Old McD: August 2009

Friday, August 7, 2009

Fire Snail

I swear that less than five minutes ago this ember looked just like a snail with bushy eyebrows. You can still see it a little bit. Here's what you do, look at this first picture, then the one below. The second one was taken a minute and a half after the first, and you can see how much the snail has suffered. So imagine, backward, just how much better he must have looked five minutes ago. There, you've got it.

Peeping in windows at night

Don't get excited. They're only our windows and we're not even inside at the time the shots were taken, though that does give me a good idea for a creepy, fake stalker series. The cabin has a lovely glow as seen from the very dark surrounding area.

Another shot, from the front

Detail looking in through window and kitchen doorway

Detail looking in through small kitchen window. Note plush strawberry pull on lamp

Inexplicable leak

The drain from this sink keeps dripping on the floor and I can't figure it out. Can anyone help?

Curiosi-doe

This little guy first spent some time checking out the garden, then ventured closer, curious about the people staring at him from the cabin.

His family keeps their distance in the background

Full Moon Madness

The front yard, with lady lurking

The lady looking witchy

The camera turned on the ghostly author

Full Moon Magic

I've read that the full moon for August fell on either the 5th or the 6th, depending upon where you check, but this looks rather full to me, taken on the 6th.

Here, in a long exposure, you can see the moon, some lens flare, and Jupiter, the bright white dot to the right and below the moon.

A clearer shot of Jupiter, though not much more detail.

Now, here's the magic I promised. The above shot is a stretch of road, almost just as it appears to the naked eye.

And here is that same stretch of road in a 3 minute exposure taken a minute later. I didn't think a long exposure rendered in moonlight would show off a blue sky and green fields. That streak of red on the road is from the passing taillights of a car. Please explain if anyone understands.

Sunday, August 2, 2009

Magic hour

Farm with Otsego Lake in distance

While we've only had 6 sunny days all summer, when they come, they are beautiful, particularly out in the countryside along rolling hills and farmland. I recently hopped on my bike in the late afternoon (7pm here) and snapped these golden shots.

Country road that actually takes us home

Abandoned barn

Functioning barn

Detail of window of same barn

Late day sun hides behind tree

This Just In!

In a painful gardening season, rife with rain and slow on sun, we have some progress.

Another bean bravely turns yellow, though overly friendly pests defile him for his courage. Fortunately, yet another bean struggles to fruition and escapes intact.

The grape tomatoes have been the most prolific, with many on the way though all green thus far.

The celebrity tomatoes have been sneaking along, most of them hiding from the world, though several brazenly showing themselves.

A coy squash flower bloomed in full for one day only before sacrificing itself for the fruit of the plant. Or so we hope, with no sign of the full bodied veggie yet.

Bright purple eggplant flowers preview success though also prove quite fragile. One falls to the earth, never to produce. Another presses on, the small nub of a blessed event to come protruding from the former bud (no photo, family only until further notice).

Stay tuned for further updates.