Anyone Want A Cat?

This is Scarpetto, a fun-loving, curious, playful and affectionate feline whose body vibrates so much when he purrs its like having a masseuse in the house!

Scarpetto loves to sleep in bed with you, massage your lap before he lays in it, open the food cabinet if his bowl is empty, drink water out of the faucet, hang out in the front yard on his leash/harness and relax in his puppy crate, keeping you company while you garden.  If you’re having a really bad day and tears are rolling down your cheeks, he’ll lick them off your face and give you a hug, his paws on either side of your neck.

Now before you panic, I am NOT looking for a new home for this feline companion of mine!  Un-uhh…no way…he’s all mine forever!

I did want to extol his virtues though because I am looking for a home for this…

So much fur came off Scarpetto when I brushed him the other day that there just has to be a kitty in there somewhere!  Seriously, I brush him every week, couple weeks, month with minimal fur loss.  Right now, as spring changes to summer, he doesn’t need a thick coat so a lot of it ended up tangled in the brush bristles.

If you like Scarpetto’s traits and would like one of your own, I’m sure I’ve got a spare to send you.  I’m enjoying being a one-cat household so I wouldn’t mind sharing.

Really…look closely…there has to be another kitty in all that fur somewhere!

Saturday Part 3 of 3

After departing the Botanic Gardens I headed north on the 15 freeway into Fallbrook, took a couple of roads then spent 10 miles on this nearly empty road…

…and wound up here!

The festival was held at the Welburn Gourd Farm, the largest grower of gourds in the United States.  The gourds are harvested in the spring and left to dry for 6-12 months, the plants are turned over in the field, new ones start growing so the next year’s harvest will be ready.  When the gourds are dry they weigh next to nothing!

Inside the festival there were artists’ booths…

…demonstrations…

…food and adult beverages…

…and tables and tables of gourds for purchase

There were dirty ones that you’d have to clean…

…and for an additional fee, clean ones ready to use.

There were tiny ones for jewelry…

…big ones for shelf sitting decorations, birdhouses, vases or whatever…

…and every size in between.

So, what exactly does an artist DO with a gourd?  I am soooo glad you asked!!!

They paint them…

…carve them (yep – part of the gourd is totally gone)…

…add beads and threads…

…sand and whittle portions to create textures…

…and combine everything into awesome pieces that do not look like they came from a vegetable!  The opening on this one caught my eye because it looks soft like leather, but it’s not, it’s all gourd.

This one fascinated me because I couldn’t figure out how it was successfully put together.  The paint used on this was metallic in nature so it really looked like a metal can…definitely NOT a vegetable…but it was!

But my favorite was this guy.  The color scheme matches my house perfectly and the leaves/acorns reminded me of my New England roots.

I did treat myself to a gourd.  I took a lot of time hunting for a clean one that had character, one I could sit on the shelf in my entertainment center or on my mantle as a conversation piece.

After all, I’m so busy with all my other crafting that the last thing I have the time to do is learn a new one!  Let’s skip the face that the farm offers gourd workshops.  Yep, I never read that info anywhere, nor did I tuck that into my memory banks for February/March 2011.  Nope, not me 

When I was done at the festival I headed north on a back road instead of the freeway and it was AWESOME!  For a very short time the road was a treed wonder…

…but the majority was like this, but not always with 15mph curve warnings — sometimes they were as high as 25mph!

And the exclamation point to the whole day (besides the fact that I was home by 5:15PM)???

I sort of knew I had spent most of the day on the west side of the Santa Ana Mountains but I didn’t really know that I had until I was heading east on Rancho California Road and came face-to-face with this view of Temecula.

I was so surprised that I missed the best photo-op from higher up the mountain.  Yep, I was completely caught off-guard!  No worries, I’ll be taking that road again for sure.

Well folks, that’s it.  This is the last of my three-part post about Saturday’s adventure.  I hope you enjoyed it!!

Saturday Part 2 of 3

After the hot air balloon excitement I headed just over an hour south to check out the San Diego Botanic Gardens.  There’s a free docent-led tour of their water-wise gardens the last Saturday of every month and since I’m in front yard planning overdrive, I thought a tour of mature drought tolerant and water-wise plants would be perfect!

Though the tour wasn’t as informative as I had hoped, the gardens were a 35-acre feast for the eyes and ears, an incredible place to experience all kinds of gardens, not just water-wise.  I spent nearly 3-1/2 hours wandering around the gardens (tour included) and left only because I had yet one more adventure on the schedule.  But I’ll be going back for sure!

