Keep Buda Funky!

Bottle Hill

2009-02-24T11:48:00.000-08:00

Across the Onion Creek bridge - just off Black Colony road, there's a former landfill...(an archeologists dream) full of old bottles. Most of the good ones have been found but if you dig carefully you might find the best ones yet!
Plus a bunch of cool other stuff we found on our hike.

Buda Graveyards

2009-01-12T19:08:00.000-08:00

We had fun giving our friend Suzi Q a tour of local graveyards for research for an upcoming photo shoot of hers.

One of our favorites is the old Allen Cemetery on the Jardines property- a family graveyard with a stone fence around it. We actually found some historical graffiti carved into to top of the wall ( from the 20's)

It was freezing out so M. stole my scarf and retreated to the Mini Cooper to absorb the heat from the sun through the window.

We also took her to the Antioch Colony Cemetery off Old Black Colony Road and Kyle Cemetery off Old Stagecoach Road.

Buda Christian Church

2008-10-16T14:09:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I've posted, I'd been thinking of photographing our house and the church next door and thought I'd do it with my new through the viewfinder camera.
The Buda Christian Church was built in 1904 in Italianate classical revival style, our house next door dates back to 1897, and was deeded to the Christian Church in 1904.

I checked the records in San Marcos and found that in 1894 Mrs. Trimble sold the lot to Oliver Kavanaugh. ( for $25 plus one brown cow and calf and one sorrel mare to be delivered at once).

In November of 1894 W.E. Holtzclaw & Jessie Severn bought the lot and the house was built in 1897, the house was deeded to the church in 1904. A storm destroyed the church in 1909 and the house was sold to rebuild the church.

In "Clearsprings and Limestone Ledges" by Frances Stovall it says that Mrs. Ida Carter ran a boarding house. (they owned the house from 1913-1946) Then a family named Galbreath owned the house (we found the kids in the Buda High School yearbooks) until the 80's. Then it was sold again & fell into disrepair, when and Troop's bought it and restored it in the 90's.

Today, the church is lovingly taken care of by the HInotes and the Missionary Baptist Church and we live happily next door.
It really is perfect living between a church and a school.

( this small church would be a great place to have a wedding!)

Summer swimming!

2008-07-13T09:53:00.000-07:00

Found this old photo at the 1898 store, wonder if it's past Budittes swimming in Onion Creek???

Buda Hotel

2008-06-02T14:03:00.000-07:00

The Carrington House was once called the Buda Hotel, a train stop between the San Antonio/Austin Line. Some say Buda was named after the the two widow's who cooked at the Carrington House. ("vuida" is the spanish word for widow) It was a hotel , then a family residence and now a business office in downtown Buda. It makes a great location for shooting pics. I like the funky 70's wallpaper, but it would make a great wedding location like Green Pastures if someone renovated it. Until then, drop in, spy around or take a knitting class at the Yellow Sweater......also downtown my favorite antique store - the 1898 is only open on Saturdays and Sundays......

Nacho Weiner and Little Krishna

2008-05-20T14:45:00.000-07:00

we even made a few seconds on klru's docubloggers

I'm a little late in posting photos from this years weiner dog event, There were no weiners dressed as luchadors , but there were some really great costumes this year. Puggy Fleming and Hillary Clinton and some cute chihuahuas. The girls gave the last of their money to the kissing booth ( a charity for rescued weinerdogs ).
At the end of the day we went out to Barsana Dham for Indian Food. We also met this little boy, his Mom said he loves to dress up as Krishna and have his older sisters wait on him!

Nachoooo Weiner!

2008-04-10T08:44:00.000-07:00

The Buda Lion's Club always comes up with a cool theme for their annual Weiner Dog Race and this year it's our all time favorite cult movie Nacho Libre. We can't wait to dress up Posie & Zula as the unlucky luchador's and see what other creative minds come up with!
Come on down for 2 days of Kitchy Fun on April 26th & 27th!

