Tag Archives: Heather

Skywatch Friday – Inside Edition

I call this week’s Skywatch post “Inside Edition” because that is mainly where I have been lately. After some great outings that all came to a halt through a combination of my wife catching the flu and cold rainy weather.

So it was like I went to my backyard and took some sky photos because I didn’t have any recent ones and it was a nice sunny day finally. And of course I used one of my iphone camera apps and edited the photos. I do that a lot. I hope it doesn’t bother you.

And the other thing I do is I am constantly tagging photos. I’ve got 85,642 photos in my flickr account and about 3,000 are untagged starting in November 2015 and going backward. I delete about half of my untagged photos in a given session. I found this one this morning during a tagging session. It’s kind of over the top on editing but hey, I kind of like it. I think I used my distressedfx app.

I also found this untagged photo from November 2015. It is from a run I did along the Arkansas Rivier at night. You know starting in 1992 until 2020 when I retired I ran by myself every Wednesday night after work pretty much regardless of the weather. During the non-Daylight Savings Time months I ran on the river because they had lights. Now I am thinking what was going through my little cotton picking head. Of course the answer is that I worked during the day and I was running longer races back then so I had to run longer in training. I’m retired and now, and don’t run, but I walk and ride my bike a lot. All during daylight hours.

Earlier this week it was Heather’s birthday. She recovered from the flu and we had a great time going out for breakfast, going to a movie (Spirited, see my previous post, a wonderful movie) opening gifts, going out for dinner, and then birthday cake!!

Son Logan joined us. We all had a great time.

And we are all decorated for Christmas.

04D1331A-D9D5-4F03-BE77-6072E2953064 — Jigsaw puzzle

I completed another jigsaw puzzle. This one of an old barn. This one about killed me. All that wood was hard to piece together. I’m doing one now of the Grand Canyon. It’s hard also. That’s okay. I love ipad jigsaw puzzles.

That’s about it for this week. Check back soon. After losing all three of our dogs in about a year’s time to illness we are picking up our new pomeranian Kodi. I’ll have a few photos of him to post. Here is a preview from several weeks ago.

I’m linking with Skywatch Friday.

Michael Buble in Tulsa.

Heather and I had our 33rd Anniversary the other day. We didn’t feel like celebrating much because our dog Rascal was not doing very well at all and we ended up putting him to sleep the next day. So things were not very happy at our house. Last night though we went to the Michael Buble concert here in Tulsa.

We’re glad we went. We love the guy and he always puts on a great show. This was the fourth time we’ve seen him. He sings an updated “Great American Songbook,” standards from people like Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and others. One of my favorite songs is, “I’m Feeling Good.”

Another favorite is “Home.”

Over the years, he has mellowed quite a bit. He used to have kind of a bad boy persona and his shows could be quite raunchy. He’s now married and has four children and seems to be quite the family man but he still looks has that playful smile.

And we were happy. That is about as smiling as it gets for me. We had a good time.

Skywatch Friday – Cinco de Mayo

Big news is that last week I took my brother Bob out for another outing. This time we grabbed some burgers and headed to the RiverParks trails to have a picnic.

And then we wheeled him up and down the trail for a mile. He’s a former marathoner who participates in his sport by riding his chair in the halls of where he lives. About 16 laps to a mile so 48 to do a 5K. He loves entering virtual runs and has finished a bunch of them. He is one amazing guy.

I don’t run any longer but I walk and ride my bike quite a bit. This is at Lafortune Park which has a nice 3 mile path around it. I prefer trails but it has been raining too much to walk on dirt.

My favorite tree at Lafortune Park.

Heather and I went on a bike ride earlier this week on a rail to trail route north of Tulsa. It was beautiful and we covered 15 miles or so.

And I had to stop at the Rexall Drug Store in Sperry that was a movie scene in The Outsiders movie filmed in the early 1980’s in Tulsa. I love finding and checking out old movie scenes (and new movie scenes as well.)

It has been a windy spring so I have not been flying my drone. It weighs only 249 grams and I could just see it heading to Arkansas in the high winds. The other day the winds died down and I launched the drone and caught an ok but not great sunset at about 50 meters.

And here is the view looking straight down. Our home has the four blue chairs.

And a drone selfie of yours truly.

A day or two ago we had big thunderboomers in Tulsa and a Tornado Watch. So time to go outside and take a video right?

Wednesday night was more of the same. This was later in the afternoon.

Sorry for the scattered nature of the post. Too many photos and not enough posts.

I hope everybody is having a peaceful time. Lots of drama going on both nationally and internationally. Everybody just breathe okay.

I’m linking Skywatch Friday come join in. Let me know of other great memes you have seen. Don’t be shy if you are the host of one!!

