Johnny & Clifford

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Clifford was at the boys' elementary school yesterday for the book fair.  Donnie was driving, and I was in the passenger seat as we dropped the kids off for school, so I was able to snap a picture.  Madi and Joey were to big now to go pose with Clifford:-(  Thanks to Johnny for being a good sport!

Here's the original.

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I thought I'd spend a few minutes to pull them out of the background.  Donnie suggested the blue background.  I added a bit of a drop shadow to them to help them blend in.

Just to make sure you stay hungry today.

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And to think that's leftovers from the night before (well except the sugar snap peas).

Helleborus Bloom

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I discovered yesterday that my Helleborus is blooming:-) Always wonderful to find flowers blooming in January! This variety came from Plant Delights Nursery which is just down the road from my house. They are expensive but worth it for the variety and quality of plants. I have just a few things from there.

Also took a couple of cute bird pics.  This Goldfinch sure was enjoying his dinner!

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This White-Breasted Nuthatch was enjoying the suet too.

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Dinner last night was Boston Butt made in the crock pot with a delicious BBQ sauce plus cauliflower mash and asparagus and butter.  Yum!

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Testing a Smoke Detector

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This past weekend right before Donnie got home from Florida one of the smoke detectors in the house started beeping indicating that the battery was getting weak.  I had trouble figuring out which one since the beep was only happening every few hours.  I bought some new 9 volt batteries and decided to wait a few days for the beeps to increase and Donnie to get home.  I have trouble from carpal tunnel syndrome to hold my hands over my head very long.

Not sure if it is apparent from my blogging, but Johnny is very technology minded.  I call him my Technology Boy.  He makes sure my computer stays charged, helps his teacher with her laptop too, and is always quick to jump into any project around the house that requires diagnosis and fixing.  If you show Johnny something one time, he seems to understand it and retain it for forever, so he can be fun to work with.  Just note that there is nonstop talk and reasoning going on when you are trying to concentrate:-)

So yesterday the beep increased in frequency, and after school, Donnie and Johnny set out to figure out which one and replace the battery.  Joy!  Poor Blaze the dog was absolutely freaked out by the increasing beeps trying to jump in Donnie's lap on the couch at one point looking for protection.

To shorten the story, after testing every detector in the house at Johnny's insistence and just like he was taught at school, they replaced the battery in one detector.  However, the beep continued in it.  After Johnny's basketball practice we went to Home Depot and got a new detector.  By then, we had all Googled and learned the difference between ionization type detectors and photoelectric detectors:-)  You always wanted to be an expert in such things, right?  :-)  Johnny must have spent an hour looking at Google images and web pages and studying everything there was to know about smoke detectors.  What next?

Just in case you haven't tested your detectors lately, consider this a reminder.  Maybe you even have a helper at your house!  It sure was cute to see Donnie carrying Johnny around on his shoulders from one smoke detector to another.

Dinner last night was a beef brisket which I have now turned into a hamburger cream based soup.  Yum!

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Loud Red-Shouldered Hawk

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I was walking back and forth on Donnie's driveway yesterday trying to get steps on my Fitbit.  The driveway is 400ft. and has several inclines so it is a good work-out.  I can pick up about 2K steps without too much effort.  I might even grab the mail some days:-)   Lately I have carried my camera around my neck every time I've gone for a walk but come back with no pictures.  Did I take it yesterday?  Nooooooo not yesterday:-(  What was I thinking!  Note to self not to slack up and to continue to have camera with me at all times.  I didn't even have my phone camera...geez!  I was lucky, however, and was still able to get some shots once I ran and got my camera.  We can pretend the extra fast sprint into the house for it was part of the exercise program.  Meanwhile, Donnie continued to wash his car and enjoy our beautiful sunny and 70+ degree day.

BTW, there was no way to miss this big red-shouldered hawk because he was so incredibly LOUD!  I was able to follow him as he moved from tree to tree.  Please enjoy the still taken from the HD video as well as this shot of him and his mate and the video below where you can hear him near the end.  Hope to see more of him/herand maybe they'll nest close-by too!  We've seen him/her for several years on and off now and each time is a treat!

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Video
I apologize again for the technical quality of the shots.  The light was winter dim and He was 50' up and 75' away at least.

Mr. Bluebird

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A shot of a bluebird I took last week just before the bad weather hit.  He was looking pretty fluffy on the cold and gray day.  I was really bummed about the fuzziness of the original shot, and i have applied a few filters to it to try to salvage it.

Here's the original.  An improvement?

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