Fresh Froggy Pads for Everyone
Including Newcomers and Lurkers
(please introduce yourself)
Including Newcomers and Lurkers
(please introduce yourself)
Your host today is Maryb.
Once upon a time there was a frog called Mr. Jeremy Fisher.
He lived in a damp little house amongst the buttercups at the edge of the pond.
He lived in a damp little house amongst the buttercups at the edge of the pond.
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Newspapers are in their regular spot next to the door
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Please recommend (and unrecommend the Cafe/Lounge from earlier)
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That 4 looks good on you!
What? You wanted a new look? Live with it.
I’m off for a walk. Be back in a while. Splash around to your little Froggy hearts’content.
What? You wanted a new look? Live with it.
To all newcomers and lurkers. Mary is really a very nice person. Well most of the time or is it some of the time.
Look just don’t get on her bad side. š
But she can sling some attitude. LOL I love the new picture.
Mary is the nicest, kindest person I know.
As he bows out of the room, looking side to side and hopeing Mary heard this.
I’ve got to go run errands again.
huh, wonder how I EVER gave you the impression I was a nice person š
Looks like I didn’t miss anything while I was gone. It’s gorgeous here — in the upper 60’s, breezy, bright blue sky. A perfect spring day.
Hi Mary, I just got back a little while ago too.
Outside is the same here except it 84F right now. I think we’re supposed to go up to 90F tomorrow. I hate going straight from winter to summer.
wow, that’s hot. It was almost 80 here yesterday (and humid) so its nice to be back to spring today.
When do you turn on your air conditioners (or are they on now?)
We haven’t turned the AC on yet, but tomorrow looks like the day.
too bad. I love the time of year when I can open all the windows (and sleep with them open).
LOVE the lilly pads!
I like them too. It’s a Beatrix Potter picture. Hence the quote from her froggy book …
Good choice!
politics times!!!! Heading out to a fund raiser.
This pond being the Pacific Ocean at high tide in Monterey Bay with California state flowers in foreground.
and the state flower is …?
Whatever they are, they are very pretty.
Poppies!!!!
I thought poppies were red?
The California state poppy is yellow, as you see here in this photo! I just got back to the Peninsula after a week of job interviews in Los Angeles, and rented a bike to return home from the car rental place. I was kinda proud since I have not gotten onto a bike for many years, but figured, what the hell, it must still be innate. Two hour bike ride back to the rental place on the recreational trail (that used to be train tracks) then a two hour walk home along the coast at high tide, might as well get it while I can!
I’m impressed, but aren’t your legs sore?
Good guess! Not only were my legs giving out by the time I got home, but during the walk my $200 sneakers were creating $200 blisters. Ouch.
Poor MM. Now it’s time to relax.
Exactly! I broke out the chardonnay and ordered a pizza!! Mellow, especially since I left my beloved cat Shadow in LA with my hubby and son, so it’s especially lonely here. It was a sacrifice for the sake of her comfort so she doesn’t have to see her life get packed up in boxes yet one more time and suffer through two more 300 mile car trips.
I’m sure Shadow appreciates your consideration.
I know I sure as heck would.
What a fine mind you have to plan such a great way to get back from returning a rental car. You’re clearly a brilliant woman.
Thanks! I have been meaning to try the bike rental thing ever since I got here, and it’s getting down to the wire!
Hi MM. Beautiful picture.
Thanks, FM!
Nice shot. Was the wind blowing the flowers around very much?
It was a perfect day! Great light, high tide, some clouds, not much wind.
Even a light breeze can cause flowers like poppies to become photographic blurs. I have many examples of yellow, blue, red, white, lavender, and a assortment of other rainbow colored smudges to prove that.
It’s a lovely shot. I like the way that the out of focus ocean in the background keeps the viewers eye on the flowers.
mm — this is really lovely, especially the flowers ;), but the water and waves and the difference between the blue of the water and the blue of the sky!
It’s yellow flower day here. š
Thanks, Olivia! It was definitely worth getting down on my knees for!
May I please have a dark Italian roast coffee?
I’ll give you an imported joke if you get me one, MaryB!!
OK, here:
Here’s a good one …. From the Brits to the US via Washington…. a familiar circuitous route:
Bush preps historic Third Term – memo
It’s war. It’s a ‘Continuity Presidency’
By Thomas C Greene in Washington
Published Saturday 1st April 2006 10:33 GMT
Cheers!
How’s this?
if i can shrink myself that small, it looks great!!
