Cemetery Tree

I always love to look for cool old trees in cemeteries... the kind that you can tell have been around for a long time... with knots and long branches that wave around and look scary on a dark moonlit night...

Well, it was bound to happen sooner or later - my procrastination resulted in me missing the deadline for the monthly theme day! I was supposed to sign up by the 29th, when i went to sign up yesterday I realized I couldn't.... so, tomorrow I'll be posting my first unofficial monthly theme day photo since starting my blog...

Wills Point.... the metropolis

Today's photo is the city limit sign for Wills Point, which is about 13 miles east of Terrell... this photo isn't enhanced at all, the sign is just very reflective and I used my flash when taking it =)

and congratulations to kim at seattle daily photo and marley at cheltenham daily photo for guessing yesterday's question correctly - it was a cropped brother memorial stone in some dry, cracked earth... we haven't had much rain lately, and i've already explained the Texas heat to you... ;-)

'Other

so - this is a marker for the inhabitants of my UFO from the other day, hence the 'other'... =) but seriously - I'll leave it up to you to guess if it was mother or brother... or if it was actually 'other'

Serene scene

This photo was taken in the mid-afternoon Saturday, when the temperatures were right around 105 degrees outside. It was bearable in the shade, but anywhere else is just... HOT.. that's the only way to explain it =) h...o...t...

This picturesque scene is actually the front of an old cemetery located north of Terrell. If you look close you can see several tombstones.

North Texas UFO

I came across this UFO somewhere outside Rockwall while driving around yesterday. I'm not sure what this originally was, but it reminds me of a 'UFO Hairport' barber shop in southeast Dallas near my mom's work that I recall as a kid. The barber shop was a permanent structure though, and this one is definitely 'mobile'.... this one could easily be re-modeled into a nice one bedroom efficiency apartment =)

**Just a quick update... this structure is a 'futuro house' and here is a short youtube clip with some other UFOs around the US and Europe...

I put a spell on you....

A quick update about Frosty... since I still haven't gotten around to making my second blog with my animals yet... it's a big enough commitment just to keep up with this one =).... anyway, Frosty is doing well, and BC is teaching him how to lay around and act like a cat - as you can see in these pics. He's getting along well with the older cat, and they're playing all the time... after they nap.

Now just play this John Fogerty cover of 'I Put a Spell On You' and stare in the kitty's eyes....

Smoky Clouds

An unofficial skywatch photo, since I'm so late posting again =) i'll try to be better.

Dinosaur Valley State Park

One last post from Glen Rose... my first shot today is a swimming hole on the Paluxy river at the park... and my next photo down below is an apatosaurus (or brontosaurus as I've always known it), that is built in rock on the side of the entrance building to the park...

The heat was almost unbearable, so the cool river water was a nice relief....

And also a quick note to apologize for not posting earlier this week to say that I'd taken this road trip with Jim over at Terrell Daily Photo... I thought I'd blogged earlier in the week about that, and after Dan in McKinney asked in a comment, I went back and realized I'd never mentioned it =) So yes, this was a 'joint venture' - and no, the entire town of Terrell didn't pack up and go to Glen Rose for the day... just half the town.. =)

Paluxy River

Today's photo is a bend in the Paluxy river as it passes right near downtown Glen Rose.

Downtown Glen Rose - Somervell County Courthouse

Today's photo shows the court house in the middle of the downtown Glen Rose square... I love old town squares, unfortunately we don't have one in Terrell - just a little downtown 'strip' =)

The Somervell Courthouse, like other buildings in the area, is made out of limestone that was locally quarried. The courthouse as shown was built in 1893 after the previous building burned down.

The clock tower reminds me of the courthouse in Back to the Future =)

First National Bank - Glen Rose

Today's photo is the First National Bank located in downtown Glen Rose. The building is made of 'native stone' as indicated on the marker, and the native stone is limestone, which is used extensively on buildings around the area. The marker also references Charles Goodnight, which you can find some additional info by clicking on his name...

Sunday Morning Texas Moon

This photo was taken right before midnight Sunday... not quite a full moon but pretty close, at least I was finally able to stay up late enough to photograph it!

If you click on it to enlarge it, you can see some stars too!

Downtown Glen Rose

I took a road trip to Glen Rose, Texas today - this Coke sign was painted on the side of an old corner drug store across from the town square. The side of the building was made out of local quarried rock... the downtown area was very nostalgic of what one thinks an old town would look like back in the day... I'll have more photos to come!

Here's a shot of the side of the building:

Cloudy skies

This is my late skywatch photo... so this is skywatch saturday I suppose. I tried to stay awake to get some moon photos last night - it's supposed to be a full moon after all, but from my house it wasn't high enough in the sky until after midnight... and needless to say I fell asleep before getting my photo. =) I'm going to try again tonight though - I'm old and can't stay up real late like I used to =)

Crepe Myrtle

Crepe Myrtle tree branch in my front yard... I'm still trying to get my updated moon shot for skywatch friday!! we've had overcast skies at night all this week, so fingers crossed that the moon is out tonight!

I'm sitting out on the front porch waiting for the moon and drinking some Coors light =) and, note to Marley: it's not a new vice from stopping smoking, I've always enjoyed the front porch beers in the evenings...

Mimosa reflections

Today's photo is a reflection of my mimosa tree in my car window, This was taken after dusk when the leaves had already closed up... most people probably recognize a mimosa as a drink more than a tree, but the pink blossoms it gets are really fragrant and pretty... this tree isn't in bloom right now though =)

summer beverage....

who am i kidding, Coors Light is good year-round!

July Crescent Moon

**taken july 4th, i'll have an update for friday skywatch!

Terrell Bar-b-que - My 200th Post!!!

