The Old Folks Home

[beverly evans]

Quote: But so very entertaining.

NOT!!

 

[ozexpat]

AUSTIN, TEXAS!!

Funny you should say that....

I have a pretty good record at job interviews. I have only not been offered the job twice in my life. Once when I was eighteen and the second was a few years ago in Austin.

I went in a little too cocky.

We spent the weekend looking at houses. I was shocked when they passed over me.

Austin is one of the few places I would consider in Texas.

 

[beverly evans]

Went out last night to do some light painting at the Great Salt Lake. Got a few pretty shots of the sunset and did a few tries to get the painting done. I learned you CAN NOT be up by the lake that time of night without insect repellent. I am so used to not having problems around the house because we have no standing water anywhere near our house. No standing water, no mosquitos. It was HORRIBLE at the lake as soon as the sun went down. We couldn't stay and do the pictures there so we went back home and did them out in the pasture. Should have listened to DH in the first place. Shhhhhhhhh, don't tell him I said that.

Sunset


Light painting


Milky Way


Today I am going on a short hike to Donut Falls. I took pictures of it in the winter while it was mostly frozen, and I have heard that the donut hole part has collapsed. I don't think it is true though. We did go up earlier in the year to get the falls unfrozen but there was too much runoff to get to the top.

dsgard, You take fabulous pictures! I had to look at all of them and wonder about one. What is that sea creature?? Kinda looks like a baluga whale with jaw cancer that has its jaw all huge and disfigured.

 

[dsqard]

Bamadude, Oz had it mostly right on the light painting. I actually only had to open the shutter for about 14 seconds, no need to go into bulb. I used bulb for the Milky Way photo. Anyway, DH was my 'reluctant' helper on the light painting. For this shot we used a bull clip, a shoe string and steel wool. Steel wool burns pretty good. Light it and swing it around, leave the shutter open and you get "light painting" pictures. Extended exposure will also allow you to take photographs in dark areas with no flash like this


I took this today at Donut Falls. Using a flash will not get that "soft" look to the water. You have to use a long exposure. This was 20 seconds.

 

[dsqard]

dsgard, You take fabulous pictures! I had to look at all of them and wonder about one. What is that sea creature?? Kinda looks like a baluga whale with jaw cancer that has its jaw all huge and disfigured.

Thank you very much for the compliments bev! I am not sure which picture you think has a sea creature in it?

 

[Cynthia12]

Went out last night to do some light painting at the Great Salt Lake. Got a few pretty shots of the sunset and did a few tries to get the painting done. I learned you CAN NOT be up by the lake that time of night without insect repellent. I am so used to not having problems around the house because we have no standing water anywhere near our house. No standing water, no mosquitos. It was HORRIBLE at the lake as soon as the sun went down. We couldn't stay and do the pictures there so we went back home and did them out in the pasture. Should have listened to DH in the first place. Shhhhhhhhh, don't tell him I said that.

Sunset


Light painting


Milky Way


Today I am going on a short hike to Donut Falls. I took pictures of it in the winter while it was mostly frozen, and I have heard that the donut hole part has collapsed. I don't think it is true though. We did go up earlier in the year to get the falls unfrozen but there was too much runoff to get to the top.

DiDi, folks are entering their chickens in the fair, you should be entering your photos. I know some would make it to the state fair. Beautiful.

 

[beverly evans]

It's been raining steadily since Friday afternoon and it's in the forecast for the next 4 days. My riding mower is down and they're not picking it up till Tuesday. I paid a kid $20 to cut the hill facing the road so I don't get a weed citation. The rest of the place is pretty invisible from the road. I was planning on using the weed whip to knock a lot of it down but it's too wet for that right now. Since I lost 7 flocks of chickens, all those paddocks are overgrown now and I can't keep up.

Quote:
Interesting stuff. I read a book exposing the ill deeds of the American Fruit Co. years ago, but learned some new facts. Thanks!

 

[LindaB220]

AUSTIN, TEXAS!!

Oh my gawd, ain't that the truth. Love Austin. My oldest DD lives there and her kids are super special needs. The community that swarms around the special needs is fabulous. Lots of help. One of Jenny's friends (RN) offered to keep 13 yo Nikki for 2 weeks while Jenny Jack and John went to England. That's a good friend because Nikki is on the lower scale of Downs and hard to get along with. Jenny decided to stay home with Nikki. and the trip was changed to Portland Or. But the tickets were so high that they decided to spend the extra $500 and put Nikki in a special camp. It's the only one that has not called them to pick her up one day later. So they spent 3 days in Houston loved it. Gson John is 15 yo with Aspergers and loves, loves science fiction. So they spent a day at NASA. It was a win-win for everybody.

 

[dsqard]

Thank you Cynthia, I did enter the state fair last year and I am thinking of entering again this year. I just am not sure which photos I want to enter. I took thousands this year so far (mostly not great but a few really good ones) but I don't have any "super" favorites. It is hard to pick because I know it is a pretty challenging field even in the amateur category.

 

[beverly evans]

Heard something rather unexpected yesterday.

Someone I know recently sold a horse to some folks that live near Whiteville (about 35-40 miles from here). He got a call from them yesterday; the horse was attacked by what they are identifying as a panther (also known as a cougar, puma, mountain lion). I have no details about why they think that's what it was, or the extent of the horse's injuries, but their vet advised them to euthanize the horse, so they did.

Historically, panthers did inhabit this area, but they are thought to have been extirpated generations ago. Rumors of their continued survival in the coastal swamps persist, but reported sightings are usually passed off as a bobcat or large dog. I would think that a dog, or even a pack of dogs, would cause different sort of injuries than a cat would, and I find it very hard to believe that a bobcat (with an average weight of less than 25 lbs.) would attack an 800 lb. horse. We have bears around here, of course, but once again, I'd think the damage they might inflict would be different.

I'm very sorry for the horse, and for the owners, of course, but the situation is intriguing and vaguely disturbing. Is this yet another predator that we need to be aware of?

We have very rare sightings of mountain lions in Texas, but we have lots of places for them to hang on and not be seen. No attacks on human beings like those on hiking trails all over California. Yuk!