Vote for my MOM!

2008-04-10T08:23:00.000-07:00

My Mother is running for the Buda City Council, Place 1 seat. Not only is she a GREAT Mom, she is also a GREAT citizen. She worked on the Buda Charter Committee for over 2 years helping to write the rules for our City's Home Rule plus she's been on the Planning and Zoning Committee. This is the first time for her to run for a public office. She will bring great ideas and thoughtful thinking for the future growth of our city. She'd like to KEEP it a great place for her Grandkids to grow up and live.
GO GERRY!

Destination Imagination!

2008-04-01T12:58:00.000-07:00

We are so PROUD of our Buda DI teams! This was their second year performing in the Statewide competition.
Destination ImagiNation is a school program that builds creative problem solving as a team effort.
Teams of five to seven kids work together after school to apply creativity and critical thinking to solve a problem.
The challenges are designed to be solved in many ways, they are technical,mechanical, theater arts, science, fine arts, improvisation & structural & architectural design.

This year Buda Elementary had 4 teams under the categories:
D'Ive got a secret, Obstacles of Course, Switch & HIt or Myth.

Hit or Myth was a perfect choice since they're all so into Greek Mythology. They had to create and present a theatrical performance with an original Story about a Myth, Urban Legend or Folk Tale.
The Story must be set in a Nation other than your team’s own.
Design and carry out a Myth Investigation that investigates fact(s) about the team’s Myth. Present the results of the Investigation as part of your Story.
Create a Myth-Ecol Replica from the team’s chosen Nation, using recyclable materials.
Create two Side Trips and integrate them into the Presentation.

Hit or Myth won the Spirit of DI award and second place!

The Switch team won first place and will go on to the State Championship in April.
They had to perform a skit with a switch and built an architectural structure that held 85 pounds in two different directions!
Here were their rules :
Design and build a Structure made completely of Wood and Glue and test it for strength by stacking weights on it in two different Orientations.
Have a two-minute Stop Time while the team removes the weights after the first test and places the Structure on a different side for the second test.
Research a manufactured item, called a SWITCH! Item that can serve more than one purpose.
Create and present a Story in which the team demonstrates two different purposes for the SWITCH! Item.
Present a Freeze-Frame scene as part of the Story during the Stop Time.
Create two Side Trips and integrate them into the Presentation.
Congratulations to all the kids who entered the contest and
Good Luck to the Switch Team in the State Championship!

Historical Moment

2008-02-25T13:26:00.001-08:00

Buda Elementary received a historical plaque for being a working school for over 100 years. Nolan Kunkel and Moe Johnson, both former students worked on getting the historical status and made statements to a nice sized crowd at the school last Friday.
After the student council helped unveil the plaque there was a small celebration in the Kunkel Room.
I love looking at the old photos of the building over the years. We're so glad they decided to keep both campus's intact!

Funky Buda Furniture Company

2008-01-24T07:14:00.000-08:00

We didn't know they existed until an artist friend from Dallas sent us this link. (Thanks Kimmy Dee)
Ref-Use Furniture
Adam Edwards & Nicholas Petersen dumpster dive to reclaim the wood and make new products....

An Austin American Statesman blog mentions this quote from Edwards...."

“I grew up in a cabinet shop and I noticed that good scraps of wood were thrown away because they were too small to use,” said Adam Edwards of Ref•Use. “So, we decided to see what we could make out of them.”

How cool is that, support a local business and help the environment!

You can find their chairs & flooring at Eco Wise and IF&D in Austin!

We hope more cool artists make Buda their home!

Winter Walk

2008-01-14T12:01:00.000-08:00

Mild winters are a good time for walking and experimenting with photos.....

Swiss Family Robinson

2007-12-18T09:31:00.001-08:00

We took advantage of the reasonably warm weather for an outdoor camp out in the new tree house. Too bad it only fits 3.

In Memoriam of Oso

2007-12-04T09:42:00.000-08:00

We all miss you dear friend

Death is not the end
Death can never be the end.

