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Sunday, July 31, 2011

Triple Digit Heat 30 Straight Days



This photo shows the temperature in my yard just before 7 p.m. tonight . . . 108° . . . here in Dallas we are now at 30 straight days of triple-digit heat . . . this is officially the 2nd longest heat wave on record . . . the record of 42 days straight occurred in 1980 when they had a total of 69 days when the temperature reached 100+ . . .

Saturday, July 30, 2011

Rainbows and Butterflies



Happy Birthday, Gini . . .
I wish you . . .
rainbows and butterflies
wallflowers and starry skies
and dreams that aren’t afraid to come true
sunsets and autumn leaves
snowfall and make believe . . .

adapted from lyrics by
Billy Swan

P.S. I know it's a day early . . .
but the photo-op happened a day early . . .
and the lyrics just seemed to fit!


Friday, July 29, 2011

Doodlebug



Doodlebug / Antlion


Look in the lower left corner . . . they are creepy looking little creatures . . . this doodlebug was working hard going in circles in his sand pit . . . this was the best image I caught of him . . . most just showed him throwing sand . . . keep in mind that these little critters are smaller than the size of a pencil eraser . . . a doodlebug excavates its pit by using its oval-shaped abdomen as a plow and its flat head as a shovel for flicking sand upward. It circles backward through the sand and repeatedly flicks sand upward, raising its head above the soil surface. . . .

Thursday, July 28, 2011

Bricolage :: Blooming Butterflies



I have a tree I call my butterfly tree . . . because every year the butterflies literally just seem to come out of the bark of this tree . . . and it's been blooming butterflies lately . . . hence all the butterfly photos . . .

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Bricolage :: Bible Page



Clicking on this photo will take you to an altered version of this image of a page from an early 20th century Bible . . . altered using Picasa and IrfanView as well as a texture from playingwithpsp . . . please do let me know if you come up with a good use for it . . .


Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Monday, July 25, 2011

Bricolage :: Stained Glass Butterfly



The above stained glass image
was created from the following photo,
using features in Picasa as well as IrfanView . . .


Saturday, July 23, 2011

Bricolage :: Palomino



Clicking on this altered image will take you to another altered image from the same photo session with my palomino friend . . . please do let me know if you use this texture for a project . . . I would like to see what you do with it . . .


Friday, July 22, 2011

Bad Day at the Grooming Salon



Bad haircut . . . and razor burn . . .
and Riley ain't happy with me . . .


Thursday, July 21, 2011

Bricolage :: Flowers for Mothers



Dedicated to anyone missing their Mother today

You scattered beauty as the rose sheds leaves,
My mother, as you journeyed down life's ways.
You wove love's tapestry, as moonlight weaves
Rare shadow-patterns through a silver haze.
You lifted sorrows from the burdened mind,
And comforted the weary and distressed;
With gentle understanding, helpful, kind,
You brought the pain-wracked ease, the weary rest.

And now that you are gone, no monument
Of massive stone, however deftly carved,
Could fittingly portray the strength you lent
The sick and desolate and beauty-starved.
Remembering, I'll plant a thousand flowers
To banish suffering through countless hours.



My Mother
by
Nancy Richey Ranson





Clicking on today's photo will reveal a textured background image created from this photo of dried flowers preserved from my Bennie's memorial service in April of 2010 . . . which, along with a texture from Shadowhouse Creations, was used to create a double-exposure collage in Picasa . . . and was then texturized using IrvanView . . . please do let me know if you use this for a project . . . I would like to see what ideas you come up . . .


Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Monday, July 18, 2011

Lost Photo :: Hink of Sanford, Maine



Do you know me?
Photographer :: C.R. Smith
Location :: Sanford, Maine
Name on Back :: C. Hink


Saturday, July 16, 2011

Bricolage :: Devil's Pincushion Memories



Memories curve inward
like grey spines
on Devil's Pincusions.

They sit like cacti,
low and round
in red clay.

