OSU FAN

This is Deborah the #1 OSU fan. I met Deborah 25 years ago when she was my daughter's Girl Scout leader. Our daughters went to school together and now we are both Grannys!   This young lady has more energy than anyone I know! She worked at the OSU Extension service for years. She is now selling Real Estate...oh yes, she could sell a ice cube in Alaska. Deborah is just awesome. 

Today is her birthday...I will not disclose her age, because you would not believe it anyway. HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEBORAH! 

Deborah and the Bikers...Counter Protest - Bixby, Oklahoma

If she believes it she will stand up for it! I was proud to know she was there to stand up against those crazy people who have been protesting at funerals.  Good thing I could see grave markers in the photo of her and the Bikers above, or I would have thought she was just out having too much fun. I promise, you just do not want to tick her off...she is little, but mighty!



Chief Gregory Pyle and Deborah



I just have to share this funny story with you about Deborah. She is the most organized human on the planet and I am pretty anal myself. Deborah was always planning trips and educational outings for our children. She always gave everyone a list of what they needed to bring. She instructed how to wrap soft drinks and how to pack lunches, etc so that everyone could put their stuff in the community ice chest and then find it on the trip.

One time there were a whole bunch of kids going on a trip and needed to take sack lunches. They were leaving real early in the morning so you can imagine the amount of confusion in trying to get everything in the coolers, everything and everyone in the vans to arrive where they were going on time. Deborah ask every child at least twice....is your lunch in the cooler? So everything was loaded and off they went.

They arrived and did a few activities and then it was time for lunch. Deborah handed out everyone's lunch and drinks. My daughter said Deborah had a funny look on her face. Deborah had forgot to pack her lunch. I mentioned earlier that I was anal...I never let my children go anywhere that required a sack lunch without packing enough for two people, just in case there was someone who did not have food. Well low and behold, Deborah needed that extra lunch my daughter had in her sack.

This was the time in my daughter's life that she was on a cheese and ketchup sandwich kick! My daughter shared one of the sandwiches with Deborah, and she still laughs remembering the look on Deborah's face as she took that first bite.

Birdhouses

When I went home for the holidays I walked around my Mom's house and took photos of part of her birdhouses. Some are pretty detailed, some are funny and others would make a fun craft project. Enjoy...

Mom's name is Pansy Pearl so this is a personalized birdhouse!

Bathroom birdhouses.

Mom painted this picture of birdhouses. She is a oil painting instructor.

Dandelions

I love dandelions...

Most people think of the common dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) as a pesky weed, but I love them and herbalists consider it a valuable herb with many culinary and medicinal uses. Dandelion is a rich source of vitamins A, B complex, C, and D, as well as minerals such as iron, potassium, and zinc. Its leaves are often used to add flavor to salads, sandwiches, and teas. They make me think of my Daddy, because it was the first "flower" he picked and gave to my Mom when they were teens.

This little bee was loving this pollen in this flower.

In traditional medicine, dandelion roots and leaves were used to treat liver problems. Native Americans also used dandelion as a medicine, by boiling down the herb in water, to treat kidney disease, swelling, skin problems, heartburn, and stomach upset. Chinese traditionally used dandelion to treat digestive disorders, appendicitis, and breast problems causing inflammation or lack of milk flow. In Europe it was used as remedies for fever, boils, eye problems, diabetes, and diarrhea.

Note: the edges of the petels are squared off not round.

The different things I read said dandelion roots are now mainly used as appetite stimulant, digestive aid, and for liver and gallbladder function. Dandelion leaves are used as a diuretic to stimulate the excretion of urine. None of these are things I plan to ever try, but I am not into herbs. I still just see the dandelion as a sign of spring not something I want to eat!



Pinwheels Party Snacks

PINWHEELS

7 or 8 large flour tortillas

2 softened packages of cream cheese

1 small can green chilies

1 can chopped black olives

1 package chopped thin sliced beef

1/2 chopped onion (optional)

Soften cream cheese and mix in chilies, olives, meat, onions. Mix well. Spread mixture on tortilla and roll up as tight as possible. Place rolled up tortillas in plastic bag and chill.

After the tortillas are chilled slice and serve. These are so simple and really tasty!

