Tulsa Garden Center, Outside

The weather has been cold and bleak but the hardy pansies bloom right through the cold weather and provide a welcome splash of color. There is always something in bloom at the garden center.

The interiors of the mansion are very beautiful. I will share some photos from inside another time.

The greenhouse and sunken garden give the back garden a victorian look. Sometimes orchids are displayed inside.

Parking in in the rear which has become the main entrance.

I love the round room with windows on the south side.

TULSA GARDEN CENTER MANSION

The Italian style villa at 2435 South Peoria, was designed by Tulsa architect, Noble B. Flemming in 1920. It has twenty-one rooms and ten bathrooms. It was built by David R. Travis (originally known as David Rabinowitz) an immigrant originally from Czarist Russia. The ballroom in the lower level was the location of the first Jewish services during the Travis residence since there was no synagogue or temple in Tulsa.

Samuel Travis built the house immediately south, which is now owned by the Tulsa Historical Society. In 1923 J. Harthur Hull purchased the home and built the Lord Burnham greenhouse and sunken garden. During the Depression the house and 10 acres was offered for sale for $25,000 with no buyer coming forward for several years.

The Snedden family finally purchased the mansion and property in 1934 and lived there until 1950, when oil man W.G. Skelly purchased the home. Mr. Skelly sold it in 1954 for $85,000 including ten acres to the City of Tulsa. Since then, the Tulsa Garden Center has operated the city-owned facility providing educational resources and meeting places for horticultural and environmental organizations.

Woodward Park with its beautiful Azalea Gardens, the multilevel Municipal Rose Garden, and the Tulsa Garden Center are all located on this 10 acre plot.  This is a municipal treasure.

Downtown Tulsa from the West Bank

Here is the core of downtown Tulsa with the old brick Sophian Plaza apartments in the foreground.

The University Club Tower is the round building at the right and on the left are the Mansion House Apartments. Rather dated from the outside but very nice (and expensive) on the inside.

It was a sunny day and I want out to experiment a bit with my new Canon PowerShot SX10. I revisited the West bank of the Arkansas River near the Amphitheater and took pictures of the Tulsa Skyline.

Remembering Betty

Betty, her husband Don and I were part of a group from Tulsa Community College that did a great tour of England and France in June of 2000. Here we are eating lunch at an outdoor cafe in Tours, France. This is how I will remember Betty, interested in everything around her and enjoying it all.

Graveside for Betty

The sun broke out and smiled on us just as the benediction was said.

Cortage to Wagoner

We had a hard rain last night and the skies are still dark as I drive to Wagoner for the graveside.

Service for Betty

St Anne's Catholic Church, Broken Arrow, Oklahoma.

Funeral Mass for Betty

We are attending a memorial service for our dear friend Betty. She and I were friends since high school. She was a sweet loving person and enjoyed every minute of her life.

Sarah is 14

Home made cake and home made ice cream cake. Yum.

Sarah is 14

My beautiful granddaughter Sarah celebrates her 14th with friends and family.

Fifth Sunday After the Epiphany

The stained glass window above the altar looks much sharper thanks to my new camera. Praise the Lord (and thanks to St. Susan).

Riverpark at the Pedestrian Bridge

Turning around and looking up river is the 21st street bridge. The clouds are interesting. We are forecast for rain tomorrow.

Riverpark at the Pedestrian Bridge

The telephoto lets me move in close to the low water dam and eliminate distracting detail. Click on the picture to see it larger. Now you see the little duck.

Riverpark at the Pedestrian Bridge

One of the features of the Arkansas Riverpark is an old railroad trestle just above 31st street which has been turned into a pedestrian bridge. At this same point is a low water dam which keeps the river full upstream from here. My new camera takes in all the detail.

Waiting For Susan

Smokey and I are waiting for Susan to come out of Kohl's Department store. She is buying a birthday present for my granddaughter Sarah. We will drive over to Wagoner tomorrow after church for her birthday dinner. I have no clue what to get for a 14 year old girl but Sue will find just the right thing.