Ordinary blotches
in brown grass
among prickly pears


Memories hold
deep green and rose pink
traces of color,

Sky-full Texas sunsets
lingering late
across orange plains.

Until stars pierce
blue twilight
and a full moon rises.

Dorothy Lee Hansen


The two textured backgrounds were created from this photo . . . using features in Picasa as well as IrfanView . . . I think they have kind of a southwest flavor . . . please do let me know if you come up with a good use for them . . .


Friday, July 15, 2011

Bricolage :: Whirlwinds



If they should bury me apart from you,
Who loved you well through years too brief for love;--
Whose parting then was marked by pain and rue--
If they should think my heart unconscious of
Deep grief, or my mute body all unknowing
Because so powerless to guide their feet
To your bright hill where desert winds are blowing,
Aroma-fraught from fields, remote and sweet;

If then some fragment of your earthly form
Should drift atop the mound that marked your place,
And view afar a sand-filled, spiral storm,
It would discover in that cloud my face.
Your dust, Beloved, would rise and dance with glee,
Another whirlwind, cognizant of me.



Nancy Richey Ranson

 

The textured whirlwind image was created from the really boring photo of tonight's Full Buck Moon . . . using features in the free programs, Picasa and IrfanView . . . please do share with me if you use this for something . . . I would like to see what ideas you come up with . . . 




Thursday, July 14, 2011

Drowsietown



O, so drowsy! In a daze
Sweating ’mid the golden haze.

Robert Buchanan
(1841–1901)


Wednesday, July 13, 2011

2003 SIMS Summer Jubilee



On this date in 2003 . . . Sunday, the 13th day of July . . .
Bennie Everhart (1948-2010)
wins the SIMS Summer Jubilee in Cleveland, Texas . . .


Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Bricolage :: Beribboned



No photo ideas again today . . .
so here's another texturized photo for use as a background for a digital collage . . .


Monday, July 11, 2011

Keepers of the Queens Crown



Clicking on the photo will take you to a Picasa album
showing several bee photos captured about 1 p.m. today . . .
while Jake & Mandy were mowing the yard!


Sunday, July 10, 2011

Cloud Angel



Can you see the angel? . . .

head is upper right . . . robe flows down to the lower left . . .
notice the feathery / lacy edges of the wings . . .


Friday, July 8, 2011

Happy Anniversary, Bob & Betty



Robert E. Henry
(1905~1976)
married
Elizabeth Marilla Smith
(1912~1932)
in
Lynn, Essex County, Massachusetts
on
Monday, the 8th of July 1929

aka Bob & Betty
they are my maternal grandparents


Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Bricolage :: Tattered Toy



This is Riley's favorite toy . . . and it is in need of mending (and washing!) . . . the inset photo on the following contact sheet is an out-of-focus shot of Riley doing what I call his death shake with this poor little lamb . . . during this activity the lamb usually winds up half-way across the room . . . because Riley thinks it's fun to let it go flying . . . and then wait for me to retrieve it for him . . .


Using features from both Picasa and IrfanView (free programs), I created multiple background textures from a cropped area of that out-of-focus photo . . . clicking on the contact sheet will take you to a Picasa album containing each of the background textures shown on this collage . . . please do let me know if you use one of these textures for a project . . . I like to see what ideas others come up with . . .

Monday, July 4, 2011

These Boots are Made for Riding



These are the boots I'm wearing in > THIS < photo . . .


Saturday, July 2, 2011

Cordless Mower



I am currently researching cordless (battery-powered) mowers . . . so if you have a love / hate affair with a cordless mower, I would love to hear comments . . . in the meantime . . . this a.m. I staked Jake in the middle of the front yard (non-fenced area) . . . and put Mandy on a long leash that was not tied to anything . . . and they ate until they were bored with eating . . . will repeat as necessary :) . . .

Friday, July 1, 2011

Summertime in Texas



And the temperature today . . .
at 7:22 pm . . . is . . .