Sunset.

Tonight.

Kt

Great sunset pics...and I especially like the last one with the golden clouds. I see a red glow just under that sun. What could that be from?

Thanks for starting a new photo thread, Kt.
I have one Amaryllis blooming, so I'll try and get that posted soon.

Julie

I thought the blooms would be much bigger. So I did more researching and discovered 'Lemon Lime' is a miniature/dwarf hybrid. The largest bloom only measures 4.75" across, and it's only a foot tall, although it should be taller...maybe next year.

'Royal Velvet' is growing nicely, producing much larger stems and buds. I don't know if the middle growth is foliage or more stems...we shall see.

That's all for now, folks.

Julie

I like the white/cream poinsettia but I don't see them down here very often anymore.

The Lemon Lime bloomed nicely! Appears you do a great job of keeping them healthy in a pot. I really like the second pic for it's composition.

From what I can see in the pic of the Royal Velvet, those are 'leaves', or the foliage emerging from between the two stems.

Nice pics, especially from your area with temps in the single digits! Good to see something colourful, even if it 'is' indoors.:)

Thanks for the comments about my pics.

I'm not sure what red glow you are talking about, but the red glow I see is an anomaly of the camera lens and/or lighting reflection. With these new digital cameras, I have to cut the time way down, sometimes to 1/2500th of a second to keep circles from forming in the photos around the sun. Strange.

Kt

I can't wait for 'Royal Velvet' to bloom so I can share its photo here.

The red glow I see is in your last photo, and it forms sort of a quarter circle under and to the right of the sun. So I get it now...it's not in the landscape, but in the camera. That's never happened to me, but if it does, I'll have some idea what happened.

More pics anyone?

Julie

Just want to see if you are having the same problem. I can remember printing other GE pictures and they came out OK but that may have been a year or so ago.

Bernie

J

Kt

Julie

That's OK Julie. Thanks for trying.

I save the picture first, then pring it from my computer and it does fine.

I saved it also but when I print the trees look crappy. While I'm here on IE browser I will do the same thing that I did yesturday. Maybe the browser has something to do with it. I'll report back in a little while.

Thanks for trying Kt.

Hi Sandy. How are you doing?

Bernie

Bernie

I know my printer, after not printing for a while, will print bad pics until I run the 'clean head' thing on it.

Kt

With the library so close, its probably quicker to go pay the 15cents a copy than to mess around with a printer.

Julie, fun to watch and wait. Thanks for sharing. I haven't done anything like that for a few years. I think the last project like that I tried over the winter was rooting Begonia from leaf cuttings. Walked the fine line between drying out and rotting in the covered containers. Finally relieved to just toss them out when nothing rooted.

I use an Epson printer and bought it because it will print enlargments like 13" X 19" since I frame pictures and put them on my walls...or used to when I had more time. Anyway, I have a smaller version at work that cost about $60 several years ago and it is still doing fine.

Both use individual ink cartridges for different colours and the printer here at my house has gone at times, for over a year without being used and it does fine when I need to use it. I have a button to press that does something to the cartridges, maybe mixes the ink, but it always prints fine after pressing that button, that is if I need to press it. Only a couple of times have the photos come out looking similar to what Bern described, but it is easily fixed, and I've never had any ink cartridges dry up like some other printers that I've had in the past.

Kt

Julie

I'm trying to figure out what colors are displayed.
It depends how far I tilt my screen.
Besides the blue sky and hot white-gold glow of the sun, I'm seeing coral-pink and blue-violet shades.

Oh, and hey, there's a sign or something with a star on it in the lower left.

Julie

...there's a sign or something...

Yep, 'something'. There are no signs along this country road. The pic was taken just down the road from my country place.

What you see is the Texas Lone Star Flag on a pole at Hippies house.

Kt

Kt

Excellent photo!
(Is that actually one and the same photo, but brightened up the second time?)

Julie

I actually handheld the camera against the door of my pickup since I did not have my tripod with me.

Kt

Just thought I would let you guys know. Thanks for your help with my problem.