Yes, we’re very classy here. You can however treat it like an espresso — just walk up to the bar, tilt it back and swallow it in one gulp, like the Italians.
Or … since you are in AMERICA now and bigger is better
(photo by JimF)
Okay, mom’s place doesn’t really look like this but hold fast to dreams …
Welcome back. How was mom? Did you give her my best?
Depends — what does your best entail?
Did you sleep in this morning or were you off doing exciting stuff?
best regards, of course.
I got up at 6:30. I just didn’t want a repeat of last weekend so I waited to put up my cafe.
That would never be good enough for my mom — to give her your best you need to tell her your entire life story, let her feed you at least three meals in two hours, and and look at her pictures of all her grandkids and great-grandkids at least two times.
Great Shot! Love the swirly sky!
Yeah, Jim thought it was one of those everything-comes-together-right photographic moments when you know the Cosmic Muffin is smiling on you.
Glad to see you’ve got your camera back out and are taking beautiful ocean shots.
Definitely the everything comes together right situation!
Hi Andi. Hope Mom was fine.
Come back with any guilt?
Just a teeny teeny bit?
Mom’s fine and I’m guilt free. We showed her the pictures from vacation, gave her the little gifts we’d bought, took her to lunch, and then went online and showed her olivia’s website — I’m feeling like a perfect daughter.
Well if you showed her yours and Jims pictures and Olivia’s pictures too how could she not think it was a perfect day, with her perfect daughter and son-in-law.
She was just amazed by olivia’s pictures (as aren’t we all).
She should have been just as amazed by yours and Jims pictures.
I’m glad ya’ll got home safely and everything went fine.
I love the different colours of rock — the blue sky — the scrub and greenery at the bottom. And the clouds! This is one of those magic photos.
It is my eco-patriotic photo. Red, white, and blue supported by a base of green.
That’s good. š
Jim, you’re photos are wonderful. Would you ever consider selling them like that gentleman you met while on vacation (Andi linked to his website the other day.)
Thank you, Olivia.
I probably wouldn’t think of selling them, but if you ever get a website set to sell your photos, I might reconsider and work out a deal with you to sell my photos too.
In other words: You first.
We were up at her house today and had the laptop because we were showing her the vacation pictures. So we got online and I showed her your website and she just couldn’t get over how wonderful your photos are. She especially loved the water droplets on the day lilly photos and “Andi’s Rose” (how could she resist) — until I used the search feature so I could show the internal tulip pictures. She just couldn’t get over how amazing your photos are.
I just read that in a comment above — I’ve got the dynamic threaded comments set — and was going to respond. I’m so glad that she enjoyed them! I feel famous! Wow Andi. That’s really cool! Between Family Man and Brenda, and now this … š
You deserve to be famous. And I mean that with complete sincerity.
I was mostly raised in TX, but also experienced CA and IL life. I have been living in Houston for over 10 years.
I love to read, mostly through audio books since there aren’t enough hours in the day to read a bood and be active in the blogosphere.
I got into the blogoshpere after the election was hijacked again. Other than that, I have enjoyed myself here.
Well, that is my story and I’m sticking to it. š
ps – maryb – I did finish The Kite Runner.
and did you like the ending?
It did leave me wondering if the little boy was beginning to open up and that made me happy, but at the same time I felt so sad that he was just a shell.
I hated reading near the end of the book once I got to the part where the narrator was in the office of his foe, but at the same time I could not put the book down because I had a need to find out what happened next.
I know what you mean, I couldn’t put it down either — wondering what would happen to him. It was a real page turner. But … I really had to suspend my disbelief because I doubted that in real life he would have been able to get back into Afghanistan and THEN survive what he did. But that’s why it’s a novel I guess.
That is the problem reading a book like that, while being active within the political blogosphere. I sometimes have to remind myself I need to stop and smell the roses because a movie is a movie and fiction is fiction. Just enjoy it.
I know. I think that’s why I have trouble switching between non-fiction and fiction. I get on a roll and all I can read is one or the other. For a while it’s been non-fiction but I’m transitioning back into novels. It IS a good escape.
Welcome, XP! I entered the blogosphere just before the 2004 election was hijacked, and have been here ever since!
I found out about the blogs and Democratic leaning forums, like DemocraticUnderground, from a Time article discussing the exit polls. After that, I have been hooked.
I heard about Daily Kos from someone at work. I was amazed that he always had the news ahead of everyone else, and he would say “Daily Kos” like I was supposed to know what he was talking about. So I didn’t want to appear stupid, and kept trying google until I finally hit on it. Before that, I never participated in a blog, only listserves, so it was a totally new experience.
