tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2616651803422814792024-03-13T05:09:25.107-07:00Jamie CheslockRandom musings of a housewife.Jamie Cheslockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14129379399415784315noreply@blogger.comBlogger89125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-261665180342281479.post-3177584819665823062010-05-26T10:47:00.000-07:002010-05-26T10:47:26.052-07:00Embracing the Rain<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/S_1eZWLd89I/AAAAAAAAA9c/W8cnwJVBpfM/s1600/barnrainbow.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/S_1eZWLd89I/AAAAAAAAA9c/W8cnwJVBpfM/s320/barnrainbow.jpg" /></a></div>I don't understand everyone's complaining about the rain. Seriously, we DO live in Oregon! Maybe I'm the last true Oregonian; I fully embrace the rain. Yes, I'll admit to voicing frustrations towards some of the hardships and inconveniences that constant rainfall can instigate but I feel that this is all a small sacrifice that I make in exchange for getting to live in the one of the greenest states in the union.<br />
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Warm rainy days like today are awesome. It is warm enough to be outside working yet the rain keeps everything fresh, clean and cool. On the other hand, it also offers me with an excellent excuse to just stay in the house to bake cookies or clean, or I could spend the entire day out in my arena messing with all of the horses while listening to the gentle fall of rain on the rooftop.<br />
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I especially enjoy it when God just completely cuts loose and sends down a short torrential rainfall. The sound of those storms on my barn roof are awe inspiring to say the least. I'll just stop whatever I'm doing and let the sound of the heavy rain drum through my body like the base at a concert, my heart beats faster and I feel a sense of exhilaration course through my veins. After the storm passes, the clouds inadvertently part, the sun appears along with a rainbow and all is well. It's fun to walk outside and see all of the little temporary runoff creeks that formed and quickly dissipate.<br />
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My absolute favorite is the first rain of summer. After a couple months of warm and sometimes hot, sunny days the grasses have all turned a monotonous brown and yellow and everything is covered in a layer of dust. The first rain washes all of the that away, replenishes the earth and makes everything smell so wonderful. Every year when the first rain arrives I always run outside and stand in it, I love to let the cool raindrops cover my body. It is as if I can feel all of my troubles, aches and pains being washed away by God. I'll stay out in the rain until my clothes are completely soaked through and I'm shivering with a shallow chill that is quickly warmed when I towel off. My husband always looks at me like I'm a crazy lady, (he never joins me in my rain ritual) and maybe I am but I don't care, I feel better and it smells great outside.<br />
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So, the next time you feel the need to complain about the rain, try to find a reason to enjoy and embrace it. It makes life so much more delightful. Remember, a positive attitude heals the soul and beats out evil and depression any day.<br />
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Encourage one another!Jamie Cheslockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14129379399415784315noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-261665180342281479.post-48353368818131631052010-05-16T18:47:00.003-07:002010-05-16T18:47:39.273-07:00Summer Grilling<meta content="text/html; charset=utf-8" http-equiv="Content-Type"></meta><meta content="Word.Document" name="ProgId"></meta><meta content="Microsoft Word 11" name="Generator"></meta><meta content="Microsoft Word 11" name="Originator"></meta><link href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5COWNER%7E1.LAP%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml" rel="File-List"></link><style>
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<div class="MsoNormal">Ahh spring. It’s finally here and with it come the birds, flowers, planting the garden and of course GRILLING WEATHER! Actually, I grill year round but the nice weather certainly makes grilling a lot more fun and provides more pleasant temperatures for getting creative on the bar-b-q.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I’ve been sick for the past several days so my cooking has been limited to thawing out the reserves I had stashed in the basement freezers or cold sandwiches but today I finally mustered up enough energy to cook on my new bar-b-q.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">For starters, I make the hamburgers. Have you ever wondered how the restaurants get those perfect diamond shaped grill marks on your steaks and burgers? You try flipping them this way and that way and it never seems to work out just right. Well, let me share a little secret with you. Just before it’s time to flip your meat over, use your flipping tool to simply turn the meat 90 degrees, let it cook for a bit more and THEN flip it over. WALLA! You will have the perfect grill marks that I am 100% sure make your meat taste SO much better.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/S_Cfa0C6g6I/AAAAAAAAA9E/IwNEJn5f_x0/s1600/IMG_3061.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/S_Cfa0C6g6I/AAAAAAAAA9E/IwNEJn5f_x0/s320/IMG_3061.jpg" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal">I like to have bacon with my hamburgers so I decided to break out this really cool veggie rack that I found at Wall Mart. It was working so perfectly for the bacon that I decided to be brave and throw on some asparagus that had been soaking in butter and garlic all night. YUM!</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/S_Cfq0A7MCI/AAAAAAAAA9M/BB4ysDuf5H4/s1600/IMG_3058.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/S_Cfq0A7MCI/AAAAAAAAA9M/BB4ysDuf5H4/s320/IMG_3058.jpg" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal">Of course you can’t have a great hamburger lunch without a fresh salad so I dug around in my fridge in search of something crunchy and fresh to serve as a side. The pickings were pretty slim so I had to get creative which seems to be something that comes naturally to me lately. I sliced up what was left of a cucumber, added a can of mandarin oranges, a sprinkle of coconut and topped it with a mixture of sour cream, milk and dill weed. It was WONDERFUL!</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal">Encourage one another!</div>Jamie Cheslockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14129379399415784315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-261665180342281479.post-54125297950703265832010-05-01T08:43:00.000-07:002010-05-01T08:43:22.803-07:00My Husband and I<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/S9xL7bUwAaI/AAAAAAAAA88/HEgDfOeDWpA/s1600/jamie_and_john2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/S9xL7bUwAaI/AAAAAAAAA88/HEgDfOeDWpA/s320/jamie_and_john2.jpg" /></a></div><h3 class="UIIntentionalStory_Message" data-ft="{"type":"msg"}"><span class="UIStory_Message">John and I have struggled through "for richer or poorer", we have lived through "in sickness and in health", we continue to embrace "in good times and in bad" We choose to live our lives to the fullest, make our mark on the world and leave behind a destiny our children and grandchildren will be proud of until "death <span class="text_exposed_hide">...</span><span class="text_exposed_show">do us part".</span></span></h3>Jamie Cheslockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14129379399415784315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-261665180342281479.post-37339381546596012682010-04-28T09:04:00.000-07:002010-04-28T09:05:37.214-07:00Mind your Own BusinessI think that Hank Williams says it all in his song titled "Mind Your Own Business" especially in the last lyric that goes<br />
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<blockquote>Mindin' other people's business seems to be high-toned<br />
I got all that I can do just to mind my own<br />
Why don't you mind your own business<br />
If you mind your own business, you'll stay busy all the time.</blockquote><br />
Seriously. What is it about people these days that makes them think that what is going on in someone elses life is any of their business? If your name isn't on the deed, title, birth certificate, invoice or whatever, then it's really none of your business. Unless the life of a person or animal is in danger, you need to keep your nose, your opinions and your fingers to yourself. This includes of course what you say about people behind their backs.<br />
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Remember, it'll come back to you three times three so take Hank's advice and mind your own business! You'll get a lot more respect for it.<br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71rBeFZ-di4">Click here to listen to the song</a>Jamie Cheslockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14129379399415784315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-261665180342281479.post-7859030866388488592010-04-27T11:48:00.000-07:002010-04-27T11:48:50.696-07:00Poached Eggs<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/S9cxUweDRoI/AAAAAAAAA80/TYBe8tQFCeY/s1600/poachedeggremoved.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/S9cxUweDRoI/AAAAAAAAA80/TYBe8tQFCeY/s320/poachedeggremoved.jpg" /></a></div>I have never in my life had any desire or need to eat a poached egg. To be completely honest, just the thought of eating an egg that has been boiled without it's shell sounded completely gross and...well....boring. However, upon visiting one of my favorite websites for recipe, photo, craft and homeschooling ideas there, right smack on my computer screen, ergo - in my face - was the directions for property poaching an egg according to my dear friend the Pioneer Woman. Since I've been sick with the flue for the past couple of days my appetite hasn't quite been the same but for some reason, that poached egg, served as eggs Benedict actually looked yummy.The Pioneer Woman made it look easy, it actually sounded good to my poor sore stomach and I'm bored so I decided to give it a try. Why NOT?<br />
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According to the Pioneer Woman randomly when tossing a raw egg into a boiling cauldron of water that has been stirred to a near tornado state the egg will wrap around itself and hence you will have a wonderful oval shaped egg in two minutes. Well, either I'm not quite as good at creating a tornado as she is or she lied. Regardless, instead of having a poached egg, I learned out to create that yummy ribbon of egg that is in egg flour soup. FAIL.<br />
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In my second attempt I decided to fall back on old faithful for instruction - Julia Childs. The woman is a culinary genius and considering that she barely knew how to boil an egg or cook anything else for that matter until attending cooking school in France near the age of 40, her life's achievements are nothing short of a miracle and a major inspiration for people like me. Okay, back to the task at hand, poaching an egg. Julia suggests bringing the water to a very light boil or heavy simmer, add a touch of vinegar to help the egg stay together and use only very fresh eggs. Well I didn't have any very fresh eggs and considering the state of my uneasy stomach and unpredictable south end, going to town for fresh eggs was out of the question. Old eggs will have to do. What I really liked about Julia's method was there was no rapid stirring needed, just crack the egg into a small bowl and gently ease it into the water. Wow, that was easy! Much to my delight, the egg stayed together and turned out just like in the picture.<br />
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Of course eggs Benedict wouldn't really be eggs Benedict without toast, bacon and hollandaise sauce and fortunately I had bread and bacon (not canadian ~ sorry) on hand and making hollandaise sauce is a piece of cake. I put it all together and bravely sat down to a rerun of Sex in the City to taste my masterpiece and much to my surprise it was WONDERFULLY DELICIOUS! The bonus is my stomach didn't fight back with cramps and threats of evicting the food I had just consumed and enjoyed. I can't believe it, I'm so excited about it that I think I'll make it for dinner tonight too.<br />
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p.s. The photo is not mine, I copied it from a web site. Sorry, I didn't think about grabbing my camera for the event.Jamie Cheslockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14129379399415784315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-261665180342281479.post-32381425549768632842009-10-19T09:42:00.000-07:002009-10-19T10:11:27.670-07:00Lovely Foggy Fall Mornings are my Favorite Time for PicturesThis morning the sun was just beginning it daily rise over the hilltops spreading warm rays across the pastures and onto the fog that was hanging over the mountains like a warm blanket. This is my favorite time to go out with my camera to see what I can capture. The lighting that the early sun and provides is absolutely wonderful and the fog provides unique photo effect opportunities. In this photo, I was thrilled to allow the fog to blur out the background that I would normally do by adjusting the aperture setting on my camera.<br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/StyaEKaK0II/AAAAAAAAA58/VC_b5vu1GZ4/s1600-h/IMG_2164.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 256px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/StyaEKaK0II/AAAAAAAAA58/VC_b5vu1GZ4/s320/IMG_2164.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5394355849987281026" /></a><br /><br />I know, it’s a boring photo but be patient I am going somewhere with this.<br /><br />In this next photo, I wanted to capture the colors in the black walnut tree and allow the sun to have a part so I set my aperture wide open to catch a bit of the suns rays but I didn’t want the sky blown out so I used my spot metering and metered on the fog and yippee the blue sky came in just like I wanted it.<br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/StydldP4H6I/AAAAAAAAA6U/in_7Iyoa_Jc/s1600-h/IMG_2166.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/StydldP4H6I/AAAAAAAAA6U/in_7Iyoa_Jc/s320/IMG_2166.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5394359720514953122" /></a><br /><br />Then, if you put the fog, the sun, the fall colors all together and add an interesting subject matter you end up with a nice shot like this.<br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/StycF_nZltI/AAAAAAAAA6M/VsYiDP8CF0A/s1600-h/IMG_6235+small.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 222px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/StycF_nZltI/AAAAAAAAA6M/VsYiDP8CF0A/s320/IMG_6235+small.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5394358080472979154" /></a><br /><br />See? I told you I was going somewhere!Jamie Cheslockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14129379399415784315noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-261665180342281479.post-1315869818455140452009-08-01T10:26:00.000-07:002009-08-01T11:35:48.126-07:00Cabin FeverTwo weeks ago I broke my ankle. It was one of those stupid accidents that just happen no matter how careful you try to be. I have a water trough blocking a gap in the fence where there should be a small gate that was never installed. Rather then walk all the way to the other end of the barnyard, I climbed over the water trough to get quick access to the horses and put on their fly nets in the morning. When I climbed back out and jumped down I landed wrong, my ankle twisted and I heard a loud SNAP along with intense pain. I lay there awhile skirming around and moaning from the pain hoping it was like all of the other times I've twisted my ankle and it would just be okay after a minute or so. Unforunately that wasn't the case so I screamed for John to come help me. I yelled to him that I thought I had broken my ankle, he thought I said one of the horses had a broken ankle so he went back into the house and brought out a gun. I'm sure glad he didn't shoot me! He brought the car around so he could take me to the hospital, that is when poor Riley got scared. He screamed to his grandpa, "Don't run over my Grandma!!!" The poor little mushy boy. :)<br /><br />At the hospital they did xrays and a CT scan, sure enough it was broken. They sent me home with a boot thingy and instructions to go see a surgeon about pinning me back together. Thank GOD the surgeon said I didn't have to have surgery and didn't put on a cast so here I sit with a 6 week sentence of no weight on the foot. I go back to the doctor Wednesday for new xrays and hope that my sentence will be shortened by a bit because I'm going start raving MAD being locked up in this house.<br /><br />Here it is two days after the break. I really don't think it looks all that bad but what do I know.<br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/SnR9eGY4G4I/AAAAAAAAA4c/hhL_cAFt0Dc/s1600-h/my+akle.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 256px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/SnR9eGY4G4I/AAAAAAAAA4c/hhL_cAFt0Dc/s320/my+akle.