There were cork trees whose outer barks are harvested to make cork, more for flooring now than wine bottles as the wine industry is moving away from natural corks.  The bark feels really weird – light and airy like, well, cork!

This pretty looking skunk plant is very accurately named.  The docent rubbed the plant then let us smell her hands.  Eeeewwww….

A bush called Treadsoftly had dramatic architectural appeal to me…

The information stake in front of this plant indicated that there were tiny stinging hairs on the branches and leaves.  It took me several minutes of looking with my eyes before I found them.  Had I been looking with my fingers I’m sure they would have been discovered instantly, but I’m not that dumb…all the time 

The butterfly and bee area in Hamilton Children’s Garden was a very busy place, not only with 2 legged visitors but also with winged ones.

There was an area called Banana Boulevard…

…where I found…BANANAS!

There were funky looking agave, like this aptly named Variegated Squid Agave…

…an Agave Americana that was taller than me…

…and a Shaw’s Agave that has spent the past year growing this stalk, about 15 feet tall, its final breath before the plant itself dies.  The stalk has seeds on it so new plants will spring up somewhere.

There was lots of bamboo and let me tell you, as the trees move they are noisy – in a squeaky, creaky, spooky way…

A gazebo graced one of the only areas where there was actually a traditional lawn…

…a Lookout was perched high above so you could see all you could see…

…and walking this path to and fro the Lookout was so worth it…

…because you could see a lot!  That whole area is one side of the Botanic Gardens.  They may not look like much from up here, but this photo gives you a good idea of how hilly the gardens are.

Deep in the gardens there was even a waterfall!

The fountain and other lawn art in the Mexican Garden were spectacular!

All that walking, uphill…

…and down…

…was so worth the trekking to see all the plants and critters and views of the ocean.

I’ll leave you now with a few more of the 250 pictures I took of the gardens…no more words…just pictures.  Enjoy!

Saturday Part 1 of 3

Did you ever have such a super day that you had more to tell than attention spans would allow?  That was my day yesterday!  In deference to you my readers, I’ve opted to spread out the day over three posts so I don’t overwhelm you.  OK, I benefit as well because I don’t have to sit for hours to write the long post in addition to the hours spent sorting out and labeling 370 pictures.

Just before writing yesterday’s blog post I headed down the hall and glanced out the window as I passed by.  Though my brain instantly registered “stripes” it took my feet a few yards to catch up and return me to the window.  Excitement flowed through me as I grabbed my camera and headed outside, yesterday’s blog post instantly scratched off my to-do list.

I don’t know why hot air balloons still fascinate me since I see them all the time, but they do.  Of course this one did because it was being launched in the field behind the house at the end of the street.

While snapping away at this one look what happened!

Yep, another one showed up!!

I sat myself down on my sidewalk and waited for the launch.  Even though the balloons were “up” they weren’t inflated enough to take off.  I could hear the propane burners being turned on and off, and each time, the balloons moved a bit, bobbing along the ground.

The burners turned on and off a lot, but no balloon took flight, so I turned my telephoto lens on my nearby gardens while I waited.

Here’s a blanket flower…

and a white Lily of the Nile (Agapantha)…

the wall of morning glories…

one of my Lantana plants…

a white petunia…

…and wait!!  What’s that???  The burner noise didn’t stop!  Could it be???

YES!

We have lift-off!! 

The purple and green one went up high right away so the pictures I could take were kind of boring.  But the pink and yellow one was co-operative in the photo-op department.  Not only was I able to get a picture of the passengers and the flame…

…but I was also able to get a picture that makes it appear the balloon was going to land in the field behind my house (it didn’t).

All that awesome unplanned excitement set the mood for the rest of the day.  I knew it was going to be an awesome one – and it was!  Stay tuned for parts 2 and 3 in the next two days!

It’s Going To Be A Great Day

I must have slept very well last night, a deep restful sleep, because according to the neon numbers on my alarm clock I was wide awake at 3:35AM. Not only was I wide awake, but I felt so peaceful and rested that I didn’t mind being awake so early.  Usually I cringe and roll over, and if sleep doesn’t return within minutes, I get out of bed.

Not this morning.  I felt so good that I laid in bed until 4:15AM, my mind aimlessly wandering and my ears busy while my body did nothing.

I thought about what I had to get done at work today, congratulated myself for getting my meager food shopping done yesterday and speculated on my super-busy Saturday.  After a bit I turned my focus to my ears to be comforted by the usual noises.

