Super Saturday

Looking out through the Original Cabin's Windows this morning

January 7, 2011 8:45 34 degrees and Cloudy at the Cottage by the Bay

Cottage Living

One of the things that I've picked up this last year is  a light tent. It's a pop-up nylon cube with a variety of different colored velvet backdrops developed to make photographing objects or products much easier without a lot of shadows. They really became popular when Ebay came about. People needed good clear photographs of the objects that they were trying to sell. I think Ebay was a major factor in the digital camera boom. Everyone needed quick upload-able photos. I acquired this light tent shortly after I did a bottle shoot for a  Winery. Taking pictures of reflective bottles can be quite a chore. The light tent makes it much easier because it diffuses the light and you can avoid quite a few of the unwanted reflections. Seeing the photographer in your wine bottle is not really very professional. Notice that I mentioned that I acquired this after I completed the bottle shoot. Another great help to "product shooting" is that my new Canon 7D has the capability to trigger stand alone flashes off camera, Something Nikon owners have had for quite a while.

I decided to clear off our kitchen table and experiment with the tent and camera adjustments. I was able to hookup my laptop to the camera so that I could see the results without having to squint into the little screen on the back of the camera. The first thing I did was to put in the black backdrop. I then grabbed an old brass lamp. This first shot was taken without using a diffuser, note the reflection but I liked how the brass photographed.

Next up I put some bottles in. I knew that the black would not show off the colors but snapped it anyway... things appear to float on black as the background seems disappear.

Changed out the backdrop to white and threw some stuff in. Wasn't real particular. I will be able to completely remove the background wrinkles in photoshop. so here they are out of camera...

 

 

Before and After Project 365

Still playing with the light tent... here is the slightly crooked out of camera version.

Before

After

Here I've straightened it, cropped it to make it off-center, and added some highlights and lowlights in photoshop to give it a little punch.

Living Low Carb

This morning I made another non-muffin muffin. This time I winged it with a recipe of my own. If you have a regular size oven you can certainly double it if you want. Once again I used a small cake pan for mine.

Rhondi's Blueberry Lowcarb eat all you want muffins

1 cup of Almond meal (really cheap at trader Joe's)

2 eggs

1/4 cup of flax meal

1/3 cup of splenda

tsp vanilla

sprinkle of cinnamon

pinch of salt

1/3 tsp baking soda

1/2 cup heavy cream (you can use  some melted butter and milk instead)

mix that all together, then fold in

1/2 cup of frozen or fresh blueberries.

1/2 cup of walnuts if you'd like

bake at 350 until springy. In my toaster convection oven it doesn't take that long.

these are really good and moist, and they are completely guilt-free.

I'm finding that It's a lot easier to keep with the program if you aren't feeing deprived.

Pause for thought...

Okay so you can see where my focus is...it is the beginning of the New Year after all :-)

Top ten low carb diet mistakes

Until Next Time...

Okay you don't need to speak the language. She's 72 years old.

72 year old female body builder working out by UZI4you

Way too tired Friday...

Old bike leaning on a tree up the road

January 6th 4:00pm 37 degrees and raining here at the cottage

Cottage Living

I had the opportunity to watch two of my grand kids today. They grow up so fast. Max caterwauled for about 30 seconds when his mother left, just long enough for her to walk out to the car. Then He was fine. His usual chatty, cheerful self. His needs are simple. Scrambled eggs with ketchup for breakfast, apple slices with peanut butter for a snack, and a peanut butter and Jelly sandwich cut into the shape of two dinosaurs with the help of an imaginative "cookie-cutter-like" thing for lunch. Baby Milo was quite content to sit in his little crescent shaped cushion and and giggle as long as I was looking directly into his face. If I turned away for even a moment the smile would fade and he would quickly voice his displeasure, which actually gave grandma an excuse to accomplish absolutely nothing. At Max's prompting we spent the afternoon watching "He-man and She-ra" Masters of the Universe, a classic early 80's cartoon...the very long early episode where Adam, aka He-man, first discovers his long lost sister. Is it me or does He-man seem to be sporting a fake tan. I remember having to sit through this with my oldest kids when they were little.