Bernie

PS. Spell checker doesn't like my spelling of color. It wants it spelled colour. I even looked in my dictionary thinking that maybe I was spelling it wrong. Maybe I have to look at my language settings (using Ubuntu/Linux most of the time now).

When my ink tanks (cartridges) get low, I get an icon in my print window that shows which one(s) are getting low. I have a lot of trouble with the yellow one drying out. Don't know why. I don't print out as many pics as I used to, so maybe I should print paper stuff at least a couple times/week so the tanks don't prematurely dry out.

J

"PS. Spell checker doesn't like my spelling of color. It wants it spelled colour. I even looked in my dictionary thinking that maybe I was spelling it wrong. Maybe I have to look at my language settings (using Ubuntu/Linux most of the time now)."

Mine kept doing that too. I checked language settings everywhere I knew to check, didn't find it so said the heck with it.

I just did a search though and found it here: http://superuser.com/questions/378775/firefox-gives-british-spellings- despite-an-american-dictionary. If it had been a snake it would have bitten me. :)

Sure enough, it was set to British English:

Bernie

Finally, right-clicking in the Gardenweb "Message" box and changing the spell-checker language cleared it right up.

Oh well, I don't know then.

Thanks chugger. I learned something new today.

Bernie

I don't know but have a feeling this is something that will have to be changed back every time Firefox updates. Almost as if the Linux version of Firefox is maintained by folks in Britain. Well, maybe not, just guessing. :)

Chugger, I see in your post @ 1:35 that your clipped image shows four English choices and "Add Dictionaries"

In my message box I only have one English choice (US).
If I click on "Add Dictionaries" I get a new window that shows what's available in my locale, and I can't get English for United Kingdom, Africa or Australia.

How strange.

Now to type colour and test...nope, colour isn't acceptable. I got scolded by my spell checker.

Colour IS an acceptable Scrabble word!

Julie

Right now I am on Windows 7 and FF does only have one language of choice. I'll switch back to Ubuntu and I'll show you something. Give me a couple of minutes.

Bernie

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/english-gb-language-pac k/

Even then I bet you'd have to choose one or the other dictionary and either color or colour would show incorrect no matter which one you choose. Which would leave you with adding the other spelling like Bernie did. Just guessing though.

Yeah, I made the mistake of pointing out a spelling "error" to a British person once. :)

Here are two pictures of FF using the "about" menu. The first one is for Windows and the second is for Ubuntu.

As you can see they are different.

Well thanks, guys for the explanations and all.

Chugger, that link for the language pack might be helpful if I were someone's secretary, but it seems like an awful lot of extra work just to please my sassy computer's spell check.

Bernie,
Yes I see the difference.

You know what? I'm now using IE, and having no problems with spell check, using "color" or "colour". In fact, my computer doesn't even care if I spell it coullour. I guess that might mean that spell check isn't in operation in IE?

Do either one of you know where I might find the spell check in IE?

Julie

That's the best I can tell you.

Bernie

If I just did a "search" for one, I'm afraid I'd wind up with one that wanted to slip in unnecessary toolbars or something so I won't.

Then again... this one looks like it's probably okay: http://www.speckie.com/home Haven't tried it though, so don't really know.

I'll give it a look see tomorrow.

Oh, and BTW, I am now in Google Chrome and my English options are US and Australia, but not UK or Africa.

If I choose Australia English, colour is acceptable.
I just can't get used to spelling it that way without having to think about it, so I'm choosing US for my spell checker.

Julie

just bumping

Sparrows fighting for room at the feeder. Notice the one on the right, trying to get in:

Sparrows find a bit of rest and shelter in the Pagoda Dogwood, while waiting for their turn at the feeder:

Snow covered landscape:

And another:

Julie

I like snow...for about 2 days. The second two pics are great captures. Both have good balance. The first two must have been taken through a screen, maybe your screen door, or perhaps window screen?

Is that a squirrel deterent on the feeder pole? Squirrels here can jump high enough to reach that feeder.

Is the first pic taken facing northwest and that being the road (at the bottom of the pic) heading out of your driveway to the road?

Very nice pics! Thanks for sharing them.

Kt

Kt

You're right about the first two photos. I took the pics through my kitchen window, that's why you see the screen grid. Yes, that's a squirrel deterrent on the feeder pole. If your squirrels can jump high enough to reach that height of a feeder, then your squirrels are Texas size?

The third pic was taken facing northwest, and my driveway is at the bottom of the photo. One of my garden areas is just North of the driveway.

In the last photo you can see some piled up snow at the bottom where my neighbor started some plowing. Our plow truck is sure getting a workout this evening. We are so thankful that our retired neighbor takes the time to use our truck to clear our driveway. He also clears out two other properties south of here that are owned by hubby's business. He also takes his dog for a ride, and that's why the seats are coated with dog hair. He yells at us every time we vacuum the interior, saying, "You ain't supposed to clean a farm truck!"

Thanks for your comments!

J

You can see the whole moon if you look closely.

I could not find a better pic of the quilt that I told Jule about a while back. This is taken off the newspaper so it's not too good.

Kt

Yes, I can barely see the whole moon. Sharp photo!

O.K. I can see a LOT of work went into that quilt. It appears that the back of the quilt compliments the front, which she is holding. The border on the front is made of half-square triangles. I think her technique for the main (center) of the quilt is called "Row by Row". On the left side you can see a bunch of small squares made into blocks called 9-patches. The next row going to the right is a row of houses. Next to that is a row of frames around a center square, and next to that is a row of small squares again, and next to that appears to be a variety of large printed figures (I see a cat and some flowers.) It's hard to tell but those figures could also be appliqued to background fabric. The quilt backing, which is probably attached to a wall, has a wide border of a large-print fabric. Do you know if she won an award for that quilt?

Thanks for sharing that picture, as I so enjoy seeing the work of other quilters! Oh, and thanks for showing us what's bloomin' in your neck of the woods:)

Julie

The caption under the photo is all I know about the pic, and it reads:

J.H. of the Colorado Valley Quilt Guild shows the unique two-sided quilt donated to the Fayette County Animal Shelter. Sporting "homes for every Kitty/Dog", the quilt was created by members of the Colorado Valley Quilt Guild under the direction of J.B. of Weimer and was auctioned at the yearly fundraiser for G.E.J. Animal Shelter. The shelter's "Howl At The Moon Party" was held Oct 27 at Blackberry Farm in Ellinger. The animal shelter is one of the many local facilities who benefit from quilts made and donated by members of the Colorado Valley Quilt Guild.

Kt

Since it's two-sided, what I thought was the front could actually be the back. I looked closer at the construction and could see an inner border, about 1" or 1-1/2" wide just inside the half-square-triangle outer border.

I just finished a wild looking quilt which I may donate to "Quilts For Kids". There's a local chapter in Racine, which donates locally and nationally to children in hospitals. The children either have life-threatening diseases or have been abused. I'll try to post a pic soon.

Julie

Donating a quilt for a good cause! How rewarding. I am interested to see the 'wild' looking quilt.

Kt

Lovely!

Julie

I had ordered fabric from a source on the internet, and when I rec'd the fabric squares, laid them out and discovered they were a tad too bright for my liking. So I added black sashing between them, so they wouldn't clash so much. It went together quickly. I'll be donating this one to a charity:

My Mom finished this 1000 piece puzzle in about 6 weeks. It was originally given to DH as a Christmas present from SIL, but he never got around to starting it. In fact, he wouldn't have the patience to do such a task. I glued it all together with "Puzzle Saver" glue. There are two pieces missing, so I cut a couple small fabric squares and stuck them behind the "holes". Hopefully none of you can locate those two places. If you do, I'll give you a prize:

Julie

The Amaryllis surely does bring spring into the house at this time of year.

I think you made a good decision by putting the black sashing in. It separates the squares.

Hats off to your mother. I would be like your husband and not have the patience. I am going to look for the pieces of cloth, if I can find them.

I think the quilt looks great! I personally like the colour combination, but the red one, orange one and the lower red and blue square look different than all of the others, but looks great none-the-less.

