2/28 Anticipation

Saturday Cooking - Preparing for Week

2/28 Anticipation

Today's prompt was screwed up for the first time, the list said Anticipation while the email prompt was about letters/snail mail/ SWAK. I went with anticipation since it fit with my mood for the day. Not sure what the week will bring with my Dad's procedure on Monday, so I cooked American chop suey for my family here and to bring some of it down with me for a quick meal or two. I also made a Bisquick quiche with baby spinach and the end of a bag of cheddar jack cheese. The quiche are in the background already to go for lunches this week. 

For dinner, I bought a pot roast to cook in the crock pot with an envelope of Lipton Onion Mushroom soup and a can of tomatoes. Initially, I thought I would do bbq beef with it, but then decided to go for the regular meal, minus the vegetables in the crockpot. I don't like how mushy they get. For sides, I cooked mashed potatoes and carrots on the side. The best of the dinner for me, was the rolls that I made. Instead of 20 small rolls, I made 12 large rolls which were of course delicious, with all that butter, why wouldn't they be?

My husband finally made it home after a delay today in Baltimore. He had a great time at the Maroon 5 concert last night in Nashville and got a fantastic seat 7 rows back from the runway section of the stage. It appears that you can get a ticket for a concert for the original ticket's price on the same day at the box office as long as you are a single. 

Here is the last Rat eye view picture of the week, instead of a cat, the cat's toy. 

59/365 Cat Toy, Floor View



End of the month collages. Onto March and warmer weather! I made two of the collages in Lightroom in the print module and the other is from the collect app that I keep on the IPhone.

Cy365 February ( Collage made in Lightroom 5 in Print Module)

Collect App Collage - IPhone App for collecting daily Photos

Project 365 Flickr- February

2/27 Outside Photography

Afternoon Walk on the Snowmobile Trails

2/27 Photograph The Season

Outside / Time of Year / Occasion

It was a good thing that there was an outside prompt today, since I needed the incentive to go for a walk. I should have gone cross country skiing, but as bright as the day was, it was still cold.  I did do some extra processing in Perfect Photo suite with this shot to highlight the colors. This is what the lighting originally looked like:

I started off with pictures around the house and this one with fence ended up as my flickr shot. I had tried a ground shot and didn't like it, but I liked this picture with 1/2 of the fence showing. Black and white just seemed to work for this shot. When the snow melts, it will be interesting to see if the fence will remain upright, this section is not very steady.

58/365 Winter Fence

Scenes around the yard

Once the bird seed is gone, there will be no more. Almost time to stop because of the bears.

That's our front walk in the top right. No ice on that main roof, it's all in the front yard. No damage to shrubs because they already have 2 feet of snow on top. 

Out on the pond

Obligatory Cat picture- Still not fighting. I think the big one just wants to keep me in his sight to remind me to feed them.

2/26 Candle Making

Candlemaking

2/26 Photograph Engaged

Committed / Bound / Ringed

Another day, another non prompt photograph. Today I made candles with the candle making kit that my son gave me for Christmas. The joke at Christmas is that I always get candles as a gift, it appears to be their go-to gift for me. I do like candles and my middle guy thought I would like to make candles, since I like crafty things. After reading the directions, multiple times, I was not thrown off by the helpful hint of "Have available a good candle making book for reference and additional safety precautions". The process was easy and I would like to get more wax to make more. The kit came with metal pourer that fit a large pan of water and the wax melted quickly. Once poured, it was easy to put the wicks in and then let it sit. The candles slid right out of the votive holders after three hours of setting. 

It was a fun, busy day. I got up early and baked blueberry muffins with a recipe that was for a cake, but instead of vegetable oil, I substituted butter and voila, muffins!  I went over to S's this morning for breakfast with Amy and her two kids. It was nice to catch up and the morning flew by.  After such a nice afternoon yesterday of cross country skiing, I had thought I would go again by myself, but it was too cold. I then thought that I could get the snow blower up and clear up the path that got filled with snow from the roof last week, but after hearing from husband who is now stuck in Nashville until Saturday due to weather in Chicago, I decided to hang out inside. It was a better day for knitting and making candles then being outside in the cold.

Sport sock

57/365 Floor view Cat- Scary eyes

2/25 Golden Hour Skiing

Late Afternoon Cross Country Skiing 

2/25 Photograph Future Investment

Save / Invest / Looking Ahead

Another day of not following the prompt and I am honestly hitting a slump with the Capturingyour365 this week. Not feeling the mojo with the community and have decided to just take what I want for a daily picture. This afternoon I went out cross country skiing with my friend K at the farm. It was a beautiful afternoon and the light was great for photography.

