Bad weather fun..

First off, here is Charlie doing his duty as a Comfort Dog. I was changing the bed and folding laundry just before it should have been Rich's 'nap' time. 

He moaned and groaned and then nudged me repeatedly until I put him on the bed. 

Just as I finished with putting things away, arranging the commode [yeah, there is that] and  filling the CPAP water container, Rich announced he was ready for a nap.

 I laughed and told him that Charlie had anticipated this and everything was ready.

Charlie pushed the blanket with his nose and nested right next to Rich's pillow. 

When Rich came in, Charlie moved over and waited, tail wagging furiously. Rich laid down and Charlie nudged under the blanket to nest at hubby's back.

That is where I left the two of them.

With the house clean, laundry done and put away, chores finished, and supper thawing, I decided it was time to get back to some creative photography.

But first, a couple of Infrared Shots of Friday evening's wild clouds and weather. We live in a hollow, the winds sounded like a C-130 airplane flying over the house. 

Things got crazy Friday night but we suffered no damage near our house.
Shot with IR camera with a 720nm filter. Infrared really brings out the contrasts in the skies.

I've been 'off' of most photography since the beginning of March for obvious reasons. 

However, I was feeling the need to 'create' something, anything just to get the juices going again. The land is brown, the dull outdoor season is upon us. It is exciting in a way because the first plants to poke their leaves up will cause intense joy. So March may be wild, but it also brings joy [unless you are caught in a March storm].

This is a photo of the Cheese Maker's shop in the Medieval Town. I thought it would be fun to greet the cheesemaker with Nina and her herd of goats. 
The mat that the characters are on is simply a cheap 'grass' mat of paper glued to cardboard.

The background of the sky and field is an AI picture I created with DDG. I set everything up in front of our old Smart TV and used the digital image as its background.

I used the Lensbaby lens to shoot this. I am enjoying the weirdness of this little lens and how creative it can be. So most of what I do for a few weeks will be pushing the limits of this little lens.

I think this is my favorite shot of yesterday. The foreground is just a piece of brown cardboard, the 'stuff' on the cardboard are the dried bits of tea from a tea bag. I used my pipe cleaner tree an alien Lego and the minibots. This too is a digital background. 

It appears to me that these guys jumped through another worm hole into a place they shouldn't be!

I wanted to do an 'action' scene too. 

I set this up and really...I shot it using all the WRONG colors.

I wanted the mood to look like night. So I used what I thought would be bluish lights...

It turned out crappy. But with some ON1 magic, I may have saved it enough to try it again in better light. I can work with this and reimagine what I'd like. For now, it is this:

I'm happy to experiment and make mistakes as that is the only way I can improve anything I do.

I'm hoping to get out and take a walk today to look for mosses and lichens. I'm in a 'close up' macro kind of mood.

I want to crawl around in the dirt and smell the forest floor. Yeah, I am weird, but there you go...good weather, bad weather....I can usually find something to do....
We also finished the Plum Blossom Lego set!

It's a Lego kind of day

One of our visitors brought a set called Plum Blossom on her visit. She knows how much Rich likes to sort the pieces of Legos into colors and shapes for me.

Yesterday afternoon when the temperature outside reached 79 F.... 26 C, we decided to open windows and let the breezes into the house for fresh air. 
I turned on some 60's music and opened up the box.

We were ready.
Rich said he wasn't in the mood for it. 

However when I dumped the pieces in two pie tins, he went right to work.

He laughed when I brought out the Mini-us folk. He wondered why Charlie was helping. I pointed to the dog in my lap. 

Of course! Silly dog! He has to be in on everything!

 

When we get the plum blossoms built, I will fill our display table with all of our Lego botanicals to brighten up the house. I'll have tulips, orchids, and vases to fill with color. And they won't die on me!

So far so good.

and it is pretty!!!