Scattered Thoughts . . .

M y first springtime woodworking project was a small one but one which will be very useful this summer.  I decided to start my annual woodworking projects by making a Giant Jenga game for the backyard.   I cut up all the wood... 54 pieces in all...  then cut some additional pieces to replace any pieces that weren't looking so good in the first batch.  As I was cutting the initial batch of pieces, I noticed that some of them would not work well so I cut up an additional eight foot 2x4.  After I cut all the pieces, I started working on cutting and assembling a leveling base.   This leveling base has leveling feet at each corner so we can have a level playing surface even on uneven ground.   The great thing about the leveling base is that it can be turned upside-down to store all the pieces (see the last photo, at bottom).  I'm thinking I might need to make some handles for it too.  It is exceptionally heavy with all of the pieces stored in it.  Sheila and I did move it but quickl

H ere is a photo that I shot this morning in our living room.  This is an Asiatic Lily plant sitting in sunlight coming through one of our living room windows.  I've mentioned a few things in previous blog entries about infrared light but this photo is a good example showing a few of these unique characteristics. First, the chlorophyll is glowing white which makes the green leaves render as a very bright white in infrared.  All else inside the house is dark.  It is like the lily plant is illuminated from within itself!   I've also mentioned that another characteristic of infrared imaging is exceptional clarity.  This is certainly visible in this shot but, honestly, it is really noticeable outdoors when shooting a wide landscape shot.  Infrared light seems to see through much of the haze that our human eyes see in visible light.  Well, it doesn't see "through it".  The haze that we see simply isn't visible in the infrared wavelengths. There is such thing as haz

As I suspected when my health crashed last night prompting the need for emergency medications, today was pretty much a down day.  I was groggy from the medications and lacking energy so I laid low all morning and napped all afternoon after lunch.   Just before making lunch, however, I grabbed my infrared camera and headed into the backyard.  I've been waiting for some leaves to grow on the foliage so I can really test my old camera that I recently had converted to capturing infrared light only.  Green foliage (well, really chlorophyll) really lights up and glows in infrared light so green leaves glow brightly against blackened blue skies in monochrome infrared photography.  Although the leaves are not fully grown just yet, there is enough small young leaf growth on the trees and shrubs to see how this old camera captures infrared light today. These first two photos show sunlight catching just a few leaves on a branch that are in a small bit of sunlight.  Just a little bit of sunlig

The weather and my health cooperated for a change so Sheila and I managed to have a relatively productive weekend. We cleaned up the yard and then I seeded the necessary areas of the lawn (lots of them for some reason) while Sheila cleaned up the flowerbed all around the house.  I pulled out the lawn mower and cut the lawn.  I worked on the putting green and added seed again.  Sheila cleaned the playhouse for the grandchildren.  I did some pruning and clearing some new growth of Sumac saplings (we hate this invasive, nasty, ugly, weedy tree).  I turned on the outdoor plumbing and found that we have a couple of very leaky ball valves.  I'll need to pickup a couple of those so I can replace them.  I had hoped to get to some woodworking but I never got to that.  The yard is looking good for this time of year though. We had two solid weeks of rain but, oddly, everything was still very dry.  The lawn mower was kicking up a dust cloud everywhere I mowed.   My bone pain and joint pain is

I was feeling "okay" this morning (which means not all that well but not terribly lousy) so I pulled out a camera and opened the living room window to see if I could find something to photograph.   I didn't feel like wandering outside.  I wasn't feeling well enough to go wandering around outside and it was still a little chilly this morning anyway so I didn't have much of a desire to head outside.  Also, it is a bit muddy out there too.  I could live without the mud and chilliness so I stayed indoors and just opened our living room window to shoot some photos from the comfort of indoors. I used a few different lenses, getting a feel for each lens (I'm a bit out of practice after the long pandemic) but the lens I used for this photo was my lens with the longest focal length.  I shot this one at 600mm...  handheld without the steadiness of a tripod.  The older I get, the more difficult holding a camera steady gets. The robin in this photo was in our spruce tree,

