Ruby Tuesday

Our daughter presented these lovely begonias to her mother and my bride for Mother's Day. My first thought, "Get the camera, you've got a ready made Ruby Tuesday here.





As always, click to enlarge and enjoy.

Ruby Tuesday

This is NOT my boat and I didn't take this picture. So why is it posted for my Ruby Tuesday? Well, by the end of this year I intend to have one just like it. I haven't owned a boat in seven years and I am tired of fishing off of the bank. I want to take the grand crew fishing. I want to spend some quality quiet time on the water. So, this is a preview of things to come. It will probably be October or November before I make the plunge. That's when the new models come out and they begin to discount the current inventory. See you on the water!

Ruby Tuesday

That's the oldest grand daughter standing next to the "Ruby Red Ref". She's preparing to come into the match.
If you want to know more about the opening of soccer season, just scroll down to the next post.

Ruby Tuesday

This young lady will be nine years old in a couple of weeks. She's 19 months old in this photo. Looks to me like she's been over to Vinnie Bond's food blog for dinner. M-m-m-m good!
What did she have? Read the recipe "Shankopotamus"!

Ruby Tuesday

The dress might be great for Ruby Tuesday, but guess why we call her Big Blue? If the answer doesn't come to you immediately, just click on the photo to enlarge and I'm sure the answer will come to you. She was 2-1/2 when this was taken. She's 7 now. This is the youngest grand daughter.

Ruby Tuesday

Do you remember this photo of Nandina berries that Posted a few months back? Well, we are in the middle of an ice storm and the berries are still hanging in there. They're ice covered this time, but it still makes for an interesting photo.

Ruby Tuesday

This photo was taken with my new toy, that 50-500 mm telephoto lens. I can't wait until soccer season gets here and I can get action shots of the oldest grand daughter from across the field.

Ruby Tuesday

Merry Christmas from Pawpaw and The Big Guy

Ruby Tuesday

These ruby red berries are hanging on a Nandina bush at the side of the house. With temperatures now dipping into the teens, I don't know how much longer they will last.

It's Beginning to Look Alot Like Christmas

Thanksgiving has come and gone. Friday I put the lights on the house. Saturday the the in-home decorations went up and Sunday the tree got its holiday dressing. Now we're ready to celebrate Christmas. If you want to see what the inside looks like stop by often the next few weeks, because this blog will be mostly all about Christmas. I am married to one of Santa's biggest helpers. We have four trees decorated, you read that correctly, four!!! Almost every room in the house has something going on. See you tomorrow for Wordless Wednesday.

Ruby Tuesday

Sorry, but this all I've got for this Ruby Tuesday. It's a recent shot of "The Big Guy" and his painted pumpkin.
I've just been too busy recently to take the time to look for photo opportunities. I will be on a business trip in California the rest of this week. Maybe I'll get a few photos while I'm there.
Have a great week everyone.

Ruby Tuesday

This restaurant can be found at Downtown Disney in Orlando. The food is wonderful.

Ruby Tuesday

We're gonna have a little more fun with PhotoShop Elements. Take a look at my previous Fun With PhotoShop post to see the Lego water serpent from Disney World. Well, here is a Lego T-Rex.The only thing I have done to this guy is crop him to a 6"x6" image because it gives me the largest possible image on this blog. OK, now lets do that Enhance/Auto Smart Fix thing. Then I go to Adjust Color/Hue-Saturation and intensify the red. It is Ruby Tuesday after all. Then I go to Adjust Color/Color Curves/More Contrast. Now we have a pretty intense T-Rex.Finally I go back to Adjust Color/Color Curves/Solarize. This produces the special effect that I'm looking for and really makes the T-Rex something special indeed.
Have a great Ruby Tuesday everyone. Come back soon!

Ruby Tuesday

Walk to Defeat ALS

All of the people you see in this photo are walking in honor of the memory of my friend who passed away last week because of ALS. His memorial service was Friday morning. The ALS walk was on Saturday. His family organized the team a couple of months ago and by the day of the walk our team alone was 700 strong! The youth ministry at the church had a special student week-end and one of their activities was to participate in this walk. There were 385 junior high and high school students participating. There were probably around 3,000 - 4,000 participants. Last year the event raised $30,000. This year the event exceeded its goal of $175,000.
The event was held at the local minor league baseball park. As you can see, there is nothing like the energy and enthusiasm of youth. Again, everyone in this shot represents our team.