Death is the road.
Life is the traveller.
The Soul is the Guide

...

Our mind thinks of death.
Our heart thinks of life
Our soul thinks of Immortality.

- Sri Chinmoy

We all love our pets, and all of our dogs get out accidentally,
please slow down on area roads for dogs and deer at night.

Sign of the times

2007-11-20T06:50:00.001-08:00

preferred hiking shoes

we've gotten over our fear of coyotes and have started to venture back into the wilds of Onion Creek.....behind the new Stagecoach Park

There's lots of old signs of Buda around town, here's a few before they're lost.

Boooooooo da

2007-10-29T06:09:00.000-07:00

Downtown Buda has trick or treating at the library each year in a festival they call BOOda. All of the downtown business set up tables for the kids to walk by and trick or treat and promote their businesses. The fire department also comes down with their trucks and let the kids climb through them and our new police force directs traffic!
We started going when our kids were really little and have seen how much the city has grown with all the new families.
Thanks City of BOOda and Martha & the Library for this cool family event!

"The Lightning Thief"

2007-10-22T07:38:00.000-07:00

Athena & Aphrodite

Buda Kids were were honored to have a special guest, the author Rick Riordan of "The Lightning Thief".

I first remember hearing about this book last year when they read and voted on it for the Texas Bluebonnet book award. Then they all dressed up as Greek Goddess' for Halloween, and wore them for his new book signing at Book People.
(we've heard there's also a Camp Half Blood put on by Book People in Austin".

Mr Riordan read to the kids from "The Sea of Monsters" and told them how the series of books came to be...an influence of reading to his son every night and when he ran out of greek myths to read, was told by his son to make new ones up!

He also said this about Buda on his blog "My uncle lived there back in the 70s, and it was a real trip to see how much it has changed since I was last there. The old school(Buda Elementary) is still the same, though -- lots of character, a very laid back atmosphere, and friendly people" Yeah for staying good & funky!

Each generation of kids has a favorite book that was a turning point in their love for reading and this ones it!
Thanks for inspiring kids to run out and read the next book versus see the next movie.

For more info on his visit, see his site and his blog.

http://www.rickriordan.com/
http://rickriordan.blogspot.com/

Viva Chavelos!

2007-10-17T10:38:00.001-07:00

Here's another downtown Buda restaurant plug.

If you want to have fun with your friends, take them to Chavelo's for their birthday dinner.
Then secretly tell Chavelo it's their birthday.

At the end of the meal, Chavelo and his whole staff come out with pots and pans banging and sing Feliz Cumpleanos! The kids love it!

Chavelos is BYOB so you can bring a few beers or a jug of margaritas like we did!

Plus they also have great grilled tilapia and tacos al pastor.

Viva Chavelos!

Feelin like a "fattie"

2007-09-21T11:58:00.000-07:00

Helen's Casa Alde in downtown Buda is know for their breakfast tacos, so if you've never had a "fattie" drop in, they serve them until 1:00.
It's over filled with bacon, eggs, sausage, cheese and potatoes on a freshly made flour tortilla.
The salsa is nice and spicy too!
This place is the good kind of funky!

Home Improvements

2007-08-27T06:34:00.000-07:00

After all the rain this summer we decided we might need some gutters on this old house.
We found some cool galvanized gutters to match the house and painted the under side of the porch with sky blue paint. You see it on a lot of Victoria houses. It's supposed to make the wasps think it's the sky so they won't nest on the ceiling.
So far it seems to be working. We need rain barrels next......

Rainy Summer

2007-07-23T14:18:00.000-07:00

Last year we had a drought and this summer a flood! Seems like it's been raining everyday all summer.
Onion Creek is full of water ( and snakes, bugs and other things), but at least the gardens are doing great!

We'll hope for more hot and humid days for swimming before school starts.