56/365 "Rat Eye View" Afternoon shadows skiing

It was a balmy day with temperatures over 30 degrees. The sun even caused the ice to fall off the front of the house. We go from minus 17 to 30 degrees in 24 hours, from frozen quakes during the night to ice falling off the roof. Plenty of noise and I wish I was home when the ice fell, would have been loud but worth it to see the scaredy cat skulk through the house when it fell. we were just lucky that no body was on the walkway.

2/24 Jumping Up to Help?

Jumping Up to Help

2/24 Photograph Jump

Leap / Skip / Dance

When I read the prompt for today, I didn't know what I was going to do for a subject. Some people posted pictures of themselves jumping or their children. It wasn't a jumping day for me, just not feeling it. After finishing the knitted cowl the night before, I was ready to start another project. This yarn was bought as a large hank and needed to be rolled up to make socks. It's easier to do when you have another set of hands and I used the chair to hold onto the skein of yarn. Out of four cats, only one of them became intrigued by the moving yarn. When I got the camera, she even tossed the ball on the ground. 

55/365 Rat's Eye view on top of 2 feet of snow in the backyard

Obligatory cat photo- No fur flying, no fighting. Amazing.

2/23 Winter to Spring Growth

 Winter to Spring Growth - Lilac Buds

2/23 Photograph Potential

Expectation / Prepare / Growth

When I read the prompt for the day, I knew what the subject would be, but the question was,  how close I would be able to get to the buds? With all this snow and cold, spring will happen as scheduled. 

To show how much processing takes place through Lightroom 5 I included the picture to the left.  It is the original RAW file from the camera. With Lightroom, I increased the exposure and cropped the picture with changes to contrast, shadows, vibrance and clarity. The picture was then brought into  Perfect Photo Suite 9 for a glow effect. 

54/365 Cat on the Floor

We finally had a sunny day which helped melt more of the ice on the roof. As the drops of water fell on the steps, there were drops' reflections on the floor which were intriguing to Stash. I used this picture for the Flickr, Rat Eye View.

In the afternoon, I went over to my friend S's who had her two pre-teen grandchildren with her for the day. I was going to pass on the visit until I heard that a puppy was there. Her granddaughter has a 12 week mix, labrador retriever and Saint Bernard which was the runt of the litter. Cash is his name and he worships S's granddaughter and follows here everywhere, but is also very mellow. He is going to be a smart dog as he can already sit on demand, but he is going to be big!

2/22 Photo Goals

Photography Goals

2/22 Photograph Looking Forward

Goals / Progressing / Leading

The theme for this week is looking forward, not sure where it will go, however, today's instructions were to look back at the year and the photos that I have taken. In reviewing the photos, question what I want to accomplish and be proud of how much I have grown. There are so many technical photos in my year and I would like to get shots with better lighting and include more people. The quote popped up on my twitter feed today from Light Stalking and I thought it was appropriate to add it to today's photograph. 

The flickr challenge this week is going to be interesting, "Rat's Eye View" getting the camera down to ground level. This picture is of the snowboard and boots that my son was going to use last night until he changed his mind to skiing instead. Meanwhile, the snowboard and boots are still by the door.

Today, after a quick walk, I went back to watching Downton Abbey while my husband was off enjoying a wonderful morning of powder skiing. The show is addicting and I am glad that I started watching it while there are a few seasons available. 

53/365 Floor View of Snowboard and Boots

2/21 Photograph Indistinct

Blah Kind of Day to Make Soup

2/21 Photograph Indistinct

Out of Focus / Edited / Hazy

Today's email prompt included a video about using an iPhone

 app called Big Lens to bug the background and create bokeh. Fighting off a sinus headache so I made a big pot of cabbage soup. All those colorful vegetables created a subject for today's photo. I tried the app on another photo that had a finer edge and it was difficult working with the edging using my finger, but it was fun with the larger cabbage. 

We got more snow today, just as predicted and without any melting, we have huge snow banks in the yard. If we had this epic snow when the boys were younger, there would be snow tunnels and forts through out the yard. #2 and my husband went off skiing this evening to enjoy the fresh powder. After they left, I got out my knitting and restarted another cowl while making sure that I had the stitches lined up correctly. No twists occurred and I happily knitted by the fire as I started watching Downton Abbey. I watched almost the entire first season and am hooked.

For the Flickr photo, I used the iPad as a soft box for extra light with the fork reflection. Then I tried a flower which really made it bright. With all the white of winter, the vegetable colors and flowers add brightness to the blog today.

