Random Photo Thread: The Sequel

[Cooking Goddess]

After a few days of rain and gloom we have a lovely moon in the west right now. The temperature is 31 right now and the moisture on the sun room roof was twinkling like stars...or diamonds. I took a couple of snaps with my phone. Here's one:

 

[pacanis]

Cool frog, Dawg. Where are they displaying that? Or did they just do it for the pic?

CG, the clear nights have been awesome. You're right, it's been a long time since we got a good look at the stars and moon.

 

[Dawgluver]

Cool frog, Dawg. Where are they displaying that? Or did they just do it for the pic?

Apparently world-famous body painter (I had no idea there was such a thing) Johannes Stotter created the frog. Will have to look up more of his work.

 

[taxlady]

After a few days of rain and gloom we have a lovely moon in the west right now. The temperature is 31 right now and the moisture on the sun room roof was twinkling like stars...or diamonds. I took a couple of snaps with my phone. Here's one:

We never get to see that many stars here. Too much light pollution.

 

[Cooking Goddess]

CG, the clear nights have been awesome. You're right, it's been a long time since we got a good look at the stars and moon.

We never get to see that many stars here. Too much light pollution.

What was sparking weren't the stars. It was the water droplets on the glass sun room ceiling that you see. Maybe my post wasn't clear. No surprise to me!

...and the moisture on the sun room roof was twinkling like stars...or diamonds. ...

BTW taxy, we DO have awesomely clear skies where we live! Himself had 3 years of astronomy at THE Ohio State University before switching to IT, but he still has a passion for it. His telescope cost more than my first brand-new car! We lived in an OK viewing area in OH, but when we moved here he thought he wouldn't have the same opportunity. The first week we lived here I went out on our deck every night, looked up for the Milky Way, and would go back in. Four of those nights I informed him "it's a candy-bar kind of night". We found out that, serendipitously, we had built in an area called "The Last Green Valley", a true dark zone along the east coast. Unfortunately, getting the scope and tripod (with legs almost as big around as mine!) in and out of the house is nowhere near as easy.

 

[taxlady]

GG, that's cool, both the dark area and The Last Green Valley.

Sometimes, even when it's clear, I can only see about 10 stars.

 

[phinz]

From left to right: James W. Hall, Les Standiford, John Katzenbach and Scott Turow qt the Key West Literary Seminar. A really good discussion between the four about what they do. I loved it.

 

[phinz]

Where I've been staying the past 12 days. I'll be sad to leave on Monday.

 

[Cooking Goddess]

From left to right: James W. Hall, Les Standiford, John Katzenbach and Scott Turow qt the Key West Literary Seminar. A really good discussion between the four about what they do. I loved it.

With all of that creativity in the room, the air must have been electric. How exciting for you! That's a sweet little cabin you've been living in too.

 

[phinz]

With all of that creativity in the room, the air must have been electric. How exciting for you! That's a sweet little cabin you've been living in too.

Thanks! It has been unbelievable. Attica Locke, John Sandford, Sara Paretsky, Jonathan Santlofer, Gillian Flynn, John Katzenbach, Jim Hall, Les Standiford, Megan Abbott, Joyce Carol Oates, William Gibson, Stephen L. Carter, Alexander McCall Smith, Carl Hiaasen, Scott Turow and Laura Lippman all spoke in the first seminar. It was amazing.

Starting tonight we will have Elizabeth George, Lisa Unger, Otto Penzler, John Banville, Thomas H. Cook, Sarah Gran, Percival Everett, Alafair Burke, Michael Connelly, Michael Koryta, Tess Gerritsen, Benjamin Black, Lee Child, Lyndsay Faye and William Kent Krueger in attendance. It promises to be just as exciting.

Here's a major geek out moment for me. I'm the goofball in the middle.

 

[Cooking Goddess]

As you know, I've mentioned that we have a glass sunroom of the back of our house once or twice. Things get interesting in the winter when it snows and then the sun comes out. The snowpack on the glass roof will start to slide, forming a canopy of snow hanging off the edge until we hear a big "whump!" of snow break off. This goes on until the roof is clear. The snow we got yesterday was wet and heavy, plus we had freezing rain mixed in. Today we have a sheet of ice curving off the roof and towards our windows! It's thin enough that it shouldn't be a danger to the glass, but it's really something to look at. These pictures really don't do it justice, but here's a go at them. The first one shows my view through the ceiling - the snow was so wet and heavy it molded itself to the shape of the siding. You can see the clapboard embossed into the packed snow. The second picture shows what that curtain of ice looks like when looking straight at it from the inside. The last image is one I snapped with the sliding door open, aiming down the tunnel formed by the curved ice, with the sunroom the structure on the left side of the image. I think we'll knock the ice off the edge of the roof when the dripping stops.

 

[pacanis]

That curved ice is pretty cool. I've never seen anything like that from melting.

 

[taxlady]

As you know, I've mentioned that we have a glass sunroom of the back of our house once or twice. Things get interesting in the winter when it snows and then the sun comes out. The snowpack on the glass roof will start to slide, forming a canopy of snow hanging off the edge until we hear a big "whump!" of snow break off. This goes on until the roof is clear. The snow we got yesterday was wet and heavy, plus we had freezing rain mixed in. Today we have a sheet of ice curving off the roof and towards our windows! It's thin enough that it shouldn't be a danger to the glass, but it's really something to look at. These pictures really don't do it justice, but here's a go at them. The first one shows my view through the ceiling - the snow was so wet and heavy it molded itself to the shape of the siding. You can see the clapboard embossed into the packed snow. The second picture shows what that curtain of ice looks like when looking straight at it from the inside. The last image is one I snapped with the sliding door open, aiming down the tunnel formed by the curved ice, with the sunroom the structure on the left side of the image. I think we'll knock the ice off the edge of the roof when the dripping stops.

I love the icicles that aren't vertical in the third one. I'd wanna knock that off, for sure.

 

[pacanis]

I think someone should photoshop someone on a snowboard riding the half pipe through that ice tunnel.

 

[taxlady]

I think someone should photoshop someone on a snowboard riding the half pipe through that ice tunnel.

I love that idea. Too bad I have no idea how to do that and I don't have Photoshop.

 

[Andy M.]

Cool ice pics, CG.

 

[Cooking Goddess]

Thanks Andy. Just took a couple more; I think our half-pipe is done growing. Now the icicles look like cold witches' fingers trying to pry their way into the room!

The first is from the inside. The second is with the window open...and dripping icy water down my sleeve!

 

[GotGarlic]

You don't actually need Photoshop to photoshop I use Corel Paintshop Pro - have been since 1993.

Really cool pix, CG, and thanks for the chance to practice!

 

[pacanis]

Good job, GG!

 

[pacanis]

Here is the pistol I recently finished rust bluing. All back together, re-tuned and with new grips on it that I just got yesterday