Before and After

Tonight I was definitely out of steam and out of ideas. I thought this was kind of fitting. A dim light bulb covered with cobwebs.

Before

After

Used a "topaz" filter for this one... wanted art rather than photo.

Pause for thought

This clip is only one minute and fifteen seconds long. It seems we were watching all afternoon.

Until next time...

now this is sleeping on the job.

Trudge along Thursday...

A quick shot of a rainbow over the bay early this afternoon

Cottage Living

Puffed up and down the driveway a couple of times with the "Bearded One" this morning. There was no half-way starbucks as in LaGrande but it was a good walk. I noticed that I like to quietly grumble to myself when I take my walks. It's part of my schtick, it's what I do. At this point I am not out for a lovely leisurely stroll, I am out there because I need the fresh air and exercise. Going for a walk with the Bearded One however, is like going for a stroll  with Mr. Rogers... He is full of joyous exclamations and proclamations of wonder and magnitude along the way. Enough all ready. I know it's good for me, yada yada, yada. Someday I will find that happy little place where the "real me" hidden deep inside will embrace my "lifestyle" aka diet and I will look forward to my walks and workout sessions. I am just not there yet. Right now I have to deliberately make myself put one foot in front of the other. As for my attitude, I will try to keep my grumbling to myself. Sort of...

Before and After

Okay so this isn't really a before and after... I just thought it made a good story. Congrats to the Happy Couple.

Before

After

 

Favorite Low carb recipes

Happy New Year to me. Low carbing it again so needed to ramp up my recipes. This Cranberry flax seed muffin one came highly recommended and it was suggested that an apple also be added. Because we bake in a toaster oven I made half a batch and just used a small cake pan rather than the giant muffin tin that I would normally use. The muffin tin wouldn't fit. I knew that at one time but temporarily forgot and filled it. I went to place it in the toaster oven and reality hit... I transferred it to the cake pan and proceeded to bake it.

My non-muffin cranberry flax muffins

I thought they turned out really well. A great flavor and quite moist. this is one that I will do again. She uses a lot of cinnamon in this recipe which I thought worked really well but you might want to cut it back a little.

Chelsie's Cinnamon Cranberry Flax Muffins

By Laura Dolson, About.com Guide

Cinnamon Cranberry Flax Muffins

Photo © Chelsie Kenyon

Chelsie Kenyon, About's Guide to Mexican Food¹, brings us this special low-carb muffin, which is high in both nutrition and flavor, with lots of fiber too! Chelsie says, "These makes a great breakfast, or even a dessert." She also assures me that the three tablespoons of cinnamon is not a typo and adds, "Did you know cinnamon ²is great for diabetics and low-carbers because it stabilizes blood sugar?" On the other hand, this will be too much cinnamon for some people, so use your judgement.

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 35 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 cup whole fresh cranberries³
• 1 1/4 cup flax seed meal (can easily grind your own)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 3 tablespoons cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 4 large eggs, beaten
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/2 cup sugar-free syrup such as Da Vinci's or Torinis or 1/2 C sugar equivalent from from your choice of artificial sweetener (if powdered, dissolve in 1/2 cup water)
• 1 tablespoon vanilla
• 2 tablespoons grated orange peel
• 3/4 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (optional for topping)

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 F.
Liberally butter muffin tins. Makes anywhere from 12 to 24 muffins. Do not use paper muffin liners - they will stick.

1. Pour boiling water over cranberries. Let sit for 5 minutes and pour off water.

2. Mix dry ingredients and wet ingredients (minus the cranberries) separately, then mix them together.

3. Let mixture stand for 10 minutes to thicken.

4. Fold in cranberries.

5. Fill each muffin cup about half way, and sprinkle with nuts.

6. Bake about 15 minutes (a little longer if you're only making 12) or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Keep up to a week in the refrigerator or 3 months in the freezer.

