Sunday, September 23, 2018

Just Some Random Photos

 I did a real estate shoot at the lake this week. And while I had the camera handy, snapped a couple other shots.

Beautiful Khaleesi on a sunny morning.


These morning glories!! I planted seeds in a basket 3 years ago. They started off ok, but then tuckered out.


I transplanted them in the ground and they came back, but didn't do much.


Last year, they didn't even try to grow. So what a big surprise when they came up this summer and took off! This corner is filling up very nicely.


I snapped this at the boat dock. I liked the composition.



Someone did a neat lighthouse carving on an old tree.


A fun little garden statue.


That's it! :)

Friday, September 21, 2018

Game of Thrones in the Big D

(Disclaimer: all pix are from my phone. I always feel the need to explain that when I've not used my Canon)

Last weekend we did a quick trip to the Big D - Dallas!


And it was for a very important reason - another "Game of Thrones Experience Concert!" I've had my tickets for months. It was at the American Airlines Center. This is the long line of fans waiting for the doors to open.


I asked an usher how many people they estimated were there. She pulled out her official document and said 10,000. I hate crowds! If I had known that, I might have chickened out. Glad I didn't know.

And here we are inside, waiting to geek out.


The music was phenomenal, of course. I was a tad disappointed in the staging this time. The 2017 tour had multiple stages, House banners & Citadel armillary spheres hanging from the ceiling, and multiple screens. There was much more  multi-media & special effects.


This one was just a main stage & 2 very small ones, one with a rising platform. There were pyro effects when the dragons were onscreen, but again, less than last time.


Ramin Djawdi himself conducts the orchestra and he played the organ on the rising stage. It was the song where Cersei blows up the Sept of Baelor. There's a buildup of green lights & smoke, depicting the green wildfire in the show, which crescendos into a big green explosion surrounding the organist at the end of the song. It's pretty cool.


One of the best effects in this particular show was the violinist playing the haunting theme of House Stark. As she rises, it appears to be a Weirwood tree with the red leaves falling.

So now the concert's behind me and the long winter is here. Well, not literally here in Oklahoma, but the temps have dropped a lot this evening! No, we're still waiting for George to finish "Winds of Winter" and for the GoT team to edit Season 8. It's projected to air end of spring next year or thereabouts. It seems like a long wait for all those goodies to drop, but if there's one thing I've noticed the past few years, it's that time does indeed fly. Like warp speed.


We stayed at the neatest hotel, the Lorenzo. It was very unique!


Blue statues seemed to be a thing.


And anatomically correct.




I think one of them jumped. I found a blue splat on the parking lot.




Inside is very artsy. In fact, they advertise that 600 original works of art are within the hotel - including the bed headboards! This is part of the lobby.


Black chandeliers in the elevator hallway.



This is a hallway - eyes on one side, round mirrors on the other.


Unique display of room numbers, but look closely - there's a story! Scroll on....






This is the concrete ceiling of our room.


The carpet is printed with fragments of classic literature.


Look at this amazing room!


Lest you assume we splurged, the cost was comparable to most chain hotels. It just didn't include breakfast (which is not saying much).


Well, there was a little bit of splurging - hubby wanted a corner room with a view.


Thru that doorway is a coffee bar, closet & bathroom.


Mirrors over the coffee bar. They do like their mirrors at the Lorenzo.



The nightscape of Dallas.


And all too quickly, it was back to the big sky of Oklahoma.



Sunday, June 24, 2018

My Arkansas Travelogue - part 1

I've been promising for weeks now to post some pictures from our weekend trip to Arkansas. This first batch will probably be boring as it's all garden shots.


We stopped on a whim at the botanical garden in Fayetteville. We were pleasantly surprised at how nice it is.



There are whimsical sculptures everywhere.



These chairs are concrete with a glass mosaic worked in the back. Some kind of moss made for a seat cushion.



In case you can't tell what it is, this arch is made of various garden tools.



A little area of fairy houses.







There are lots of bridges, nooks & crannies to explore. I think even kids would enjoy this place. The train is concrete.


We didn't venture to this building. It was a pretty warm day and getting warmer! I would suggest visiting at the peak of spring, when there's lots of flowers blooming, but aim for cool temps.



You'll see lots of colorful birds in a quiet & peaceful setting in this particular area where there are several feeders and benches for the humans.


There's a butterfly garden/house. We worked up a sweat trying to photograph the butterflies. Then all at once, every one of them stopped in place. Do they have some kind of buzzer only they can hear that tells them it's break time - like some kind of butterfly union? It was weird!







Our favorite stop. Twin swings! I would love this in my backyard.



I couldn't decide which one to post...


I want to say this was called the Asian garden, but now I don't remember. That's a big insect sculpture to the right, below.


A grass hut in the tropical section.







This would be a nice stop on any day trip from the Tulsa area or NW Arkansas. Check it out!