Through the Fence

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Driving by Horses for Hope today which is not far from my house, I saw these horses grazing in a field and asked Donnie to turn around.  I don't have very many horse pictures in my daily gallery.  I liked how they were paired together and the pretty light and yellow flowers.  Of course Donnie obliged by dropping me off along the side of the road and circling around a few minutes later to pick me back up.  I thought this was the best of the bunch and applied an Orton filter and a detail enhancer.  Nothing like smoothing it out to strengthen it back up.  Sometimes it works.

Janet, a former coworker and friend of mine and Donnie's, is the Executive Director of Horse and Buddy another local non-profit that connects special needs kids and therapy horses. It's great to have these dedicated programs in our area. I think they are wonderful. Donnie, the boys, and I hope to see Janet and more horses at Horse and Buddy's 3rd annual Fall Festival/Horse show later this month.

Flower or Coral?

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A flower picture I took last weekend in the Edible Schoolyard at the Greensboro Children's Museum.  I really liked how it looked like a piece of coral.

The Old Homstead

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I took a shot of the Old Homestead in the fog earlier in the week and tonemapped it but didn't really like it.  Tonight I worked on pp'ing it some more.  I'm not sure how much I like it...just wanted to experiment with the pp and do something different than I had the other times I've shot this building.  If you search on the words 'barn homestead' on my SmugMug site, you can see the other pics of this homestead in various seasons.

Prince Charming

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Donnie is home, and I am so happy!  You guys know I already have my Prince Charming...  Just a shot of a toad I took at Donnie's house yesterday.  I spotted him a couple of weeks ago when I tipped a planter full of impatiens to drain off the excess water.  There are two bricks under it, and he lives between them.  I decided he needed a photo shoot yesterday:-)  So, you get some humor today.

Did I mention I was happy that Donnie is home? Elated! Ecstatic! Excited!

Flower and Texture

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A flower shot I took Saturday and processed with a texture yesterday.  It's a tad too warm/orange I think, but I tried several variations of reducing the intensity of the background and thought that it actually did not look better.  Hmmm...  It's OK to like the original better.

I made my second batch of ice cream yesterday in my new Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker.  It turned out much better than the first batch.  i followed the recipe correctly.  The first time I got confused and poured the ingredients in one at a time starting with the eggs.  This time I actually followed the directions and beat the eggs and then mixed the rest of the stuff together and added it all at once.  It may have helped that the bucket was in the freezer for several weeks and not just overnight too.  What a tasty treat!  Note I reduced the maple syrup to 1/4 cup down from 1/2 cup.

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The boys usually get milk before bed/after dinner.  Tonight they got a small serving of ice cream instead.  The nice thing about this recipe is that it doesn't make a lot.

The kids weren't the only ones that got a bit of a treat today.

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Remember, we've only had the cat, Kitty,  about a month, and Blaze is 12ish.  Honestly, Blaze has spunked back up some since we've been letting her have some real food.  Here they are enjoying some yogurt that I intentionally let drip out onto the door from the container I loaded for washing.  I realize everyone wouldn't let their pet lick inside the dishwasher, but honest the dishwasher sterilizes everything just fine...

Crocs Spree

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Posting this because I just want to look at their smiling faces and remember the good times from yesterday.  We went to the Croc outlet in Smithfield, NC and they were having a pretty good sale so we came away with, um, a few pairs:-)  On my phone and on Facebook I had a picture of their feet in the new shoes.

The only other place we went to at the outlet center which is on I95 was Carolina Pottery.  Joey and Madi decided that being extra sweet and posing in front of all the trees they had set up would be cute.  OK!

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Optical Illusion Reflection

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The kids and I went to the Greensboro Children's Museum yesterday.  See the collage below representing all the fun times we had there!  After the museum, we walked the streets of downtown Greensboro for a few minutes.  I had hoped to go into the International Civil Rights Center and Museum but when they told me it would be $28 to tour their small exhibit and that I wouldn't be able to take any pics, we left.  Oh well.  The famous lunch counter is inside of there.

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Here is a picture outside the International Civil Rights Center and Museum.  I bet it's been a long time since you saw a Woolworth's.

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After walking in downtown, we stopped at Barber Park to enjoy the splash park.  I love spontaneity like this when it works out, and that's why I keep spare clothes in the back of my van for the kids.  I wish I'd had a spare set for me too!  I wanted to be a kid and get wet but kept me and the camera dry.

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My daily is a building on our walk in downtown.   wish the lighting had been better  Wish I'd had my tripod.  Wish I'd done an HDR.  Maybe next time...