Recently in Just nothing really Category

Via Mom: Like model trains? You could probably observe this thing for weeks. More at its website. Since no one can really take it all in, every minute detail has to be perfect. Visitors are going to stop wherever there's an opening on the railing. Looks like an expensive production requiring constant maintenance. No idea how something like that pays for itself at the relatively nominal prices they charge.

Decided to set up the camera, use what I learned a few days ago, and try to capture their activity in the morning. Didn't think I had enough light but it turned out OK. You can hear the news in the background mentioning this week's Saints-Falcons game. This is what we get to watch just outside our living room window. It is one of our greatest joys. For what it's worth, there is another feeder out. It gets hardly any visitors. Not sure what the deal is with this location but it gets, by far, the most activity. They are swarming now because they're about to head south for the winter. Not sure if these are all regular visitors or if some of them are heading south from northern climes. They're all welcome. Enjoy.

On this day – July 24

1948 Saw “Romance on the High Seas” again.
1949 Bought dress pattern and brown corduroy.
1950 Johnny and Bill came over.
1952 Went to Pop Concert with Jim Bridges.
1957 Robbie says da-da.
1958 Gave Robbie a haircut.
1959 Saw “Cat on Hot Tin Roof” and “Buccaneer.”
1960 Patrick James, Jr. born. 8 lbs 6 oz. Had a perm at
Josie's. Real fuzzy – Daddy called me “Orphan Annie.”
1961 Katie's naval cord dropped off – 13 days old.
1985 Bought girls Swatch watches, school shoes, and sox.
1987 Blood pressure 110/70; pulse 68.
1988 Braces for Angela and Christina.
1989 Picnic at Katie's for birthday boys Lars and Stephen.
1990 Had sigmoidoscopy. Everything is good.

Cubed Flowers - July 17, 2010

You sent me a lovely bouquet of flowers in a cube because of something I said about how beautiful arrangements can be in a cube. Well, I got this lovely dozen roses for $8.00 at a local grocery store and they look stunning in my new vase!

Thanks again!
Katie

Just Walkin'

Walking from Rockaway Beach, New York to Rockaway Beach, Oregon. He's in your neck of the woods today, Nancy, and looks like he's headed toward the Twin Cities. I envy him.

CrabAppleLane Power Line - September 1, 2008 8:40AM

As I was preparing for Hurricane Gustav about a year and a half ago, I had lamented that I hadn't taken care of a pine branch that was extended out over our power line. The branch had survived Hurricane Katrina somehow but it had grown outward considerably since then. I said I would get to it if it survived Gustav. It did survive. I never got to it. My plan was to have a professional come out and do it. It's 12 to 15 feet up and it's right above the power line as you can see. I didn't get a price but I'm guessing it would have been a couple of hundred bucks. Well, money has gotten tighter since then and I had no choice but to live with it a while longer or try to do it, myself. It should be noted that getting up high on a ladder with a chainsaw near a power line was never going to get very high up off of the bottom of my to do list.

CrabAppleLane Pines - January 27, 2010

A new plan came to us by shear luck. Some parish contractors were clearing tree branches from the utility poles not long ago and one of the men came up to our door and knocked. Patsy answered. They told her they could remove it for us if we wanted them to ... for free. Sold. They did it today.

If you missed it last night like me, Jay Leno's 9@9 with Drew Brees below.

More than a few Drew Brees fans read the blog here..

Something came up today and I was instantly reminded of a scene from Northern Exposure. Through the glory of YouTube, here it is:

What a great show that was.

Katie and I will be there.

I mentioned a cool use of FlickR the other day here. I forgot all about it this weekend but had the day off today to tinker around so I broke out the tripod, set the camera on it with the widest aperture and the slowest shutter speed, went outside and snapped three pictures. I uploaded to FlickR as per instructions and then went about my business.