I strained to hear the traffic on the nearby freeway or main street but couldn’t hear anything.  I thought about the crickets but they must have still been sleeping.  I directed my ears to the sprinkler system on the opposite side of the block wall in my backyard but alas, it wasn’t on yet.  My refrigerator wasn’t in a cooling cycle so it was quiet as well.

Rustling leaves and a shiver of my wind chimes?  Nope.

A purring Scarpetto?  Negative.

The birds who regularly fill my yard with non-stop chirping?  Sleeping…somewhere.  My mind got stuck in a rut here for several minutes, wondering where they go to sleep, if they sleep on their claws or on their sides, if they sleep bunched up like they did when they were babes in nests, are their heads tucked under their wings, etc…  Sometimes I wonder about my thought process. 

When I re-focused on my ears I finally heard something!  AIR!  You know, when you’re concentrating so hard to hear something, anything, that you end up hearing the air moving around in your ears?  That’s what I heard.  Seriously, it was so quiet in my neighborhood this morning that the only sound was air moving inside my ears.  And once I heard it I couldn’t NOT hear it, and it kept getting louder with every passing second.  I tried everything I could to return to the peace and quiet that surrounded me when I first woke up, but it was elusive.

I finally gave up, got out of bed and started my morning routine.  First and foremost, before even going to the bathroom, I went into the family room and turned on the TV and switched the channel to ABC’s World News Now.

Ahhh…no more sound of moving air! 

The last rudeness aside, it was an incredible way to start the day.  Waking up completely rested with nothing more pressing than laying in bed, relaxing and enjoying the absolute silence of a neighborhood usually overflowing with the hum of everyday life.

As I finish writing this post, the skies have brightened, the birds are starting to return, my sprinkler system is watering the front lawn and every now and then a vehicle drives nearby.  A graceful and slow transition to what promises to be a great day!

Compliments

I’m sure you all remember my “adventure” with the Massachusetts and California DMVs.  The right coast screwed up and assigned a DUI to me that didn’t belong to me, then suspended my MA driver’s license.  That error prevented the left coast from renewing my license out here.

Murphy and all his annoying laws like to visit me so I was not at all pleased about a two-week window to straighten out a mess that involved not one, but two governmental agencies, especially ones on opposite coasts.

Fortunately Murphy was busy wreaking chaos in someone else’s life and after 1-1/2 weeks the whole mess was resolved thanks in major part to the most awesome California DMV employee — Melody!

When all was said and done I spoke with her supervisor and praised Melody’s service.  I also asked Melody if there was someone I could send a letter to so that they would have a written record.  She offered to send me a survey card instead, and she did, right away.

Well I just filled out that card this morning, a mere two weeks after I received it.  I showered Melody with praise but stopped short of saying everything I wanted to say lest the reader begin to think I’m a long-lost relative trying to pad Melody’s personnel file 

This set my brain cells to wondering, how often do we as a population actually take the time to not only compliment someone for their awesome service, but also let that person’s supervisor know?  I do my best to thank someone when they are polite, fun or just plain attentive, but rarely do I take it a step further and let their supervisor know.  It’s really a sad statement because so much of the service that is doled out today is terrible.  I can’t count the number of times that a cashier at a food store is too busy talking to another cashier to even greet me, ditto for Baristas at Starbucks.

On the flip side, when I’ve received terrible service I don’t go running to the supervisor to complain so I’m not stacking the deck in a negative pile.  I do politely let the person who was less-than-stellar know that I wasn’t pleased, usually with an apology.  Huh?  You know, the double-edged kind…”I’m sorry that I interrupted your conversation about your Saturday night plans” or “I’m sorry that I didn’t say hello to you when you started ringing up my purchase”.  I’m pretty sure they don’t correlate my apology to their rudeness, but the confused look on their faces usually makes me smile.

Maybe if compliments were passed on to supervisors and employees were aware of whose work ethic/attitude was recognized and appreciated, said approach would rub off on others, and they in-turn would modify their approach so they could receive compliments.  We as consumers would be happier with service and ready with compliments thereby continuing a circle of positive reinforcement.

Yeah I know, I donned rose-colored glasses this morning all because I filled out a compliment card.  But, I’ll give this whole compliment thing a test drive and I’ll let you know how it works.

I’m In Love!

With a BOOK!!!

