The Oklahoma Chronicles - Part 3

One of our day trips was to Woolaroc Museum, in Bartlesville. I've been there a couple times, dragging young son & his friends along. One must be intentional about exposing the young'uns to culture, especially since the invention of the video game.

life size mosaic at the museum entrance

Woolaroc is one those place you always take out-of-town visitors to see. It gives them a sense wild westernness.

You can't take flash pictures inside, but it was the outside that interested me anyway.

Interesting decoration on the door. There were 6-8 of these, all with different carvings.

The grounds are beautifully landscaped; lots of flowers, many other statues. The butterflys in the picture below were carrying on a courtin' dance, lemme tell ya!

Pretty landscaping aside, the joy of photography is discovering the unusual in the ordinary things of life. That's looking at the world throught the lens or "Life in Pixels."

This is my favorite shot because it appeals to my sense of fantasy. I could picture a little hobbit-like creature living here. (I think it was some kind disguised pump station, but no matter - I like my version better.

The Oklahoma Chronicles - Chapter 2

The Great Bison Hunt
Our main purpose for visiting the Tall Grass Prairie Preserve was to see the bison (buffalo) herd. A few years ago, a small herd of 300 was introduced to the preserve in an attempt to restore the mighty plains buffalo to a semblance of their former glory. (Well, there was probably some conservation / scientific type reason, but I won't try to explain it here. If you want to know more, do an internet search on the subject & you'll find a lot of good info.)

My sister is enamored by all things western, as in, anything west of the Mississippi. Her all time favorite tv show is Little House on the Prairie, so I knew she'd love this little excursion to the real prairie. We packed a lunch, gassed up the car and off we went to hunt buffalo, our weapons of choice being Nikon & Sony.
After a lovely drive to Pawhuska, Gateway to the Tallgrass Prairie, we drove the 50-mile Bison Loop - all gravel road.


We saw oil pumps.We saw a herd of .... regular cows.

We thought this tree was very interesting. As you come up a little hill, it seems to be growing right in the middle of the road.

We saw a real Longhorn. Rather menacing looking.

And we saw the most spectacular sunset ever. Oh my gosh, it was gorgeous. Sunset on the Prairie. Equally beautiful was the moonrise. It looked like a huge, hot pink-orange ball sitting on the horizon. That alone was worth the trip.

Oh, the Bison, you ask? The herd that has increased from 300 to 2,500? The ones you almost always see somewhere along the Bison Loop with it's many warning signs to be cautious... I've been there before & seen them. They are magnificent.

But not today. Oh nooooooooo. Today, when I bring my Little House on the Prairie Lovin' Sister from Ohio, the buffalo are roaming elsewhere. And this is what we saw:

The "Eat More Chikin" cows.

The Oklahoma Chronicles

Last summer I posted The Ohio Chronicles. Now I'd like to present the Oklahoma version. My sister visited last week and we did a little exploring. Nothing big, just a couple day trips.

We're going to start our adventure at the Tall Grass Prairie Preserve! 39,000 beautiful acres of rolling hills and grasslands (but not as tall as the name implies), protected by the Nature Conservancy.

It probably seems boring, as most of us consider grandeur to only be found in the mountains, but this is area is truly beautiful in it's peaceful simplicity.
  A prairie pond.

The big Oklahoma sky.

A prairie cemetery road (we had to turn around somewhere.)

I have a couple more pictures to post from the Great Bison Hunt. Be sure to check back!

Confessions of a Scrap Collector

I love little scrapbooking trinkets, papers, and doodads. Every few months the local scrapbook store has a fabulous garage sale. A group of friends & I have made an event of it. Get up early to get a good spot in line, plunder & pillage, then go to lunch and compare our loot. Neither rain, nor sleet, nor snow, nor ice deters us. We've stood in line through it all.

Over the last couple years, I've built up a great stash of stamps, embellishments, tools and even magazines. But now I confess: I don't do scrapbooks! (I mentioned this once and a horrified hush fell over the line of chattering ladies.) I think I just love the buying of these cute items at dirt cheap prices. The papers are so pretty; the brads, buttons, stamps, so nifty. Fifty cents here; a dollar there. Friends, you can fill up a bag of wondrous Creative Possibilities for under $20!!

I get together with the aforementioned pirates and we make cards for our Sunday School class and for the Blue Star Moms. I do occasionally make cards on my own and of course I intend to make lots & lots of cards and have them on hand ready for any and every occasion. :) I've also done a few ATC's (Artists Trading Cards). I really like those. They're like mini works of art. See? my collecting is not for nought.

So yesterday was the quarterly pillage party and guess what COOL thing I found??
 
A tin of assorted chipboard crowns! (If you know me, you know I love crowns.) For a whopping 50 cents! Heck, the little tin was worth that.
 
I already had this paper, so I'm going to make a card for the ladies in my group & enclose a crown that she can embellish for herself. This is one little treasure I must share with my fellow scrap-queens. I firmly believe every woman is an empress at heart!