Sunday, December 07, 2014

THE DRIFTERS HAD A SONG CALLED ‘UP ON THE ROOF’ & THAT IS WHERE I WAS THIS MORNING

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So nice to see our day dawn bright & clear.  Past days of clouds & rain were now behind us as old Sol broke over a distant mountain range bringing with it warming rays to a slightly chilled Arizona desert night’s early morning air.

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PULLED OUT THIS PACK RAT STUFF FROM UNDER THE PORCH WHERE I FOUND FROGGY

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SUNNY MORNINGS ARE DEFINITELY BETTER THAN RAINY DAY MORNINGS

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SEEINGS HOW IT WAS SUNDAY I ONLY DID HALF A LOAD OF LAUNDRY THIS MORNING

In a comment on a photo in my Saturday post Craig from Merikay's Dream said, “That picture looks like a bird head glued to a cactus. I'm sure you would never publish such a thing, but there's no trace of a hole in the cactus around its head! Sorry my visual imagination is so limited” :-)  Craig is correct in saying, “I’m sure you would never publish such a thing”.  My Picasa photo editing program doesn’t have that capability which is fine with me because I have no interest in altering photos like that.  I did take a photo from the same angle this morning of the same Saguaro cactus in our front yard showing the same hole without a bird peeking out:))

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THE NESTING HOLE WITHOUT THE BIRD IN IT:))

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A HOUSE FINCH, A CARDINAL, A PYRRHULOXIA & I THINK THEY ARE ALL MALES

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Enjoying their 3rd year of full timing Marti & Paul Dahl from R Sanity RV Travels in their latest post list some of the reasons they so much enjoy their traveling life on the road.  I remember it just seemed like yesterday they were going through the whole process of selling their house.

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Reading Paul & Marti’s post this morning I was reminded of my own reasons for enjoying the Snow Bird RV lifestyle we have been enjoying now since September of 2006.  For me it has always been the scenery, the open road, the quiet out of the way places we have found over the years in various boon docking locations.  Exploring around old ghost towns, sunrises & sunsets along with endless starry night skies here in the southwest.  Finding quiet boondocking sites with no human influence within sight or sound has always been the best of the best for us.  We are at our contented happiest when we are alone & enveloped by only Mother Nature herself………………

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PYRRHULOXIA

It was a good morning for getting a few small jobs done up on the roof.  Piece of wood holding our internet antennae needed a little paint & using some roofing tar I patched & filled in some cracks in the old roofing tar around our fireplace chimney. 

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PAINTING A PIECE OF WOOD OUR INTERNET ANTENNA IS ATTACHED TO

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CRACKS IN THE OLD ROOFING TAR & A NEW APPLICATION THIS MORNING

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KELLY STEADIES THE LADDER BEFORE I COME DOWN

It is always important to me to have my photos look as natural as possible.  Don’t want them looking like an oil painting or anything unnatural.  Very rare for me to enhance colors unless the photo has been taken on a cloudy dull drab day.  I always try to present my photos as I saw the scene & not necessarily how the camera saw the scene.  The human eye is better at seeing light & dark as well as color than the camera is & I’m sure many folks have found that out for themselves.  How many times have you seen a beautiful scene, taken a photo, then been disappointed by the results the camera produces.  Too light, too dark, where did the colors go & why are they so dull?  That’s not how I saw it.  Happens a lot & this is why & where a photo editing program stands on it’s own merits.  Every bit as important as the human eye & the camera.  The photo editing program enables you to work with that disappointing photo & often allows you to bring back the scene as your eye originally saw it in the first place. 

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GROANER’S CORNER:(( A diner was agitated that the waiter had brought him no spoon with his coffee. "This coffee," he said loud enough for most of the other patrons to hear, "is going to be pretty hot to stir with my fingers." The waiter reddened, made a hasty retreat to the kitchen and returned shortly with another cup of coffee.
"This one isn't so hot, sir," he beamed.

10 comments:

  1. Try shooting in raw instead of jpeg. You have a huge file but you have a lot more to work with when you edit them. Just remember they are huge. Picasa does a nice job of changing them into jpegs when you are done. Just try it with a few and see what you think. It is done through the menu, where you choose file size. Let us know if you try it.

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  2. I really envy your bird pictures. It's the idea of taking them yourself and getting to enjoy your own over and over again. Can we borrow a couple birds?

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  3. That bird is clearly the exact maximum size for that hole in that cactus. A few hundred more seeds and it will be new-house-hunting time. A great image as always.

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  4. You're doing okay if you are still climbing up on the roof. I can't do it anymore and it makes me so aggravated.

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  5. Nice that the weather cleared up and you got a few projects done, just puttering around.

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  6. I think I'd need more ladder to grab onto than that! I always figure I'll take a header off the edge unless I can grab it at almost waist level.

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  7. Red is certainly the popular color for the male birds in your neighborhood - and they all look very handsome! So glad you were able to rescue Froggy from his frognappers before he was reduced to dust and stuffing :-)
    I agree with Bob on the ladder height - freaks me out just looking at the photo!

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  8. Beautiful red birds! I have to admit I alter my photos for clarity and color to get them looking like I SAW them. Not always, but often. I have a problem with sunsets, though. I can never get the pink tones the real sunsets have. That color fades out and I can't get it back in.

    Please be careful on the ladder - but you know that. Glad Kelly is there holding the ladder. :)

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  9. When I come down off the roof of the Hiker, I don't want ANYONE beneath me...it just isn't pretty!

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  10. Thanks for mentioning us on your blog. Every time you've mentioned our blog our site meter takes off like a rocket! We appreciate your following along with our blog, we've been reading yours for years. One of these days we'd enjoy meeting you and Kelly and the always adorable Pheebie in person. We thought we'd be heading west this winter but a medical condition has chained us to the east coast. Maybe next year. :c)

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