Full Moon

OK, here is the full moon, finally. It started out sunny and warm but very windy today, then rain and hail, then the sun came out -- typical Oklahoma weather. I am not complaining as 100 miles west of here wildfires have destroyed dozens of homes in Midwest City.

Tonight the moon came up in a mostly clear sky but was behind my neighbor's trees. I had a window of opportunity before the clouds covered it again. This was my best shot. Thank you for your patience. I promise no more moon shots...tonight.

Golf Ball Sized Hail !!

This post reads from top to bottom.


It was sunny and warm earlier today when I was taking pictures in the park. Then it clouded up and started first to rain hard and then hail.


I could hear hail hitting the roof with a loud clatter. Most of the hail was pea-sized but some were larger and were bouncing all over.


When I looked out in the grass I saw one that was very large. The first thing I thought of was that it was truly hail the size of a golf ball! As soon as the storm passed I went out thinking I would pick it up and put it in the freezer to show Susan when she came home.


Sure enough, it was exactly the size of a golf ball. I guess my neighbor across the back fence was practicing his chipping. Yes, I did feel a little silly.

Putting It All Together

This is just one area in Woodward Park which is an example of the layers of trees and shrubs. Dogwoods and redbud trees fill the understory beneath tall Oak trees which are yet to leaf out. Along the floor are azaleas. The park is full of these views. Woodward Park is also home to a spectacular rose garden, but that will have to be a coming attraction. I know that there are many cities with beautiful parks and gardens, but Tulsa is the place where I live, and I think it is great.


Here is an entire neighborhood where each garden is filled with beauty that runs down each side of the street.


Here is a residence with white dogwood, pink dogwood, Japanese maple and redbud trees all mixed and blooming at the same time. Beneath are azaleas although they are not quite in bloom yet.

I have tried to show you some of the beautiful flowering trees and shrubs to be found here in Tulsa. What is really nice is when they are all put together to compliment each other. Beginning now and for the next 3 or 4 weeks this whole part of Tulsa is filled with beauty. This is not to say that it is not lovely at other times, but now is really special.

98% Full Moon

Another moon picture. Tonight is hazy and this is the best I can do. The weather man on TV said that the air quality is bad today because of dust and smoke. I will use that as an excuse. You are probably getting tired of my moon pictures but I am trying to figure out how to set the camera for different things and a good moon picture is a challenge. Tomorrow the moon is completely full but it is supposed to rain. Please be patient with me.

Azaleas are in Bloom

When they bloom the colors are very intense. Different varieties bloom at different times so that in a large planting the colorful show lasts for about a month. I have some in my back garden that are not quite in bloom yet but when they are I will brag about them.


Azaleas come in many shades of red, pink, white and purple. Some are single and some are double. All are beautiful.


Azaleas come in a wide variety of colors and form very thick compact shrubs that bloom all at once and last for a week or so. Driving through the old midtown part of Tulsa is to be treated to garden after garden of beautiful azaleas.


Northeastern Oklahoma in general and Tulsa in particular is noted for its Azaleas. A member of the rhododendron family these shrubs burst into bloom over a period of weeks in early to mid spring. They are very popular as foundation plantings. Azaleas were once thought of as too delicate for the hot Oklahoma summers but adapt well in northern exposures and under high shade. They are planted in great masses in parks. Tomorrow I will show you some highlights of beautiful Woodward Park in Tulsa. Honor Heights Park in Muskogee, Oklahoma has an annual Azalea Festival that draws visitors from a large area. It is worth the drive.

Almost Full Moon

The moon is almost full. My tech-smart nephew gave me some tips on how to sharpen up my moon shot. This is better but I think there is still room for improvement. The new camera is amazing. I am working my way up the learning curve.

White Dogwood

Dogwoods are relatively small trees that branch horizontally rather than growing tall. This growing habit makes them suitable for planting close to a building. A popular combination is to plant a dogwood in a foundation planting over azaleas. They may be espaliered but usually are allowed to grow naturally.


Since dogwoods are often planted close together or under larger trees they do not generally get very large. When planted out in the open this is about as large as a dogwood gets.


Dogwoods tend to spread out rather than up, and as a result the blooms lay in long sprays or layers. This gives them the kind of wide graceful lines of a Japanese Bonzai trees on a larger scale. There are many beautiful trees that bloom in the spring, but to me, the most magnificent is the dogwood.

Smokey and I took a long drive through the older part of Tulsa centered around 31st and Lewis. The dogwood trees are coming into full bloom and I took many more nice photographs than I can possibly post here. Once they start blooming they will dominate the garden landscapes for weeks. They are very striking when planted with redbud trees, or with a mixture of pink and red. They are gorgeous when planted with azaleas. Today let's admire some white dogwoods.

Pink Dogwood

This beautiful Pink Dogwood is on the grounds of Christ Church Episcopal where we worship. Notice how the flowers seem to lie in flat layers due to the way the branches grow. Dogwoods naturally grow in sheltered places often as the understory of a forest. Looking out through a wooded area the dogwoods shine like lights under the taller trees.

Stepping delicately out of the dark wood
the startling loveliness of the dogwood in bloom
makes each tree seem a presence,
calling forth an exclamation of praise.
On the almost naked branches
the blossoms shine forth in long flat sprays
turning their pure faces up towards the sky.

David Culross Peattie

Emily's First Birthday

Finally she was packed with ice cream until her eyes started to glaze over. At last she was carried off to the bath tub for a soak and a nap. It was a great party. Thank you Jeff and Amber.


Then came the birthday cake. There was a large cake intended for all the guests, but Emily got her very own little cake. She was stripped for action and had at it. She dived in with both hands and obviously enjoyed it.


Then the presents were opened. Mom helped to open presents and dad Jeff held Emily while she watched. She got some very nice toys, all very educational of course. There were lots of cute little girly dresses. A girl can't have too many clothes.


Amber and baby Emily

Our friends and neighbors across the street invited us to their daughter Emily's birthday. First birthdays are a big deal. They invited a great crowd of friends and family, Jeff smoked a pork roast and fed us very well.

Palm Sunday

The ladies have folded strips of palm leaves into little crosses for members of the congregation to pin to our shirts. After the service we had Deviled Eggs and English Hot Cross Buns with our coffee.

The Dogwoods are Blooming

Red Dogwood. Really a deep pink, but georgous. Just wait for the big show, this is just the preview, but I couldn't wait.


Classic White Dogwood.

My favorite of all the trees that bloom in the spring are the Dogwoods. They are just coming into flower but a few of them are out. The graceful cross shaped four-petal flowers have notches in the end of each petal. The legend is that they bloom at Easter to commemorate the crucifixion and that the notches are the nail marks. May be just a nice story but certainly a beautiful flower. When a large tree is in bloom the flowers lie in layers. I will get better pictures very soon.

Waxing Gibbous Moon

After the first quarter, when the sunlit portion is increasing, and is more than half, it is called a waxing gibbous moon.

Tonight was very clear and the moon was bright. I put my new camera on a tripod to hold it steady and ran the zoom up as far as it will go. Here is the result. Not like an observatory telescope but pretty darn good. The moon will be full April 9 and I am hoping for a clear night.

Tulsa Chainsaw Sculpture

The detail is very impressive. Coss is a real artist. The sculpture has been saturated with preservative and measures taken to prevent it from decay. Eventually it will deteriorate, but maybe it will be brought inside before that happens. Tulsa used to have a lot of huge old Elm trees that have been decimated by Dutch Elm desease. Most are just cut down and hauled off. To me this is a much better use of the tree. I hope you like it.


There was an abandoned commercial structure here that was torn down and a modern building constructed for the motorcycle dealership. I remember the tree was a very large old Elm that forked into two main trunks. Each side of the fork was used for the two wings. The tree was stubbed off into the large "Y" shape. At the time i wondered why the stump was left standing.


An old Elm tree has been transformed into a large handsome American Eagle in front of the Myers-Duren Harley-DavidsonMotorcycle Shop.

Tulsa is home to chainsaw artist Clayton Coss. That's right, he uses a chainsaw to carve trees into very detailed and beautiful outdoor sculptures. Coss uses three sizes of chainsaw: the largest with a 36-inch bar for the major pieces to be removed, the second having a 16-inch bar for roughing out and the third a pointed 12-inch bar for the fine finish. A "bar" is the metal, slotted blade the cutting chain runs around when the saw is operating. He has done literally thousands of these over the past 20 years.

A recent Artical about Coss from the Tulsa World is HERE:

Clayton Coss has a Web Site HERE:

A time lapse video of Coss sculpting an eagle for the Tulsa Boys Home is HERE:

Arkansas Riverpark

The hiking/biking trail running adjacent to the river is greening up and looking nice. The city of Tulsa is reworking the trail, creating separate paths for runners and bikers, and putting in more lights to illuminate the trail at night. Most of the northern part of the trail is finished and they are working their way south. This should be even nicer when they are finished.


Last week's rain has filled the river. When the water level is low the Arkansas is more a sand bar than a river. Today it is filled side to side and flowing fast. A brisk wind from the South even fans up some little whitecaps.

April Fool's Day

April 1st is known as April Fools Day in many countries. This is the day for tricks and practical jokes. Wikipedia has a great article listing a number of famous April Fool Pranks. To see the entire article look HERE:

Here are a few of the highlights.

* Alabama Changes the Value of Pi: The April 1998 newsletter of New Mexicans for Science and Reason contained an article written by physicist Mark Boslough claiming that the Alabama Legislature had voted to change the value of the mathematical constant pi to the "Biblical value" of 3.0. This claim originally appeared as a news story in the 1961 science fiction novel Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein.


* Spaghetti trees: The BBC television programme Panorama ran a famous hoax in 1957, showing the Swiss harvesting spaghetti from trees. They had claimed that the despised pest, the spaghetti weevil, had been eradicated. A large number of people contacted the BBC wanting to know how to cultivate their own spaghetti trees. It was, in fact, filmed in St Albans.


* Left Handed Whoppers: In 1998, Burger King ran an ad in USA Today, saying that people could get a Whopper for left-handed people whose condiments were designed to drip out of the right side. Not only did customers order the new burgers, but some specifically requested the "old", right-handed burger.


* Taco Liberty Bell: In 1996, Taco Bell took out a full-page advertisement in The New York Times announcing that they had purchased the Liberty Bell to "reduce the country's debt" and renamed it the "Taco Liberty Bell." When asked about the sale, White House press secretary Mike McCurry replied tongue-in-cheek that the Lincoln Memorial had also been sold and would henceforth be known as the Lincoln Mercury Memorial.


* San Serriffe: The Guardian printed a supplement in 1977 praising this fictional resort, its two main islands (Upper Caisse and Lower Caisse), its capital (Bodoni), and its leader (General Pica). Intrigued readers were later disappointed to learn that San Serriffe (sans serif) did not exist except as references to typeface terminology.


* Metric time: Repeated several times in various countries, this hoax involves claiming that the time system will be changed to one in which units of time are based on powers of 10.


* Smell-o-vision: In 1965, the BBC purported to conduct a trial of a new technology allowing the transmission of odor over the airwaves to all viewers. Many viewers reportedly contacted the BBC to report the trial's success. [12] In 2007, the BBC website repeated an online version of the hoax.

* Tower of Pisa: The Dutch television news reported once in the 1950s that the Tower of Pisa had fallen over. Many shocked people contacted the station

Choux a la Creme - Cream Puffs

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I broke one open so you can see the whipped cream inside. Of course since it was damaged I had to eat it. None of these made it home. They were delicious. Thank you Micki!


They puff up in crisp hollow balls which are filled with either pudding or sweetened whipped cream. The top can be sliced off and filled with a spoon or the filling can be inserted with a pastry tube. Susan did all the work and I squirted whipped cream in each one from a tube. It was messy but fun. The final touch was to sprinkle them with powdered sugar.


They were baked for 25 minutes in a 420*F oven.


Rounded teaspoons of dough are placed on parchment paper in baking pans.

A few days ago Micki posted a photo of her beautiful Choux a la Creme. I asked about it and she very kindly emailed the recipe to me. Susan tried it out this afternoon and we took the results to our Tuesday night study group at church. It was a smash hit. We expected it to be complicated but it was easy. Here is the recipe.

CHOUX A LA CRÈME - CREAM PUFFS

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 cup water
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 4 eggs

DIRECTIONS

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
• In a large pot, bring water and butter to a rolling boil.
• Stir in flour and salt until the mixture forms a ball.
• Transfer the dough to a large mixing bowl.,
• Beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each.
• Drop by tablespoonfuls onto a baking sheet covered with baking paper.
• Bake for about 25 minutes without opening the oven, or until golden brown.
• When the shells are cool, fill them with the sweetened whipped cream or with pudding..
• Either slice open the top and fill with a spoon, or poke a hole in the side and fill from a pastry bag.

This is Micki's recipe modified to work with English measuring units. Thank you Micki !!

Neighborhood Creek

One of the lovely homes in the area. No, this is not our home. We have somewhat more modest quarters.


There are many things I like about the older part of Tulsa where we live. One is that is home to many little ponds and streams that wind through the old neighborhoods. Here is a little creek that runs in the general area of the Tulsa Tennis Club. On both sides of the creek are the back yards of two streets of houses. If I were a child living in this neighborhood I would be looking for crayfish in here.

Redbud Valley

This is the view along the road side. Because of the snow fall the pink blooms looked even brighter due to the contrast. By today the snow was all gone.


There is an area in Northeast Tulsa that is known as Redbud Valley because of the number of Redbud trees that grow wild there. At the far north end of 161st East Avenue is the Tulsa Redbud Nature Park where scenic hiking trails lead the walker through a little touch of wilderness. Our friend Renny would enjoy this.


These are wild native Redbud trees. They self-seed and are found along road sides and dotting the hill sides all overEeastern Oklahoma and the surrounding states. Because they are beautiful and very hardy, they are also planted around many homes and businesses. This time of year they put on a lovely show.

Snow Today, Gone Tomorrow

Here is a little panorama of my back yard, two photos stitched together courtesy of ZoomBrowser. Again, this was earlier this morning. By 3:00 PM the snow is almost all gone. Sue and I took a little drive after church and took some pictures of Redbud Valley. I will share those tomorrow.


The snow stopped during the night and this morning the sun came out. I took a few pictures before we went to church, and by the time we returned it was mostly melted and now the temperature is around 60*F (16*C). As you can see my Lilac bush is bowed but unbroken. I will tie it back and it will be fine.

Sunday Jigsaw Puzzle - Lilacs

My lilacs were blooming and spreading their sweet fragrance a few days ago. They were pounded by a late spring snow yesterday but may have survived as it did not freeze very hard. In the mean time, here is a jigsaw puzzle for you to enjoy with your coffee.

Lilacs

My Late Great Lilacs. Rest in peace.
Click to play Jigsaw Puzzle