R E F L E C T I O N S

These are the fonts available for my blog. This line is the default font. If I use the bold setting (as in this line) it makes no difference in the appearance.  Italic shows up like this. The Arial font of this sentence must be the default because it looks the same. Courier is definitely different. It looks like the text of an old fashioned typewriter! It's a bit fainter. The bold print is not any "bolder" for any of these fonts. It must be set up that way by my blog template.  I like the Georgia font best. The italic is even better.  It seems  more personal to me, like an easier to read script. Helvetica seems almost the same as Arial! The italic is different. Times  is the smallest here. Italic is also small.   Trebuchet is okay. The italic is a little different.  Verdana is not bad. It's the largest. Here is the italic. Now I'm printing the rest of this post in Georgia italic. I wonder if I can get more fonts by...

Their dog York watching TV, relaxing with his neck pillow. &

If you've been following my blog for a while, you know that every so often I need to have an operation to release what is called a "trigger finger".  Each time it's a different finger. The pain when my finger gets stuck only lasts a few seconds but it can be intense, like touching a hot stove. It's not a serious operation for me. I insisted they only give me a local injection to numb my hand. Not only is it safer but I won't have a hangover from the anesthesia. I can also make sure they operate on the correct finger! Click on the link to see the original post.  Trigger Finger Release 2013

The blossoms are tiny and an intense deep red.  These photos show the pollen coming from their centers and landing on their petals.   Here you can barely see how tiny they are, hidden in the vines.  We had beautiful pink rosebushes climbing up the trellis but for the several past years they did not do well. Here is one from behind.

Hummingbirds are one of my favorites. I was lucky enough to make these videos. This first one is short. The second one is better.

  A Nice Post from Kaya's Blog Visual Impact Link:  Somewhere in Time Don't miss the music video!

Every once in a while I see one of these insects in my backyard. They're one of my favorites. I was lucky enough to make this video.

Here are some photos I took this morning.   I shot them from inside through the kitchen window so they're not as clear as I'd like. I had to work fast.  Usually the subjects are gone before I can get to them. If you click on one of the photos you can see them all in a slide show.

There were almost the same number of tomatoes still on their vines, not ripe yet.  These photos show three of the four types of tomatoes I'm growing.  These came from only one vine each.  Each week or so I get another large harvest.  Sometimes one or two a day.  Other times almost a dozen. BRANDY WINE BEEF MASTER BETTER BOY My wife Lynette made sauce, cream of tomato soup, thin slices with basil and cheese, etc. We've had them in salads of course. I never expected to get so many tomatoes from just four vines!

Is it trying to disguise itself as a succulent? 

Try clicking on one of the photos to view them as a slide show.

These photos seem too bizarre to be real but I believe them because they're from an environmental Spanish blog.   The link: ALLPE Medio Ambiente - Blog Medioambiente.org   What do you think?

I'm not confident enough to paint my own ACEO, so I'm trying miniature photographs.  ACEO ( Art Cards Editions and Originals)  are miniature works of art about the same size as playing cards, 2 ½ X 3 ½ inches. I bought a tiny easel  to display them. This is also the size of wallet sized photographs.  At Walmart the wallet sized prints are sold as sets of two.  This means I must cut them into the correct size.  I can display them at home. I can give them away, maybe put them in a greeting card or on presents. I can trade them with other artists. Some people sell them but I'm not sure if I want to do this. There's still a copyright printed on them but it's almost impossible to read. Here is how they turned out: