Just make it up as I go...

With the news that is overwhelming and concerning each day, I do try to find something...anything to take my mind off from it and also ease my whirling brain from both the news and the difficulty of being a Caregiver.

I was stuck inside [during that last cold spell] so I decided to do something interesting 3D printed character I acquired. It has no face, no name, but has the number 13 on its chest. It is a color I would never have chosen, but there it is. 

Pink.

Pink must have a story behind her. She is a she, correct? She came with a faithful robot dog. Everyone needs a faithful sidekick, right? So I call them Pink and Pip. I don't know why but just because I felt like it.

They live somewhere in the future I suppose in a warehouse. 

She dreams of a beautiful place a dreamy place. The sort of place her handlers have talked about in the distant past. Beauty, flowers, tranquility.

Pink and Pip play fetch on their down time as Pink explains about this wonderful world she has never seen but has only heard about.

Pip rejoices with her master and plays fetch. They talk about dreams and possibilities. Why is it that their handlers are the only ones allowed to have dreams?

Robots don't really sleep. But they do have down time. One night...Pip pulls Pink out of her downtime. Pip squeaks and squawks.  

This is no imaginary dream. She awakens to ...

to what? She is not programmed for this.

She goes outside to stare at the unbelievable...

What would happen next? I got stuck here for a long time. Actually for a few weeks. I didn't know what Pink should do.

And I left her in a desperate situation... like a cliff hanger on a mystery show...

But then I recalled my MiniBots from last year. I used them for a while and then gave them a storyline with Donder regarding the fact that they found Worm Holes and Rips in the Fabric of Time to travel through.

Maybe ... maybe Pink should find the MiniBots to help transport her away from this awful future world?

All of the above photos were set up indoors using a digital backgrounds. I made the backgrounds using Deep Dream Generator. I simply create a scene I can imagine [which takes many tries] and then either use my laptop for the background as I do for smaller things, or the old smart TV for the larger items. 

It is like making a movie as you have to build 'a set' for the characters that work. It is like producing a Hollywood scene and is quite fun.

I have learned so much from a site called Toy Photographers. I often go back and read their articles. The tips and tricks are fun to experiment with and I think it helps my regular photography also.

Anyway. If my attention remains focused, I'll see if I can figure out Pink and Pip's next steps.

Some Sunshine and a few hours off!

This is a Grey Dogwood that was still hanging onto its leaves on Sunday.

For those who love Tamarac trees! These are about a mile away across the ridge from this field. I only get to see them glow like this in November each year.

Meanwhile, after all the hard rains and wind we had for the past few days, I got back down into the Barberry [invaded] forest.

The colors were still pretty amazing. I sure wish the landowners would have cared for their land. But it is almost a square mile of 2 valleys and ridges. A LOT of land to care for.

Charlie and I stopped to check the mail and I noticed some bright pink. I had to look much closer to realize what I was seeing. 

These are the stems where the dogwood berries had been.

Pink!

I don't have much else to report. I saw the endocrinologist again on Monday will have another bone density scan on Veteran's Day and more decisions to make after that.

However.

Tomorrow I'm going exploring with my geologist buddy. We are meeting up at a state natural area and will enjoy talking rocks, geology, and cave stuff while hiking and playing with our dogs.

I'm so lucky to have met people like him who are fun and so down to earth. And who have the gift of gab!

Little me's big adventure...and the Aurora...

 

Hubby has coverage and meals all set up. He and Charlie get a break from me and I get a break from them. All the farm animals are taken care of. The weather looks good and I am so ready to go see my new little granddaughter and of course her folks.

I've decided to stay at a hotel near Lake Michigan and do a bit of shopping, walking, and seeing the sights of the town I used to live in years ago. 

The drive there will be casual. I'll listen to music and take a route so that I can visit a place called Paradise Springs again. I'll feel a bit like my life is untethered and free at least for a little while. That is about the nicest thing I can do for myself.

Last night I saw that we might be able to see an Aurora Borealis show. My neighbor -- who I share the driveway with asked if I was going to watch for it. She said she'd text me if she saw anything and I agreed to text her if I saw anything.