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5365051012169603970" /></a><br /><br />That's it, my life is so boring and uneventful now that I have nother more to ad so I'll just end this post with a photo that I took BEFORE I broke my stupid ankle.<br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/SnSKzSiOOHI/AAAAAAAAA4s/Dv93JRV9wew/s1600-h/butterfly.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 256px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/SnSKzSiOOHI/AAAAAAAAA4s/Dv93JRV9wew/s320/butterfly.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5365065669858441330" /></a>Jamie Cheslockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14129379399415784315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-261665180342281479.post-43063038023405485202009-06-22T09:06:00.000-07:002009-06-22T09:12:26.171-07:00Photographing a Wedding<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/Sj-sgDNBLGI/AAAAAAAAA38/bb7CfGxttUM/s1600-h/bride1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 229px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/Sj-sgDNBLGI/AAAAAAAAA38/bb7CfGxttUM/s320/bride1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5350184548955139170" /></a><br /><br />My look a like niece got married this past Saturday and had asked me to be the photographer. I tried to talk her into hiring a professional but she insisted that I would do fine. I ran around like a crazy person for the entire ceremony and took almost 1100 photos. I'm exhausted but I think I got so good photos, I sure hope she likes them!<br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/Sj-tM43XdTI/AAAAAAAAA4U/3_sHMJxNA-0/s1600-h/kellymarshallty.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 256px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/Sj-tM43XdTI/AAAAAAAAA4U/3_sHMJxNA-0/s320/kellymarshallty.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5350185319274083634" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/Sj-s-XYHbPI/AAAAAAAAA4M/HZopx7Fm6k4/s1600-h/tears.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 229px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/Sj-s-XYHbPI/AAAAAAAAA4M/HZopx7Fm6k4/s320/tears.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5350185069766470898" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/Sj-stXfUcsI/AAAAAAAAA4E/bNsZUAXuNJE/s1600-h/bridalparty.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 229px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/Sj-stXfUcsI/AAAAAAAAA4E/bNsZUAXuNJE/s320/bridalparty.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5350184777738908354" /></a>Jamie Cheslockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14129379399415784315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-261665180342281479.post-66592417854328584162009-05-21T08:35:00.001-07:002009-05-21T08:38:34.807-07:00I got a couple of new pets to add to the menagerieVanessa is a very freindly little Nigerian Dwarf with a silly personality<br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/ShV1QJ15cMI/AAAAAAAAA2U/aa7I5Iqq2_c/s1600-h/goat.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 258px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/ShV1QJ15cMI/AAAAAAAAA2U/aa7I5Iqq2_c/s320/goat.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5338301853697929410" /></a><br /><br /><br />Bindi is a sweet little blue eye Nigerian Dwarf. She's a little shy but is comming around slowley.<br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/ShV08XXDjlI/AAAAAAAAA2M/54t44fiVSAU/s1600-h/bindi.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 229px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/ShV08XXDjlI/AAAAAAAAA2M/54t44fiVSAU/s320/bindi.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5338301513729281618" /></a><br /><br />These little goats like to follow me all around the ranch and look for trouble to get into.Jamie Cheslockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14129379399415784315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-261665180342281479.post-48836713869838435472009-05-12T14:37:00.001-07:002009-05-12T15:16:51.780-07:00The Building of a Box CulvertLast weekend Dad and I accompanied Ernie, Scott and Jeff up into the woods to pack in the supplies and construct a box culvert to provide a temporary creek crossing along the new trail being built for the Mule Skinner's Memorial Day Poke Ride.<br /><br />Here, we are loading up Ernies miles with the supplies we needed to back in. In this photos, Cody is being loaded with the lumber.<br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/Sgnt9Ifo7qI/AAAAAAAAAzU/Ekj4T5ifky8/s1600-h/loading+cody.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 233px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/Sgnt9Ifo7qI/AAAAAAAAAzU/Ekj4T5ifky8/s320/loading+cody.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5335056868105055906" /></a><br /><br />Here, I provide a nice view of Coday all loaded up and ready to go<br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/SgnuzbjVxCI/AAAAAAAAAzc/YzGKqH4YTxw/s1600-h/cody+loaded.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 229px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/SgnuzbjVxCI/AAAAAAAAAzc/YzGKqH4YTxw/s320/cody+loaded.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5335057800933786658" /></a><br /><br />Whisky gets to pack in some of the additional supplies we need, chainsaw, buckets, lunch etc.<br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/SgnwBLQnafI/AAAAAAAAAzk/y6Rb30elTPY/s1600-h/loading+whiskey.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 229px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/SgnwBLQnafI/AAAAAAAAAzk/y6Rb30elTPY/s320/loading+whiskey.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5335059136590080498" /></a><br /><br />Chex waits patiently while the mules get all packed up.<br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/SgnwVQovfSI/AAAAAAAAAzs/s7Qv9BUbwhM/s1600-h/chex+ready+to+go.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 231px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/SgnwVQovfSI/AAAAAAAAAzs/s7Qv9BUbwhM/s320/chex+ready+to+go.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5335059481630833954" /></a><br /><br />The mules are all loaded up, we head out to a hillside to grab some rock<br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/Sgnw9qWZeeI/AAAAAAAAAz0/8eY3b48IdY8/s1600-h/Loading+up+the+rock.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 230px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/Sgnw9qWZeeI/AAAAAAAAAz0/8eY3b48IdY8/s320/Loading+up+the+rock.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5335060175727983074" /></a><br /><br />This is the area before we did any improvements. It doesn't look like much but we worry that after 500 horses cross, it'll be a muddy mess.<br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/SgnxRK89uaI/AAAAAAAAAz8/mB4HpzKjGDE/s1600-h/the+spot+before.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 229px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/SgnxRK89uaI/AAAAAAAAAz8/mB4HpzKjGDE/s320/the+spot+before.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5335060510897191330" /></a><br /><br />Scott was the lucky nail straightener guy. Remember, RECYCLE!<br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/Sgnxt94sDlI/AAAAAAAAA0E/msOGIveMgYY/s1600-h/fixing+the+nails.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 229px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/Sgnxt94sDlI/AAAAAAAAA0E/msOGIveMgYY/s320/fixing+the+nails.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5335061005605801554" /></a><br /><br />While Ernie works on preparing the creek bed, Scott and Jeff start assembling the box<br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/SgnyCQFLmBI/AAAAAAAAA0M/Zf2w7aATK50/s1600-h/building+the+box.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 229px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/SgnyCQFLmBI/AAAAAAAAA0M/Zf2w7aATK50/s320/building+the+box.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5335061354087421970" /></a><br /><br />Putting the final touches on the box<br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/SgnyQwb-rVI/AAAAAAAAA0U/XdSE6hQ9qFg/s1600-h/building+the+box+2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 229px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/SgnyQwb-rVI/AAAAAAAAA0U/XdSE6hQ9qFg/s320/building+the+box+2.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5335061603291147602" /></a><br /><br />The box is set over the creek flow and tamped down into place<br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/SgnywV-Na7I/AAAAAAAAA0c/6oppeZX40r4/s1600-h/setting+the+box.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 229px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/SgnywV-Na7I/AAAAAAAAA0c/6oppeZX40r4/s320/setting+the+box.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5335062145942776754" /></a><br /><br />The creek flow is adjusted just a little more to make sure it flows through the box<br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/SgnzF5K7spI/AAAAAAAAA0k/S4paKAyoWaI/s1600-h/adjusting+the+creek+flow.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 229px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/SgnzF5K7spI/AAAAAAAAA0k/S4paKAyoWaI/s320/adjusting+the+creek+flow.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5335062516168635026" /></a><br /><br />Some large branches are placed on each side of the box to help stabelize it<br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/Sgnzj7RGm3I/AAAAAAAAA0s/q0jTN5HNed8/s1600-h/shoring+it+up.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 229px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/Sgnzj7RGm3I/AAAAAAAAA0s/q0jTN5HNed8/s320/shoring+it+up.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5335063032127462258" /></a><br /><br />Ernie has these handy paniers that open from the bottom, this made it really easy to unload the gravel right over the culvert<br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/Sgn0bIjHGWI/AAAAAAAAA00/jvNcwbkSycU/s1600-h/dumping+the+gravel.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 229px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/Sgn0bIjHGWI/AAAAAAAAA00/jvNcwbkSycU/s320/dumping+the+gravel.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5335063980585458018" /></a><br /><br />Ernie tromps around on the fished product to make sure it is solid<br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/Sgn0xZ-sOAI/AAAAAAAAA08/DQ8hFe5N3k0/s1600-h/the+final+product.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 229px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/Sgn0xZ-sOAI/AAAAAAAAA08/DQ8hFe5N3k0/s320/the+final+product.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5335064363221661698" /></a><br /><br />Finally we are finished with our project and head back to the trailersJamie Cheslockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14129379399415784315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-261665180342281479.post-65329245266399522152009-04-14T10:57:00.000-07:002009-04-14T11:01:23.876-07:00Finally a moment for MEI never in my wildest dreams that my rescue would get so incredibly big and busy that I would no longer have the time to enjoy my photography hobby and keeping my personal blog updated. This morning however, I did take just a few minutes to grab my camera and head out for some photo opportunities.<br /><br />Here are a couple of my roosters. They are really shy so getting a photo of them is difficult but this morning I was sneaking up on some elk and managed to surprise he roosters in the process!<br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/SeTO4_UfegI/AAAAAAAAAvA/1iGqx5rWDEE/s1600-h/roosters.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 229px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/SeTO4_UfegI/AAAAAAAAAvA/1iGqx5rWDEE/s320/roosters.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5324608137924147714" /></a><br />By the time I got done photographing the roosters, the stupid horses had discovered the elk and chased them down to the bottom of the field near the road. I high tailed it to the house and screamed a Dad to GET IN THE CAR, NOW! The poor guy was in the middle of shaving and had no shoes on but I sounded serious so he scrambled and off we went to our lower field. I spotted the elk again and they were in my woods right next to the road all set up for a perfect photo opportunity. I stopped the car, rolled down the window, did the 4 point check on the camera (shutter speed, ISO, F-stop etc) and prepared to take the shot when Dad started talking. GAAAA!!!!! At that point it became very clear to me why my Dad was never much of a successful hunter instead of hand signals he screams out, “There’s the elk!”<br /><br />They ran off, here is a photo of their retreat back across my hay field.<br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/SeTPJKwastI/AAAAAAAAAvI/rIlBI3T8-ns/s1600-h/jumping+the+fence.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 229px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/SeTPJKwastI/AAAAAAAAAvI/rIlBI3T8-ns/s320/jumping+the+fence.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5324608415871972050" /></a><br /><br />Oh well, it was fun anyway.Jamie Cheslockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14129379399415784315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-261665180342281479.post-76127118742572686852009-03-05T09:16:00.000-08:002009-03-05T09:30:23.102-08:00It's Been Very Busy HereI haven't had the time to post in here lately because my rescue has been taking up all of my time. Make sure you click on my rescue link and take a look at all of the new horses that we have in.<br /><br />My Dad is moving back over to this side of the mountain and will be living with my sister Jill. This will give me lots of opportunity to spend quality time with him.Jamie Cheslockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14129379399415784315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-261665180342281479.post-76776433376072763222009-02-01T08:47:00.000-08:002009-02-01T08:52:39.560-08:00Fly me to the MoonFreezing cold weather and a brand new moon peaking out from behind the shadow of the earth drug me out into the night to get these shots. I took one at the proper exposure for a nice moon shot and the other is over exposed a bit so you can see the outline of the rest of the moon in the shadows. It was fun trying to figure out what settings to use on my camera to get just the right effects.<br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/SYXSfnZ_niI/AAAAAAAAAk0/CyYj3eXG6XE/s1600-h/moon+1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 287px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/SYXSfnZ_niI/AAAAAAAAAk0/CyYj3eXG6XE/s400/moon+1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5297871977267043874" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/SYXSmmqL_KI/AAAAAAAAAk8/XhSmN2uRYXA/s1600-h/moon+2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 287px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/SYXSmmqL_KI/AAAAAAAAAk8/XhSmN2uRYXA/s400/moon+2.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5297872097325612194" /></a><br /><br />Today is Super Bowl Sunday!!!! We always have a big party and lots of fun with all of our friends. There is always way too much food, some drinking, a freindly bet and lots of visiting with our friends. It's a house full but it's danged FUN!<br /><br />Now, on to something serious, if any of you are in need of a really nice, well broke, gentle horse let me know. I'm helping a neighbor find homes for some of his retired dude string horses.Jamie Cheslockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14129379399415784315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-261665180342281479.post-87579368946490952882009-01-25T22:14:00.000-08:002009-01-25T22:37:38.875-08:00Here We Go Again<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/SX1VEjMGOzI/AAAAAAAAAkM/JXA2pyjtgiE/s1600-h/bulls.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 286px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/SX1VEjMGOzI/AAAAAAAAAkM/JXA2pyjtgiE/s400/bulls.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5295482273511390002" /></a><br /><br />Yes, yes I know there are a lot of people who wish they could get just a glimpse of some of the wildlife that we see here nearly every day but it doesn't make having them here all of the time any easier to deal with.<br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/SX1U380oJdI/AAAAAAAAAkE/qj9KsBpmMy4/s1600-h/bull1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 286px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/SX1U380oJdI/AAAAAAAAAkE/qj9KsBpmMy4/s400/bull1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5295482057053971922" /></a><br /><br />Every year one or two large herds of elk show up around our place. Fortunately, they favor the new green grass on our neighbor's fields but that doesn't stop them from paying a visit to our fields and taking down our fences as they come and go.<br /><br />There is always a lead cow that chooses where the herd goes.<br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/SX1WDkNC9HI/AAAAAAAAAkU/kOZ7WLM9gec/s1600-h/lead+cow.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 286px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/SX1WDkNC9HI/AAAAAAAAAkU/kOZ7WLM9gec/s400/lead+cow.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5295483356115563634" /></a><br /><br />Then comes the rest of the cows, last years calves and the small bulls<br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/SX1XUd6s4UI/AAAAAAAAAkc/uQTokW-RSTI/s1600-h/herd.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 269px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/SX1XUd6s4UI/AAAAAAAAAkc/uQTokW-RSTI/s400/herd.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5295484745997410626" /></a><br /><br />Then the larger bulls bring up the rear. It's the same story every day.<br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/SX1XneA429I/AAAAAAAAAkk/5mmErL69V8M/s1600-h/bulls.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 289px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/SX1XneA429I/AAAAAAAAAkk/5mmErL69V8M/s400/bulls.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5295485072440875986" /></a><br /><br />This particular day I was feeling rather frisky as this herd headed straight towards my lower field so I grabbed my camera and made a mad dash for the closest vantage point I could muster without being spotted. Sneaking up on elk isn't rocket science mind you but it is harder then most people think it is. On this particular forray into wildlife photography I sprung my crotch climbing over the fence, tore my pants on the blackberries, lost my rubber boot in the boot sucking mud and poked my boob on a wayward branch. None-the-less in spite of my lungs heaving for air and my hands shaking from exhaustion I managed to get a few shots. <br /><br />BUT, yes there is always a BUT in wildlife photography; the elk were MOVING and the lighting was less then ideal for shooting a moving object with a 300 zoom lense and shaking hands. Oh well. None of the shots are worth framing but they are better then what I've gotten in the past. At least this time I didn't feel like spiking my camera off the floor after I downloaded the photos.<br /><br />Good bye for today elk. That's a big darned herd!<br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/SX1aCorDMFI/AAAAAAAAAks/cC8JjzhmzTQ/s1600-h/whole+herd.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/SX1aCorDMFI/AAAAAAAAAks/cC8JjzhmzTQ/s400/whole+herd.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5295487738181791826" /></a>Jamie Cheslockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14129379399415784315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-261665180342281479.post-47301735698594355622009-01-19T15:39:00.000-08:002009-01-19T15:43:10.034-08:00I'm hoping for some inspirationI haven't been making very frequent entries lately for a couple of reasons. One is, I haven't been able to come up with a clever, entertaining topic. Another is, I haven't been out getting any wonderful photographs of anything. The good news is, I am only going to be working 1 day a week for the next month or two or three or four so I'll have a lot of time to go out searching for that perfect photo opportunity so stay tuned!<br /><br />In the mean time, I'll entertain you with this cute picture of Mr. Piggelsworth and his buddy Doctor Doodle Duck.<br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/SXUP-BNcOuI/AAAAAAAAAjA/lDSiEOJthKU/s1600-h/pig.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 286px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/SXUP-BNcOuI/AAAAAAAAAjA/lDSiEOJthKU/s400/pig.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5293154495195003618" /></a>Jamie Cheslockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14129379399415784315noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-261665180342281479.post-49308568079739349302009-01-05T21:46:00.000-08:002009-01-05T22:20:42.749-08:00Snow, EEKS!I don't think I'll ever wish for a white Christmas again. EVER. We got burried in the snow, nearly 4 feet of it. Our power went out and didn't come back on until a couple of days after Christmas, it was out for six days. I didn't get to work for 3 weeks but I sure stayed busy trying to keep up with this place and all of the animals here.<br /><br />To give you an idea of just how deep it got here is a picture of one of my fences, just the tops are showing and that is not a drift, it's that deep everywhere.<br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/SWL15bxaTII/AAAAAAAAAiI/nioAg9jZQkU/s1600-h/fence+1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/SWL15bxaTII/AAAAAAAAAiI/nioAg9jZQkU/s400/fence+1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5288059279542733954" /></a><br /><br />You can't even see Marlboro Man's junkers! Okay, that can be a good thing!<br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/SWL24aEjHtI/AAAAAAAAAiQ/ssAtxHVcb84/s1600-h/junkers.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/SWL24aEjHtI/AAAAAAAAAiQ/ssAtxHVcb84/s400/junkers.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5288060361417891538" /></a><br /><br />Toby kept getting covered in this annoying snow balls!<br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/SWL3aHKi8LI/AAAAAAAAAiY/4z0iatj_T6k/s1600-h/toby+snowball.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 286px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/SWL3aHKi8LI/AAAAAAAAAiY/4z0iatj_T6k/s400/toby+snowball.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5288060940458324146" /></a><br /><br />Before it got too deep the horses enjoyed the snow too.<br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/SWL3ypVuUsI/AAAAAAAAAig/KwO7V1oydZ4/s1600-h/horsing+around.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/SWL3ypVuUsI/AAAAAAAAAig/KwO7V1oydZ4/s400/horsing+around.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5288061361948873410" /></a><br /><br /><br />Barns all around us were caving in including 6 indoor arenas just in my area. Of course that really made me nervous but luckily we were smart and had our barn fully engineered rather then just putting up an ag building. That meant that the building was engineered to withstand a 4 foot snow load. At the time I thought that was crazy, we'd never get that kind of snow, YEAH RIGHT! We had to spend over $6000.00 upgrading the trusses, perlins and beams to meet the county standards and boy was I ever glad that we did, it sure paid off this winter.<br /><br />I tried to photograph the snow but when I was faced with endless white everywhere I had a really rad time capturing anything worthwhile. So here are a few weak attempts at being creative.<br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/SWLzobr4JaI/AAAAAAAAAh4/X2cP28rX03I/s1600-h/ice.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 289px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/SWLzobr4JaI/AAAAAAAAAh4/X2cP28rX03I/s400/ice.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5288056788438492578" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/SWL1Os5jhRI/AAAAAAAAAiA/zcnwc7J2ypQ/s1600-h/barbed+wire.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 288px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/SWL1Os5jhRI/AAAAAAAAAiA/zcnwc7J2ypQ/s400/barbed+wire.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5288058545405920530" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/SWL4HZeODrI/AAAAAAAAAio/VXCIioD8DwI/s1600-h/mushrooms.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 322px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/SWL4HZeODrI/AAAAAAAAAio/VXCIioD8DwI/s400/mushrooms.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5288061718466793138" /></a>Jamie Cheslockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14129379399415784315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-261665180342281479.post-87457421982848169562008-12-17T20:14:00.000-08:002008-12-17T20:30:21.196-08:00I Love to CookI love cooking, I'm constantly looking for new recipies to try and I have tons of cookbooks that I pour over looking for yummy stuff to make for dinner but most of the dishes I make don't have a written recipie, it's all in my head. I spend a lot of time thinking up different ways to make dishes, most of the time it turns out pretty good but sometimes they are a flop.<br /><br />Since I haven't had much to say here on my blog these past few days I decided to tell you what was for dinner tonight. All of these items were very easy and great for a quick, good dinner after a long day at work.<br /><br />First on the menu, fresh salmon cooked on the grill with lemon pepper<br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/SUnPEjLUWvI/AAAAAAAAAhY/hi4FUbWq3UQ/s1600-h/salmon.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 286px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/SUnPEjLUWvI/AAAAAAAAAhY/hi4FUbWq3UQ/s400/salmon.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5280979715137755890" /></a><br />Mmmmm, you can see the steam wafting into the air. Wash and dry the salmon thoroughly, sprinkle it with lemmon pepper and let sit for several minutes. Pre heat the George Forman grill (George is one of my best freinds in the kitchen) spray a good coat of olive oil PAM all over the grill, place on the salmon and let that cook until done, usually about 10-15 minutes depending on how thick your salmon is.