In The Kitchen

I thought I'd change things up a bit and add this recipe.  You never know what you might find while shopping and there was this blackboard  at the Crate And Barrel in the Bridgeport Mall in Oregon.   I thought it was a very clever idea.  And I thought it was something I would actually make so that was an added bonus.  In case you have trouble reading it:

Cherry Tomato Jam for Cheese

2 cups cherry tomatoes
3/4 cup sugar
3 tbsp fresh squeezed lemon juice
zest from one lemon
1/2 tsp fresh rosemary
Boil all together

Since it is recommended to go with cheese, it's right now my alley.  I even have some specialty cheese with which to try it.  Can't wait.

Snowy April

Just when you think spring has finally arrived Mother Nature throws in a little surprise.  Large snowflakes started falling Tuesday night and by morning we had snow clinging to every branch of the trees.  It looked like a fairy wonderland - until the wind started blowing it all down.  John had covered our fruit trees with big sheets of plastic so hopefully there was no damage to those delicate blossoms and we'll still get some fruit.

One Big Cabbage

We expanded our veggie garden this year and hubby has been busy tending to it.  We have two cabbage plants, one purple and one green.  This is the green on and the white dot on the top is a quarter to put it in perspective.  Also, to put it in perspective, it measures 32 inches in circumference.  Let's see - - there's slaw, cooked cabbage, sauerkraut (never made that and don't think I'll start now), cabbage rolls.  How else can we use this up?  The purple one is getting about as big so time is off the essence.

Yellow Water Lily

There were also yellow water lilies at the private pond where we fished with the kids.  They were just as pretty as the fuschia colored ones.

Fuschia Water Lilies

A local friend gave us permission to fish in her pond while we had kids here for the family reunion.  All nine kids did some fishing and everyone caught more than one fish.  The fish were released so we can go again and catch them.   All kids were quite excited and it was a fun experience.

There are some beautiful water lilies in the pond to provide some color as well as shade for the fish.  I couldn't resist taking some photos of them.

This photo was taken in Beaverton OR.  It's definitely an urban setting and I liked the texture in the bricks and foliage and the lines of the building.  

Dwarf Broom

This dwarf broom plant in our front yard really outdid itself with bright, colorful blossoms.

The photo above is the original photo.  I opened the same photo in Phot Effects Lite and applied the "fisheye" effect to get the result on the right.

Most unusual.  I think it will make a nice background for an artist trading card.  Stay tuned.

Poppy Play

This is another poppy in my yard.  The photo above is the original photo.

I opened the photo in Photo Effects Lite and applied a "gamma" effect for the rich color in the second photo.

Then I opened the gamma version and added a "poster edge" filter for the detail in the last photo.

This stuff is fun to play with and you never know what the end result will be.

Poppy

Although I didn't have as many poppies bloom as is usual, those that I had sure added a bright spot to the garden.

The photo above is the original, a blossom taken from the back or stem side.  Then I opened it in Photo Effects Lite and added a comic book effect.  I like the dotted texture and varied colors it added.

Chickens & Hens

My chicken and hens plants did so well they needed to be thinned but before I did that, I snapped a photo.




Then I used Phto Effects Lite and the kaleidoscope effect to create the second photo.  How fun is that?!

Solar Eclipse - Wow!

It's rather exciting stuff to be able to see an almost total solar eclipse as we did last evening.  I can remember only one other in my lifetime (though my husband tells me I've seen three).  We weren't in the best path this time but what we saw was still amazing.  The photo below shows it at as close to its peak as I could get.

Also interesting were the shadows created.  The photo on the right was the sun shining through an ash tree onto the garage door.

Wow!  When do get get to see the next one?!!?

New Old Church

You may remember this photo from an earlier posting. The church is in Leadville CO and is a historic structure.

I revisited this photo and tried some variations in PhotoShop Elements.  One of my favorites is the drawing on the right.

Digital is just fun to play with and you never know what you'll end up with.

Spring!

I took this photo in the garden yesterday and thought it as a sign that spring is here!  The wind and overcast skies didn't exactly enforce that opinion but I'm going to be optimistic anyway.  

Welcome, spring!