7 Quick Takes (Vol 182)

For the love of Peter, Paul and Mary where does the time go. It is Friday already! And you know what that means. More blather than you can shake a stick at. Remember your instructions. After you have thoroughly and minutely examined my 7 points of wonder you need to click on the picture above to be whisked, at the speed of my rapidly filling freezer, over to Camp Patton who is hosting this week.

Born to Blather. Forced to work.

1.
Can I just say, it is much harder these days to get up in the morning. It is still dark at 5:30a. And I am starting my yearly “hibernation” pattern where I sleep like a bear in winter…..deeply and long.

Walking out the door at 6:45a to walk is a much harder deal. Pretty soon we are going to need our flashlights as we walk through the woods.

And our bear spray as that pesky black bear has been sighted all over the surrounding areas.

Oh and then there was the fact that this morning the coyotes were singing quite loudly as Sandy and I walked around the lake.

Maybe they are lamenting the coming darkness as well.

2.
On Wednesday LaurenLeep was over for lunch. We made pizza. I actually allowed her to film me “throwing” my pizza dough. Thank goodness I didn’t punch a hole in the center of the dough as I have done in times past.

And we indulged in a pre-pizza snack…..

These little watermelons that we grew in the garden this year. They were supposed to come in at about three pounds but that never happened. This fellow was about a pound or so I would guess.

I am sorry for the violent photo but sometimes watermelons must be sacrificed for the good of my stomach.

Small but very sweet. Just the right amount for a snack for two people. We did have to contend with some seeds but we managed to struggle through.

Oh and also before lunch we made some homemade mayo. LaurenLeep wanted to see how it was done. Of course we screwed up the first batch. But the second batch was deeeeelicious. I was totally out of homemade bread to slather it on so…..

We just slathered it right onto bacon.

Don’t judge.

3.
Yesterday I sat down at my computer at 9:30a and I didn’t get up again until 5p. Well that isn’t quite true as I have a 52 year old bladder and I drink a lot of coffee and water so I had to….you know….use the little girl’s room. And Max the Magnificent had to go out a billion times.

Did you say OUT?!? I would like to go out. Thank you Alpha.

And why was I sitting there all that time?

Because I am working through all the photos from this lovely couple.

I always seem to take so many photos at these events. I just cannot help myself. And then I can't seem to discard.

Do you get tickled when you look at photos that you have taken and you just love them?

That was me all day long yesterday.

4.
And regarding #3. Can I just say that I don’t think I could actually get through editing a tanker full of photos without the help of “actions”.

Do you know what Photoshop actions are? They are pre-set workflows that someone else has developed that give you the same result every time without you having to “tweak” each and every photo. I am no fool. If someone else has done the hard work why should I re-invent the wheel….or the action. And you also have the ability to tweak certain aspects of the picture after running the action.

Perfect.

At the moment these happen to be my personal favorites.

MCP Fusion
Pioneer Woman PSE

Life as a photographer would be much more difficult without them. That is not to say that I use them on every photo because I don’t. But they certainly make life easier.

And they give me total control.

Not that I have to have control mind you.

Moving on.

5.
Sometimes I wonder about my life when the biggest thrill I got all week (other than #3) is the fact that I bought a new blender.

So, so sad.

But on a bright note it makes smoothies in no time flat. And we drink a boat load of smoothies around Chez Knit.

6.
I might, just might, be getting a new phone.

We will see soon enough. And I am sure I will tell you all about it when I do.

Don’t I tell you everything?

Well almost everything. We haven’t yet spoken about my violent addiction to olives.

I am trying to contain my excitement.

About the phone not the olives.

7.
The canning update for the week: There are more tomatoes to process. The never ending supply of tomatoes.

Oh and there are zucchini to shred and freeze. Zucchini bread and muffins all winter!!

And I branched out. I bought a peck of lovely red bell peppers from one of our local farm stands. I roasted them, peeled them and canned them.

I think that roasted red peppers are one of the more versatile items around. I make Roasted Red Pepper hummus on a regular basis. And now I definitely have a year’s supply of them.

I see Anti Pasta in our future as well.