Yep, all of the red and light blue shirts belong to the team representing my dear friend.
The scripture chosen by the family was printed on the back of our shirts. There just weren't enough shirts for all 700 of us, so the students put the paper signs on the back of their red event shirts.
My lovely bride and I had a great time. It was a wonderful day, honoring a wonderful life, and supporting a wonderful cause. I would encourage you to find something truly worthwhile to support and become a part of it. You will receive far more than you give.

Ruby Tuesday

I am an Oklahoma Sooner, living in Arkansas Razorback country. This banner was in the same mall where I found Clifford, the big red dog. I do love this part of the world and I will show you why in a couple of weeks. However, I cannot bring myself to be an avid Razorback fan. I root for them when they play and I like it when they win, but honestly, it's not that big of a deal to me. I don't go to the games, even though we live only 20 miles from the university. I don't clear my schedule to watch them on television and I don't have my ears glued to the radio when television coverage is not available. I can take them or leave them. Still, the banner makes a nice Ruby Tuesday entry, don't you think?

Ruby Tuesday

He followed me home Mom! Can I keep him?

I found this children's amusement ride at a local mall. The mall is old and most of the stores are outdated, vacant, or just mom & pop tenants rather than national chains. The result is that Clifford gets a little lonely. He doesn't have many riders these days, however, he just keeps smiling and waiting for the next young fan. But you gotta admit, he is ruby red! He's also a significant change from last week's Wordless Wednesday post.

Ruby Tuseday

Ship it on the Frisco!

This caboose sits in Frisco Park located in downtown Rogers, Arkansas. My father worked for the St. Louis & San Francisco Railway Company for over 40 years. With the exception of the two years he spent in the Navy during WWII, it is the only company that he ever worked for. Not many people can say that anymore. Dad worked during those years that many consider the Golden Age of railroading. He saw the steam engine give way to diesel power and many would say that the railroad lost a bit of it's soul when the steam powered locomotives finally disappeared.

The caboose was home to the train crew. It had a couple of beds, a desk, a sink, toilet, a pot belly stove and a fine little perch to sit a watch for any trouble that might develop with the train that rumbled along in front of you.

As a kid, I would go down to the train station in Henryetta, Oklahoma and watch dad work. He was a telegraph operator at the time. He would let me take the train orders out and place them in a device that looked a little like a sling shot. As the train passed by, one of the crew in the caboose would stretch out his arm and snag the message. It was the highlight of my day.

Once in a while I would be invited by the crew to hop into the engine and run out to the local glass plant to switch some cars around. I even got to "drive" that train once! I was probably eight or nine years old. I don't have to tell you how illegal that probably was, and that everyone could have lost their jobs. But it was a small town, and it was in the mid 1950's when things were much simpler.

It is little wonder that I was not impressed with the Lionel train set that my dad bought me one year for Christmas. Why would I want to play with that little thing running around the Christmas tree when I could walk three blocks up the street and play with the real thing?!! I had a great childhood. We weren't rich and we weren't poor. We were just a hardworking middle class family. This old caboose reminds me of some wonderful days spent in a small town, doing stuff that kids today will never get the opportunity to experience. I miss those times and I feel sorry for kids who will never have that much fun. Life was good. It still is, just different.

Note: The St. Louis & San Francisco Railway Company never built a line all the way to San Francisco. In fact the track never extended past Floydada, Texas.

Am I the only one to see the humor in this? Just asking.


Hey! It stands for Bentonville Fire Department...what were you thinkin"?

Ruby Tuesday

This Romanesque brick building was the high school in Springdale, Arkansas. It currently serves as the school districts administration building. The structure was built in 1910. The building was placed on the National Register of historic places in 1994. It is beautifully situated on a site of approximately five acres, which it shares with a colonial style elementary school that is also a part of the administration facilities. I am sure that when this building was built, it was the largest and most imposing building in town. I speaks volumes about the importance that was placed on the education of children in this town at the turn of the century.

Ruby Tuesday

Walton's five and dime opened in Bentonville, Arkansas in 1950. It is the birthplace of Walmart (formerly Wal-mart) Stores Inc. It is situated on the west side of the square in downtown Bentonville. Today it is a museum honoring the founder and his retail empire. Inside you will find Mr. Walton's office, which has been relocated from the corporate offices, just as it was the last day that he occupied it. You will also find his red and white Ford pick-up truck. I met Mr. Walton once. I got the impression that wealth was never his ambition. His ambition was to create the best retail business possible. Money just happened to be the way you kept score.
One of these days I will take you on a tour of the remainder of the downtown square. You will swear that you have been to Mayberry RFD and that Sheriff Andy Taylor, Barney, Opie and Aunt Bea used to live here.