Christmas 2005 Holiday Pictures!!

Ok, I've got a mixed bag of pictures and I will not bore you with all of the 200+ shots that I took. ;-0 But I am going to include all of the links to what pictures that I did upload to my web site, so you may have to option to view one or all, eh!!
Now this first group is all clouds and scenery, with the first picture shot at our local post office as we were heading out of town and the last picture is just one of some sunset shots while we were at our daughter's home in Redding, CA.
The second group is some shots that I 'pulled' out of other shots to show off some of the people, eh!! The one that says 'Kathy-Butch'is showing our reflections within my shot of a poster 'old timers' of our mountian area. I was trying to get a 'non-glaring' shot just as Kathy walked up, so I told her to smile and stand still, eh!! ;-))
The third group was taken at Tom and Sherri's, our dauther and son-in-laws home on Christmas Eve. We had 16 people for dinner and everyone seemed to enjoy all of the real home made candies that Sherri had done, plus a very big variety of nibbles, to hold us off till dinner was served later, eh!! As you will see, she had plenty of left overs too!! Kathy even let me have some Egg Nog with booze in it!! ;-))
Lastly, this fourth group is some night shots from within the car, while Tom & Sharri drove Kathy and I around looking at some really great lightings on homes. Depending on how you look at them, these shots are 'great' or 'blurry'. I'd like to think GREAT, eh!! Hope you enjoy and hope you too had a very nice Christmas!! ...Later, 'Viper'

It Finally Quit Raining!!

Well, after having almost 24/7 of rain and heavy fog for about a week now, we got up this morning to more dampness and fog, but NO rain, eh!! Then about 1:30 pm we went into town for a late lunch at BK and do our normal Saturday shopping. As we will be going to Redding, CA, about 47 miles away on Saturday to spend Christmas Eve with our 2 girls, Lourie and Sherri and their families, eh!!

By the time we finished our shopping at Top's Market and came outside, it was clear with blue skies and various colored clouds. We could even see a touch of new snow on Weaver Bally and further away towards Trinity Center on Granite Peak. So most of my shots today were of the same from 3 different areas in town. And just for my ebuddy Barb in Texas, the first 3 shots in the group are of the heavy moss that grows on our local trees. I got these as we came down our mountain road towards town, eh!!

Now if there are any of you out there in 'Blog Land' that love Dragons as much I as do, then you need to go and check out what my daughter, 'Kitten' and her husband Jack got me as part of my Christmas this year, eh!! They also gave beautiful sweaters, gloves, scarfs, caps for both Kathy and me, too!! Thanks so much!! We really love all the gifts, but I especially love my Dragon, eh!! ;-)) . . . Later, 'Viper'

A Mix of Various Shots ;-0

Well, today I've uploaded a variety of shots, eh!! Kathy purchased a flower bouquet at our local grocery store, Top's, while shopping on Saturday. When we got them home, she wanted a really closeup shot (1st), but I couldn't stop there, right. So I took one of the whole bouquet (2nd) and both were with the flash. The 3rd shot was without the flash, just to see how it would come out in the low light and then since the shot was almost totally black, I then had to use my graphics program to brighten it. It came out a little fuzzy as I wasn't using my tripod, but I think the coloring came out ok!!
Then the 'frosty' shots were taken because it was only 27 degrees when I went out about 8:45 am, to warm up the car and clear off the windows, eh!! The 'illegal' parking shot was of the yellow Mustang down at our rental house. I've told the tenants many times that they must leave that driveway open all the way from the road back to our 2 garages, as I use it and any fuel or propane truck coming in to fill any one of the 3 tanks back this far.
But they and their vistors still keep parking there because they're to damn lazy to walk the 100'or so from the 3 car parking area by the roadway!! The 'snowing' shot was me trying to show the few tiny snow flakes that were falling, so I used the 'multiple' shot feature in my camera to take 6 or 7 shots in secession. This was about the best of them, so I labeled some to let you know, right. But most anything showing white is a snow flake. While we were inside Marino's Restaurant eating, it would snow really heavy and light, etc.
Then all 6 of the 'Top's Market' shots are of all the flower arrangements that they have displayed. But when I was home editing all these pictures, I noticed just how nice and clean their store actually looked, right!! You know that old saying about not being able to see what's right in front of you. We go shopping weekly and it's a really nice big store, but I guess I need to take more pictures some time to show me just how nice it is!!
What's that you say, you want to see more shots, eh!! Oops, I almost forgot. The 'bird' shot was taken when focusing on the 2nd shot above. I saw him flying into my shot and just quickly raised my camera up and aimed a bit ahead of him and got the shot!! ... Later, 'Viper'

Our Old Snow Still Hanging Around, eh!!

