Throwback Thursday

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Good Morning, Today a look back 10 years, 5 years and one year for Throwback Thursday. All photos taken in New Ipswich, NH.

February 2006

South Cemetery in Smithville, NH

 February 2011

 February 2015

We had pjust about enough of this stuff in 2015

 

Bee Happy

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Good morning, a little color for Floral Friday courtesy of Amazing Flower Farm. Spring is just over 2 months away, BEE patient!

Bee Happy

 

Three Things

 

Forest Path

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Good morning, today’s photo theme features paths and walkways and this photo was taken in New Ipswich, NH on a warm September day. Something to take my mind off the chore of clearing my driveway and cars of a few inches of snow.

A walk in the woods

 

A light in the forest

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The ice storm of 2008 decimated many of the white pine trees in New Ipswich, NH. I noticed all these fallen trees at the flood control dam site 35 on my daily walk.

 

Equine Tuesday

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When I awoke this morning I noted that the temperature was 37 degrees F.  That didn’t seem so bad until I looked more carefully and saw the decimal point.  Yikes,  3.7 degrees F (-15 degrees C) made me think of warmer times like this  June Day in 2013. The photos look a bit strange because they were shot with an infrared converted camera. Stay warm today.

Out standing in their field

 

Summers Day

 

Eagles for Christmas

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It was an unseasonably warm Christmas in 2015. There had been several eagle sightings in New Ipswich, NH, and I asked friends to give me a call if they see any. The call came on Christmas afternoon and I hurried over to Waterloom Pond with my camera.

I own an inexpensive 300mm telephoto lens. Foolishly I had forgotten to take my monopod which might have stabilized these shots more. Cheaper lens are a slower and I had to push the ISO setting to 1000 to get the exposure with  fast shutter. I’m not very happy with the photos but seeing an eagle on Christmas Day was a wonderful Christmas gift.

When I arrived the male had flown to a far tree. This photo is agressively cropped and much of the detail is lost.

A male eagle stretches his wings. Even at a far distance these birds are impressive to see.

Female eagle rests on a stump. It is moments like this that makes me wish I had a decent telephoto lens.

Furnace Brook Falls

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NOTE:

I’ve been using the photo site Flickr as a host site for the photos that I include in my postings. However I now discovered that if I change the smallest feature of the photo file (for example a caption, or an image edit) the photo is not displayed  properly in the posting. This is unacceptable for me. From now on I will experiment with embedding Google and Facebook postings directly. I apologize for any inconvenience.

When this photo was posted on Facebook I tried to decide where the photo might have been taken. I am reasonably sure that it was a current location of the Souhegan Flood Control Damsite 14 on Thayer Road in New Ipswich, NH.

https://plus.google.com/u/0/+JohnPoltrack/posts/ApXtDwsqP9F

Thanksgiving Baskets

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For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me – Matthew 25:35

It’s been a tough week watching the coverage of the evil that humans can do, as fanatics murdered people in France. I was ready for something to lift my spirits. Thankfully I didn’t have to wait long. Every year the Sacred Heart Pantry in Greenville, NH distributes Thanksgiving dinner baskets to folks who need them. Here are a few photos.

NOTE: Click on any photo to view in full resolution

Thanksgiving Baskets

Baskets are packed and ready for distribution

Dessert is included

Fruit and Vegetables

 

Celia Koski (right) has been a long time volunteer at the Sacred Heart Food Bank as well as a good friend.

Ollie Niemi mugs for the camera as he unloads frozen turkeys.

The Pantry provides food throughout the year as well as cooking lessons.

It wouldn’t be Thanksgiving without a turkey and these were distributed on this day.

What about home made pies? Courtesy of the New Ipswich Congregational Church.

She was shy about having her photo included but this young woman was an enthusiastic helper.

Karyn poses with a pumpkin and apple pie

I believe the final count was 140 homemade pies baked for the Sacred Heart annual Thanksgiving Food Baskets.

 

Before I go:

I had a hard drive failure this morning, however since I have configured this computer with a RAID 1 configuration I was able to step back from the brink. Hardware failures are part of the life of a blogger. However your purchases using my Amazon.com link help with the expenses. Thanks for your continued patronage.

 

Look what I saw at the Green Center!

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September 12, 2015 Edition

The Green Center is the name we gave to our recycling center in the town of New Ipswich, NH. We accept usable household goods, clothing, tools, CDs, DVDs and make them available to residents of New Ipswich and Greenville for no charge (but donations are accepted).

The entire operation is run by volunteers. Occasionally I’ll work a Saturday shift which is fun. I believe in keeping things out of the landfills especially when it has some value to other folks.

Green Center Hours 9-12 (for Greenville / New Ipswich residents only)

Open on these Saturday Mornings in 2015  (NOTE: Mostly alternating Saturdays).

Sep 12 – I was working

Sep 26

Oct 3
Oct 17
Oct 31 – come in costume
Nov 7
Nov 21
Dec 5
Dec 12
Dec 19 (weather permitting)

As always, please only leave donations when the Green Center is open. If you’ve got something big, please check with the volunteers before unloading as there isn’t always room for big items.

I was surprised that this Teddy Bear lamp wasn’t picked up. It was in good condition.

There are plenty of Halloween items available. Seasonable items go quickly.

Surround sound speakers anyone? Too late these were snatched up on the 12th.

A blast from the past when I saw the CBs come in. They didn’t last long. Taken.

Much of our time is spent trying figure what things are. This is some kind of exercise device or perhaps a downed UFO.

Lots of skies are available both downhill and X-Country.

Very small Snow White dress

Small Sleeping Beauty dress

Make your own seltzer water. I believe the CO2 cartridges are available from Walmart.

Fun glasses for fun summer rum and fruit based rum drinks

Dehaze Filter in Lightroom CC

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I’ve been a big fan of Adobe Lightroom for some time. It was worth it to pay for upgrades that offered new capabilities. When Lightroom 6 was released, Adobe also offered a subscription service called Adobe Creative Cloud which would contain the latest version of Lightroom and Photoshop and all upgrades. At $9.99 a month I was a little hesitant especially when I discovered that the face recognition is not ready for prime time. However there are some great innovations such as the dehaze tool.

The dehaze tool slider can be found in the Effects panel. Set the White balance before using it.

Climbing Kidder Mountain in New Ipswich, NH on a hazy warm October day in 2011. This seemed like a candidate for the dehaze tool.

After using the dehaze tool the effect was quite dramatic.