CrabAppleLane Night Sky - February 24, 2009

astrometry.net says:

Hello, this is the blind astrometry solver. Your results are:
(RA, Dec) center:(92.3657322745, 31.5703696947) degrees
(RA, Dec) center (H:M:S, D:M:S):(06:09:27.776, +31:34:13.331)
Orientation:72.57 deg E of N

Pixel scale:75.80 arcsec/pixel

Parity:Reverse ("Left-handed")
Field size :68.72 x 51.54 degrees

Your field contains:
The star Capella (αAur)
The star Betelgeuse (αOri)
The star Pollux (βGem)
The star Bellatrix (γOri)
The star Elnath / El Nath (βTau)
The star Alnilam (εOri)
The star Menkalinan (βAur)
The star Alhena (γGem)
The star Castor (αGem)
The star Alnitak (ζOri)
NGC 1499 / California nebula

View in World Wide Telescope (Requires install)

If you go to my FlickR site (Just click on the picture), my image will have little squares all over it identifying the objects listed. Coolness times 1000.

CrabAppleLane Night Sky - February 24, 2009 - 2nd upload

This one took a little longer but here it is:

astrometry.net says:

Hello, this is the blind astrometry solver. Your results are:
(RA, Dec) center:(92.1846782404, 31.5523572596) degrees
(RA, Dec) center (H:M:S, D:M:S):(06:08:44.323, +31:33:8.486)
Orientation:71.47 deg E of N

Pixel scale:75.52 arcsec/pixel

Parity:Reverse ("Left-handed")
Field size :68.47 x 51.35 degrees

Your field contains:
The star Capella (αAur)
The star Betelgeuse (αOri)
The star Pollux (βGem)
The star Bellatrix (γOri)
The star Elnath / El Nath (βTau)
The star Mirfak (αPer)
The star Alnilam (εOri)
The star Menkalinan (βAur)
The star Alhena (γGem)
The star Castor (αGem)
NGC 1499 / California nebula

View in World Wide Telescope (Requires install)

-----
If you would like to have other images solved, please submit them to the astrometry group.

1. The roundest knight at King Arthur's round table was Sir Cumference. He acquired his size from too much pi.

2. I thought I saw an eye doctor on an Alaskan island, but it turned out to be an optical Aleutian.

3. She was only a whiskey maker, but he loved her still.

4. A rubber band pistol was confiscated from algebra class because it was a weapon of math disruption.

5. The butcher backed into the meat grinder and got a little behind in his work.

On this day - October 20

1948 Changed part. Cut hair.
1949 Weiner roast with Pat Burns.
1950 DeLaSalle homecoming. Bob Gormley.
1952 Pep fest. Ate at Anna's.
1957 Went to Blue Room to celebrate 2nd anniversary.
Saw Kirby Stone Four.
1958 Janice Claire Bye, 7 lb. 12 oz. Sue's 1st polio shot.
Weighs 14 lbs. 4 oz., a little over six months.
1959 Left Minneapolis 7:30 a.m. Arrived Chicago 3:00 p.m.
Left at 5:00 p.m. Sue was sick. Arrived N.O. 9:30 a.m.
1960 Nice anniversary dinner at House of Lee. Sam gave me
pink breadbox and oven thermometer.
1985 Bought freezer/refrigerator at Campo's. $1299.
1987 Sue fixed chicken Dijon for 32nd anniversary. Sam out
of town.
1988 David bought car from Devron Thibodaux for $500.
1989 Received tickets to Fiddler on the Roof from children for
34th anniversary.
1990 35th anniversary. Received white, green, purple jacket.

Disclaimer: The above historic events took place on various dates in October, not necessarily the 20th, except for Janice's birthday. (Sorry if I let the cat out of the bag, Janice.)

Here are some photos of the fun we've had with the snow this past Christmas. Dan's brother and family were in town from CA. Though they live near the mountains and snow isn't foreign to them, they don't get to play in the snow often. The girls had a bunch of friends over for a sliding party and had a blast. It was fun to watch Kyoko as she experienced her first snowmobile ride and first time sliding. The one picture of Nicole and her cousin Amber absolutely cracked me up! They came in to get scarves ‘cause they were cold and when they came in, Nicole's glasses fogged up. It looks like some kind of joke glasses. Ashley was home from college for 3 weeks and it was nice to have her around. Now its back to school for everyone. Nicole and Kyoko went back to school yesterday; Ashley goes back this weekend. Back to the regular routine, (whatever that is). :o)

Sliding party train

Nicole and Cousin Amber from California