Happy 200th post to me!!! My first photo today shows the grill and shish-ka-bobs that I was tending to last Sunday while my dog Bingo watched me through the fence. I love to barbeque, and love to eat barbeque as well -- I tend to stick with the easier items like burgers, hot dogs, sausages, steaks or chicken when I cook at home.... I haven't tried to barbeque (or smoke) ribs or brisket - those are things I enjoy going out to eat....

These shish ka bobs are made with steak, sausage and lots of fresh vegetables including: red and green bell peppers, small red potatos, mushrooms, red and white onions and some fresh corn on the cob.

And speaking of bar-b-que, Soulman's restaurant finally opened their new location in Terrell this past Monday, July 7. I've been a fan of Soulman's since back around '99 when I used to eat at their now-closed southern location near Desoto several times a week. They also have locations in Mesquite and Rockwall that I've been to since the south-side store closed, and now we've got our very own right here in Terrell in the old 'Grandy's' building located at 1081 FM 148 off of I-20.

Yesterday, I went down to try out our new Soulman's location with my grandma and Jim from Terrell Daily Photo (photos of Soulman's from Jim at TDP). I had the ribs, spicy beans and cole-slaw and it was great!!

Jim had a sliced sausage sandwich, spicy beans and some boiled cabbage. He said that the cabbage was so good it'd make me slap my grandma... i turned my head a little, and my grandma said "just try it cause I slap back!" Then she said something about elderly abuse or something, I forget the last part.... =)

Terrell Scoreboard

Today's photo is a scoreboard located in Ben Gill Park. I've added a layer to the photo and applied infrared to it. I then erased the infrared around the original photo to reveal the true color of the coke sign. It's been awhile since I posted a 'shopped photo, so here you go!

Tomorrow is going to be my 200th post, so I'm looking for something special to post for that. The time has gone by so quickly, I wondered when I started back in January if I'd be able to 'stick with it'....

Also, speaking of sticking with it -- a smoking update for anyone out there who was wondering -- I'm about 2 1/2 weeks smoke-free now, next Tuesday will make 3 weeks... It hasn't been easy, but the Chantix medication really seems to be doing the trick this time. hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Friday Skywatch

My skywatch photo for today was taken Monday night 7/07... a storm rolled through before the sun went down and we had some beautiful blue skies hidden behind some fierce-looking clouds moving in..... this was the last little bit of blue sky before the clouds took over... it turned out to be a mild rain shower that lasted about 30 minutes =)

I got my eye on you

This is a photo of my oldest dog, Bingo, eyeing me through the fence. He's a 15 year old springer spaniel, and aside from being a little deaf and blind - and having trouble jumping like he used to, he's in pretty good shape. When he was younger he could jump up and kiss me without me leaning over - springers are jumpers, among other things. One of his other famous tricks, I could take a tennis ball and throw it directly up in the air as far as possible -- and he would sit and watch the ball, no matter how high it went, and catch it when it got near the ground, usually in mid-air when he jumped at the last minute to catch it....

His eyesight is still pretty good, even though he can't see tennis balls up in the air anymore... but he can still supervise me grilling through the fence....

Here's to the crescent moon! shining in the sky!

Alright, I have a few more fireworks photos that I want to post - but I'll save them for emergencies =)

I was shocked tonight when going through my photos from Friday night, July 4th, and I realized that I had photographed the exact same area of sky that Jim did over at Terrell Daily Photo on his post from Sunday (second photo).

We both have the exact same sky, clouds, and moon taken at the exact same time but from different parts of the city. He was set up and photographing from the festivities of Ben Gill Park, and I was in a nice quiet parking lot a few miles away. He posts his photo time at 9:14pm, and when I saw my similar shot I was surprised to see my timestamp of exactly
9:14pm also...

Funny also, the clouds in the distance in my shot he was almost directly underneath! One last note - the reflections at the bottom of my shot are from the roof of my car - I didn't have the tripod set up yet =)

Believe it or not!

Red, white and blue

Ok - I'm sure there are those tiring of the fireworks, but I really did like quite a few of my shots, in the way that they turned out... so today I decided to categorize them... and the theme for today is red, white and blue - this will knock them out more quickly so I'm not showing you fireworks in September =)



The last photo here, the firework on the left-hand side reminds me of a red white and blue spider for some reason... you've all seen the red white and blue spider, right?

Terrell Fireworks continued....

Ok, my arm has been twisted and I will post a few more firework photos this week (yes tricia and marley, i really did want to =))

I hope everyone had a happy and safe holiday weekend... back to the grindstone now...

Fireworks burst

Thanks to all for the kind comments for yesterday's photo... I actually had several shots from the firework display that turned out pretty neat - or at least I thought so... here's one more firework from Friday's nights show at Ben Gill park...

Friday night Fireworks

Skywatch Friday

We've got beautiful blue skies here in Terrell for the fourth! I'm going to try and photograph some fireworks down at Ben Gill park tonight =)

One last no

Today's photo is one more 'No' photo... this was my second runner up, and sits outside McGinty's hardware store.

I hope everyone has a safe and happy 4th of July!!!

skater hater?

Today's photo was one of my theme day runner-ups. This sign is one of several in American National Bank's main parking lot...

Also, this link is one more skater hater pic posted for yesterday's theme day from Phoenix Daily Photo

July Theme Day - No Soliciting of Seniors at Play

Today is the first day of July, which means it's the monthly 'Theme Day' - this month is 'No...' signs...

My photo is a sign at the entrance to the Senior Terrace apartment complex where my grandmother lives and apparently 'plays'...
The sign on the right hand side warns everyone that there is No Soliciting No Loitering and No Trespassing! So, Slow down to 10mph and watch out!
there are Seniors at Play!

Please take a moment to go to the following link and visit the other sites participating in the monthly Theme Day
Click here to view thumbnails for all participants