Clean roof = Happy homeowner

Snowbanks higher than the porch

Flickr 52/365 Fork Reflection

2/19 Valentine Flower Singled Out

Last of the Valentine Flowers- Outside 

2/19 Photograph Isolate It

Remove / Single Out / Detach

After another 3 inches or so of snow, it was a beautiful morning here with the sun out. The wind was blowing the snow off the branches so I took this flower and put it on top of the porch bannister. A macro lens was used to get the details of the flower with blurred white background. The picture was taken early today which was a good thing for the backlighting since the later morning became cloudy with snow flurries.The good news is that the snow is melting off the roof, the bad news is that there is plenty of snow up there. 

With the sun on the roof, I went back out with the roof rake to pull even more snow off the roof since there is a wetter snow in the forecast for Sunday. I did break down

and call a contractor to come over tomorrow and shovel off our back roof. It is melting, but I am worried about the weight and ice dams.  No walk or snowshoeing for today, raking was the cardio exercise for the day. This picture doesn't do the amount of snow justice, there is about 2 feet of packed snow 3 feet from the rake. In the back yard, I can almost touch the roof of the porch from a snow pile by the back deck.

In the afternoon, I went on a job interview for a sales/customer service job for a vacation related software. If I get the job, it will be about 6 weeks of training in NH and I would be able to work from home/Florida. Would be nice to be working again, there's just so many loaves of bread I can be making each day. I don't want to say much more about it to avoid jinxing my chances. However, I would like the flexibility of the position and know that I can learn technology quickly, plus it would avoid having to work temp jobs.

By the time, I got home, I had not taken a photo for Flicker and thought first of the clementine but since I had done the salad yesterday, it was a no go. However, once I had the tea going, I thought the reflections on the tea kettle with the cup was a nice, homey shot. I liked all the lines in the picture.

50/365 Tea kettles Reflection

2/18 Photograph XOXO

No XOXO Here, Just a lot of IIII

2/18 Photograph XOXO

Tic - Tac - Toe / Love / Heart

I almost got out the Ball and Jacks that one of my sons received for Christmas, however then the picture would have just been about a set up and to get the recommended focal prompt for today's prompt. Instead, I went outside in the yard to see what I could find for depth of filed and focal point.  These pine needles are one of many that are dotting our yard right now. Because the snow is so deep, I did not have to lay on the ground to get this shot. Another choice could have been the lilac branch with buds, yes, that's right, amid all this snow there are visible buds on the branches. 

Then, I could have used this picture of Stash where he is so big while lounging that I can get his nose in focus with an out of focused paw. In all of the photos today, I used On One Perfect Suite 9 to process the photos. I am such a geek that while I was making dinner, I listened/watched a video cast on hints and tricks for the program.  It's a program that I can use to fix and enhance photos. 

Flickr 49/365 It's all about the colorful vegetables for the salad today.

2/17 Large Cup of Hot Chocolate

Large Cup of Hot Chocolate

2/17 Photograph Wide

Step Back / Expanded / Vast

This was a fun shot to do today and it was a new skill that I hadn't done before. I had a willing subject and a cute mug. There was some kitchen cleaning that went on to get the shot and then I moved to the other side of the kitchen. When I first started, I had not dropped the aperture to it's lowest and there was quite a difference from f/5.6 to f/3.5 with the background depth of field. I also noticed that once I got closer to the subject, the background blurred even more. And wasn't I lucky to have such a willing subject today?

Top picture f/5.6, 18 mm and bottom f3.5, 23 mm

#2 was home because he got rear-ended last night while trying to stop at a stop light. Of course, it's a new car, but he did great and avoided a bigger impact by pulling into the empty left lane while the person behind him was not so lucky. He did not have any visible damage, but still took it in today to have it checked out. Everything was fine and he is relieved, still kind of scary to have happen.

Went over to my friend S's today for lunch and finished knitting a cowl. Unfortunately, the stitches twisted on the needle and I now have a twisted (warm) cowl. I do have another skein and will be able to make another cowl  to go with the hat. Just crazy that I twisted the initial row and S thought I was going crazy trying to untwist it. Now that I know how easy it is to twist such lightweight yarn, I just have to pay attention to the first row without any distractions.



Dinner tonight was a new macaroni and cheese recipe that my friend T had told me about. I took her recipe and found a copy of it online, Deluxe macaroni and cheese. I lightened it by using light sour cream, 1% cottage cheese, more pasta and a head of broccoli. It was a super, simple recipe and I topped it with parmesan cheese and crushed ritz bacon flavored crackers.  Easier than the skinny taste recipe but I always have the ingredients for the skinny taste recipe on hand.  Seems like a lot of food for three, but the guys end up with lunch for two days.

48/365 Flickr - Drive way reflection #2