I can't find the pics of my outdoor amaryllis blooms but I'll keep looking.

I have heard that the amaryllis, and other bulb flowers for that matter, that are grown in pots without enough sun, will have a tendency to fall over. Not sure if it is true though.

Anyway, those are very pretty flowers, and very good photos.

I think I found one of the missing pieces. I circled it in red. I think I see the other one also, but will keep checking to verify my find before posting here.

Kt

And glad you liked the Amaryllis.

Good eye, Tex! That was the easy "missing piece hole". The other one is well camouflaged. In fact, I used two separate pieces of cloth in the second hole. Good luck, both of you (or anyone else,) looking for that second "hole".

Julie

Kt

Julie

Hint #1 - It's in the lower half of the puzzle.

Julie

Hint #2- It's in the lower left quadrant of the puzzle.

Don't give up...a great prize awaits the winner!

Julie

I see two other possibilities that I need to scrutinize more closely.

Kt

j

Kt

2nd pic - lots of nice cloud texture!

O. K. I can't stand it anymore re: the missing piece hole.
Your thought, Kt, that it's in the trunk of the yellow car is correct. I inserted a black piece of fabric in the lower half of the hole, and a yellow piece in the top. Ain't I good?

I'll give you a prize for guessing, even tho you weren't sure of your guess.

If you have trouble constructing this, let me know.
Bernie, you might also enjoy this project.

Julie

Yes, that was my guess, in the trunk. The other two 'guesses' that I was studying didn't quite look right, but also didn't look that 'wrong'.

Yes, taking pictures, while driving...I KNOW, don't do this yourself! No one was anywhere near me,but that does not make it any more righteous.

It is a sunset, taken on my way out to my country place the other evening.

Thanks for your comments.

About driving distractions, there was another wreck here this morning due to a cellphone and driving. A woman ran into the back of a school bus picking up kids, just around the corner from my house. Doesn't look good for the driver. Lucky her child wasn't with her today.

Kt

That top picture looks like there is a fire at the end of the road. You seem to get better sunsets/sunrises than we get here.

Julie.

Not a penguin puzzle!!! Now that was an easy puzzle. Just my level of mentality.

Didn't even see Kt's post until after I posted. I wonder if it was there in the first place.

I wish they would clamp down more on cell phone use while driving. We had two teens, brother and sister, back in September that hit a school bus from behind. Both killed. They said that they weren't using cell phone but you got to wonder what distracted them. Looking at the car damage, they had to be going fast.

Kt

This is like attending a photo gallery...every shot looks prettier than the previous one!

Top pic - looks like clouds are moving out, making room for fair skies.

2nd pic - Wow! looks like you used an amber filter on your lens.The color gives me a sense of warmth, after driving around in blinding white snow-covered landscapes today.

3rd pic - Oh! That's the full view...of the previous closeup.

4th pic - baby pink and baby blue sky. Oak tree and fencing framing the left side. Looks like a nice level road where you could do some running! Is that out at your country place?

5th pic - Top notch! I personally think that's the best of the five. Well, maybe tied with the 2nd pic. I can't decide.
Gold/amber horizon and the clouds appear to be glowing from within.

Very, very nice show:)

Julie

Had the same reaction tonight. Claustrophobic. I hurried back to the "road" for a rest and deep breathing. Heavy, smothering atmosphere in that group of pics. Very powerful, like there isn't enough air between the earth and those heavy clouds.

Tempted to just delete this because it sounds so foolish, but no. Here it is for what it's worth.

The second five pics: The first three were taken from my country place at the same place but with different zooms. Those clouds were actually moving in, not out. Winter bring clouds from the north, and Summer brings clouds from the south...generally.

No filters used on any of the pictures, and no colour balancing or any other adjustments, just plain pics right out of the camera.

Yes, the fourth pic was taken while in my lower driveway at my country place as I was leaving and looking east. Hippies house is behind those trees on the right.

That is the same oak tree as in the Orion star pic in an earlier post.

No need for being claustrophobic here. Wide open spaces and lots of fresh air to breathe. That last pic was a high powered zoom-in as I passed the church on the hill. Skies were clear above me at the time.

Thanks for all of your comments everyone!

Kt

Todays pics...

The 'Orion' tree, and the tree in yesterday's 'pink cloud' pic.

See the church on the horizon just left of center in the opening in the trees? It is almost 2 miles away.

How about now?

Even closer. See the lightning rods on the roof?

Jetplane flew over...wonder who was on that plane?

With few clouds, sunsets aren't as colourful.

Birds.

Kt

Church in the second photo? That's a real test for my eyesight.
And thanks for shooting the closer views. I love country churches with tall steeples. Yes, I see the lightning rods. Nice zoom on that 4th pic.

Leavin' on a jet plane,
Don't know when I'll be back again...

Even w/o as many clouds as previous pics, the last two photos convey the warmth of your southern climate.

My camera's not broke.
If I take any pics, they won't show much color...mostly white stuff around here. I'll see what I can capture after the next snowfall.

Julie

Peter, Paul, and Mary. I remember that one. John Denver wrote it.

Thanks for the comments, and post some pics soon!

Kt

Cool pic, Bern. Do you really want an answer?

Lovely sunset shot, Kt. I'll bet you'll soon see a lot more foliage on those trees and shrubs as the weather warms and you hopefully get more rainfall.

J

I'll bet you'll soon see a lot more foliage on those trees ...

Not on those two trees. They are dead from the drought and are also cedars, which are evergreen and would normally have leaves on them now.

I really like the tree on the left for taking pictures, but unfortunately that is the last picture that will ever be taken of both of those trees. They were dozed out today by the fencebuilders. The trees were on my neighbours property, but no more.

Kt

J

Kt

I can't make clickable thumbnail pics since Photobucket created updates a while back. Whenever I click on what I think is someone's thumbnail, I get a window for Photobucket "sign in."

Julie

That first picture is suppose to be a clickable thumbnail. You click on it and it gets bigger. But like both of you, it went to PB. I think PB is getting worst every time they try to "improve" their website. I am in the process of checking out ImageShack. I used it a few weeks ago to share some pictures with family members.

What is that Bernie? and I wonder if it's a Yucca behind a couple rose cones.

In the second picture behind the rose cones and statue is a stump turned on its side. Both pictures were suppose to show the fog that was going across the field. There was another picture that showed fog beyond the field that looked interesting also. Maybe I'll bring that one up... hang on.

And I just noticed something also. PB is getting really slow. You click on something and it takes 30 second or more for things to come up. Oh well.

And their "tell a story" thing is a pain in the neck too.

I'll have to check that out. Didn't even know it was there.

Take care, Bernie.

Haha, Bernie. How did we not guess?

Nice snow pics...kind of hard to believe the snow up there when we are starting gardens already down here.

Looks like more snow is moving y'alls way.

Kt

Here's the lady bug I painted at our last garden club meeting.
It was a quick job and I didn't paint heavy enough to get into all the cracks, but it will do. The white chalk marks around the spots will wash off as soon as I get it outside. I'm told the "patio paint" will last. We still have snow on the ground, and it will be quite a while before it all melts, then I'll find a spot to place this latest "garden art".

Julie

How big is it, and what is it made of/from?

Snow, huh? Mid 80's here today and dry as all get-up. Seems we are not ever going to get a normal or above normal rainfall ever again.

Kt

I'm not sure what the exact term is, but it's some kind of landscape block, probably made of concrete.
It's 2.25" x 5" x 5.5" and weighs 4.2 lbs.
So it shouldn't blow over, but I'll have to place it somewhere out of the way so the dogs don't tip it over...even so, it shouldn't break.

J

Julie

As far as flowers go, this is the best I can do for now...
A non-functional quilt wall hanging to brighten up my dining room...made it myself.

I noticed as Sandy did, the flowers and butterflies over the other prints, but I can't figure out how the left butterfly and the flower have lines around them and so does some of the petals and the other butterfly.

