One classy lineup

I like the orange with white racing stripe.  I thought I wanted yellow and black—now it’s just not a solid choice after seeing the orange.   Our little red Corolla down there at the end looks pretty plain.

Here’s why it’s a dream:

Aaron’s concert

We currently have two musicians in our family.  Trent is a piano player and Aaron plays the double bass.  Tonight was Aaron’s year-end orchestra concert.  There are over 200 4th, 5th and 6th graders in the orchestra.  Aaron is in the 4th.   It is amazing what the teachers accomplish with these young people. 

Aaron with his bass
Aaron is the one in the middle.  They are playing the song that is on the “podcast” at the left.  Enjoy!  (It might be a bit loud at first)

Look what’s blooming!

I can’t remember when our Christmas poinsettia has been this beautiful.  It’s hardly lost any leaves which most do right after Christmas.  Finally, it is growing green leaves, but just in the last month.  Now that there is no worry of freezing, I have it out on the porch where it receives lots of light.  It is happy about it’s new home.  I watered it this morning and look at this!

 

What beautiful little flowers.  Don’t know if I’ve ever seen  a poinsettia bloom before.

What is this tool?

   Obviously, it was purchased at the Amana Colonies in Iowa.  Their mark is faintly on the wood.
 
   It is made of walnut.

   Give up?

   It is used in planting garden or flower bulbs
.
   Other than potatoes, I have used this small (8” top to bottom) device to plant all my garden this      
    year.      After stringing my line for the row, I push it in the ground to make a hole and drop in    
   the seed.  It helps that Dan has the plot in good shape.
 
    So far in addition to the potatoes, I have onions, green beans, lettuce, spinach, four plants of
   broccoli, four plants of cabbage and two rows of early corn.  There is still room for more of the
   later variety of corn.  I'll post a picture when it all comes up.

   But, then the work begins.  I don't have a picture of a hoe.

Taking exceptional pictures has a steep learning curve—for me

The Canon Rebel camera I currently use is a little over a year old.  It has preprogrammed settings that work well.  They are pretty much what I’ve used up until now.  Recently, I’ve been trying to practice using my own settings.  Reading on the internet and using the instruction book that came with the camera as my guides,  here are three pictures I took over the weekend with settings.  I have a long ways to go!

Settings:  f/10 (F-Stop),  1/500 sec (Exposure time)

With these settings I got a fair depth of field and stopped the ball in the air.  It certainly isn’t as sharp as I would like. 

Good form by Doug, though.

 

 

 

 

Settings:  f/5.6, 1/60 sec

This setting got the shallow depth of field, which was what I was after.  However, the experts say 1/60 is hard to hold still enough for a sharp picture without a tripod. Again not as sharp as I would like.

Beautiful flowers to Drue from Doug for her birthday.

 

 

 

Settings:  f/18, 1/200 sec.

This picture of Evan and Carly is clear enough, but Pikes Peak in the background is not in focus like I wanted. If you click on the picture, you will see better what I’m talking about.   I think this picture would need a tripod and a setting something like f/22 and 1/30 speed—emphasis on “I think.”  I am still experimenting.  If anyone has suggestions, I’m ready to learn.

Butteryfly Pavillion Denver

Kim is in Colorado for a continuing education class so I rode along.  Yesterday, Drue, Trent, Carly and Evan (he came with us too) visited the Butterflies in Denver.  It was a wonderful exhibit.  We will return with the rest of the family.

Here are some pictures: