More fun with Photoscape

I entertained myself for a long time last night applying various filters to pictures in my files. Flower pictures work especially well with the color and monochrome engraving filter. Sometimes also the cartoon filter. People do NOT work at all with these. I will have to do more experimenting, but I suspect that learning about color manipulation will be useful in pictures of people. The cat pictures really lent themselves to the monochrome engraving filter. The brown cats worked well with the cartoon filter. On the other hand, Raquel, being almost solid black, was not a candidate for the cartoon filter. The impressionist filter worked well with any photo that had interesting areas of color.

A Time to Say Goodbye

Today we said goodbye to Little Man. He arrived in our lives during the Spring of 1992, so was over 17 years old. 17 years is 6,205 days, and Little Man was a blessing and a joy on every single one of those days. On May 26, we said goodbye to Cammie. She was sweet and brave to the end. Now, for the first time since 1980, we do not have at least one cat in the house. It is a time to be sad and also to remember with fondness all the things that made them special to us. The pain of losing them is deep, but the joy they gave was worth it.

Little Man's Flood

This morning we woke up to a flooded basement! The local fire department came and pumped it out and then "The Son We Never Had" came over and helped Little Man's father put in a new sump pump. Our fuel oil supplier also came and dried out the water heater, which is oil fired. The good news is that the furnace was not affected. Here are some pictures, including Little Man during (notice ears are up) and after (full pie position) the excitement. The picture of Cammie was also taken during the excitement. Notice the paw on the mousie.

Happy New Year

In case you were worrying about Little Man on New Year's Day, you can relax. These were taken minutes ago. Little Man's bowl is full of food and his biggest problem is his mother and her annoying camera. Here's hoping we can all find a little of this kind of peace and rest in the coming year. Happy 2009!!!

Little Man's Not So Little Storm

Here is a picture of our house after the big snow, and how Little Man and Cammie coped.

Little Man's Little Feast

Last night Little Man's father brought home shrimp for dinner. Little Man LOVES shrimp. Then, Little Man's mother (aka Yours Truly) was cleaning out the fridge to make room for Thanksgiving, and cut up a piece of leftover steak and put it on the cat food bowl. When Little Man came begging, I showed him the steak, which he polished off. So, Little Man had Surf & Turf last night! If he tells you he is being neglected, don't believe him.

Flower Pictures

These pictures were taken August 6.

Yes - I'm still here

I can't believe it's been over a month since I posted anything. I've thought about it, but then shot off in another direction. Anyhow, in case anybody is checking, things are fine at Little Man's house. He was last spotted in his little bed, trying to get some sleep after supervising his parents usual morning mad dash to get ready for work - all so we can afford his favorite cat food - Fancy Feast chopped grill. Cammie was at her post in the blue room window, keeping an eye on the birds and squirrels, and Spooky was chirping away on the back deck, making sure routine was maintained in her little world. Buttercup, aka The Thug, has been mostly MIA lately. He must have found a better source of food. It used to be 2-4 days between visits. Lately it's been 2 weeks or so.

Who is Little Man?

This is Little Man, now in his senior years, but still King of all he surveys.

Saturday Breakfast

It's a beautiful sunny mid-winter day here in Upstate NY. Earlier the "Black North" (cloud bank over Lake Ontario) was in evidence, but now it's sunny. This AM Little Man's father hosted the Men's Prayer Breakfast for our church. We had 5 intrepid visitors who braved the long drive. Hopefully they thought it was worth it. On the menu was: Breakfast Casserole (egg, sausage, cheese), Link Sausages, Fruit Cup, Muffins, Bagels, and last, but definitely the star of the show, Gorilla Bread! Gorilla Bread is Paula Deen's revved up version of Monkey Bread, and it invariably draws rave reviews.

Attached is a picture of Little Man taken before the breakfast. As you can see, the preparations have exhausted him. Also attached is Cammie, keeping her mother's office chair warm.

Confessions of an Ebay junkie

I love Ebay! No, it should be I LOVE EBAY!!!!!!! I love selling on Ebay and I love buying on Ebay. Tonight's entertainment was looking at an Ebay seller's vast store of gemstone beads, while Little Man lay across my shoulders. It all happened because I won an auctions for some green goldstone beads. Since this seller combines shipping, and since the bead auctions all start at less than 99 cents, and since I have 8 days to combine my purchases, and since there are over 10,000 items listed (YIKES!!!), my eyeballs are about to fall out of my head from browsing. And, I might add, bidding. I have fallen in love with jasper. I have also discovered mookaite, mawsitsit, zoisite, and chrysocolla. They are gorgeous!

I also found out that goldstone also goes by the name of sun sitara. A few weeks ago I bought two large oval goldstone beads at a local bead shop, and since then have been on a quest for more. I found out (thanks to google) that goldstone is a manmade gem containing copper. It comes in a copper color, as well as green, blue, and purple. It is shot through with sparkles and is just beautiful. (Little Man's father says I would be a good game fish because I go for sparkly things.)

Time to turn off the computer and go to bed. Good night!