Saturday’s Critters – Old Therapeutic Riding Photos

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This week I am going back ten years in my archives for this week’s Saturday’s Critters post. Back when my son was in a therapeutic horseback riding program. He did it weekly for years and got pretty good at it.

Back then I was very experimental with my cameras. I had a film fisheye camera. I loved the fisheye effect. I’ve settled down now. Film is too expensive and I can do fisheye photos on my phone. In this exercise, Logan was supposed to get the horse inside the square and stop. He did it!!

And here is a regular digital photo. Not that great a photo as I’ve cut the horse’s feet off. Part of the reason I call myself a “picture taker” rather than a “photographer.”

We kind of plateaued after a while and got tired of the 36 mile drive every Saturday morning so we dropped it.

I’m linking with Saturday’s Critters.

Skywatch Friday – Staying Home or Going Out?

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I get lots of skywatch photos from my front and back yards, and that is great except…

I like getting out as well.

On our street looking east. I love this mackerel sky.

Another day, looking west again.

We have no daffodils in our yard though. Gotta drive to them.

I always love a flag snapping in a strong, cold, spring breeze.

The school where I tutor a first grader is honoring all their teachers, administrators, cafeteria workers, janitors, tutors and everyone else who helps out.

The other day the knee was feeling strong so I fired up the electric mower and got the job done.

On another day the wife and I went to a big box store and bought some cushions for our patio furniture. The cushions were cool but these roosters take a better photo. Can you believe stores let you walk in and take pictures of their stuff? Some stores say no photos but I ignore those signs.

The afternoon after I mowed, I decided to go take a hike at Turkey Mountain on a little bit more challenging trail. Only a mile long but the killer was about 300 feet of elevation change.

Here is some switchbacks on the 300 ft climb.

I loved the br

You can tell I really liked the bridge since I took two photos of it.

Staying in or Going out? You need to do both!!

I’m linking with Skywatch Friday

Shadow Shot Sunday – Shadows on Steroids

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The other day I ventured to Tulsa’s Linnaeus Demonstration Gardens at Woodward Park. They have a gathering area that has shadows on shadows and so is one of my favorite places. It didn’t disappoint this time.

I’m linking with Shadow Shot Sunday

Saturday’s Critters – Carved Cardinal

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I was out and about in Tulsa’s Woodward Park the other day looking for daffodils and tulips when I found this family of cardinals. Dad, at the top, Mom and a couple of chicks.

I had my macro lens on my “good camera” so I got a closeup of dad. I think he is close to needing a touchup.

I’m linking with Saturday’s Critters.

Skywatch Friday – Back on my Feet

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My knee is continuing to heal well. As soon as all the scabs drop their own I can back in the pool which will be great!!

I’ve transitioned from Home Health PT to Outpatient PT. So I am going to a place twice a week where I pay people to torture me. They give me homework to do so my therapy cat Lizzie checks it to make sure we are doing everything right. She’s a funny cat. Whenever I got on the bed to do something, she’s right up there with me. If you don’t have a therapy cat I suggest getting one.

I’ve started taking Heather’s cardio drumming classes again. I started out seated and now I can stand for half the class before I have to use the chair.

Last week I went on my first walk all by my lonesome. First I had to check out a fire we had in the greenbelt behind our house. Apparently a squirrel shorted out a transmission line, caught on fire and dropped into some brush which caught on fire. The fire department on was on it quickly fortunately.

I went on walking and heard this loud bird. I could see him but couldn’t figure out what it was so I fired up the iMerlin app on my phone.

Brown Thrasher it said. A new addition to my life list!

Found a big field of henbit. Years past I would attack in our yard but I’ve come to find out that it is an important source of food in the spring for pollinators. So now I let it be.

My little outing was a little less than a mile and left me exhausted, sore, and very happy. Time to get back to the house and put some ice on the leg. So yep, things are looking up.

I am linking with Skywatch Friday

Dismal Shadows

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The northwst corner of our backyard is looking a little dismal right now at the tail end of winter but I love teh shadow of our north/south fence projected on our east/west fence. And we got a bonus tree shadow from our neighbor and a bird feeder shadow. Just don’t look at the cast about yard furniture, random utility boxes, leaves and other debris.

Shadow Shot Sunday

Saturday’s Critters – Staying Close to Home

My wife took our little Kodi the Pomeranian to get groomed and came home with this Kodi the Bear Cub. Kodi loves getting groomed and made a fuss over. Of course he’s a guy and we guys all love feminine attention.

He loves to go swimming. We had a warm day and Heather put some water in his little pool and he just hops in and out and back in again.

Lizzie the Cat is kind of turning into my cat. Here she is sitting on my lap watching the NCAA Basketball Championship Tournament.

We had some pretty cold mornings. Here is a puffed up mourning dove trying to warm up.

Linking up with the brilliant photobloggers at Saturday’s Critters

March – In like a Lion, out like a Lamb, or something like that

That’s a saying about Oklahoma that I heard the whole time I have lived here, could apply to Texas as well where I lived before. March can be very mild and it can be bitterly cold. We’ve had both types of days this March.

The worst are the warm, dry, very windy days. That is when we get lots of grass fires. We get a lot of rain in northeast Oklahoma which means that at the end of winter we have all sorts of dead and dormant grass on the ground and it doesn’t take much to set it ablaze. Lots of huge acreage burned, almost 200 homes burned so far this spring.

And then we get the bitterly cold days. I hate those. March is such a heart breaker.

Heather, to the left, and Kodi, (the brown dot to the right of Heather, at a dog park.

Warm days we take our dog Kodi to the dog park. He has gone from being scared and hostile of other dogs to where he is now a social butterfly with both dogs and people. What changed? We don’t know but we love seeing it.

How is your March going so far?

Skywatch Friday

Happy Saint Patrick’s Day – from Doolin’ and Skerryvore

A rare musical post from me in honor of Saint Patrick’s Day. My wife and I went to the inaugural Tulsa Irish Fest this year. We didn’t make it this year because I was recovering from knee surgery.

Last year we saw Doolin’, an Irish band from France. France!! They were great. I guess I would call it modern Irish music. No limerick’s or other gimmicks. Just great songs.

Doolin’ at Tulsa Irish Fest 2024.

Another band we saw was Skerryvore. They are from Scotland. They didn’t come back this year. They hit the big time and are playing huge sold out arenas. They are more of rock band but like Doolin’ this music is positive natured.

Skerryvore at Tulsa Irishfest 2024.

So this year, my wife made up some BlackSmiths (Smithwick ale and Guiness Stout) and we fired up my ipod in the back yard and had our own concert. Next year we’ll be at the event!!

I am linking up with Music Moves Me

Shadow Shot Sunday – Coyoacan Hipstapak

Anybody familiar with the Hipstamatic App on camera phones. That was the whole reason I got an ipod way back when. My employer at the time wouldn’t pay for an iphone so I used their flip phone and bought an ipod for my photographic adventures. That was also back in the day when I loved inexpensive plastic film cameras and all the special effects that you do with them. Hipstamatic was an iphone/ipod app that simulated making crappy photos with interesting effects. I ended up with a ton of different filters for it. I’ve drifted away from the app but I noticed that they had new filters where they are trying to incorporate the look of Frida Kahlo into the results. So hey I went and got the filter.