She did text me around 7:30 to say she saw faint pinks in the northern sky and it wasn't even dark yet!

I ran out and got this....

It was very faint to the naked eye but I was ecstatic! I set things up in our little valley and asked my neighbor if she wanted to come down and get the view of a bigger sky. She couldn't, the kids were in bed and hubby was at a meeting.

So I walked up to her place in the woods.
The show was still incredible.

When the skies did this....

I thought it would be fun to do a star trail. The Oly camera I use has a LiveComp setting which detects light movement and adds it to a composite as it happens.

I don't have to take 400 shots and then align them later. 

Each time the waves of color moved, the camera added that to the photo also.

What I ended up with after 25 minutes was wild...

👇

Airplanes and maybe some shooting stars passed overhead.

While the camera was doing its magic Cibyl and I stretched out on the gravel with our cell phones and took shots.

We even walked out to the road where she dropped into the ditch and laid back to view and shoot the sky.

Cellphone shots...

I mean, it was insane and we oohhheedddd and ahhhhhed and giggled like kids. 

Cibyl sent me a chart explaining the colors that we saw:

I took so many cellphone shots that it was crazy. They turned out okay.

But I enjoyed trying to nail something special with the Olympus.

Star Trails above her house when the sky turned red with green and yellow... the Aurora waves were so bright that they washed out the stars in the lower part of the photo.

It felt insane to see the skies turn red at night.

I commented that if it wasn't the Aurora...it would look like the end of the world...

It fluctuated and changed and seemed never ending.

Finally, we called it a night. Her hubby came home and the lights started to fade.

At least...

That is what I thought...

As I came down the driveway, my naked eyes saw something faint in the east...

still going on...

But I was tired and had miles to put on the next morning. So I thought I'd take a finishing shot over our house.

I was so pleased at what showed up.

Using colored filters with IR

Sometimes I just need to try strange things out.

Friday I experimented with a blue filter, a purple filter, green, pink, orange, yellow, and brown.

I put them on the infrared camera and had some fun results

Brown:
As expected with a brown tint straight out of camera.

Edited:
Pretty interesting!

Green:
Well that is different!

First edit:

Second edit which involves layering a 'painted' image over the this layer and using a Luminosity layer at about 30% to add color and pop.

Now...I like that! It appeals to my sense of wild.

Next: Pink
Meh.

First edit:

Second edit:
I dropped this into Paint to Picture by Corel to add a bit of pizzazz. Well, I left it as the 'painting' as I liked it so much better!

After some other failures and successes, I decided to go with the Blue Filter and see what would happen.
I got two variations with minimal editing.

This first one is my favorite and what I have been yearning after with doing IR!
This is Thor's paddock now taken apart and dismantled except for the gates to take him in and out.

This is a shot I do over and over again in different light to try and understand how different times of the day effect the IR filters.

Here are what the filters look like:

And there you go.
Having fun with colors!

One Eyed Pink Bear

I've never been a Teddy Bear person. Until, well...this year.

So last Friday I was walking through Wally World and here was a clearance shelf of Teddy Bears. One bear looked like it was trying to escape. The pink Bears were SO not my color. The brown and white bears looked like Percy and Chance. I moved to see if there was another color behind the Pink bears and noticed one Pink Bear had only one eye.
Something said, "Grab it. How often can you get a one eyed bear?"

I walked away.

Yesterday morning after CrossFit I went to Wally World again to grab some cereal. With our insane schedule of doctors appointments, I'd been slacking in the grocery department.
Something made me walk back over to the clearance isle.

Most of the bears were gone. One Pink Bear sat by itself. And I thought, no...I don't need another bear. Really. Nope I don't.
No.
No.
No.

So I picked up the bear and stuck it in my little basket. At checkout, the lady pointed out that the bear had only one eye.

I replied, "Perfect."

Let this Bear's adventures begin. I am acquiring a pirate patch for said Bear.

Welcome Pink Bear.