§ The Left Side of My Blog Is Completely Missing...

...but it's all right now!!!

I find feathers all the time, and some I actually take photos of and wish I could take 'em home with me. Colors, markings such as stripes and polka dots in their patterns fascinate me....

Red Tailed Hawk


Rhode Island Red Rooster

Roseate Spoonbill - if I could've walked safely without sinking in the marsh/mudflats -it's like quicksand, you sink easily- I WOULDA got this one and taken it home!!!  Rare to see.

Mockingbird



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Utilizing Lunapic:

...the Nebula Filter [one of my favorites; a Sci-Fi filter...eerie!]. The original photo is in the small insert of each...

Sea shell


Harlequin Flower Beetle [Insect in Texas] and Magnolia Blossom 'remnant'


Stepping Stones at Learning Center [Oso Bay]

...Then, of course I couldn't stop at just ONE filter, I chose these photos and picked the Landscape Filter...

Cut Boulder [notice the 'screw' threads within the inner circle - perhaps an old culvert was there?]  Torn up road debris that helps deter erosion along the shore near the Army/Navy Depot.


The old Line Camp along Padre Island National Seashore and a observation deck at Bazemore Park


Boardwalk at Paradise Pond and the Giant Live Oak Tree at Goose Island State Park

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I see FIRE!

Near the Industrial area and Oil Refineries [big revenue in Texas!] sometimes on my phone app, there is an alert that comes thru about Flaring.  Periodically [sometimes continually] the refineries will have a flame coming up through the gas release stack.  Sometimes you see only a small flame at the opening with a lot of steam coming out in a form of a cloud.  Sunday morning, as I drove around looking for birds and driving to my walking trail, I noticed off the interstate at some distance a flame...a flare!  It was visible for miles. Taking the exit,  I used my cellphone to capture the fire and exhaust stacks.   Then, I continued on the off ramp and drove around and along the Nueces River to my left and the Ship Channel to my right...the back side of town.  Along the green hills in the background, between the dips and valleys of the hill country, the Flare was again visible.  I pulled off and took more photos.  It is some 15-20 [guesstimation] miles away from me at this point.

flares explained

Well, that was my Sunday Morning.  By the time I completed my walk and taking literally 197 photos on my camera card, I headed home...ate lunch, and then dubbed with resizing some of the photos off the camera and read some more in my book.  It was warm walking, but overcast and at one park, Indian Point Park that I frequent often, I hit the mother lode of birds!!  [that's why so many photos for one day.]

Oh, and one of the birds with the Nebula filter also...


Western Sandpiper

§ Ya, Whatever!!

While we recently experienced a flooding downpour on Friday and part of Saturday morning, when I couldn't be outdoors, I took to the desktop and played with some of my sketches and photos with the application found online...Lunapic. Here are the results.  As always I add the original in a smaller inset:

The Gannet [bird] sketch was enhanced with the art filter "Homer" and on the Poinsettia sketch I used Vignette/Christmas

Behind the tree a Great Blue Heron appeared - I used the animation "water" but did not save it as a gif file.  Instead, for the water effect, I turned it into a reflection only and a jpg file.  The finch I used the art effect filter "Sadness".

This photo of a loading chute on the historic ranch camp land on Padre Island, I used the effect "Scribble" and for my caricature of our now president, ready? I used the art filter "Fairy".

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I learned a nifty trick with Firefox Browser. Maybe you know this already, but I didn't...so, I thought I'd share... Using tabs, have you ever deleted "x" a tab in error and "lost" it, only to have to go to your history and re-find it to install it again? Well here's the trick. Again, this is Firefox....if you want the tab to reopen, just click and hold SHIFT CTRL T - the tab reappears instantly. IT WORKS LIKE A CHARM

Also, a couple of windows tips:

To close a tab/window and return to previous page CTRL W

As you browse, enlarge text CTRL + = plus key

As you browse, make text smaller CTRL - =minus key

Toggle Full Screen F11

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Our kitchen is almost done with getting rid of  'junk' ...the last room in the house!  Then, we're DONE.  The job I did this weekend was to do the oven and stovetop.  Of course the oven itself is 'self cleaning'...so all I did was set the time and locked the oven door.  The stovetop is a whole 'nother thing.  It was all torn apart, and soaked what could be soaked in a grease cutter liquid - it now sparkles!!

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Note to self:  Get oil changed in car.  I checked the oil life Sunday on the auto and it's down to 18%!!  Too low for me to be comfortable with.  I don't want any dash warning lights coming on if I can help it.