For 12 muffins: Assuming a zero-carb sweetener, each muffin has 2 grams effective carbohydrate plus 6 grams fiber and 6 grams protein.

Pause for thought...

Until next time

Found this after all my moaning and groaning. Well worth the five minutes it will take to read. I've posted the link where I found it...

The Art of Motivating Yourself by Kelly Swanson

We live in a world where many people look out to find something to motivate them – when motivation comes from within.

I hate working out. I have been exercising on and off since I was in my twenties. Step aerobics in a zebra-print leotard. Fast walking around the inside perimeter of a shopping mall. The dusty bike in the basement that cried with me through Gray’s Anatomy. The stairmaster that made me question my faith. The jazzercise class that stopped on time, which is more than I can say for my butt which was still moving three days later. And the lovely trainer who, after six sessions with me, decided he would rather stock shelves at the Big Lots.

So don’t tell me I haven’t given it a chance. I’ve given it plenty of chances, and can say with one hundred percent confidence that I was not born for exercise. Show me a clearance table, and I will break into a sprint that would put Rocky to shame. I could be crawling on the floor with some tropical disease that has taken my hair and my vision – but wave a Snickers in front of my face – and I will break out into dance. There is no way I will ever hike unless there is a mall at the top. Or maybe if I’m in a plane that crashes in the mountains – and even then it will only be because I am hungry. But show me a gym, or even mention the word “gym” in a sentence – shoot, introduce me to someone named Jim – and my blood turns cold and I break into a sweat. Ironic, that I do more sweating thinking about the gym than I actually do inside the gym.

But still I persist. Why? Open my underwear drawer and ask the fifteen layers of Spandex. Get a front row seat in my bedroom when I engage in battle with my pantyhose. Take a peek in my mirror as I figure out that I will look a whole size smaller if I just pick my stomach up and pull it out over the top of my jeans. Good-bye muffin top – we’re now into the whole biscuit. Anyway, I guess I make myself get up and go to the gym over and over because I know if I don’t, it could get a whole lot worse. And being a motivational speaker, I am determined to put a good spin on this whole exercise thing.  And I have finally found the one true secret to exercise that keeps me going to the gym every day – find a way to make it fun.

Sorry if you were hoping the answer involved a remote control and your couch. But I have finally realized that I’m never going to like working out – nobody is going to do it for me – and if I’m going to keep at this, I’d better find a way to make it bearable, or even (gasp!) fun.

What’s my secret? Music. Lots of it. And none of this elevator work out music where someone has created four hundred songs using three notes on an electric keyboard. I’m talking Aretha, Michael Jackson, Willie Nelson, Wicked, Mama Mia, and some of that foot-stopping homegrown gospel music.  I have finally found something I can do to make my workout fun. And I recommend that you do it too. Will you choose the same songs that I do? Doubt it. Maybe for you it’s looking at super models in a magazine. Maybe it’s getting behind the cute guy with the rock solid rear end. Maybe you want to bring a friend to join you so you can point out the thighs that are bigger than yours. No matter what you choose, my point is still the same – choose something. Make it fun.

So I hate exercise. And maybe you hate your job. Or maybe you hate your mother-in-law. Or maybe you hate cold calling. Well, for starters, complaining doesn’t do any good, except for making everybody else around you miserable. And continuing to hate it will just make you doubly miserable. And nobody will come along and make it fun for you – so quit blaming everybody else. As Nike so eloquently says: Just do it. Motivate yourself.

Just like the fairy tales on which we were spoon fed, many of us wait for the charming prince to come save us so we can live happily ever after. Or we wait for the fairy godmother, or for our husband to take out the trash, or our children to show just one ounce of appreciation for what we do. We wait for the people we work for to recognize the value we bring to the workplace. We wait for the world to discover our talent. And some of us are waiting for God to swoop in and turn our water into wine. (Hey, a girl can dream.)

