Saturday, September 27th, 2014

Uncle Dan Visits LaPlatte Circle

Dan came for a visit. We walked in the woods. I took some photos, but I liked how the woods looked better when it was pouring rain out. These ones are just blah.

 

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Sunday, September 21st, 2014

Ditch Workers

Papa & Iris solve some drainage issues at the southeast corner of the house.

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Monday, September 15th, 2014

Soft-Structured Carrier for Dolly

 

Last Tuesday, I made Iris a soft-structured buckle carrier for Dolly.

It has a big hibou (owl) pocket on the back. She loves it.

 

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Today she took Dolly on our walk to the river.

Before we left I told her, “Remember, Iris, if you carry Dolly in her carrier, I won’t be able to carry you.”

She was okay with that.

 

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She does everything with Dolly on her backβ€” just like she would if Dolly wasn’t there.

Just like I did when she was tiny.

The first time she wore Dolly in the carrier,

she asked me to play music so she could dance around the room and put Dolly to sleep.

Then she swept the kitchen a bit with her Iris-sized broom. She especially swept under the table.

 

 

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On the walk home today, Dolly wokeΒ up.

Then Iris wantedΒ the carrier buckled around her waist, off her shoulders, like I wear mineΒ when she’s not in it.

She wantedΒ help Dolly learn to walk.

 

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My little girlΒ is a sweet, sweet Dolly momma.

Tuesday, September 9th, 2014

Heather’s Preschool Visits Shelburne Farms

Heather was a preschool teacher before she started having children of her own. Being mobbed by toddlers, she is in her element.

 

We took a quick trip to the farm. I took some photographs on the tractor ride back to the parking lot. Between the light shiftingΒ every 5 seconds and the bumpsΒ of the dirt road beingΒ greatly exaggerated by the trailer, it was impossible to get a methodically composed photo. However, this gave me the opportunity to work on my post-processing skills. I developed a new Adobe Lightroom preset I call “HDR creamy for bright days.” When there’s lots of burned-out brightness in the background, making hair disappear into the sky, it brings back a bit of detail. Under the right (or wrong) circumstances, it also happens to make people look rather pasted into an image. Here are a few photos:

 

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This sort of recovery is only possible if one shoots RAW image files. For comparison, here is the first photo straight-out-of-camera:

 

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Sunday, September 7th, 2014

We Hike Camel’s Hump

I handed the camera to Martin.

 

 

One of two survey markers that triangulate the highest point on the mountain.

 

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Iris & Mama.

 

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We sit on a rock.

The summit was densely populated.

Cars filled the parking lot and stretched in a line nearly a mile down the mountain road.

It was difficult to crop all the people out and still get any scenery.

 

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I like this one.

 

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Saturday, September 6th, 2014

“Writing Papa’s Name”

β€” says Iris, as she sits on theΒ sheep footstool in front of the chalkboard easel.

 

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“This, Papa’s name,” she explains, pointing to the portion on the right,

and “this, Mama’s name,” while pointing to the bit on the left.

Like all good authors, she writes what she knows.

Wednesday, September 3rd, 2014

How Joshua Lost His Boot

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WeΒ got it back.

 
 
 
 

* Β  Β  * Β  Β  *

 
 
 
 

Iris decided the best option would be to avoid the swamp altogether.

 

 

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Monday, September 1st, 2014

Dad Stacks Wood Again

He does an excellent job.

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