Summer Scene

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I stopped by Wilkerson Farms yesterday to buy some more grass fed beef.  One of the owners, Carrie, has a lovely stand of summertime flowers in front of her home, and after loving on Lexie the dog, I took some pictures of the flowers.  The one I posted for my daily was my favorite.  I think that's an American Lady (or Painted Lady) butterfly which are quite common around here right now.  A group of them were all over the coneflower enjoying themselves.

I isolated out the coneflower and butterfly wing after adding some sharpness to then add the green vignette which warmed up the colors.  I didn't want a green coneflower or wing but liked the vignette around the rest of the shot.

Here's the original for comparison.  I like the colors in my pp better but I added a bit of grain which I wish I hadn't.

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Happy Father's Day weekend to all the dads out there.  I had the privilege of taking a few shots for Madi's dad, Danny, yesterday.  By the time we decided to take them, I had to use my flash, so maybe I can get a few more in this location over the weekend although it would be hard to top these poses and faces.

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Danny certainly is blessed starting a new job and having such a lovely wife and daughter at home as well as his two handsome older sons Tyler and Daniel.

Look at the anole lizard in the hydrangea flower!

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My daily obligatory food shot as I continue to try new dishes and monitor what we eat.  This was the first time I bought fresh carrots (from Ball's Berries and Produce stand).  I had a really nice chat with the owner, Roger Ball, and he suggested I try the carrots and beets.  Good idea!  They say you should know your farmer, and I am enjoying my conversations with the older gentleman each time I stop in for free range eggs or produce.  Although not organic, I think he's got the right idea about minimally using chemicals only when absolutely necessary.  I'm working my way up to asking him for a picture of him and/or his barns behind the produce stand:-)

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May the Beauty of the Day Embrace You...

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I keep trying to take a hydrangea picture I am happy enough with to post.  I still didn't like my sooc shot from yesterday enough to post it, so I added a slight texture and some more detail and I think white neutralizer and then framed it.  I like it better now:-)  It's such a gorgeous bush!  Here's a wider area view including a cheerful Uncle Sam.

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It was either the hydrangea or stick you with a food shot for the daily.  Here you see pork chops being sauteed in the cast iron skillet with red spring onions and garlic plus sugar snap peas and some gravy I made from the drippings and heavy cream.  Got a bit too much salt in the gravy:-(

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Jeanne's Garden

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I stopped by my neighbor's house yesterday to take a few pictures.  When we were scootering and walking Blaze the other night, I noticed how gorgeous the garden was.  Jeanne's daughter Judy and her partner Mindy put in the garden earlier this spring and are in the process of completing the stone wall.  Before, the yard was mostly grass.  Now...WOW!  Jeanne said to come back any time, and I am sure I'll be back!  My favorite shot is bottom middle in the collage although there are several I really liked. 

Here's a pano of the garden after the sun went in.  Used the lomo filter in Picasa to bring some color back.  Canon utility PhotoStitch used for this pano.

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Joey's Little League Baseball team the Lugnuts played their first and unfortunately last tournament game last night.  The boys were cold on offense the first two innings and when they got fired up in the 4th a win was still possible but they couldn't quite make it.  Below is the team with Coach Anthony giving them a pep talk around the 2nd inning.

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Here's Joey running as fast as he can to get to third.  He walked onto base twice and made it home both times. 

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It was a great season and learning experince and a big thanks to both Donnie for being an assistant coach and to Coach Anthony for working with Joey starting at the very bottom to get him to being a reasonable ball player.  Joey made friends, got good exercise, learned the game, and improved his people skills.  I went and signed him up for fall baseball this morning:-)

In the Light

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Do you really want to know about the picture today or would you rather just ponder the who, what, when, and where?  :-)

This is me from a few weeks ago at the Museum of Life and Science in Durham from when we were at the Disco Tech.  I knew right away that I wanted to try to pp this shot like this, I just hadn't gotten around to it until last night.  Here's the original:

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Note that I had to remove the camera strap as well as darken and even out background and adjust color, etc.