A New Camera

This is 20x magnification or 560mm OPTICAL zoom! It can be pushed even more by another 4x digital zoom. Amazing. It has lots of other features I will share with you as soon as I figure them out. Happy Birthday to me! Thanks, Sue.

A New Camera

This camera has more features than I know what to do with. Fortunately, while I study its 289 page User Guide it will take superb photos by default in "Dummy" mode. Here is the Fellowship Church where I attend my AA meetings most days at noon. This is actually about a 28mm wideangle. I scaled this down so it would load faster but the detail is amazing.

A New Camera

I began this blog posting photos from my iPhone. It has the advantage of posting directly from the iPhone to the internet via email which is really quick and convenient. However as a camera it has quite a few limitations. Sometimes I post better photos that I load to my computer from a Fuji Z1 which is better, but still not all that great.

Several months ago my internet friend Sharon who posts her blog "Hodgepodge" from Hawaii got a new camera and began posting superb photographs. Now the fact that she lives in paradise gives her a big advantage, but the quality of the photos is amazing. Well, I contracted the new camera bug, and after a lot of shameless hinting my dear sweet wife bought me the same camera for my birthday.

Here it is, a Canon PowerShot SX10 IS in all its glory.

Brady District

The old downtown area around the Brady theater was largely falling into disrepair like the old downtown areas of many cities. Tulsa has worked hard to bring attractions into the area like the new BOK center, and a new baseball park to be built next year. A lot of new restaurants and pubs have started bringing more people into the area. The Blue Dome Diner where my son Luke cooks is a good example. The area in general is called the "Brady District", and is as they say, a happening place.

Brady Theater

Completed in 1914, the Brady Theater was originally designed as a municipal auditorium and convention hall. The building was known as Convention Hall for the first forty years of its life. When the facility officially opened, it was billed as the largest hall between Kansas City and Houston.

The Brady Theater is in the old part of downtown Tulsa north of the railroad tracks was a thriving area in the early days.  As time went by, the tall buildings went up on the south side and the old area became run down.  More recently it has been revived as an arts and entertainment  area.

Some of the greatest names in show business have graced the Historic Brady Theater stage. A partial listing of those artists who have performed at the Historic Brady Theater: Enrico Caruso, Chet Atkins, Tony Bennett, Blood Sweat & Tears, Pat Boone, Glen Campbell, Chicago, Roy Clark, Rosemary Clooney, George M. Cohan, Phil Collins, David Allen Coe, Alice Cooper, David Copperfield, Bill Cosby, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, John Fogerty, Kenny G., Gallagher, Genesis, Al Green, Merle Haggard, Don Henley, Buddy Holly, Tom Jones, Journey, Kansas, B.B. King, Cyndi Lauper, Lyle Lovett, Motley Crue, Willie Nelson, Ted Nugent, John Prine, Kenny Rogers, Will Rogers, Styx, Ed Sullivan, Randy Travis, U2, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Robin Williams, Dwight Yoakam, and many many more.

Autograph Book

One of the family things that has been passed down to me is an autograph book that belonged to my great aunt's first husband, Mr. Christian, who died soon after they married. I know little about him other than he was thought to be an honorable gentleman. I believe this book originally belonged to his father. It has Mr. Christian's name in the flyleaf and is dated 1868.

At the time a great deal was made of penmanship. A fine hand was the mark of an educated gentleman and was practiced and refined to an art. It was common to keep an autograph book in which one collected the signatures and momentos of one's friends. Those who were sufficiently skilled would add a calligraphic drawing, often of a bird, which demonstrated the skills of the writer.  There are quite a number of these in Mr. Christian's autograph book, of which I will post a few examples.

My middle son, David Christian Miller, was named for this gentleman who had no children of his own, and it will pass to David when I am no longer the holder.