Skywatch Friday – Halloween Tree Troll Edition

The Full Wolf Moon came up over a week ago. I love the full moons and all the different names for them.

We have had several storm fronts move through. Not too bad though and if the wind isn’t too bad I launch the drone and here is a sunset from about a week ago or so.

Here is another more recent drone shot looking southeast from our house. A massive system came through complete with tornadoes and all that but missed us and didn’t do too much damage anywhere else. I could only take the drone up high enough to clear the roof lines because the wind was so gusty.

I’m a sucker for a meandering trail. Here is one at Washington Irving Park in Bixby just south of Tulsa.

And I like to find the quiet shots during busy events. At Oktoberfest last week I moved away from the crowd and got this skyshot. You wouldn’t know anybody is around.

And I said this is a Halloween post. Here is my bride Heather and son, Logan, at a pumpkin patch some years ago. He’s a college man and will be graduating this fall (we hope) and is even taller now. With him gone we don’t do much for Halloween any longer. We’ll turn out lots off and not pass out candy. Talk about a couple of old grouches, uh. Sorry, that is the way it is.

I also promised a Tree Troll, didn’t I. I found a dead one on a recent hike on Turkey Mountain.

It’s very gruesome, with his eyes bulging out and mouth gaped open laying sideways on the ground. Poor mountain tree troll 🙁

That’s is about it for today. I’m linking with Skywatch Friday, come join in the fun.

Sunny Shadows and Mother’s Day 2021

I was at mil’s house visiting earlier this week in the afternoon and noticed the late afternoon sun coming in through her blinds was causing interesting patterns on her table and flower pot. Along with flowers and greenery in the background. You can see here to know how to get the perfect assortment of flowers as a gift for someone you love.

Son and I went on a walk at a local park. I liked our shadow selfies down below.

A little bit later we passed by some shadows from some redbud trees. The redbuds have a brief spectacular show for a few weeks in March and April and then they kind of retreat into the background.

Here are some of the flowers that my wife purchased for her Mother’s Day. She loves gardening and happily bought some for our yard and for her mother’s garden as well.

We had a pretty good Mother’s Day Meal at my mother-in-law’s place. Here are the two honorees. Both of them are great mothers.

Here was my contribution. I love smoking chicken. I would rather eat smoked chicken than eat steak. Heather purchased the sides (since we didn’t want her cooking on Mother’s Day) and we had a nice meal together.

I am linking with Shadow Shot Sunday 2

Our World – Pandemic Hiking

The weather has been mild and warm lately so we have been getting outside. Saturday, Heather and I went hiking on Turkey Mountain. We took a back country route so the trails were not as busy as other places. When we got back to the parking lot, it was full!! I had to do some maneuvering just to get out of our parking space.

So, yes, glad to see people enjoying the park. I hate to take more of it away for bigger parking lots though especially when needed only one or two days a year.

Sunday, the kid joined us and just for something new and different we ventured up to the Rogers State University Preserve in the nearby town of Claremore.

Very nice hiking trails and not very many people. We only went a couple miles but it was enough.

I saw this and my Dad joke that came to mind was, “Somebody has lost their hope.” Sorry, I couldn’t resist.

Here’s the kid. A good time was had by all!

So we had a good weekend. This morning though I wake up and find out my laptop screen is not working. So I am putting this together using my office television set as a monitor. I love what computers can do but hate the machines. After all these years they are still very fragile devices. Wish me luck trying to figure out what is wrong.

I am linking with Our World Tuesday, come get in on the action!

Skywatch – Standup Paddleboarding on Broken Bow Lake

Heather and I on our recent short getaway to southeast Oklahoma had a great combination of activity and rest. We spent a lot of time at the cabin reading but we also spent a lot of time hiking and one afternoon we rented a kayak and a paddleboard at Broken Bow Lake.

The lake is also part of Beavers Bend State Park and we found a concession who is open on the weekend. I got the kayak and Heather got the paddle board. I can do paddle boards, I really can, kind of, but they are a lot of work. Kayaking is a lot easier. Heather loves paddle boards. She teaches a class in our gym’s pool where one stands on the boards and does things. I take the class but I am pretty shaky.

The lake was beautiful and the day was gorgeous. A slight haze in the air. I was wondering if was from the horrendous fires in California, Oregon, and other places in the west.

Being the weekend after Labor Day there were not that many people out on the lake. Seems like most of them were from Texas.

Heather showing her chops with the paddle.

And busting out some yoga moves for good measure.

We were out for two hours. We went here, there, and everywhere.

And then it was time to bring them in.