On June 11th 2009, I posted my first picture to the Daily Photo Community. Where have the 3 years gone?!? I'm happy to now be posting in my 4th year. I do find some days that it is harder to find exciting things to shoot within a 5 miles radius of my house, and I long to take trips to other locations for new material. But I still enjoy posting as much now as I did in the beginning. Mostly I enjoy the fellowship and support of the other great photographers in this community as well as my family and friends as I continue to grow my photographic skills. On my bucket list this year is lightning, more bird shots, and more barns plus capturing all of the smiling faces and memories that I have always loved to catch. Thanks for your support!

It was cloudy and rainy most of the day yesterday.  I did take these shots on a late day walk with our dog Blaze and Johnny and Madi on their scooters.

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Video

To be clear, the kids are laughing at the bottom of the hill.  No one was hurt.  They do this all the time but I'm thinking bike helmets next time...oops.

Flower Power

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I made this collage on May 12th after a trip to Lowe's Home Improvement.  It's been the wallpaper on my laptop ever since.  Usually I have pics of the kids and Donnie as my wallpaper, but I accidentally hit a button in Picasa that put it there, and it was just too pretty not to leave up for a while.  The only picture I took yesterday was of dinner and about making homemade frappuccino's.  Nothing worth a daily, so before the day totally runs out, I had to pick something worth sharing.

Dinner!  London broil in homemade teriyaki sauce, sauteed onions and sweet bell pepper (orange) in coconut oil, fresh green beans from Porter Farms and Nursery and sour cream and salsa dip.  Yum!  It was only my second time using real grated ginger.  I like!

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A dove outside my window this morning.  I played with filters but never really liked any of them.

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Frappuccino Remake

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Are any of you addicted to frappuccino's (Frap Frappe)  like I am?  Until recently, I was drinking one Starbucks Mocha Frappuccino first thing each day.  I really enjoyed the sugar and caffeine kick!  Besides the fact that on average a small size bottle (9.5 fl. oz.) costs about a $1.50 (even purchased at Wal-Mart in a 4-pack), there's 33 grams of carbs and 180 calories in that little bottle.  In an effort to reduce carbs and processed foods, I started making my own.  At first I really missed the fact that my version was less sweet, but after a week of just drinking mine,  I am totally used to the new taste and enjoy mine just as well.  I'm thinking my brain is liking the fact that I keep using the Starbucks bottles, though;-)

So, what's in it?  Some heavy whipping cream is what I pour in first.  You can see about how much in the upper left picture in the collage.  I add the equivalent of one cup of coffee per bottle.  I mix about 1/4 cup of water with 1 teaspoon of my freeze dried coffee granules.  Of course you can use coffee from a leftover pot or brew some just for the drinks too.  I find the granules very convenient since I don't drink coffee otherwise.  Then I add in a very small amount of chocolate syrup.  Really, it's just enough to make sure the coffee is not bitter and to create that classic Starbucks color.  Then I top it off with whole milk from Maple View Farms (when I have it).

It may not be less in calories, but it's cheaper and tastes yummy and I know exactly what's going in it!

Anyone else have a homemade coffee beverage recipe they'd like to share?

Cabbage Dot and Purple Sage

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My daily shot was taken in the parking lot at Yates Mill.  It's a Cabbage Dot Butterfly  on Russian Sage.  the purple looked sooooooo dreamy!

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I love the top shot of Johnny in the collage below.  Boy do they grow up fast!

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Look at the size of that fungus and the poison ivy at the base of the tree.

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The obligatory mill HDR.

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The flowers at the entrance way to the A. E. Finley Center sure did look pretty!

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And last but never least, Madi, Joey, Teen, and Johnny trying to get Salvo to hold still for me in his fireman suit:-)  What a comedy of errors that was!

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Butterfly Bush Magnet

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I was walking Madi home when I spotted two yellow Eastern Tiger Swallowtails on my butterfly bushes.  I know I've posted a bunch of butterfly pics lately.  Hopefully you won't mind.  Here are two more I really liked.

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And here's a red shouldered hawk I saw driving to town today.

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