Well here it is almost 2 weeks after our last snowfall and it's been staying so cold, like 27 to 34 degrees almost every day, that the snow just keeps hanging on. So I decided to take these shots and share them with all of you that don't normally have snow this time of year, eh!! Just click here if you want to see the rest of my snow shots.

Here's Some 'Macro' and 'Zoom' Shots!!

Hi Everyone, Please note that these shots from today are ONLY if you really want to take a peek or have the time, eh!! But if you are into photography, you might want to check them out 'just because'. If you have any questions or comments, I'd be only to happy to hear them, eh!! I'm always open to learning how to take better shots, right. Most of my shots today were to take up close 'macro' shots. I waited a couple hours to long, because by the time I got out back it was already a 'hot' 40 degrees!! So almost all of the 'ice' had turned to water drops and were dropping quickly. But I had a fun time just looking around our area and taking all the shots you see here, eh!! ... Later, 'Viper'

Sunshine, Fog and Snow!!

This morning is was a little warmer up here at our place, because of the heavy fog. But our deck/steps were ice when we left the house about 9 am. I scattered some rock salt so Kathy and I could get to the car without falling on our butt, eh!! I usually keep my camera up by me on the front seat while driving into town because each and every curve of the road brings us such beautiful scenes. But not today!! Nothing to see but fog!! So we went to Marino's for breakfast, to the dollar store from more Chrismas wrappings, down the lane to ACE to get more rock salt and a couple other things Kathy just couldn't leave at the store, eh!! After we shopped at Longs and Tops and were taking our stuff back to the car, here were our beautiful mountain top peaking out thru the heavy fog. As you can see we still have a little snow up at the higher elevations. The first two shots were taken here in Tops parking lot. That's when I heard the bikes firing up across the hwy and drove over to get some shots of the Toy Run (below on my Blog). We then drove closer to the mountains and got all the rest of these shots behind the Elementary School. Please note that ALL of the last shots of the midday sun shining thru the trees, were taken a little after noon while standing on our deck and shooting over the roof of our house. AND ... I did no 'touch-up' on any of these shots, as I do sometimes to bring out the color or shading that I see with the naked eye when I shot all of my pictures. I put these up fairly quick so you all could see them, so I didn't take the time to add any frames to them, eh!! Hope you enjoy all the pictures as I do. Later, 'Viper'

Weaverville Bikers 2005 Toy Run ;-))

Well today was our local bikers Toy Run for Santa's kids, eh!! I had forgotten all about it being today, even after telling my friends Barb and Stacy in Texas that I'd try to get some shots. Because they had sent me a lot of shots of their own Toy Run last weekend. Anyway as Kathy and I were coming out of our local Tops Sentry Market, I heard a couple of the bikes fire up and it caught my attention of course. So I put the groceries away quickly, got out my camera and then drove closer to our side of the highway to get some shots. All the bikers had gathered at our local Round Table Pizza and were getting ready to head on down the road. So I turned on my camera just as they stayed saddeling up and moving out, so's to speak!! I tried some wide angle shots and some 50% zoom shots and even got about a minute of video too. The video was a touch shaky as I didn't have my tripod, but the sounds were sure nice, eh!! ;-)) If you want to see all of the pictures taken today, just go to my web page. Hope all you buddy bikers enjoy these shots, as I did a hell of a lot of 'cropping' to make most all of them seem closer, since I was so far away. Check you later, 'Viper'

New Hampshire Snow Storm!!

My daughter-in-law Stacey sent me some pictures today of their snow storm. She said she's 'happy' to see the snow, because the temps have came up from the low 20's and are now in the low 30's!! Stacey said this storm would be bringing them 9" to 12" of new snow!! It's all relative with the 'warming' and I totally understand, eh!! Last week after our own snow storm, our temps had fallen down into the 20's afterwards, but are now coming back up again. Stacey said that she needs to go get groceries and they do have a 4x4 Jeep wagon, but I just had to tell her to please take it slow and careful, eh!! ;-)) And Stacey, I forgot to tell you in my last email about how much I love your 2 pictures of the 'old barn' or what ever it is. Did you remember that and shot these pictures just for me?? ;-0 ... Love you!! ... Later, 'Viper'

Ice Wonders!!