Hi XicanoPwr. Good to see you in the cafe.
I myself am still very new to blogs and everyone in the cafe has been guiding me around.
Better make that corrupting me around. š
It is good to be here. I am still trying to get used to this kind of chat mode, I am still used to the old AOL chat style.
Your talking to a newbie that never even knew the old AOL thing.
When I first got here I felt like I was getting into peoples personal conservations. There ain’t no such thing. So now I just barrel in.
I think you’ll really enjoy it in here. I know I’ve never laughed so hard and met so many good people.
Hey everyone. It’s been a very warm, almost uncomfortably warm, day and I’ve been not putzing, but puttering around the house and yard taking pictures, pulling weeds, doing chigger checks, stepping on sharp as hell pinecones because I never wear shoes and generally feeling fine and happy.
woooowww. You’ve been taking lessons from Olivia? That’s a great picture.
Did you get sunburned?
No, but I smelled like a sailor. I hate sweating.
I thought in the south ladies didn’t sweat? They “glowed”.
She’s a transplanted Southner. They sweat. š
like a sailor apparently
No, I was pretty much sweating like a pig. Do pigs sweat? I hate going right into summer weather without a lengthy spring. I love it when it’s windy and in the 60’s.
You been going around smelling sailors again?
Growing up on the Great Lakes, I used to go down to the docks and watch them unload the freighters. I could smell them from a mile away – and it wasn’t Old Spice.
Well it’s nice to know you got out of the habit of sailor smelling. š
Hi SN. Olivia really is starting to get some competition. Beautiful picture.
I’m happy to see you feeling better.
Those pine cones do hurt don’t they?
How are you feeling? Is the headache gone?
Headache lasted until after my coffee this morning then slipped out the back door. Yay!
Flowers are such a mediation. I was watching some darn thing about evolution and they were saying that evolutionary theory just couldn’t explain the flowers.
This is beautiful — I love the detail of the petals. And maryb — it’s yellow!
Good to hear that you’re feeling better SN!
Thanks, Olivia. I’m glad you pointed out to me that I might want to actually read the instruction manual for my digital camera before assuming it wouldn’t take macro shots.
The P&S cameras these days are really packed w/ stuff, so most come with some sort of macro feature… A matter of playing around to discover their limits.
I love these shots SN — so the more the merrier I say!
You’ll have to try the macro shot out on Smooch when she’s asleep… š
My problem is that the screen on the back is only about 1.5 inches across and I can’t see the icons that tell me when it’s in focus. If I won the lottery I’d buy one with a much bigger screen for old geezers who have lost their close-up vision.
Put you glasses on. š
Yes, ma’am. My glasses are just for reading and if I accidentally look up at something further than 12 inches away I get nauseous. So wearing them around in the garden seems like a pain in the ass.
SN I know I’m approaching Geezerhood, but I didn’t think Andi and I sounded alike. š
I have a much bigger screen and I wear my glasses and most of the time I still can’t tell if it’s in focus — especially in certain light. Jim says if you aren’t sure if a macro shot is in focus, move it back a little.
Makes sense – although the blurry ones have an interesting zen quality to them.
Also, you can try this: hold the shutter half-way down for a second — to set the focus — then complete the press. But moving back as Jim suggested does re-set the focus.
Then Smooch helped me upload pictures and we took one of ourselves, no easy task.
Two cuties. Is Smooch the permanent name, then?
I think so, she’s such a kissy cat. I’ve never had one this affectionate before. It would help if I wasn’t allergic to cats.
You’re allergic? How do you get close to the cat like that?
I get desensitized to my own cats after awhile, and as long as I don’t pet them and then touch my eye or something I’m okay. But Smoochy licks me everywhere, especially my neck and I break out in hives.
Okay. I’m going down for a nap now. Fading fast after all that biking and walking! See youse guys later!
Enjoy MM.
How was your day? How are George and Cat?
Its been going pretty good. George has gone back into barking mode. My little nephew thinks it funny to run by my room and knock on the door and start George to barking. Cat gave me a look like ‘I’ve got to get out of this place’ so she has been out most of the day.
How’s your day been going. Get your errands done?
At least for you, maybe not for George and Cat. :/
Things went well today — all errands completed. I had to get my hair cut and I have tremendous fear of that, so it was good to get it over with.
That’s funny because I just got my hair cut yesterday. I have yet to find a barber that does it right.
It’s taken me about 3 weeks to get my nerve up.
Time for the Lounge to open. Hop along now!