Catching up

Well here we are on a Sunday. I was going to send in a grocery order and go pick it up in town when we got a phone call.

Rich's nurse is coming out at noonish today. He called while I was doing morning chores.

So instead of doing that, I am readjusting my schedule once more.

Before the Rich got sick, I did a nice long hike in the neighbor's valley.  There is this very gnarly and twisted tree in the grassy part of the valley that always fascinated me. The tree has been dead for quite a few years and has a lot of interesting lichen on it.

I've always wanted to do a 'good' shot of this tree but never quite figured it out. So here is the tree. Once I decided to convert it to black and white, it seemed to stand out a bit better.

It is surrounded by a variety of plants and quite a bit of golden rod shown below. I'd read an article about shooting through a plant at another plant to give a bit of interest to the shot. 

So I shot the tree from the other side with the lens close to the golden rod for a light blur effect. Below is the result. It only took me a gazillion years to get a shot of this twisted tree that I liked. And there it is.

During the big melt down on February 25th, I spent quite a bit walking around through the creek bottom. In my bag I had another Titan 13. This one is gold. I thought with the late afternoon sun he'd surely shine.

I had a bit of excitement when the Titan fell forward into the rush of water. I had to chase him downstream a bit to rescue him. The water wasn't deep at all. But I had to try another shot just for the heck of it.

I thought he'd look more regal and I wanted to shoot more up at him than this direction. I'll find another time and place to do that but without the water.

That run off on the 26th was really quite beautiful. I enjoyed taking it all in. The sound of the water was relaxing and invigorating at the same time.

Now I'm trying to figure out my new routine[s] and get used to another change in our lives.

Including creativity is going to be a new challenge to explore. I can think of it in a way as being pushed to change things up.

Caught up and now moving forward.

The Christmas Chair & Charlie

 

Placing the jointed corduroy Christmas Bear that I made over 30 years ago in the seat of the chair marks the finish of the chair-tree. Lots of things will still happen in the seat of the chair, but this means I am done with any touch ups.

Now we just enjoy the light and cheer it brings to the living room especially on dull and dreary cold days.

The wooden crates around it have things in it too. Who doesn't like gnomes? Well some folks. I happen to enjoy the few I do have. 

They don't all spend their time around the tree though. The one below came out hiking with me earlier in the week when it was still quite warm out.

I found this gnarly tree ...

...and it sure felt like a place that a gnome would like to hang out in.

Our weather is changing rapidly this morning. We will warm up out of the below zero digits to a warm enough temp to have snow and freezing drizzle with ice accumulations before it gets cold again.

It looks like the Gingerbread fellow has it all under control for the North Pole. He is tuning up his snowblower!

Last but not least, I had to try this.

Charlie's Christmas Shot.

Finally, as he approaches the age of 7, he is understanding what this posing is all about. This year, it was super laid back. 

I just set him on the turtle stool and put a ribbon around his neck. Here is how we worked it out.

He is very food driven! 20 seconds.... 👇

Out take...

Final. This wasn't the best I've done, but I just wanted to get his 'face' on record for this year. He was a good boy for doing this for me.

Have a great Saturday!