Split rail fence

Tonight we put in a split rail fence in the corner of our yard. It will become the support for our four grapevines. We also dug an area within the triangular base of the fence to become a new flower garden.



We used our tractor to dig out the existing field sod and top soil/clay. We removed
about a cubic yard of material. Next we put in the fence. Then we filled in the hole
and create a planting mound. (We used recycled material from the City of Litchfield
which is very rich black dirt now.)




Hopefully if the weather permits on Friday Cristy will be able to put the edging in
and then transplant the grapevines. We will then put in some wood chips to control
weeds and erosion.



I will try to post some pictures of the finished project in a couple of days.

Photoblog News

I have been doing pretty good posting new images everyday to photoblog.
I need to work on the themes a bit. I want to be able have links so that you can see
a months worth of photos at a time (if you have the band width.)



I was trying to build a short term hack using the search feature with DasBlog but
that did not work very well. (Lesson learned: build it into the theme and consider
using the macros.)



Here
is a link that will show you all the photos posted to the photoblog in 2007 so far.




I will need to find some time to work on this some rainy day. (Not too likely.)

Interesting Shack - KD0ZV

Here is an interesting shack that
I found on eham early today. Rich
KD0ZV in Des Moines has a nice looking system. I am finishing my basement and
starting to think about how my new desk should look/work. I am starting to collect
images of designs that interest me.






Hopefully Rich does not mind me posting the photo here.

73 de NG0R

Weekend Photos

Another interesting weekend of photography. I have been building the habit of getting
up early on weekends around 5am. This gives me enough time for a quick shower and
then to get on the road hunting for early morning photos.

Granted I like to shoot sunrise/sunset photos, but the are lots of early morning photo
opportunities that do not include having sol in the frame. It is just a matter of
me investigating my surroundings.

I got a little nervous this morning because I was running late, there was a cloud
deck to the NE that was washing out the light, and I was not finding a good photo
subject for this morning. I was working my way up and down the county roads (many
of which are gravel) looking for photo opportunities.



I ended up with a nice railroad bed photo and some windmill sunrise photos. I
am transferring the images right now from the CF cards to my network so that I can
burn them to DVD before I start working with them.




I am hoping for two good images from my Saturday morning trip and two more from this
morning.... fingers are crossed!

Art by Jacob

K2 on the way

I pulled the trigger on ordering an Elecraft K2
yesterday.

This will be a pretty cool project. It will configured for HF QRP and will also
be driving my VHF/UHF transverters.

Sprat

My subscription to the GQRP
club started. My first two issues of SPRAT arrived
in the mail today.

How cool is that?  I first heard about it on the SolderSmoke Podcast. More
interesting information from Bill.

» How to Lose 20 lbs. of Fat in 30 Days… Without Doing Any Exercise

»
How to Lose 20 lbs. of Fat in 30 Days… Without Doing Any Exercise

Ok... it is a pretty interesting read at Tim's site. His idea is that you manage your
meals so that they are limited in sugar or things that are easily converted. It probably
works if you can manage to follow your plan.




I have a friend that followed something similar and he was able to drop some weight.
The question is can you stick to it over time to make it work?

Trimming the attention sails at Like It Matters

I was reading RSS feeds while watching Lord of the Rings with the kids on Sunday night.
I saw an interesting post over at 43
Folders.  It was talking about another interesting post at another site: Trimming
the attention sails at Like It Matters

The thrust of the article is about trying to regain control over our schedules. Many
of us live in an information overload environment much of which is self induced.
I for one fall into this self induced pain.



Part of my taking back control strategy started with changing employers, controlling
my work hours, working from home a couple days a week, and trying to decide what was
important to me and putting it near the top of my priority list.



It is amazing how much time we lose at work due to drive-by's and the social gatherings.
It is important to develop relationships but I made a choice at the start of 2007
to try to take back my schedule and reduce my stress level.

Camera Thoughts

Camera Upgrades:
I am starting to get the itch for the next Digital SLR. I am thinking that it
is purchase for Fall 2007 or Spring 2008. >

• 
  I am starting to build a list of things that I want in the next camera.
  
  
  -Full frame? (There is a real price to this feature)
  
  -Move to SD cards (from CF)
  
  -Vertical grip
  
  -12 megapix or better
  
  
• 
  I am also looking at how I use my system.
  
  
  -This might mean changing bags again. (Maybe to a backpack)
  
  -I would like to be a able to use strobes.
  
  -Remote/wireless flash
  
  -Which glass I use
  
  
• 
  Software
  
  -Starting to look at software for inventory/lightbox functions

I am pretty happy with my current system. As I get more serious about my photography
again I am getting more critical about the little things in my system.




I handed down my first Digital SLR to my sons (4, 6, and 8 years old.) They are shooting
with my Canon D30. They enjoy the hikes and phototrip much more with a camera
of their own.