Eating out...Mexican & Chinese

Last week when Pat came to visit us my husband had a pot of brown beans, a skillet full of  fried taters with onions, and buttermilk cornbread  ready when she arrived on Friday. After the over five hour trip she was glad supper was ready.

Then on Saturday while we were doing the first day of our Western Oklahoma tour, my husband cooked corned beef brisket, carrots, potatoes and cabbage. He also made banana nut muffins. While he was home slaving over the stove, Pat and I stopped at Pedro's in Elk City for lunch, she insisted on treating me to lunch since I was driving. I told her my husband would be jealous, because he loves Pedro's too. Sure enough he ate lunch there on Tuesday, after we had been there Saturday.

This is one of my favorite Mexican food places, except for Ted's in Oklahoma City.

This is what you really call "Get Your Kicks on Route 66," because Pedro's is on Historic Route 66 next to the old Flamingo motel. It is also West 3rd Street.  It is the brightest green building ever! Even the bathroom is that eye popping green.

#31 Fried flour tortilla with shredded chicken and cheese inside, tortilla bowl with sour cream and guacamole, steak strips all on a bed of cheese and lettuce.

Then on Sunday morning he made us blueberry buttermilk pancakes, before we took off on our second day of our Western Oklahoma tour. Sunday evening we had left overs and more fresh cornbread. Monday night he made us grilled fried onion burgers with grilled buns and french fries.

On Tuesday night Pat treated us to Chinese Food at New Young China Restaurant! She had listened to me talk about New Young China's wonderful buffet for so long and she wanted to see what was so special about it. Well, after a few bites of their great Chinese food she said it was better than any she had tried in Arkansas. After all New Young China is on Historic Route 66 also known as Main Street, in Weatherford, Oklahoma, and was awarded one of the TOP 100 CHINESE RESTAURANTS IN THE US for the past two years.

It just doesn't get any better than this! Good friends and good food.

Pat's Western Oklahoma Tour

My friend Pat came to Western Oklahoma from Northwest Arkansas on Friday. Our goal was to travel the countryside and take photos. She is interested in abandoned towns, so in two days we covered 290 miles and took over 800 photographs! I have not had so much fun and laughed so hard in forever. We got up Saturday morning and my husband made us Egg McWiley's which are like the famous Egg McMuffins except made by D. Wiley. He packed us a cooler with water, tea, pop and ice and away we went. The Oklahoma wind did not disappoint...it was blowing like crazy! We even had a six inch rain...where the drops are about six inches apart and only dirty the car. Pat is a REAL photographer so these are my photos of Pat working. She got some great photos to use in her Graphic Design career and I got some fun photos.

We went to the Weatherford Quilt show at the Western Oklahoma Historical Center, Foss, Canute, Elk City, Sayre, Hext, Erick, Cooperton, Gotebo, Cloud Chief, and Corn. All along the way we were pulling off along side the roadway to snap photos of something that was of interest to one or both of us. Some of the sites we photographed were sad, because we could see how beautiful they had been. The workmanship in some of the structures was amazing.

OK now this made us both laugh! 10 minute parking and we were the only two people on the streets. Good thing we were the only ones, because we were there longer than the allotted time. I did stay close to the car. I am sure during the week the sign is needed.

Her plan was to come to Western Oklahoma and then venture on north to the mountains.

Since I really wanted her to stay longer, I just drove her south to see some Oklahoma mountains! Between the great wide open, "you can see forever," landscapes and these mountains she stayed until Wednesday! Thank you mountains!

I had never been to Erick, Oklahoma. I'd been by Erick on I-40, but never ventured to downtown Erick. My son's name is Erick, but I named him before I ever heard of Erick, Oklahoma. Pat took lots of photos there, because of the court type motels along Historic Route 66 "The Mother Road" in Erick.

This church was one of my picks, because I just love church buildings. The Erick Airport sign photo I took out the window, because I thought it added a little character to a plain sign. Also, by the time we got to Erick and had been in and out of the car a million times I was just plain tired.

The one place we would have loved to get closer to was the Cloud Chief school. It sits on private farm land and is posted no trespassing. We tried to be very careful and watch for the signs every place we stopped. Note to self: when going on a Sunday drive in southwest Oklahoma take a five gallon bucket with a lid and a roll of toilet paper. We drove for miles and miles and there was nothing open, and the majority of the time there was just nothing but highway and land.