Down trees :(

2007-06-13T10:37:00.000-07:00

We came back from our vacation to a yard full of downed trees from last Sundays storm.
They said it was a storm with 70 mile an hour straight winds, but it looked like a small tornado came through Buda. Special Thanks go out to ALL our GREAT neighbors who looked out for us. They helped PEC get in and repair the fallen electrical lines, turned off the power and helped us clean up the mess. Here are the photos before we cleaned up. And Thanks to the City of Buda for providing free dumpsters for all the tree limbs! At least our yard has more light, we may even be able to grown some grass now.

Mela Fair!

2007-05-14T09:15:00.000-07:00

If you've always wanted to travel to India but haven't been able to... Barsana Dham in Driftwood is the next best thing. We try and attend their annual Mela Indian Fair each spring for inspiration. They had elephant rides, children's activities, beautiful gardens and a brief introduction to Hinduism. This years event was also graced with the presence of their spiritual master Shree Kripaluji Maharaji. They also have year round yoga classes and peach picking in the summer......

Weiner Weekend

2007-05-01T13:04:00.000-07:00

Buda survived another Weiner dog weekend. There was a great parade with weiners in costumes, bouncies, slides, funnel cakes and cotton candy for the kids.

With his eyes on the prize, Copper became the first 4 time winner and will retire after this year. Tyson came in second for the second time.
Maybe he'll win it next year!

Ninja Weiners!!!

2007-04-09T13:44:00.000-07:00

This time it's the return of the teenage mutant ninja weiners! The Buda Lions Club is gearing up for their 10th annual event at Buda City Park the last weekend in April. Don't miss the pet parade at 9am!(and we always try and catch Elvis!)

Missing Main

2007-03-29T17:34:00.000-07:00

We sure miss Modern on Main, Marla Coffee's mid century modern shop on South Main street in downtown Buda. She had fabulous furniture and jewelry and showcased local artists each month. Shannon Lowry and I were lucky enough to have a show there last year. We still love seeing the fresh paint job and modern landscaping but wish she was still here........
:(

Buda Grocery

2007-03-08T12:06:00.000-08:00

Buda Grocery certainly smells funky but we love walking downtown and getting an ice cream and just sitting outside watching the world go by. It used to be Buda's main grocery store run by the Montague family and has great old wood floors and tin ceilings. We wish someone would renovate it and turn into a Health Food store. But we'd still like Mike to work there and always wave when we go by.

Coyote Junction

2007-02-20T07:00:00.000-08:00

We loved our nature walks along Onion Creek with our dog Zula. It's a great place to let her off lease and run and swim in the creek. The kids named all the trails and places along the walk, playground ridge, bluebonnet trail and coyote junction. We named it that because we found bones and scat with fur. We knew there were coyotes but didn't think we were ever at risk during the day time. Last week we went out at 4:00 with the dog. She was staying with us and was coming back as we called. When she was gone a little longer than usual we called her, then heard these horrible sounds, like a bunch of wild kids screaming and realized that Zula must have found the coyotes. She was gone only a minute but it seemed much longer. J kept calling her from the top of the ridge, then finally saw Zula running toward him with 3 coyotes chasing after her. They are much larger than dogs, they looked like big German Sheperds with long furry tails. Zula ran to J and once the coyotes saw the humans, circled back into the brush. When we got home we realized Zula was pretty beat up, we took her to the South Austin Emergency hospital where they cleaned her up and gave her a couple staples in the neck and sent us home with pain killers and antibiotics.

We feel SO LUCKY and blessed that she made it out alive.

It just makes you realize how beautiful but dangerous these wild animals are and how close they live to all of us.

See this link: living with coyotes .

1898 Store

2007-02-14T09:04:00.000-08:00

I love this funky old store in downtown Buda. It's only open on weekends but is full of great junk. You could spend a whole afternoon looking through relics from this old department store. Owned by artist Jeanette Chelf, and her husband Carl,a geologist who moved to Buda to start their own artist colony. The store is full of their artwork as well as boxes of great rocks to entertain the kids while you search for your treasures.