<br /><br />Oven Roasted Asparagus<br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/SUnP0p8Rf2I/AAAAAAAAAhg/m1Ys-fiy1IA/s1600-h/asparagus.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 286px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/SUnP0p8Rf2I/AAAAAAAAAhg/m1Ys-fiy1IA/s400/asparagus.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5280980541587423074" /></a><br />This is amazingling fast, easy and delicious. Just wash the asparagus, cut off the ends, dry with paper towell and place on a cookie sheet. Spray a generous coating of olive oil PAM, don't be shy, olive oil is good for you. Sprinkly on some kosher salt (don't use table salt, it's a sin) and fresh ground pepper, you can use the powered pepper if you want, I won't tell anyone. Place into preheated 450 oven and cook for 10 minutes. Dont try to cheat and put it in the oven before it's hot, it'll ruin this dish.<br /><br />Texas Toast<br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/SUnQWMLOmDI/AAAAAAAAAho/Y4s9pBi-7gA/s1600-h/texas+toast.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 286px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/SUnQWMLOmDI/AAAAAAAAAho/Y4s9pBi-7gA/s400/texas+toast.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5280981117712635954" /></a><br />You can use any kind of bread for this, tonight's was french bread. Just heat up a non stick frying pan, melt some butter into the pan, place the bread on top of the butter and cook until brown. If you want you can melt more butter, flip it over and cook both sides. If you're feeling frisky you can sprinkle on some kosher salt or grated cheese.<br /><br />Baked potatoe, I'll spare you the details on this because honestly, who doesn't know how to make a baked potatoe?<br /><br />Put this all together and you've got a quick, easy hearty meal. Enjoy.<br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/SUnQ2AbYu1I/AAAAAAAAAhw/SqGoyqYl-Ak/s1600-h/plate.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 286px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/SUnQ2AbYu1I/AAAAAAAAAhw/SqGoyqYl-Ak/s400/plate.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5280981664314997586" /></a>Jamie Cheslockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14129379399415784315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-261665180342281479.post-60644703413434098242008-12-05T19:05:00.000-08:002008-12-05T19:10:01.792-08:00Momma's HandsMy poor mother must have been sleeping when they were handing (no pun intended) out hands. Her hands have been badly deformed from arthritis for the past several years. She finally decided it was time to have something done about this so she had surgery to repair a lot of the damage that was done by the hands (again, no pun intended) of time. The surgery went well and she's doing great but get a look at the contraption she has to wear around!<br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/STns4Y7p__I/AAAAAAAAAgA/1TtGEkwwEAg/s1600-h/moms+hand.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/STns4Y7p__I/AAAAAAAAAgA/1TtGEkwwEAg/s400/moms+hand.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5276508891950743538" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/STnsrRVaYWI/AAAAAAAAAf4/DSLCtdXBGBw/s1600-h/moms+hand+1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 322px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/STnsrRVaYWI/AAAAAAAAAf4/DSLCtdXBGBw/s400/moms+hand+1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5276508666572988770" /></a><br /><br />Never mind the mule or the horse in the background, they don't know how to mind their own business.Jamie Cheslockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14129379399415784315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-261665180342281479.post-74311789971140625172008-11-28T09:41:00.000-08:002008-11-28T09:58:48.066-08:00Happy Thanksgiving - the day afterWe had an awsome Thanksgiving dinner, it was nice and quiet with just John, Me, Luke Trish and Riley. Of course I still made a big dinner with all of the trimmimgs and we got to enjoy each others company.<br /><br />Of course what would Thanksgiving be without PICTURES!<br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/STAt9kpZbGI/AAAAAAAAAbw/Vxvcg8dihyE/s1600-h/thanksgiving+014.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 322px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/STAt9kpZbGI/AAAAAAAAAbw/Vxvcg8dihyE/s400/thanksgiving+014.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5273765699483429986" /></a><br /><br />Yesterday (Thanksgiving) I learned that in order to take a good indoor portrait in low light with no flash I need to use a very high ISO (1600), a wide open aperature (1.8) and find the appropriate shutter speed to go with that combination. Unfortunately I didn't learn that until after they left.<br /><br />But, not for the lack of trying, I did manage to get one or two decent shots.<br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/STAu0Oi2ufI/AAAAAAAAAb4/DfZzefe9trg/s1600-h/thanksgiving+056.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 291px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/STAu0Oi2ufI/AAAAAAAAAb4/DfZzefe9trg/s400/thanksgiving+056.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5273766638443215346" /></a>Jamie Cheslockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14129379399415784315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-261665180342281479.post-39229235785067710082008-11-25T22:14:00.000-08:002008-11-25T22:26:14.665-08:00Every Day I Shall Learn Somthing NewI'm obsessed with learning about photography and Photoshop, sometimes I think there is no stopping me. Many times I lay awake at night thinking about all of the different angles I should shoot a portrait at, how I can achieve better light effects behind my subjects, different ways to enhance my photos in Photoshop and making a mental list of all of the photography accessories I'll buy if I ever win the lottery. I doubt I'll ever win the lottery or be rich enough to buy the lens of my dreams since it costs well over $8000.00 so at this point I'll just keep myself happy with learning all I can about photography and Photoshop because other than the electricity to run my laptop, it's free.<br /><br />I did buy a new lens for my camera today but I swear, I NEEDED IT! I've gotten to the point where I'm just not happy with the quality of photos I get out of the kit lens, the portraits are too soft and the colors just are not as vibrant as I want them to be. This new lense was inexpensive but wow oh wow does it ever make my heart go pitter pat every time I view a photo I took with it, the quality is outstanding.<br /><br />Here is an example:<br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/SSzqr4r6DpI/AAAAAAAAAbg/uv9co7mdQeo/s1600-h/none+009.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 289px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/SSzqr4r6DpI/AAAAAAAAAbg/uv9co7mdQeo/s400/none+009.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5272847303415828114" /></a><br />Just compare the quality of this photo to the ones in yesterdays entry and you can see the difference, there is just no comparison.<br /><br />And then of course I had to spend my allotted time for the day learning something new and the Pioneer Woman didn't post a new tutorial for me so I found the COOLEST website that has Photoshop effects step by step for FREE and learned out to do this:<br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/SSzrAlrkKsI/AAAAAAAAAbo/6J_-PyjfOCg/s1600-h/pop+out+flower.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 289px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/SSzrAlrkKsI/AAAAAAAAAbo/6J_-PyjfOCg/s400/pop+out+flower.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5272847659091372738" /></a><br /><br />When I was researching actions last week I found one that does this effect for sale for over $70.00!!!!! I wanted it BAD, but not that bad. Now I can do it myself, step by step anytime I want for free. I love that word, free free free free.Jamie Cheslockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14129379399415784315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-261665180342281479.post-51363975305080719802008-11-24T18:11:00.000-08:002008-11-24T19:15:42.596-08:00How to Make your Christmas Cactus BloomFirst off I think I need to begin today's entry with a quick disclaimer. I love plants, really I do. I fully enjoy looking at and smelling flowers and appreciate their beauty just as much as the next person. The problem I have is simply taking care of them. I cannot be held responsible for any plant that is brought to this house.<br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/SStrguF8fGI/AAAAAAAAAbQ/T3sCOTLnpSc/s1600-h/IMG_6658.