On Saturday night we drove out of town and took photos of the moon. It was the night it was the closest to the Earth that it had been in 18 years. My husband said it was 17% bigger and 30% brighter than a normal full moon. It was so cloudy we had to try to get photos when it peeked out.

It had to be pretty bright, because I only have a Kodak Easy Share 10.2 Megapixel camera with a 3X Optical Aspheric Lens. I think the moon, clouds and the colors behind them are still pretty. Pat, my husband and I all enjoyed a break in our routines. Her visit was too short, but so much fun. Everyone should be lucky enough to have a lifelong friend like Pat.

Check out her blog at http://pearlcabin.blogspot.com/

National Guard Armory - Clinton and Weatherford

Do you ever drive by great old buildings and wonder about their history. I love seeing the beautiful works of art that have shaped our history. These two great examples of old buildings were projects of WPA - Works Progress Administration renamed Works Projects Administration in 1939.

Both of these armory buildings were added to the National Register of Historic places in 1994. The Architect for both was Bryan W. Nolan. The Clinton, Oklahoma building was built in 1937 and the Weatherford, Oklahoma building research shows it was built between 1935 and 1937.

This is the National Guard Armory in Clinton, Oklahoma. Just look at the details on the building!

All of the white stone strips and diamond shapes added to the brick structure show art deco styling used in many WPA projects.

This next building is the National Guard Armory in Weatherford, Oklahoma.

Though not exactly the same, the building details are very much alike on both structures.

Check out the National Guard Armory in a community near you and see if you find the same WPA features as these two buildings.

Computer Rules!

If you have children or grandchildren that are using a computer I suggest you set some rules and talk to them about computer safety. When our granddaughter was staying with us over the summer, I posted the following rules because she was always on Facebook.

COMPUTER RULES

Do not use any bad words on the computer ever!
Do not say anything bad about anyone at anytime!
Do not open anything unless you know who it is from just delete it if you do not.
Delete all pop up screens.
Do not click on anything that says you have won.
Never open anything that mentions shipment or account, they are usually fake.
Do not open anything that says Microsoft update or other update information.
Be careful about opening attachments, they can be viruses.
This computer has to last so please be careful.

COMPUTER SAFETY

Never give full name or age or birth date
Never give your phone number
Never give your address or town where you live
Never describe your vehicle or tag number
Never give school name or mascot
Never give any of the above information about family or friends
Never tell where you are going or when you will be gone or when you will return
Never "chat" with anyone you do not know

It seems that every day we read or watch the news to see another teen that has been kidnapped, because of the information they were sharing on the computer. Some pervert befriends them and then convinces them to meet them somewhere only to never been seen again or turn up dead. The kidnapping of our youth, girls and boys, to use in sex slave trafficking is unbelievable in this country! PAY ATTENTION!!!

There are thieves out there watching to see who is going on a trip so they can rob their house or apartment. I know teens don't have much common sense, but come on parents you do the same thing! Brag about going to a concert or vacation and you just invite these people to rip you off!

Another big catch with the use of computers and Facebook.....people are losing their jobs because of something stupid they said on their Facebook. THINK before you type! Posting photos of you at the bar or doing something else stupid can get you fired! Everyone out there can see what you are posting!

My small list of Computer Rules and Computer Safety are only a few of the things children and grandchildren should understand about computer usage.

Currently they are passing laws that can put them in jail for things they post on the computer or send on their cell phones. Please pay attention to their cyber activities!

Baby Shadow Box

For my daughter's birthday (after she was grown) I took some of her baby clothes I had saved and put them in a shadow box as a present. I included a gown that was made by my grandmother and a sundress made by my mother in the display.

I put in a couple photos of her wearing some of the same clothes included in the shadow box.

I stuffed her tiny little shoes with pink tissue so they would retain their shape.

This is a good way to preserve baby clothes and still be able to enjoy the memories.

Every time I go to her house and see this shadow box hanging on the wall it makes me smile. Seeing those tiny little shoes, knowing she wears a size 10 now, is a reminder of how fast our babies grow up! I also gave my children their baby books after they turned 30! They think I was quite anal in recording information in their baby books, but they have both used those books as adults to retrieve information.