Random STufF from DonnaB

The orange kitten decided to pose on the back steps for me today. He and his black brother are the only ones left as we found homes for the girls last weekend. I hated to see them go, but you can’t keep them all. This little boy is not very friendly. Fortunately, the black kitten is sweet and lets me pet him all I want. I hope to have Muffin spayed in the next couple of weeks and the boys neutered when they are old enough. I may have a hard time catching this guy for a trip to the vet’s office. Maybe I can capture him on the old back porch when the weather is cooler.

After viewing Lynne’s photoblog, I liked what I saw and have now installed Pixelpost to occasionally post new photos. I have uploaded some from yesterday and a couple from a few days ago while I was playing. I’m still not certain what I will do, but at least I have options now!

Here’s the link, it’s also over there to your left. Once you are on the photoblog, you can click the photos to browse through or use the “next” or “previous” link below each picture. Check out the browse up there on the right hand side as well as the about link.

Do you think I will ever be satisfied? I think NOT!

Gosh, I don’t know!

Denise commented on my last post about that very thing. I think it was back in February that I challenged myself to post everyday of the month since it was a short one. I wasn’t posting much and saying I had a blog was kind of ridiculous. Still is!

Let me explain… I have some favorite blogs I read daily… women who are fantastic story tellers that share their feelings, their ups and downs, their children, their triumphs, even their views on the world. I’ve never been one to share all my innermost thoughts, so I truthfully feel as if calling this a blog is oh so wrong! But! I knew when I installed it I could easily add new graphics to my site and the photography bug had bitten me hard not too long after that and my favorite pics could be easily shared too.

So… to answer the subject (and Denise) of this post: 250 in a row if my math is right! According to my total statistics, this will be post number 322.

Thanks for hanging in there with me while I’ve learned and had fun. I plan to continue on… maybe every day, maybe not!

…something every day now, but really, I should stop. Especially on the days when I’m not too chatty and have no new photos or graphics to share. I suppose my family knows I am alive and well when I do post, so maybe I will continue after all.

Hope your day was a good one!

We ate at a catfish/shrimp all-you-can-eat buffet tonight. The fish, shrimp and all the trimmings were delicious, but let me tell you the very best part of my meal; the dessert! Chocolate cobbler to be exact! Have you ever had any? I had not and being a bonafide chocoholic, this dish further deepened my addiction! Holy moley, people! I can’t quit talking about it or writing about it. I’ve googled it to find recipes… I’m still wishing long after our meal for one more bite of the delicious treat!

I found recipes here and here!

It tasted like chocolate pie, but was better and richer. I’m not sure if either one of these will taste the same, but I’ve just got to try and see. I also found another that is called a cobbler, but the photo and description are more like brownies or a cake.

Let me know if you’ve ever eaten or cooked this dish… and share the recipe if you have one! We know the owners of the restaurant and I do intend to ask if this is something they prepare there or if these are frozen cobblers they purchase and then cook.

This is what I said when I posted this image: “My version of Tapa Cloth… not sure this would be a traditional design, but a gradient fill followed by a kaleidoscope preset gave me the start. I then duplicated that layer over and over and started playing with pattern effects in PSP. I used bits and pieces of some of the pattern layers and finally another couple of kaleidoscopes to get the circular designs in the middle of the “cloth”. I knew nothing of this until this challenge, so thanks, mzbet, for “expanding my mind”!”

Mzbet said, “In view of my upcoming vacation to Hawaii, let’s make some tropical images. There are images in the zip files below that you can use or not–it’s up to you! Beach scenes, volcanoes, hula, etc., whatever you think I might see (remember this is a family friendly site LOL). An interesting twist would be to design a piece of Tapa Cloth (Google it to see what it is) or a beautiful Hawaiian quilt. If you haven’t seen those quilts, you’re in for a treat when you Google those. Hey! Don’t forget the Mai Tai’s! ”

I thought a beautiful sunset overlooking the ocean with a few sailboats in view would be a great treat to see. The background photo is mine, the sun was added in Paint Shop Pro and the water effect was created with a plugin filter from Flaming Pear appropriately named Flood. The sailboats are free tubes to use from Tubes by Eloise.

Mzbet’s challenge reminded me of the wonderful trip Ed and I got to take back in 1988. We flew to Honolulu on the island of Oahu. The very same island Pearl Harbor is located. Of all the wonderful sites to see, this was not the most beautiful, but definitely the most moving. To see where so many lives and ships were destroyed is almost overwhelming. We rode the boat out to the Arizona Memorial and even after all those years, oil was still bubbling up from the wreckage below. Very touching, very emotional and a trip I’m glad I got to experience.

I’m not totally satisfied with my Flickr photo posts, so I’m setting up strictly a photoblog. If I like it, I’ll let you know. If you never hear another word about it, then I hated it and I’m back to the drawing board.

The kittens at the farm are outdoors and WILD! If I catch them on the back porch, I can pick them up and pet them. If they are outdoors, there’s no coaxing them. I hate that! Unless I can get them to learn to come when I call, they are going to become even wilder. Oh well… you live and learn, right?

Wonder where the fairies are?