Arkansas Fall 2010 Moccasin Gap Trails

We rode at night with a full moon above

Our four wheelers are in love

My love

self photo non gratus

This our group shot.  We set my camera's 10 second timer and Mark (the one
leaning down ran from quite a distance through rocks and water to get there)

Close up of our Scorpions

Here is the first attempt at running to make the shot.  Mark runs every morning.

Arkansas Trip Fall 2010 018.MTS

this and that

 I do love this

and I do love camouflage

Happy Halloween

My cat Kissa yawning

Long Time No See

I have been away so long.  I'm on Facebook practically every day but I haven't found the energy or time to look at blogs lately.  Can you believe I don't read The Pioneer Woman's blog anymore?  I used to check it religiously but now I  can't find the time.  I see her posts on Facebook sometimes and wander over if I feel like it but I have just not been interested in spending that much time on the computer.  Except I manage to give FB a quick check several times a day if I'm home.  It's just easier I guess.  I still have everyone on my google reader and perhaps will get the urge to read blogs again.  But it does take a lot of time and before you know it you haven't gotten anything done that you need to do. 

I have a new development in my life.  My granddaughter's dad has gone to work for my husband and he brings the baby over to me five days a week.  Now do you see what I've been doing with my time?  I am enjoying every minute.  I can't think of a more important thing to get to do.  She is on a list for the daycare at the hospital where her mother works but until she gets placed she is at my daycare.  And I'm good!  No one is going to take better care of this baby.  I'm certain of it. :))

Sunmaid

My daughter told me that when she was little she thought I looked like the Sunmaid girl on the Sunmaid Raisin boxes.  Yesterday was Mother's Day and after lunch the girls snapped a shot of me.  What do you think?  

Golden Driller

The Golden Driller is reportedly the largest free-standing statue in the world. He is 76 feet tall, so high that he rests his right hand atop an actual production oil derrick. Built of iron and concrete, he weighs nearly 22 tons and is expected to survive 200 mph tornadoes. He was declared Oklahoma's official state monument in 1979, and the plaque at his base dedicates him "to the men of the petroleum industry who by their vision and daring have created from God's abundance a better life for mankind."

There is surprisingly little room between the Golden Driller and the parking lot, and standing near his base provides a steep and somewhat saucy angle. Every few years some official talks of moving him deeper into the Fairgrounds, where he would be less likely to alarm passing motorists. But The Golden Driller remains where he has been for over 40 years, guarding the entrance to the International Petroleum Exhibition Building, which showcases trucks with three-story-tall tires and the latest models in back yard derricks.

Today was a windy day in Oklahoma.  We visited the RV and Boat Show and I shot this photo of the Golden Driller.  He was built in 1953.
****Disclaimer***I know this is not the largest statue in the world.  Not by far.  This was just information about the driller from an old article.  :))

Flamingoes

I love flamingoes.

I didn't realize they were such a noisy and rather mean bird.

We visited them at the zoo yesterday.  They are a lot more pink 

at the zoo because of the dye that is in their food pellets. 

In the wild their color comes from

carotenoid proteins in their diet of animal and plant plankton.

Caribbean Flamingo

Some flamingoes live high in the Andes of South America.  They do a funny dance of courtship.

Massive volcanoes and flamingo colony-South America -BBC

Can You See the Real Me?

I am black and white, antique, and original.  Will the real me please stand up?
We went to see Roger Daltrey of the Who and Eric Clapton last night at the BOK Center.

Roger Daltrey sang some classics such as "Behind Blue Eyes."

Clapton sang some classics such as "Layla" and "CrossRoads".  One of my favorite songs he sang was "You Look Wonderful Tonight."  

He sang "Rock and Roll Heart."

He also sang "Change the World."  
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGDIxcuPT7s
But "You Look Wonderful Tonight" tops it for me!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NaMuBX4aMmw
WT:  Did you see Clapton in Hyde Park back in 1966?  I guess you aren't that old...

Chauffeur For a Day

Once Einstein was on his way to deliver a speech to university students. His faithful chauffeur not only drove his car, but was always present amongst the audience during all his speeches. Einstein had delivered this particular speech so many times that his chauffeur had actually memorized it. On that day Einstein, while on his way to the university, said aloud in his car that he felt tired. So his chauffeur suggested that they change places and that while he delivers the speech, Einstein could drive them back home. Their identities wouldn’t be a problem because Einstein wasn’t more than a university professor then and so no one in that university would recognize him. So he agreed but was a little thoughtful about what his chauffeur would do if he was asked any difficult questions by the students, after the speech. However, the speech went well but Einstein’s thought came true. A student came up with a question. Here’s what the chauffeur said “Why, that question’s so simple, that even my chauffeur can answer it.” And so Einstein stood up from the audience and easily answered the question, much to the amazement of the audience.

Lowering Cholesterol Slideshow: 15 Tips for Avoiding Heart Disease

Lowering Cholesterol Slideshow: 15 Tips for Avoiding Heart Disease

Absente, mais pas d'esprit

I have been absent from my blog for quite some time. I just have not had a thing to say I suppose. I've been messing with facebook and reading my google reader of blogs but not diligently. Being a grandma takes time. Especially when the daughter is finishing college. She will graduate this spring. We've went through some changes over here at the hacienda. We put new bamboo floors down in the living room, hallway, and bedroom. That took a lot of my time moving furniture and CLEANING and getting rid of unnecessary items. Also cleaning a few closets. We bought some new leather furniture for the living room and that required more moving too. You should have seen my husband and I moving a sofa bed into a distant bedroom. We had to stand it on its end and then turn it around a tight corner and remove the bedroom door for it to fit. I am surprised we made it and no arguments either. Whew!!

I have been making new recipes and eating out occasionally too. We are planning a spring break trip to Arkansas again. This time we will be sleeping in our RV and our friends have toy haulers. We will get to try out our little shower and I do mean little! I don't believe we will use the toilet, don't want to clean that out or be left with any fumes. The campground we are staying out will have showers and bathrooms.

I bought a new laptop for our business computer so I could be portable and the old computer was failing. I got a monster screen 18.4". It's taking some getting used to with the keyboard being so different. I had the most difficult time loading my Quickbooks and importing my old files. I have done this before but this time it seems that everything that could go wrong did. Being on the phone with support team was not the most pleasant experience. I had to have remote access help. After about four hours, it was accomplished.

I will finish with this update. The title of this post reads "Absent, but not minded".