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 290px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/SStrguF8fGI/AAAAAAAAAbQ/T3sCOTLnpSc/s400/IMG_6658.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5272425998640249954" /></a><br /><br />Right now I have two house plants a jade and a Christmas cactus. Both of these plants were brought here and abandoned by my mother. I had no choice in the matter, she brought them to my house one at a time and insisted that I <strong>needed </strong>them, quite honestly I think she just wanted to be rid of them and I was the closest unsuspecting victim. This would be one of the hazards of having your mother living on your property. The fact that both of these plants have managed to stay alive is a miracle in itself but for some reason these two plants seem to love it here in my house. The jade actually BLOOMS, yes you read that right, it blooms, how or why....I have no idea. Not only has it survived my lack of plant care skills, but it also survived an attack from a crazy cat<a href="http://jamiecheslock.blogspot.com/2008/03/no-cats-in-house.html">(Read the story here)</a>. Other then the one time the jade did bloom, it just sits there collecting dust, shedding leaves and begging for water every now and then. After it's leaves look shriveled and pathetic I'm guilted into giving it some water so it doesn't croak.<br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/SStp97O1F6I/AAAAAAAAAbA/dRk4XNOOpA4/s1600-h/IMG_6655.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 291px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/SStp97O1F6I/AAAAAAAAAbA/dRk4XNOOpA4/s400/IMG_6655.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5272424301360125858" /></a><br /><br />The Christmas cactus, now that is a different story. That plant and I have a very unique relationship. Since as I've mentioned already, I am not good at taking care of plants in fact you would safely assume that I seriously SUCK, this plant is just flat out lucky to be alive. The first couple of weeks that I had it I of course did not water it at all, the only attention I ever gave it was to grimace at it and complain about the mess it makes and the space it occupies. I finally was guilted into watering the danged thing by my husband who was complaining about all of the brown leaves on it. Of course since it hadn't been watered in several days I watered it a LOT, one week later the plant was completely covered with hundreds of blooms. Every year, about 4 times each year that plant puts out more blooms then the Oregon Rose Garden and I get thousands of compliments on the plant and praised for my flowering skills. Bwwahahahaha, little do they know! Anyway, they always ask me the same question - How do you get that plant to bloom so heavily so many times per year? My answer is simple; I have it on the shock and awe program. I shock it with water, it awes me with flowers. HA!<br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/SSttvduCo6I/AAAAAAAAAbY/XhTOqnvJKSw/s1600-h/IMG_6649.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 289px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/SSttvduCo6I/AAAAAAAAAbY/XhTOqnvJKSw/s400/IMG_6649.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5272428450966315938" /></a><br /><br />So, all of the photos in today's entry are courtesy of me (of course) and my Christmas Cactus that is currently in the awe stage. Actually, I was watching an educational DVD on my camera, photography and photoshop and picked on the plant while trying to learn how to get macro shots. Although the photos are nice, they are not at all what I was after, I was trying to focus solely on the stamen of the plant and have everything else blurred out. Obviously I still have a lot to learn about spot focusing and metering. **sigh**<br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/SStrDJCZI3I/AAAAAAAAAbI/ZRyHSVq3t_k/s1600-h/IMG_6656.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 289px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/SStrDJCZI3I/AAAAAAAAAbI/ZRyHSVq3t_k/s400/IMG_6656.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5272425490477032306" /></a><br /><br />Never fear though, I still learned some new tricks.Jamie Cheslockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14129379399415784315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-261665180342281479.post-75607442051689204182008-11-20T19:48:00.000-08:002008-11-20T20:12:00.189-08:00I think I'm Stuck in Black and WhiteI never have been one to follow the crowd with anything that I do. These days it seems that everyone is putting out bright, colorful photographs and here I can barely resist the urge to desaturate or sepia almost every photo I take lately. I just love the depth that a black and white picture has and the way it makes me feel when I see one that really looks good.<br /><br />Here's an example of one that I did recently. <br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/SSYwMVgqKJI/AAAAAAAAAa4/gxhbq4GURzA/s1600-h/IMG_6402+edit.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/SSYwMVgqKJI/AAAAAAAAAa4/gxhbq4GURzA/s400/IMG_6402+edit.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5270953402374432914" /></a><br />This house is across the street from my Dad's place. It was a very bright, sunny day and I still didn't have a complete grip on what ISO setting was the best for each situation. I mistakingly thought that since I had plenty of light I could get away with the fastest ISO my camera offered - 1600. Most of the pictures were sadely overexposed, noisy and too soft. :( In reality, it was the perfect opportunity to use the slowest ISO setting - 100 and have a more crisp, clear photograph. Fortunately, I am definately someone who learns from my mistakes and I'm not always one to accept defeat easily.<br /><br />I spent a lot of time in Photoshop trying to salvage this photo. I had to use several different layers and play with the opacity of each and every one of them until the picture finally had the effect I was looking for. I'm happy with the result, what I'm not happy with is the fact that I can't remember exactly how I did it.Jamie Cheslockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14129379399415784315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-261665180342281479.post-3561656588236105302008-11-15T20:49:00.000-08:002008-11-15T21:29:39.263-08:00F stops and F bombs and the Man in the MoonI've come to refer to F stops as F bombs. Why? Because they are beginning to drive me crazy so I occasionally drop several F bombs while trying to get that oh so perfect shot that always seems to be just out of my reach. Trying to master the perfect ISO, aperature value, white balance, distance, angle etc etc etc is begining to turn me into a mad woman. Of course I have a few select family members that are rolling their eyes saying to their computer screen, "I don't think you're a mad woman, I KNOW you're a mad woman!"<br /><br />Anyway, I've been trying to shoot our full moon for 3 days now and today I finally figured out that I've been going about it all wrong. I've been setting my camera up to shoot night shots and the moon is a big fat bright light (reflection from the sun). Duh. First, I set my camera to single focus and took it out to infinety. What that means is whatever I focus the tiny dot in the center of the lense on and anything else that is exactly the same distance away is the only thing that focuses in the picture. Next, I set my 75x300 lense on the longest focal length it had, basically I got as close to the moon as I could. I could only see the moon, the whole moon and nothing but the moon. Now, since my hand is not as steady as it used to be I set my camera up on the tripot and set my timer to a 10 second delay. This way the camera isn't swaying around while I'm trying to hold it steady and when I push the shutter it won't take the picture until after the camera is stabelized. Brilliant right? Then, here is the tricky part, expose for the moon and not for the black sky. THIS is the main thing that has caused me so much grief lately. All this time I was using my widest aperture setting, the slowest possible shutter speed to let enough light in, and a high ISO setting. All of my shots looked overexposed and the moon was blurry, partely because I was letting way too much light in and partley because believe it or not, my shutter was open for so long that the moon actually MOOVED before it closed. <br /><br />So, here's what I finally ended up with:<br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/SR-qLTolUlI/AAAAAAAAAaY/H4G8vL8fkas/s1600-h/moon.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 293px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/SR-qLTolUlI/AAAAAAAAAaY/H4G8vL8fkas/s400/moon.