And of course I wore my Garmin watch to document the adventure. I mean it didn’t really happen if it wasn’t documented, right?

And then back to the cabin to chill. It was a great place to chill. We didn’t spend much times indoors. We spent most of the time on the deck with its sectional couch and the hot tub which I didn’t take a photo of for some reason. So if I didn’t take a picture of it, did it really exist?

I’m so thankful that we could take this little trip.

Anyway, we had a great time. I’m linking with Skywatch Friday. Go check it out.

Thanksgiving 2018

We had a small group for Thanksgiving this year. Just me, my wife, Heather, her Mom, Nana, and my brother Bob who drove over from Tennessee. We Nana’s two bratty dogs and reclusive cat. We left our three bratty mutts and two spoiled cats at home. Yes, we are bad critter parents.

It was low key. Nana did most of the cooking except for the chicken and ribs. I smoked them the day before. We had lots to eat.

I went to bed Wednesday night not feeling well and it got worse before it got better later the next morning.

20181122-140752-14 — **Fiona doing her best grin. Didn’t work, no ribs or chicken for her!!**

Brother Bob and I watched a lot of football. We saw Chicago beat the Detroit Lions and then later on we watched the Dallas Cowboys beat the Washington Redskins. You know I wasn’t a hundred percent because I did not have one beer during the game, or all day for that matter.

I’m a geocacher and so while on a gas run I found a cache. You have to be sneaky like this if you want to be a geocacher. I have almost 1600 and I am trying to get to 2000 before the end of 2019. So I have to be sneaky. By the way the cache above is a special type called a skirt lifter because they are hidden under the skirts of parking lot lights.

I eventually felt good enough to have two or three “half glasses” of wine. You know a half glass doesn’t really count right?

Anyway, it was low key but we were together and that made it great!!

I hope you had a great Thanksgiving as well.

I was very grateful for my family today.

Shopping with Heather

I guess that I am a little different that some husbands. When Heather goes shopping, I almost always go with her if I can. She is my best friend and I am rarely bored especially with my phone and my various camera and filter apps. So this is a recent trip.

We went to Sprouts. Sprouts used to have these stern signs at the entrance to the store that photography was strictly forbidden. Yeah, you gotta be kidding me man. So I took pics of everything in sight. They don’t have the signs any more but I still take pics of lots of stuff. I love these pears.

And their flowers! I love them also. I was using the Hipstamatic App to take photos. I love Hipstamatic.

And then we went to Steinmart. I found these bears.

And these purse chains.

And these bears!

And these little knick knacks.

I found these shorts. I love them, but I have way too many clothes. Should I go back and get a pair?

I loved this shirt also. Should I get I go back and get this one. The slightest encouragement would cause me to do so. I think Logan has this same shirt. Maybe he will let me borrow his.

Anyway, so much for shopping trip today.

Tulsa’s “Top of the Town 2018” – Exploring Tulsa’s Notable Buildings

Thursday night Heather and I attended a fund raiser “Top of the Town” in downtown Tulsa benefiting the Community Service Council of Tulsa, a social services organization

So you pay some money, you get a wrist band, and you get access to some cool buildings downtown that are not public. So we got to see some really neat rooftop patios, and a deluxe apartment and other spaces. They had some kind of either drink or food or both at each place.

This is the old Petroleum Club. It went defunct years ago and now some internet based company ripped out the flooring, ceilings, wall coverings, put in some funky lights and miles of tables. Cool, trendy, yes and I think a comment on where our society and culture is going. Things are changing, whether we want them to or not is what I say.

We got to go into somebody’s private apartment in another building. I fell in love with the place. I loved this cozy space in the corner with the big windows. We have three dogs though who are thoroughly spoiled and like going outside a bunch to do their business and give the neighbors a good barking. And books, the people that live there are readers, reading decent books.

And from the living space you open a big double door into an office suite. How nice is that!! I don’t know though, that may not be enough space.

One of the neat things about Top of the Town is that from one party you could see the other parties going on. We attended all of them, except for the VIP venue. I heard it wasn’t that good. sniff, sniff.

And here is another one attended.

And yet another.

And got to photograph and see some great buildings from the oil capital days.

And here is the Mayo Hotel with its beautiful terra cotta details and the big neon sign. I love that sign but it is hard to get a decent pic of it.

And one of my favorites, actually a little bit out of downtown. Bruce Goff’s magnificent Boston Avenue Church in all its art deco glory.

We enjoyed music at several venues.

We ended up at the 110 West Seventh Street building, everybody calls it the Oxy Building or the Cities Service building. I worked in the building up until 19 years ago. The top floor was out of date back then, and they haven’t changed a thing!

We had a great time!!

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