Last Saturday I went to a lecture and book signing at Tree of Life Nursery featuring Bob Perry, a professor Emeritus of Landscape Architecture at California State Polytechnic University in Pomona, CA (thank you book jacket!).  The lecture was one of the more popular ones I’ve attended at the nursery, the clanking sound of chairs being added to the area telling me so even before I looked behind me.

I bought his third book, a heavy 652-page tome of all things I need to know for my big project, then stood in line with everyone else so Bob could sign my book while chatting with me for a few seconds.

During his lecture Bob had mentioned several things that had me thinking “well, geez, that makes perfect sense” so I decided that the splurge on the book was well worth it.  Many others did too, several purchasing one book for themselves and one for a friend.

When I got home I snuggled into the sofa and opened my new treasure.

Given my overload of creative/artist genes, I only got as far as the contents pages before I was in awe.  The photographs along the outside edges are phenomenal and the contents listings are in big type – no need to perch my glasses on my nose to take in this info!

The next 31 pages, Section One, are devoted to all the “you need to know this before you plan or plant but I don’t need to know it right now so I’m skipping it” information.  You know, climate zones, soil conditions, water needs, etc.  The master plant checklist is nestled in these pages in a chart form that is awesome!

The first column is an alphabetical listing of the botanic names of the plants followed by the common names.  The next column is the Plant Factor (PF) where the supplemental water usage is listed in an easy-to-read lettering system.  Next column is the Irrigation Group (IG) which indicates necessary watering patterns, especially for summer months.

Then comes the mother lode of awesome information!!!

In gardening circles it is well-known that California is riddled with micro-climates.  Growing up in New England I was used to zones going as high as 7, but here in Southern California?  They go up to 24!  I’m in zone 19, but zone 18 is very close.

To make the whole zone information a quick and easy read, each zone is listed across the top and then one of three different symbols appears in each zone column where the plant will survive.  For most of my yard I want open circles in zone 19, but plus signs will work too!  As for my PF letters?  I want to see L/VL as that means they’ll do well with the water from Mother Nature in the winter and very little from me in the summer.  The IG number?  I want a 2 – reduced summer water schedule!

In case it sounds confusing in words, here’s a picture…

In Section Two the plant lists are repeated (minus the zone chart) in various garden themes — woodland, mediterranean, California native, Asian, etc.  Within each of these lists the plants are broken down into groups – trees, shrubs, ground covers, vines, etc.  So, once you determine what garden theme you want, here’s the list of the plants that work best!

If that’s not enough information, the next pages are dedicated to master lists of plants by group.  In the Flowering Shrub and Vine charts the bloom colors are included!  The Shade plant charts indicate much shade, the variegated charts tell you if the color is yellow or white, etc.  I could go on and on about all the different lists and the specific information for each, but instead I’ll sum it up this way.

These charts save a TON of page flipping!  I can rule out certain plants right away because the PF and IG columns appear all the time.  Though I may love a certain plant in a chart I can judge by these two columns if the plant has a chance at surviving in my yard.  AND based upon the information included that is specific to that plant, I can tell whether or not the plant will meet my “artistic” desire for my yard.

Yes, there’s a lot more information I need about the plants to make sure they are what I want, but no worry, there’s nearly 500 pages of in-depth information for the plants in Section Four, the Illustrated Plant Compendium!  The charts are repeated with each plant so I don’t have to flip backwards, and the additional information I need, like size, pruning, growing patterns, etc, is written in a way that is easy to understand.  And the pictures?  Phenomenal!!

But I’m not done yet!

Between the plant lists in Section Two and the Illustrated Plant Compendium in Section Four there’s a Section Three called Plant Palettes.  Once you know your correct zone you can turn to these palettes and see a list of plants that work well together.

These are only suggestions, you can swap plants in and out as you’d like, and of course, there are no garden layouts so you’ve still got all the planning to do.  But for me, a novice in this whole native plant area, the palettes are an awesome starting point!

Bob’s book is giving me a huge boost of confidence and it’s making me antsy to get my front yard moving.  Thank you for the book Bob and thanks to TOLN for sponsoring the lecture and book signing!!

The only problem?

I need a bigger yard so I can add all the plants I want!!

The Big Reveal

As promised last week, this post is all about unveiling my secret so you know what my next big project is.

See this nicely manicured front lawn?  See all the gardens too?

Pretty spiffy huh?

Don’t get too attached to them ‘cuz they’re all going away!!  Well, as long as the Home Owner’s Association approves my plans.  I already know the neighbors will because I’ve discussed my plans with them so gathering their signatures on the paperwork will be easy.