Last week, we had dinner at Sarducci's in Montpelier for Lukey and Kenzie's birthday.  Sheila and I have not been going out to restaurants all that often but we do enjoy our occasional meals at Sarducci's.  Sarducci's is near the halfway point between Liza and John's house and our house so we chose Sarducci's for Lukey and Kenzie's birthday dinner again this year.   Kenzie and Lukey opened their birthday presents at the table before dinner... Kenzie is running a 5K again this year in June with Gee so she has been running regularly after school.  She wanted a fitness tracker to keep track of her running and, I suppose, to keep her motivated to run.  She video chats with Gee almost every evening and they compare notes on their running that day... I almost always order the chicken parmesan at Sarducci's and I did this night too.  It was very good, as usual... Sheila and Lukey had the grilled salmon... Here are two comparison images...  above, what the camer

About a week ago, I wrote about the LCD screen on my newly converted infrared camera delaminating so badly that it was difficult to see anything on the screen.  I knew I needed to remove the top protective layer and replace it with a new LCD screen protector.  Finding one for this old camera was extremely difficult though. The screen protector that I purchased was a package of two protectors, thankfully.  The first try didn't go well...  not at all!  That first one was peeled off the LCD screen and tossed in the trash bin.  I had bubbles in it as well as dust.  It looked terrible so I pulled it off. When I attempted to apply that first screen protector for the first time, I instantly realized that these screen protectors are slightly too long.  Before I applied the second screen protector, I used an X-Acto knife to slice off one end of the second protector and then rounded the corners with scissors.  I think it was still too large though because this one is not sitting correctly ei

As usual, through the night, I remembered more things about yesterday's oncology appointment that I forgot to mention in my previous blog entry so I should add them here in another blog entry before I forget these points again.   When we were discussing the gene mutation that was found, my oncologist said something along the lines of "I don't think we need to do another bone marrow biopsy right now...  I think we can wait until next year's biopsy".   This comment leads me to believe that she was contemplating doing another bone marrow biopsy right away.  Uggg...  I would not have liked that option.  I'm still reeling and recovering from this biopsy performed last month.  It is still fresh enough in my mind to be a bit traumatic whenever I think about it.  In the end and on the positive side, she felt there is no pressing need to repeat the biopsy right away.   Then she continued this thought by referencing 'next year's biopsy' implying that these p

I had my post bone marrow biopsy follow-up appointment with my oncologist today.  We discussed the biopsy procedure, my lingering pain at the site of the biopsy, my lab results and my current condition in a Zoom TeleVisit (seen in photo, at right) which meant we didn't need to drive to the hospital.  The appointment was in our living room.   First we discussed how I have been feeling over the past few months.   My oncologist seemed to be a little surprised that I am still feeling quite lousy since my ambulance ride to the hospital in January and that I am still having great difficulty in doing just small things for a couple of hours.  In order for me to do something for just a couple of hours (ie, grocery shopping, dinner with the grandkids, Kenzie's figure skating, Lukey's hockey, etc) requires planning and closely managing energy.  In order to do any small thing, I need to get extra sleep beforehand and taking extra medications for a day leading up to when we want to do

T here is no doubt that I am liking my newly converted infrared camera.  Well, I'm liking the images it produces.  I have always liked this type of black and white photography for its deep shadows, bright foliage, beautiful tonal qualities and remarkable clarity.   Before actually having one of my cameras converted to infrared, I didn't realize how affordable it can be to convert a camera to record only in infrared wavelengths.  Considering the low cost and the beautiful monochrome images this creates, I am very happy with my decision to have one of my camera bodies converted to record only in infrared wavelengths. As much as I am happy with my decision to have one of my old camera bodies converted to infrared, I am now finding that the old camera I had converted to infrared seems to be having some age-related problems as well as some service-related problems neither of which makes me all too happy.   Because of the latest and curious problem that I recently noticed developing