But at some point you’re going to realize that it is up to you to make your life fun. Nobody else can or will do it for you. And it’s not their job. Happiness, peace, fulfillment, joy, even faith – is not a feeling, it’s a choice – and if you choose it often enough, the feeling will come. So today, I hope that you will choose to make it a great day – and tomorrow – and the day after – until one day you wake up, and it just is.

Home again Wednesday

The hills of LaGrande as I was leaving

Cottage Living

I'm home... right back into the NW rain. Spent the day watching the little guys and then pulled up to the cottage about 4:30 this afternoon. Good to see the Bearded One, and am looking forward to sleeping in my own bed. I may have a tough time reclaiming my half since I know the Bearded One has been sprawling across the whole thing with great abandon in my absence.

The kids sent me home with a new HP laser printer and a keurig coffee maker. Apparently I was drooling audibly over theirs. lord knows I went through the little pods while I was there. Now I can wirelessly print from my desk without cussing about poor print quality, and sip a great cuppa' joe at the same time. I will have to try and be more diligent about walking now that I'm home and don't have Jodi dragging, I mean encouraging, me along on her 4 mile treks.

Thanks again kids.

Before and After Project 365

This was taken on my way out of LaGrande, shooting out the window. Not a very good photo. Thistles weren't really in focus. I wanted to see if I could save it since I always enjoy a challenge, making something out of nothing.

Before

Out of camera

After

I ran this through a topaz simplify filter to take any "photo-ness" out. Now it is strictly Painted images of a field of thistles. here is a closeup at 100% showing fencepost, wire, and thistles.

 

Pause for thought...

I am without thought or direction this evening, Sleeping at the keyboard. We will be getting up early to go and sit with the little guys in the morning... Max will be happy that I'm bringing papa George along.

 

Until next time...

Tuesday delayed, and still not a real post...

On my way out of town. One last picture.

This is not a real post. I'm not quite home. I made it as far as Rochester and am helping out with the grandkids. The Bearded One has gotten a small reprieve. I will see him late this afternoon. Heads up babe... I am coming home. Really I am. Eventually.

In the meantime...  I have diapers to change and games to play... back on schedule this evening.

rhondi

PS... Have a great walk this morning Jodi... I'm really proud of you.

Making room for the new year Monday...

Apple still hanging on in LaGrande

Cottage living

Heading home tomorrow. I've had a great time here in the high dessert but I wouldn't want the "Bearded One" to realize how smooth things go when I'm not around. This afternoon the kid's first de-christmased the Union-Pacific Depot, and then their house. It was an amazing feat to witness. Within minutes a christmas wonderland was packed up and stowed away. It was a brilliant operation. All the normal pictures and doo-dads were stored in the christmas totes and then traded back out this afternoon.

One of the many snow people decking the halls

Before and After project 365

Went to Riverside Park this afternoon in search of a picture or two. The wind was howling and the river was partially iced over. I wanted this photo to reflect the chill in the air.

Before

After

I cropped it a bit to eliminate some of the out of focus foliage and to highlight the falling water. I then added a boost layer with an additional "topaz" filter in photoshop.

Pause for thought

I absolutely love Wallace and Gromit... No better way to start off the new year.

Until next time...

The first of a New Year

 

A chilly but blue sky day in LaGrande, OR

Cottage Living

Here I sit in chilly La Grande, with the Oldest son and Family. This has been a great little mini-vacation. We started the New Year off by paying a little visit to the WildHorse Casino. We left with less than we went with but they did let us play for a little while before spitting us out. We ended the day with dinner and a movie. A great New York steak grilled on the Traeger by Son Will, and "Mr Poppers Penguins" a great movie with Jim Carrey. Happy New Year's Day to me... Thanks Kids!

 

Buster the family dog

Before and After project 365

A little chilly here in La Grande.

Before

The Tracks near the kid's house, and the snow on the hills.

After

 

A little crop and painted layer to bring out the chill... Brrrrrrr.

Pause for Thought

 

Until next time...