Is that from sewing? I guess what I'm asking is, is that sew lines/seems or is that in the fabric itself, like part of the pattern?

Dragonflies and seashells too! I see a sand dollar.

Excellent.

Kt

Bernie,
Charms Sampler Two March 2013 isn't written on the wall.
I added that text in my picture editor. I wouldn't put text on my wall, silly!

Sandy & Kt,
Yes, the flowers, stems, leaves, vase and butterflies were appliqued over the background prints. I named it Charms Sampler because the background squares in blue and white came from a "charm pack" of 5" squares, and I just had to piece (sew) them together. The word Sampler refers to the sample quilting I did on the background. You can't see all the variety of stitching in that photo, but there's a bunch of different stitch patterns I used to highlight different areas. It's named # Two, because I made a first Charms Sampler and it's now hanging on the wall in my bedroom. It's not quite a fancy as this one.

The lines you see around the middle flower and around the two butterflies are quilting (stitching) lines. That technique is called echoing. I used it to show "motion", as if the flower was moving in the gentle wind, and the butterflies were fluttering. Each of the blue & white background squares has a different quilting (stitching) pattern.

I made two rod pockets on the back upper corners where a dowel fits. The dowel balances on a nail. The quilt is only 24" square, but it took me a long time to make with all the stitching involved.

Julie

The butterflies, with their 'echoes' remind me of the butterflies in the animated Yellow Submarine movie.

Only 24 inches? I would have guessed that it was at least twice that size. I bet that would have really taken a long time though.

Bern, maple syrup? Hmmmm...

Maybe I can get some pics next time I crank up my still.

Yesterday.

Sunsets.

Kt

Cool sunsets...looks like no clouds in the horizon.

Bullet hole in the rock?

Julie

The blue chips are pieces of foam from cushions in the deer stand that the birds are inside of. They are in Sue's deerstand, that I've posted pics of in the past.

No, not a bullet hole. I took the pic since it looked like a fossil rock, or like the two green leaves were painted on the rock...just thought it was interesting.

Kt

ok, that worked, so I removed it.

Kt

Your sunsets remind me of the song, 'Silence is Golden' sung by the Four Seasons.

Very lovely...not the buzzards...the photos!

Julie

It really stinks in there and even the adult buzzards are covered in feces...just like the beak, floor and walls in the photo.

'Silence is Golden' has always been a song that I've liked. Brings back memories.

Thanks, Jule.

Kt

I will post a picture of it.

Kt

Julie

The stand was there when I bought the place. It is now leaning a bit, and if you look in the close-up pic, the left half of the roof is gone.

Pics taken yesterday.

Deer stand across my drying tank.

Close-up.

Kt

Julie

An Apple.

Growing up.

Kt

Your apple and pear trees look very healthy:)

The buzzards sure like to cuddle together. It's fun watching them mature.

Julie

Apples smell sweet but the aroma is not real strong, but the Wild Plums here have the strongest aroma of the edible fruiting trees, but Chinaberry trees have a strong sweet smell to them also, and so does Honeysuckle.

Yes, Sandy, I thought that the apple looked more like a pepper also. Not sure if that is the normal shape of most apples or not since they are relatively new to me also. The apples look more like jujubes.

Bell peppers are already ripe here this year, but I did not grow any. Radishes are also ready for picking.

I planted 3 Cherokee tomato plants this weekend. I'll find out for myself how good(or bad) they are.

Hang in there, warmer weather is not too far away.

Kt

Moonrise.

Getting bigger. When they heard me, they both assumed the position in the picture...heads down and wings out.

Kt

Lovely blue sky background, showing off a lovely moon.
But wait...the moon is FULL at my house. Did you take that pic a few days ago?

Heads down and wings out...a defense strategy?
Interesting that they both face the same direction.

Thanks for sharing!

Julie

The moon pic was taken Sunday or Monday evening.

I think the birds do it to make themselves look larger, and maybe also to make them look like a 'non-food' item, since all you basically see is hair or fuzz.

They make kind of a hissing noise.

Kt

Kt

Kt