365/51 - Good Golly Miss Molly

I have a plastic tub just below the low window in the computer room that is Molly's spot to rest in the sun as well as play watch dog. I've had this spot for her for the 7+ years she's been a part of my life. At first, I guess I had something not as high because she was a little puppy. But as I watched her stand up at the window to check the neighborhood, I moved up to the tub. There is fabric in the tub in case I ever want to make blankies. Nice cotton flannel. The computer room is in the front of the house and faces South.

365/50 - Greer, AZ - 2005

I'm the recruiter for Coconino Community College until July 30, 2009, when I retire from full time employment. One of my jobs has been to travel to communitys in the Northern part of Arizona to visit high school students and promote CCC. In 2005, I decided to take a turn off the road between Show Low and Springerville to visit Greer, AZ. It is a very small community but you can see how gorgeous this little valley of beauty reall is. In the winter when it snows, they can get snowed in. I ate lunch at a lovely lodge on their deck. Took this picture at that time.
This morning I've been looking for pictures from my old computer and came across this image. Wanted to share it with my wonderful reading audience. Hope you all have a great day.

365/49 - Randall House Restaurant, Pine, AZ

There's a small mountain community outside Payson, AZ, named Pine. They have a lovely little house that has been converted into a very nice dining establishment. I stopped there a few weeks ago and had lunch. I fell in love with this room where I ate. Can you picture sitting in this room on nice summer days and enjoying all the light coming through the windows. The floors are all hardwood and nicely aged through the years. Randall House serves breakfast and lunch plus does cattering. The owner even makes her own pies and pastries. Lovely spot to relax. If you go between Wed. and Sat., the Pine Senior Center Thrift Shop is open from 10am to 4pm. A nice little place to find one or two treasures.

365/48 - Cracker Barrell Fireplace

I always enjoy eating at Cracker Barrel restaurants. We have one in Flagstaff right off I-40. A few weeks ago, I had dinner with friends and it was cold enough that the staff had the fire going in the humongous fireplace. When all else fails for photo ops, take what's there. I'll try to use the flames in a combo image at a later date when I have more time to play in PhotoShop.

365/47 - Glass Art

I thought it was about time I posted a photo. I haven't taken any new pictures recently. This is a combo in PhotoShop of the top of a bottle and the bottom half. I then played with the layers options and chose "difference" and got this fun image. I'll be posting more of these on my Typepad blog later.

365/46 - Cactus at Mom's

I love the contrast of the tops of this cactus plant at Mom's house in Scottsdale. I'm going to use the image in my upcoming DJ Pettitt workshop on May 4-5, 2009, in Los Gatos, CA. The tallest portion of this cactus is 3 ft.

365/45 - Sandra, me and Mom

My friend, Sandra Luck, was visiting the Valley and we met at McDonalds in Chandler/Mesa. We like the picture on the wall of the young man relaxing on the lawn. We got a very nice man sitting at a table next to ours to take pictures. Mom and I grey hair and Sandra is blond. Plus Sandra is taller than me. That was her first remark when we met: "You're shorter than I thought." Sandra and I met online in our Chapbook Cronicles Yahoo Group. Sandra is a very talented artist and the co-owner of http://qwikart.com. You can also see some of her lovely artwork on her personal website: http://ardnasluck.com and her blog http://blog.ardnasluck.com.

365/44 - The tax man

The man on the left is the CPA that has 3 offices in the Valley and is a whiz at taxes. He looks much younger in person except for the grey hair mixed in with his light brown hair. Mom and I drove all the way to Gilbert for her taxes. Believe it or not, most people don't take advantage of the solar energy tax incentives. These guys had to look for it in their online form. Mom had a solar hot water system installed last April. She didn't have to pay any taxes this year because of this.

365/43 - Spring in Tlaquepaque/Sedona, AZ

Spring blossoms in Tlaquepaque/Sedona, Arizona. All I did was point the camera up towards the blossoms, focus and shoot. It was a glorious day.

365/42 - Spring has sprung in Sedona

Daffodils are so delicate and pretty. And they smell nice. Ours won't even break the ground for another few weeks. So I took this photo in Sedona on Sunday.

365/41 - Kara's Cake

Our sign language interpreter coordinator at CCC has been taking a cake decorating class. This is her latest creation. I don't eat gluten flour so I didn't eat any of it. But it sure is pretty.

365/40 - Last graduation check at CCC

I met Jonathan when he first enrolled at Coconino Community College over 2 years ago. Last week, I completed his graduation application before he moves on to a university in Idaho. He looks a lot like my middle son, Troy, and that's why I remembered him so well.

365/39 - Psychedelic Impatiens

I found these beautiful Impatiens in the local nursery. I won't even try to grow them at my house. I do well with must the natural flowers that keep coming back year after year. So I visit Impatiens at the local nursery and capture their beauty with my camera lens.

But then I had to play with the image in Photoshop. This time, I forgot to note the Layer screen I chose. Oh, well, it's pretty.

365/38 - Christmas Cactus on Speed

I have several photos of my Christmas Cactus in bloom and decided to play with this image. I cropped the original image and rotated it to the vertical that you see here. This is the original.

This is what happened when I played in Photoshop. This is the "hard mix" screen from the layers panel. Iwas surprised when this was the result. I have Photoshop CS4 and I still don't know how to use all the creative tools. So far, I've kept the playing simple. Works for me.

365/37 - Finally got the photo I want

LouAnn and I went to the 50th wedding anniversary party for our old friends, Jim and Lavon Smith, Phoenix, AZ. It was so great being in their lovely home again. It's been years since I stood with other friends around Jim's piano at their annual Christmas party. The table set for the Mexican food buffet was planned by their sons and included a lovely floral arrangement. Between taking pictures of the crystal chandelier and this iris, I don't know which was more fun - using the Canon for photos or eating great food and talking to good friends.

I am very pleased with the way this flower photography turned out. The little details are exactly what I was hoping for. It looks like I'm getting the hang of the camera, finally. What happened that is different? I didn't use the auto focus on the lens.