Clint's Cabin

2007-02-02T13:45:00.001-08:00

Clint's Cabin was once on the grounds of the old Carrington Hotel on Main Street in downtown Buda. It is a small wooden cabin that served as a home for the servant of the Carrington Family. The cottage was probably built around the same time as the Hotel, and it was rumored that he was the only black allowed to live in the city limits.
The Cabin is gone now and will be relocated to the Old Stage Coach Property. It seems to have lost it's historical significance moved away from the Carrington House but at least it will be preserved.
This cool sign and funky addition were almost covered up with the construction of the new buildings but you can see them in the crack between Raby Roots and the Tea Room.

Weather Poem

2007-01-29T09:36:00.001-08:00

Wonderful snowflakes
Echoing the exaltation of their bright and vibrant snow
A hummingbird is darting
Trees are wearing scarlet gowns and golden crowns and bits of them are falling
Hearing
Enchanted things like
Rivers and streams

Live Oak, Buda Elementary Campus
by Matilda,age 7 with lots if inspiration from (A Year in Poems and Quilts by Anna Grossnickle Hines)

Onion creek

2007-01-22T06:54:00.000-08:00

With all that rain last week, Onion creek now has water flowing in it which makes great swimming for some of us.

Funky Buda

2007-01-22T06:22:00.000-08:00

I loved what this blog did for the school board issue by creating a dialogue of ideas for people to voice their opinions about the decision to either relocation or renovate Buda Elementary school.

Based on the lower campus being in the flood plain and new Fema building laws the district decided not to expand on the lower campus. Instead the school board proposed a bond to renovate both campuses.
The community passed the $3.6 million dollar Bond in November.

We'll look forward to seeing how they can improve this great school in downtown Buda.

Like "Keeping Austin Weird", I still like the idea of "Keeping Buda Funky" by supporting local businesses and appreciating the history of this sweet little town before it disappears.
I'd like to use this blog to share photos of the people and places that make Buda funky.

Write letters or email!!!

2006-07-06T10:03:00.000-07:00

If you are against the renovation please let the school board know NOW!!!! We only have until August 1st before their vote. The bond in November will pass because it is a no tax increase bond and we do need the bond for 2 new elementary schools on the east side.

Speak now or forever hold your peace, once it's done it's done. it will never be a school again.

Send your emails and letters to the School Board in care of
Julie Crimmins (crimminsj@hayscisd.net) she will send it on to Dr. Kirk London and the school board members and make it a part of public records.

We can do it if we all speak out!

Keep Buda Funky!!!!

Keep Buda Funky

2006-07-05T20:12:00.000-07:00

"As Henry Altmiller said at the school board meeting, Buda Elementary School has always been funky. Well sometimes funky means good!"

Keep Buda Funky!!!

This blog is to voice public opinions about the proposed $10 million dollar renovation of Buda Elementary School from a uniquely split upper historical campus level (3rd through 5th grade) and a lower campus level (Pre-K through 2nd) to build an all-new two story building into the existing lower campus.

This would modernize the lower campus to be much more like other new elementary schools in Buda and would consolidate all the grade levels into one space. This new building would increase capacity by only 100 students and is located in a flood plain.

Though Buda Elementary needs renovations, the school board seems to be ignoring the least costly proposal for a $ 3 million dollar plan for upgrading both campus's with electrical, plumbing and roofing and cafeteria upgrades. And leaving the split campus's in place.

Most parents and teachers like the separation of the younger grades from the older ones . This school has been a historical institution in the City of Buda for over 80 years. Though our community is growing the need for a larger elementary in this neighborhood is not needed.

There is a growing census that big schools don't work and there is a new movement to make schools smaller again.

The closure of the Historical upper campus will become a ghost town to an already struggling downtown community.

What keeps the spirit of Buda Elementary alive is the use of these buildings as a working school with all of it's history to teach the future children of Buda a little about it's past.