Tuesday, June 28, 2022

Flower Painting

Once again I am hiding out from the heat and playing with software, hardware, and my photos.  You can click for closeups.

Sunday, June 26, 2022

Painting Daylilies

I got a new, larger monitor. I have always had two monitors, but one of them which is decades old stopped working. I went to the computer store and ordered the smallest size monitor with a high resolution. It is really very large compared to my other monitors. It took me some time to set up although I was told it would be easy. Anyway, I still have to work out the drag and drop from an ASUS monitor to an HP! But I certainly am seeing my photos in a new and better light. Having fun with photo-painting my daylilies below:

Saturday, June 18, 2022

Throwing LIght

I find that I am more tired these days and I am blaming it on the heat. I also seem to have an appetite at any time of the day.  I have not yet figured out what to blame that on, but I do know as you age Doctors would rather you have an appetite than be off your food.  Well, this has nothing to do with the post below, except that I find it harder to leave the house when I have free time and I can nap or eat!

Below are some fun photos of flowers.  I have gotten tired of taking traditional photos.  I also am trying to get my body to move outside at better times of the day and bring along my camera knowing that my best photos are often the unexpected.  I do not have the patience of a good photographer.  I will adjust or move two or three times and then just snap.  I must admit I really should replace my tripod which broke a few years ago!

The first are just flower shots one of which I photoshopped to look like a painting.  The last two happened because I got up and caught the light.









Wednesday, June 15, 2022

Is It Too Hot for Baby Bunnies?

My husband had decided that we need to leave larger patches of clover in our lawn for pollinators.   Lawns are now considered food deserts for all the necessary insects in our lives.  It also means less lawn to mow.
This spring I have found a new visitor hanging out in both the front and back yards, and I am sure it is due to the patches of clover.  All of these photos were taken from our bay window...which needs washing.  I was also handholding my telephoto.





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I went outside to see if I could get closer but...Above---now you see me, now you don't!

I went back inside and the skies opened up in torrential rains. As the rains diminished later in the afternoon my interloper hopper returned.   I watched from the window as he/she began to nip at my pink muhly grass---newly planted this spring.  At first, I was dismayed but saw that he/she was only removing the dried grasses at the base and not destroying the plant.







He/She disappeared into one of the patches of clover. Nest building?? You can barely see the ears and the clover is not that high.  It must be a 'she'.  But she does not look pregnant.



The rabbit left after a while and I went outside to inspect the handwork the next morning.  There was a flat plop of some gooey mud and then a very tight ball of the dried grasses nearby.  When I gently lifted the ball there was a small hole in the ground.  OK, time for some research because I have no idea what that mud patch is?

I will not write about how cute baby bunnies are and how destructive.

Wednesday, June 01, 2022

Up at 5:00 A.M.

We got up at 5:00 A.M. last week and that was on purpose. I cannot remember the last time I was up so early unless it was to catch a plane a century ago when we caught those flights to other parts of the world.

I wanted to see a sunrise from our boat.  I do not know why, just something I felt needed to be experienced.  We had not really used the boat much, mostly we were canoeing in the spring.

Fortunately, the morning was a perfect calm and the temp was about 67F which is exactly what is needed.  All you needed was a light jacket and the camera (and snacks and water in the event the boat has a problem!).  Some of the photos are a little blurred because even though the water looks calm, that boat was moving.

Below are a few of the photos I took.  Enjoy and, WOW, breathe in that fresh cool air!





The songbirds were in full throttle even through the quiet of the morning.  All of our neighbors were still quiet and in bed.  We headed out of our part of the creek and past the buoy in the main channel and under the big bridge.  Then we curved around the point of land and were hurrying a bit to beat that sun coming up over the horizon.  Just one crabbing boat was out and his plunketa-plunketa diesel echoed over the water in the distance.





We headed to the signal post just offshore.  One of the big tanker ships was heading into the fuel depot which is up the coast.  It was moving very slowly and looked like a floating island on the horizon since it was so large.


We had disturbed the seagulls when we approached that signal post that is offshore from the military base, and their cries were noisy.  They settled back down as we made it around the rocky shoal.


The area is a favorite for fishermen and fisherwomen as there is a small current that rushes around that shoal.  Above is a husband mansplaining how to fish to his partner.


I was able to get some good photos of seabirds and will share some in another post as the lighting was perfect.  It was a lovely morning.  Now I think your coffee cup needs refilling.