cgbeads -

Found these growing in the yard this week (June, 2007). I prune them as if they
were a tree instead of a bush and I always get the prettiest hibiscus flowers.
The second one is set against the sky as a backdrop.

We went out driving the other night after the freezing rain. The lights in the park lit up the ice accumulation on the branches of this tree. Looks like a great character for a sci-fi movie.

I took this picture a couple of weeks ago of the full moon. It has a bit of an eeriness to it. How many faces do you see in the moon?

It rained here last week and I caught some great shots of some raindrops on flowers.

Fall???

What season is it?? I took this picture a couple of days ago on July 29, 2006. Look at all the leaves on the ground. This drought is gonna effect a lot of trees if we don't catch up soon. FYI: I live just north of Dallas.

ClipClop

So, when was the last time you took the family out for a Sunday drive in the conestoga? We heard this unmistakable clip clip the other day. Glad I had my camera in my hand. What a treat for those kids.

Found this rose on one of my bushes this week. This is one
of the most perfect roses
I've seen in a long time.
The color is a lot deeper
than in the picture too.

Where else but in Texas could you find a 'Star Burgers' fast food joint.
OK, where else but in Texas would you want to build a 'Star Burgers' fast food joint.

Did the owner of this car drive into the parking spot, or did he back in?

Makes you wonder, does it have two engines or not?

Guess what city I visited last week? Those of you who live in Seattle already know. This is the Fremont Troll. He lives under the Aurora Avenue Bridge (go figure) and he was made of cement in 1990 by some local artists and is 18 ft tall. Yep, that's a real Volkswagen he has a death grip on. He is becoming quit a tourist trap, when we where there two tour busses showed up.

Granite mountain, marble falls texas

Granite Mountain's pink granite dome covers roughly 180 acres, rises more than 100 feet above the surrounding countryside and is the largest quarry of its kind in the United States. On July 29, 1885 the owners donated granite sufficient and suitable for the building and completion of the entire State Capital Building. Convict labor was contracted to cut the granite into blocks for shaping. Mule drawn flat cars hauled the blocks to the shaping grounds and a narrow gauge railroad was specially built to haul the 15,700 carloads of granite to the Capital Building site in Austin. The Texas Capital is second in size only to the National Capital. When constructed, it was said to be the seventh largest building in the world. And why do I care you might ask? I use to live a few miles from the mountain and it is spectacular to see up close. I took this picture from about 4-5 miles away. I've been told it's like an iceberg as to how much is underground, and don't forget over 100 years worth of quarrying has already been hauled off.

Chihuly Rose Bush

I ordered a new rose bush this year, it’s called a Chihuly rose and if you are familiar with glassblowing, you will know why it is call that. The bush is only a sprig this year so the rose is only the size of a miniature rose but it is lovely. Can’t wait until they get to be full sized roses, kind of like wishing your kids would grow up too.

We Grow Them A Little Different Here

If you saw my auctions last week you know that I was out of town. I went down into the hill country of Texas, outside of Austin, to be with my parents after mom's surgery (hopefully the cancer is all gone this time). Took my camera along to look for something weird....well, I found these cows/steers just sitting outside a little liquor store.

Christmas Dinner

When you marry a champion BBQ cooker, this is how you make Christmas dinner, you just don't expect to see it covered in snow in Texas. At the height of their cook-off career, he and his cooking partner placed 6th at the Kansas City cook-off. For those of you that don't know, that's the Olympics of BBQ cook-offs. Not only do you have to qualify, you then have to be invited and roughly 600 teams get to go from literally ALL over the world. Oh, can you tell I'm proud of him and that it's no wonder I stopped doing the cooking when we got married?

Barbers Point Light House

Sometimes a mistake turns out OK. I took this sunset picture at Germains Luau at Barbers Point on Oahu. I had the exposure set a little dark but boy it turned out pretty darn good. (I'm off to check if we have enough frequent flyer miles to go to again)

which Way Do I Go

Ya, it was problbly photoshopped
but ya gotta love it anyway.

(this one is my all time favorite and I will be eternally grateful to Al for inventing the internet, without it I would have to go get a job in some stuffy office.)

Terror Alert High

Guess it's close enough to elections to pull this picture out of the archives. No, we did not photoshop this, we stopped the PVR and ran for the camera when this came on the TV, guess it was last year or so, can't quite remember. When Fox put the terror alert up on the screen, well the position couldn't have been funnier. Look under Al Gore's name. Ain't technology great.

September Roses (2004)

Summer isn't over yet. These are roses I cut from one of my rose bushes September 8th. The tall one (next to the door handle) has a three foot stem and the flowers are from 3-1/2 to 4 inches. Last year I had one with a five foot stem but can't find the picture. I finally pruned the cr** out of it last fall and cut off a base stem that was almost an inch in diameter. I wonder if that's why I didn't get a five footer again this year? Guess I pissed it off.

Live Bait Machine

Ya just never know when you're going to need that camera. We actually went home to get the camera and drove back some 40 miles one way to take a picture of this vending machine. Need a glass of Chardonnay with that entree of live bait?

(since I wrote this one, I've heard
they are all over the place.)

Thought I would give you a view of why my auctions have been a little sparse this month. 15 years ago, I promised a cousin that I would make some stained glass windows for a retirement home they wanted to build someday. About a month ago, someday arrived. Pictured are 3 of the 5 windows. Congratulations Ken & Cheryle, only 6 month more of check writing to go until you can realize your dream.
This is the stained glass panel I made for my daughter.