This may beg the question of what will be there instead.  My entire front yard will be filled with native and drought tolerant plants!  PLUS some other cool stuff!

Here is the basic layout for the new yard…it’s all to scale thanks to borrowing the measuring-tape-on-wheels from work.

Now for the decoding…

The dark blue line will be a dry creek bed and the light blue line will be a haphazard flagstone path.  The unmarked tan rectangle will be an arbor that will straddle the sidewalk.  The green circle represents the mature size of a Manzanita tree while the red circle represents a Desert Museum tree, the latter growing to about 10′-12′ so it will shade my front room.

I know I want a cement bench in the mix as well as a couple large rocks.  I’m thinking I may hunt down a large branch about 2′-3′ in length to add as well.  I may just need a bird feeder or two since the birds seem to like hanging around.

The plant selection?  Well, I’m working on that…  I took a gardening workshop on Saturday, am taking a free guided tour of water-wise botanic gardens this coming Saturday followed by a visit to new friend Linda’s house.  She and her husband have already converted their yard and I was invited to check it out.  I’m also taking a 4-week “Kill Your Lawn” workshop at my favorite native plant nursery.

The “future deck” is a project for 2011 but I know I want to put plants/bushes that will reach between 3′-5′ in front of it so they will create a bit of a screen.  The block wall behind the deck where the morning-glory vines currently are will be covered with new native vines.  I hope to eventually put a pergola roof over the deck, but the floor will be a great start since that area is only in the sun for 5-6 hours a day.  Between now and the deck installation I’m going to leave the gazania plants and see if they’ll adapt to not being watered.  The seeds have sprouted out back where there is no water and the plants are doing okay so here’s hoping!

All of this should be done and plant selection complete so that I can submit the plans to the HOA by August 20th.  It will take them 4-6 weeks to approve the plans depending on when the architectural committee meets after receiving the plans.  If all goes fine this front yard should be underway in early October!

So, why is this MY next big project?

Well, except for hiring a professional tree removal service for the 2 trees that have to go bye-bye, having the nursery plant my two new trees, and having the big rocks, rocks for the dry creek bed, flagstone and the final ground cover (mulch?) delivered, I’m doing everything else by myself!!!

There may be one area where I do have additional help.  I spoke with my neighbor on the driveway side of my house and told him what I was planning to do.  We both have narrow strips of land between our driveways – as you saw in the picture above these pieces of land butt up against each other.  I asked Tony if he thought he wanted to replace his strip of land with native plants and if so, I’d kick in $50 towards his plants, he would just have to work with me to put them in.  If he didn’t want to it would be totally fine but I need to know so I can select the correct plants for my side (his sprinklers spray into my yard so I need to take that into account).  He’s very interested because he needs to put 18″ of cobblestones along the side of his driveway to widen it a bit.  That could be done in conjunction with the plants.  I told him I’d check back with him in early August.

Here’s the outline for the steps…

As soon as approval is received, many of the plants in my garden will be dug up by me and my neighbors in the two-story house so they can be planted in their backyard.  The tree removal company will also come out and take care of the trees and the new plants/trees will be ordered.  Lastly, the sprinkler system will be shut off so the lawn can die…or if I find someone who wants to dig up the lawn and use it then they are more than welcome to do that.

Once the lawn is gone I’m going to borrow the wheeled measuring device from work again and mark out everything.  I’ll mark circles for the plants and outlines for the rocks and pathway.  Next up will be having the trees delivered and planted, ditto for the rocks and flagstone being delivered (and the decorative rocks put in place by the rock company).  The arbor and the bridge will be the next things crossed off my to-do list.

I’ll have the mulch delivered next so I can spread it in the yard.  I’ll leave piles around the marked circles so I know where the plants are supposed to go.  I’m hoping all of this is done the week before Thanksgiving so I can pick up all my plants and spend the 4-day holiday putting them in the ground.

Because this is a front yard or “public” project, I want to make sure that progress is visible every week so the neighbors and HOA don’t think its a project with no end.  Also, I don’t want anyone driving up the street to think my house is vacant because the front yard is dead.

Once the yard is done I’ll only have to turn on the sprinklers 2 or 3 times a YEAR and just during the peak heat of summer!  Because I’m being so water-wise I may be able to get a rebate from the local water department.  I’ve sent an e-mail and am waiting for their response as that may make my budget bigger!

The really cool thing is that I’ll be the first one in my neighborhood of +/- 200 homes to do this!!  Hopefully I’ll inspire others to do the same thing.  Not only will we help the water conservation effort and save money each month, but we will also be keeping California’s plant heritage alive and well.