Ok, I know you've all heard this before, but I LOVE my wilderness and living in God's Country!! Even the damn Bears that get in my trash barrels and throw it all over the area!! But, I'm still always amazed at what I see right here on our 20 acres of mountains. About 1:05 pm I headed from my office to the kitchen to fix some lunch and had a couple old pieces of bread that I was going to throw out the back door for our Ravens, Deer, Squirrels, or who ever happens to come along first, right. I opened the door and just stood there looking at the frozen trees for a bit and then went to get my tripod and camera. I got quite a few really
great shots and hope you all enjoy them as much as I do!! Now remember, this is after 1 pm in the afternoon. When I looked at the temp this morning about 9:45 am it was only 27 degrees and after taking these shots I looked again and it was still only 31 degrees!! You can see that the snow we got last Sunday and Monday is not melting away quickly, eh!! Enjoy, 'Viper'

International Space Station?? OR Venus!! ;-0

I'm still in town doing errands and when I pulled into ACE Hardware to pick up a bag of granuale salt for your frozen deck, there was a good view of the west, my cresent moon and what is supposedly the ISS. So of course I had to get a couple shots right then, because I know that sometimes all it takes is a few seconds to lose that one 'great' shot, eh!! Which I did try to get more shots after I got back home about 30 minutes later, so I could use my tripod to maybe get even better shots, right. No luck!! Both had dropped to low in the horizen and where already gone. You'll see that I've cropped out the 'full size' shot and embedded then in the smaller pictures for the web, so you can get a really close up view, eh!! ~ UPDATE!! On 12/7/05 ~ I received the following answer from NASA in response to my email: "However, based on the picture you sent, you took a picture of the planet Venus. The stationary position of Venus would appear exactly the way your picture looks. If it were an Earth orbiting satellite, your image would only contain a streak of where the satellite position was. Remember, the space station and other Earth orbiting satellites are only visible for a few minutes from horizon to horizon." So, I'm presumming that what I saw was Venus, eh!! Hey, what do I know. I just saw something really bright close to the moon and said, 'What a shot!!' ... Enjoy, 'Viper'

Big Buck

Check out this nice looking Buck, eh!! While I was doing some errands Monday, I was leaving the back of our local school bus garage area, when this big buck came out from behind one of the parked busses. He totally ignored me till I stopped my car and reached over to the passenger seat to get my camera. As I was taking off the lens cap, turning the camera on and changing the settings, he was walking towards me staying up against the chain link fence. Before I could stop the car and get out, he had walked about 100 feet to the 'pass thru' area in the fence. Then he turned and started walking slowly back towards me, but on the outside now. Again, he just totally ignored me again!! So I was able to get my shots, but had to shot thru the fence, eh!! Later, 'Viper'

Jaiden Kara Maness ;-))

Well Hello Jaiden Kara Maness!! Welcome to the New Beginnings of your life!! These pictures are for my friends Barbara and Stacy Maness, very happy grand parents of the latest birth into their family, eh!! Jaiden was born on November 9th, 2005, at 8:45 AM, weighing in at 7 lbs, 13 oz and 20 inches long. These words were from the very proud grandma when she sent me the email of Jaiden's birth and first picture, 'Everything there and just perfect!!' Hey Barb, thanks for the latest picture that I made these from. Later, 'Viper'

Quilty's Latest Quilting Project

Kathy, aka: 'Quilty', just finished her latest project this afternoon. This lap quilt is for Kalee Marissa Larcade, our youngest grand daughter, a 13 year old going on 30, right!! The 2 pictures shown here were 'cropped' out of the full pictures, so you could see the colors and details better. If you'd like to see the full size pictures and even one wide shot showing a little of our sight out our front door and the snow, then just click here, eh!! I had Kathy take a couple shots outside, so you could see the 'true' colors in the quilt. The colors kind of washed out with using the 'flash' inside in the living room. Hope you enjoy the view!! Later, 'Viper'