NOEL

Joy, peace, and love to all.
May you have a blessed new year!
Jean

Pine Needles

I took this photo a couple of months ago when the pine needles had started falling from the trees and making a lovely brown carpet at the back of our yard. This week Ed (hubby) decided it was time to start raking the pine needles and has worked at it for several days.

There are mounds of pine needles now.

Lots and lots of mounds of pine needles. I took photos, but the piles weren't particularly interesting on their own, so I decided that it was time for a "Monet Moment."

Monet's Haystacks at Giverny (1884)

Baardsen's Mounds at Morehead (2009)
:o}

Negotiated Truce

Guest Blogger - Flossie Frogg

Hi Folks,

I'm here to report on some trouble in the Studio. A cockatiel named Casey came to live with us and things haven't been the same since. He's one of those guys who sees himself as the center of the universe, and Miss Jean and Mister have done nothing to discourage him in this attitude. Needless to say, the rest of us (plushies) have mostly been ignored.

Miss Jean and Mister play with Casey every chance they get. (You can see some of us sitting in the background.) They happily clean up the poop Casey drops on their clothes. They put up with his squawking when they leave the Studio.

And they chase after Casey when he takes off around the house. All of this has led to unrest amongst the plushies. It was decided that a negotiator should be called in to help resolve the problems.

We hired Simon A. Schuster, Attorney at Law, to represent us. He has done a fine job on our behalf! Plushies will now be hugged on a regular basis. And those of us who wish to do so, can write as guest bloggers on Miss Jean's blog. In return, we've agreed to cease our plotting to capture Casey and turn him into a feather duster.

Do WHAT?????

Peace has been restored in the Studio.

Here's a shot of Casey with Tulip Frogg in the background.

Till next time - Flossie Frogg

The Letter D - Illustrated

Dusty

Dramatic

Devotional

Direction

Decorative

Dazzling

Driven

Beachy-Keen

Here are some pictures from this morning's walk at the beach. The temperature was in the mid-60's, it was beautiful - but very windy.


Flights were cancelled due to the windy conditions, and seagulls were gathered in groups along the shoreline.


Once in a while one would take off, but mostly they were just hanging around. I could relate to that!

Don't know that I've ever seen so many gulls together at one time.

A couple people were fishing.

Lots of wave action around the rocks! I stayed on the sand - much safer.

More Invert Images

Two men walking along the beach.

This one is cropped from the right side of the above picture.

Another pier shot....

Some surfers who were finished for the day.

And, last but not least, a pelican flying by in the distance.

Invert Heaven!

I was playing in Photoshop with some pictures I took at the beach the other day when I "discovered" the Invert command. I've used it before, but didn't quite get the point. (Heaven forbid I would read the manual...) This time I was converting my images to black and white, and then using the Invert command. What was black became white, and what had been white in the image became black. Above is an image of a dead crab I found on the beach. Loved the colors in it! In Photoshop, I converted it to a black & white image, and then used the Invert command, and this is what I got -

I should have had this image for Halloween! So today I was going to blog about this and post the pictures I'd converted. I decided to Google "Photoshop Invert" to get an explanation that I would use in my post. I was reading along when the phrase "invert selection" caught my attention. I realized that they were talking about converting PART of an image, rather than the whole image. I was in Photoshop as soon as I could get it to load....

This is a picture I had taken of some pelicans flying over the ocean. Along with the Invert command is an Equalize command. This seems to enhance the colors in an image.

Here's the picture after I used the Equalize command.

Then I took that image and, using the Invert command, the colors reversed. Love this one too....

My next step was to use the Desaturate command which removed color and converted the image to black & white.

Using the Invert command, dark and light switched.

My next step was to make a selection (the rectangle in the middle) and Invert that. Okay, it doesn't take much, but I was getting excited.

My last step was to again select a rectangle, this one smaller, and within the first rectangle. I inverted that and - voila - I had created a "frame" within my image. Oh, the possibilities....

Blue and White

Sometimes when something catches your eye, the best thing to do is stop and take a picture.

Casey Climbs the Ladder to Success

Hmm. Something looks interesting down there.



Ready for takeoff!



What do you mean, you're not going to pick me up and put me back on my cage??

You don't seriously expect me to climb this ladder, do you?

Just how secure is this thing?

Well, okay, here goes nothing...

No, I do NOT think this is "cute."

983, 984, 985...

The end is in sight!

Finally!!

Okay, 1 - 2 - 3 - JUMP!

Whew....

I'd just like to say that the service around this place leaves something to be desired....