to take them down

Octoberfest and garden growing

I added some purple flowers from the end of the street.  Not sure they will survive but it is worth a try.  A lady at work was getting rid of some aloe vera plants so got 5 of those to put in the garden.  The one hibiscus is starting to bloom now so it will survive.  The other one has lots of buds ready to open but none yet.  Just sitting here in the back yard going through a box of kleenex reading my book.  My allergies hate me being outside but you can't sit inside when it is this nice out.  We went to the beach yesterday where my allergies are non existent... should put sand in our back yard instead of a garden I guess.... Thurs night we went with people from work to an Octoberfest.  Didn't get a picture of it but they brought out the big long horn... alphorn ... you see in on the ricola commercials.  He was really good on it.  His lips must have been so sore since no valves or rotars on it... all lips and embouchure...very cool

Lots of flowers blooming now The picture said the one plant
would have many colours but so far they look the same or similar

Lots more buds  will be out soon.. grey on side are my
dieing purple flowers you will see alive lower down

This is the other hibiscus... lots of buds but no flowers yet

Aloe vera plant which should grow large

Another Aloe Vera - I took 5 of them

purple weed flowers before they died

OOMPAH Band

First one to bloom

San Antonio is in a Drought so we can only hand water.
Based on your address you get one night a week you can
use a sprinkler.  On the other times you can water so long as you
hold the hose so here is Jim not breaking the law

Cactus flower bed enhanced

Another one of the bigger houses with stone on the front finished this week so there were spare stones left at the end of the street, free for the taking.... so we took some to make a nice bed for the cactus.  Walked to Walmart at lunch on Friday and there were lots of plants on sale so got 6 fountain grasses and 2 hibiscus shrubs.  Yes I can have hibiscus outside year round here.  I still want an Orange tree but that won't be until spring.  I still need to get the blue flowers at the end of the street and put them in the bed too but too sore now... maybe later today or tomorrow since we borrowed a shovel from someone at work so will need to take it back next week.  We have a shovel on the list of things to bring back with us in November.

Spider Very Big

Hard to see him... black legs and yellow body... he really blends in but was huge

High School Football

Highschool Football game at the high school closest to our home.  The other side was for the opponents fans  The full section is the other team's school band.  There were a lot there considering they were from a town an hour or two away.  Friday night football is very important down here at the high schools.  We sat on the home side where the bleachers stretched the whole 100 yards and they were pretty full.  We paid $7.00 each to get in.  A lot of the fans had football jerseys on with their kid's name and number on them.  A food stand was there selling turkey legs, nachos etc.  A fun night out

See the scoreboard at the end which Jim thinks is bigger than in CFL stadiums.  The game was shown up there all the time and replays of key plays as well as trying to make the crowd cheer etc... and it had the time and scores etc on the bottom.

Cardinals is their logo mascot.  To the left of the band from the other team was their majorette cheering girls and they had cheerleaders stretching the whole length of their bleachers.

Check out all the cameras up top with the press box of course.

Lightening came so we had to go into the gym for awhile.  Got to see the inside of the school.  Check out the bleachers.  If we had those bleachers at BCI we wouldn't have any room on the basketball floor to play.

Just Massive

This was the second gym on the other side where the other team had to go into since of course the fans were not allowed to be in the same room.  Lots of police there separating the crowds.

Back to the stands when the storm was over with no incidents.  The Police made an announcement thanking the crowd for making a safe evacuation without incident.

Half time show with their school band doing their New 2015/2016 show.  Yes this is just the end of September.  I couldn't believe it.  Just to learn the music in that length of time let alone learning all of the marching designs that they did.  Very different than the drum corp competition since they had all the band instruments... yes flutes, clarinets, slide trombones.... hate to be the guy in front of the slide trombone ...hoping not to get hit in the back.    

Jim said that he golfed with a guy who was a band director and said that the bands start practicing the first of August, 5 - 7 hours a day.  Such dedication but it shows in their performance.

Half time over so they blow up their mascots again so that they can run out of them onto the field.  CC Winn is the other team so this was their mascot

Jim and I having fun in Texas doing what Texans do

This is the Cardinal blow up mascot

And the team runs out of the Cardinal and then they deflate it again.... All that just for show.  Gotta like it.

Practicing taking a selfie... still trying to figure out how to look at the camera right.