I Have The Best Daddy

I know everyone thinks their Dad is the best, but mine really is!

We didn’t always have a perfect relationship, but if I needed him he was there.  He and my Mom worked very hard to give us kids a great life.  We never lacked for anything.  We lived in a 3-bedroom house in a nice neighborhood; we went on annual camping vacations, the early years in a tent followed in later years by a tent trailer; we had an above-ground swimming pool and when that let go an in-ground pool graced our backyard; we three kids had annual passes for the local ski area; there were musical instruments  with the necessary lessons; Christmas mornings dawned with stockings stuffed and presents under the tree, and our closets and cabinets were always full.   Mom and Dad provided so well that I always thought we were rich.

What an eye opener high school was when I met the kids who really were rich!!

My Dad could do anything.  He tinkered with things until they worked again, he built furniture, he finished half of our basement creating a family room and a workshop, and he finished our porch and made it part of our kitchen.  Though I’m sure he would have preferred to do a lot of this without me peeking in and asking questions, he rarely told me to leave.

When I bought my first house Dad was there to help with any project — installing a knickknack shelf 9″ down from the ceiling on three walls of my living room, putting up new shutters, laying a brick sidewalk and house sitting during oil furnace replacement and bay window installation.  Dad made sure I had the necessary big  tools too — lawn mower, snow blower, cordless screwdriver, wheelbarrow and utility cart.

Dad is older now and no longer capable to do the puttering he’d always done.  He often tells me that he wishes he could help me do things.  I always tell him that even though he can’t physically do things for me, his fingerprints are everywhere in my house thanks to all he taught me.

There’s floor-to-ceiling shelving along one wall in my office and shelving in the laundry room.  Speaking of the laundry room, the painting I did was all me, but the picket fence I made to put on the wall?  That’s was thanks to my Dad!  What about my closet overhaul?  Not only installing the shelving but removing the original shelving, including boards that were nailed flush onto the wall!  I so loved that knickknack shelf in my MA house that I installed one along two walls of my great room here in CA.  The only thing I needed help with was a mitered cut on two boards.  My neighbor Tony did that for me and was stunned that I didn’t need him to help me with anything else.  Remember that brick sidewalk that Dad helped me lay in MA?  That’s how I know what I’m doing as far as the paths in my backyard!  My lawns in both MA and CA have always looked terrific thanks to Dad teaching me all about lawn care from fertilizing to mowing.

I  could go on and on but I won’t because I don’t want to make you jealous.  I’m sure your Dads are great too, but mine is the BEST! 

Memory Card Clean-Off

This morning I cleaned off this guy who records that which captures my eye while little digital camera and I are out and about.

Each picture is saved in this “blog” folder on my 320GB Western Digital Passport (which still has 284GB available)…

…and then inside this “blog pix” folder…

From there the pictures usually go into a dated folder, such as “Random pix 6-13 thru 6-19-10″.  The words are the same the dates just change weekly.

BUT…this morning the pictures all wound up in this folder…

Yep, they are all sitting in the folder “waiting for blog home” patiently counting the days until they can journey into the cyber-world.

You may be curious as to why I opted to put them in there instead of use them. My problem is that I often find way too many things interesting and blog-worthy, and if I actually wrote about them as they happened then I’d be posting more than once a day!  When my “waiting” folder gets too full I do a “Little Bits” post to thin it out.

Hey, that explanation was a bonus – now you know how the “Little Bits” posts came about! 

Now, here’s a testimony as to how hyper-organized I am.

Remember all those blog folders?  I have an identical set but they are in another folder called “Pictures”!!!  All the images in that series of folders are the original unedited pictures just in case I ever need them for anything.  All of the ones in the sub-folders in the “Blog” folder have been cropped, brightened, reduced or otherwise edited for use here in my blog.

There are dozens of other folders for the blog-size pictures that are organized by category, project or other description.  In these folders the picture name also includes the date of the folder where the original image is located just in case I need to use the original image for any reason.

I know this system means there are lots of duplicate pictures, but the Passport has oodles of space so I really don’t care.  It’s so awesome to be able to rifle through various sunset photos I’ve taken by opening one folder instead of surfing through endless folders trying to find them all.

This system also explains why I empty the memory card every few days.  If I don’t the process will take waaaay too long to accomplish!  It only took a couple of 2-hour clean-off sessions for me to learn that lesson!