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5269117200272544338" /></a><br /><br />Imagine my sheer and utter delight when I dowloaded this shot, you can see all of the craters and I do believe the man in the moon is winking at me! This is what I had my camera set at shutter speed of 1/500, aperture setting of 4.0, and ISO setting of 800. I tried the ISO at 200, 400 and 600 but in each one the moon was either too dark or yellow any higher and it had the over exposed blur effect which although can sometimes be cool, but it just wasn't what I was after, 800 was the magic number. With just a little sharpening in Photoshop I finally jumped over the moon!Jamie Cheslockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14129379399415784315noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-261665180342281479.post-13091537226178457712008-11-13T08:37:00.000-08:002008-11-13T09:32:29.266-08:00An Early Morning AttemptI decided to get up early this morning and take advantage of the morning light and how it plays on the landscapes. Once I got outside and saw the moon I was thrilled, I thought "Oh YEAH I can get some great shots of the full moon hanging just above the mountains playing peak-a-boo with the clouds!" After many failed attempts at figuring out what ISO, F stop etc. to use the moon disappeared behind the clouds just before it the "hanging just above the mountains part", yet another failed attempt at getting just what I was looking for, the story of my life.<br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/SRxfSzD_NXI/AAAAAAAAAaA/CFLDTwn65qY/s1600-h/IMG_6191.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/SRxfSzD_NXI/AAAAAAAAAaA/CFLDTwn65qY/s400/IMG_6191.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5268190440665855346" /></a><br /><br />Yeah great, thanks for nothing. I went back into the barn to finish feeding the horses that were waiting so patiently. Not to be one to accept defeat easily, I kept looking out the door to make sure I wasn't missing anything and spied upon this:<br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/SRxgHd26qXI/AAAAAAAAAaI/Y5thmr0kLOE/s1600-h/IMG_6177.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/SRxgHd26qXI/AAAAAAAAAaI/Y5thmr0kLOE/s400/IMG_6177.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5268191345506953586" /></a><br /><br />This is straight out of the camera so please excuse the dark foreground. I took a lot of pictures of this while playing with my nemesis, the polarizer filter. I swear some day I WILL conquer that thing! At this point the horses have stopped being patient and began banging on their stalls to let me know that picture time is OVER and food time is REQUIRED.....<strong>NOW!</strong> So, I got the horses all finished up and happy and shot this picture of Big Mare:<br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/SRxjlzWEK9I/AAAAAAAAAaQ/M6Vs6dDHmrY/s1600-h/IMG_6201+small.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 288px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/SRxjlzWEK9I/AAAAAAAAAaQ/M6Vs6dDHmrY/s400/IMG_6201+small.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5268195165205703634" /></a><br /><br />I took this shot in RAW, I've been reading about how wonderful RAW is and that if I start shooting in RAW I'll never go back to jpg. Well, I soon figured out that in order to fully enjoy RAW I need to learn a LOT more about Photoshop and buy Lightroom so I'm back to jpg for awhile. Anyway, I did make some adjustments to this photo, I lightened it up of course, boosted the color, did a glausean blur, and brought back the horse and the mud with the layer mask.<br /><br />After playing around with all of that I took just one last look at all of the shots I got this morning before hitting the delete button and found THIS ONE!<br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/SRxerreCvhI/AAAAAAAAAZ4/CtwLewOk1mk/s1600-h/IMG_6174.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 279px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/SRxerreCvhI/AAAAAAAAAZ4/CtwLewOk1mk/s400/IMG_6174.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5268189768612757010" /></a><br /><br />I did have to do some work to this one too. I did some color matching with another photo I got later in the morning so the trees were greener, sharpened it up a bit, boosted, etc. I cloned the darker clouds from a corner I was going to crop off over next to the moon, did the cropping and sat back to enjoy the result. NICE! At least the morning wasn’t a total loss.Jamie Cheslockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14129379399415784315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-261665180342281479.post-74571166680714772052008-11-11T21:13:00.000-08:002008-11-11T21:34:46.876-08:00Time to Pick on ME!I am having so much fun with Photoshop I could just spit. For those of you who know me and I mean REALLY know me know that is a big statement for me to make! I don't spit, it makes my nauseous to see people spit, I've been known to bawl out strangers for spitting in front of me. Okay, back to Photoshop. Recently I have fallen in love with Actions. Actions are my new lover, (don't tell the old guy I said that.) For those of you who don't know what an action is, in a nutshell it is a command that does a bunch of commands for you to create an excellent final product. I have been spending WAY too much time researching and reviewing different actions on the web and have come up with some really fun ones. Tonight I downloaded a couple of fun actions that I just HAD to try out.<br /><br />Okay here is the picture that I decided to pick on tonight, yes that's me. Like most women, I rarely see a picture of myself that I like but here is one I like.....well, mostely. HA!<br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/SRpn_g5aHXI/AAAAAAAAAZg/SSRTpncTXJI/s1600-h/IMG_2357+before.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/SRpn_g5aHXI/AAAAAAAAAZg/SSRTpncTXJI/s400/IMG_2357+before.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5267637055023357298" /></a><br /><br />There were some things I didn't like. The background had some things in it that were distracting, my skin has that 44 year old woman (did I just admit my age?) look about it and there are a couple of blemishes I'd like to be rid of. The first thing I did was run an action called "Perfect Skin" this action is wonderful, it does a very slight glausean blur on the photo, stops for you to make any adjustments in the opacity and smoothes out the skin. Okay, now I have smoother skin but it still needs more help. I created a new layer, did a manual glausean blur with a higher opacity that blurred out the background for me. It actually blurs out the entire picture but not to worry, that is what layer masks are for. I did a layer mask and painted over any part of the picture that I didn't want blurred, that of course would be me. :) Okay now I'm almost done but my teeth are a little yellow - that darned coffee that there is no way I'll give up. I dodged my teeth and while I was at it, the whites of my eyes to make them more white. Then I lassoed my eyes and sharped them up a lot to make them pop a bit. My eyes are squinted in the photo making them look small so they needed all the help they could get. Finally, I used the clone tool to get rid of that pesky red dot on my chin and erase that one white hare in my eyebrow. I really liked where this photo was going, it just need a leeeetle more work. I used the "Lovely and Etheral" action to make the colors pop out a bit and then I used the "Slightely Lighten" action because I thought it was a little to dark. Unfortunately, this lightened up my skin a litte more then I wanted, (I've always been proud of my dark skin tones)so luckily for me, before I used the slightely lighten action I had created a new layer (whew) so I did another layer mask and used the brush to bring my skin back to it's original color. Here is what I ended up with.<br /><br />After adjustments<br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/SRpo5z03yeI/AAAAAAAAAZo/fZnTIzyuZ48/s1600-h/IMG_2357.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/SRpo5z03yeI/AAAAAAAAAZo/fZnTIzyuZ48/s400/IMG_2357.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5267638056537016802" /></a><br /><br />Before adjustments<br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/SRpn_g5aHXI/AAAAAAAAAZg/SSRTpncTXJI/s1600-h/IMG_2357+before.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FC6jb-6kPj0/SRpn_g5aHXI/AAAAAAAAAZg/SSRTpncTXJI/s400/IMG_2357+before.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5267637055023357298" /></a><br /><br />At this point I sat back and thought, "Wow,I've done it!" Time to get some chocolate cake and blackberry ice cream.Jamie Cheslockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14129379399415784315noreply@blogger.com0