Verified words? - 3rd edition

Here is another post of some of the "word verifications" which appeared when I commented on blogs; along with my impression of their meaning. Each one has been verified against dictionary.com and wikipedia. First edition was posted as Round 1. Today's words:

missews
dictionary.com - NOT a word, suggested "misses"
wikipedia - NOT a word, suggested "mises"
Lew's definition: mis-sews - Oops, seam not straight.

pikerout
dictionary.com - a NOT a word, suggested "pokeroot"
wikipedia - NOT a word, suggested "pikelot"
Lew's definition: pike-r-out - What the fisherman said when he came home with no fish.

ovulateo
dictionary.com - NOT a word, suggested "ovulate"
wikipedia - NOT a match, suggested "ovulate"
Lew's definition: o-vu-la-teo - new Starbucks latte with egg.

Winter scenes

Gulls waiting for spring, Culler Lake in Baker Park

Carroll Creek, Baker Park

Our yard, late afternoon shadows

Snowman and windmill

A little overnight snow turned the usually dark silhouette figure in our neighbor's yard white.

Return of the geese

The Canada geese returned again today, circling the field and then settling in for the night. They landed about 100 yards from our house, much closer than Friday.

Snow sprinkle

We had a sprinkle of snow Saturday morning, but by 11 AM it was gone.

Canada geese visit

Yesterday at sunset I was outside and heard a lot of honking in the sky. A large flock of geese flew overhead and landed in the field behind our house. It was already too dark to get any pictures, but I heard them honking long after dark. Today I spotted a small flock flying low across the field. So I went outside to take some shots. They landed on the far side of the field. Soon a second flock flew by and circled (above) to land with the others. And then a third flock (below) joined the crowd. The number of geese tonight was 20 os so - much smaller (and quieter) than last night's group.

Footprints in the snow

Mine on a trip across the backyard Monday

and a local critter on the patio yesterday morning.

Inauguration Day, January 20, 2009

Barack Obama took the oath of office Tuesday to become the 44-th President of the United States with his wife by his side. He then spoke to the nation, describing his vision for the future ahead of us.

We watched TV coverage from the comfort of our home. The crowd in attendance filled the Capitol grounds and the Mall all the way to the Washington Monument.

Photos of our TV during broadcast on Washington channel 4.

For some super photos of the event visit the Boston Globe web site.

Cat on watch

With snow falling, Buster took an interest in what was happening outside the window. And here under the rhododendron is the object of his intent gaze.

Glowing sculptures

These sculptures of a man and a woman reside on our mantle. I experimented with the Stylize => Glowing edges feature of PhotoShop Elements to get this rendition of them against the tiled wall.

Then and Now - Corn field

On September 20, 2008 the corn was high in the field behind our house. Now the field is cold and empty.

Verified words? - 2-nd edition

Here is the second occasional post of some of the "word verifications" which appeared when I commented on blogs; along with my impression of their meaning. Each one has been verified against dictionary.com and wikipedia. First edition was posted as Round 1. Today's words:

nonsu
dictionary.com - NOT a word, suggested "Nonius"
wikipedia - NOT a word, suggested "Nonsuch"
Lew's definition: non-su - A lawyer's nightmare.

ionate
dictionary.com - a REAL word, meaning "add ions to"
wikipedia - NOT a word, suggested "innate"
Lew's definition: i-o-nate - personalized IOU for Nathan

lestou
dictionary.com - NOT a word, close but no cigar, next best "lester"
wikipedia - NOT a match, suggested "lester"
Lew's definition: les-tou - comment made reqularly on WKRP in Cincinati (old TV situation comedy)

Making use of a bad image

Last night the full moon was shining through the clouds and I went out to try a few shots without my tripod. None of the shots turned out well being either too dark or blurry. So I experimented with PhotoShop Elements looking for an enhancement to change the above image to something pleasing. After a bunch of "no luck" changes, I tried Filter => Brush Strokes => => Accented Edges. And with the edges of the tree limbs accentuated, the image now has some interest. Next time I'll take the tripod!

Last leaf and new growth

This morning I noticed a lonely leaf still attached to one of our cherry trees. And on the nearby other one, were these buds awaiting the warmth of a new spring.

Early morning light

One of my favorite times to take photos is early morning, when the sun light is nearly horizontal and warm, even on a cold January day.

Remnants of Christmas

When I came downstairs yesterday morning, the few remaining decorations still out were sparkling in the sun. and reflecting off our fireplace glass door.

Ice on the trees

Our street on January 7. Ice coated the trees, but the streets were just wet.

Verified words? - Round 1

As you comment on a post that has touched you in some way, have you looked at the famous word verification that is requested and thought the letters might really be an real, obscure word? I have and I started saving a few that struck my fancy. I do not have a quarrel with bloggers who use word verification (or moderation). I dislike spam also and will use the feature when I find a repeat offender is targeting my posts. I do sometimes have trouble with some of the fonts presented, such as when "r" and "n" run together and look like "m" to my eyes. But back to my purpose - I am starting a feature where I occasionally post some of these "words" with my impression of their meaning. I will run each one through dictionary.com and wikipedia and post their verification of the word. So here are the first three:

tuniete
dictionary.com - NOT a word, close but no cigar "tunit"
wikipedia - NOT a word, suggested "tunnel"
Lew's definition: tu-nie-te - half tutu, half nightgown to be worn while watching ballet in bed.

ousit
dictionary.com = NOT a word, close but no cigar, next best "oust"
wikipedia - NOT a word, suggested "out"
Lew's definition: ou-sit - an often heard exclamation, missing the two "h"s.

ingst
dictionary.com - NOT a word, close but no cigar, next best "ingest".
wikipedia - Ingst, a village in South Gloucestershire, England near Thornbury, and consisting of five households, most of which are farms.
Lew's definition: ingst - an egoist's angst

Photoshopping a nave

Tonight I wanted to experiment with Photoshop, so I browsed through my pictures from last year and selected this one that I posted October 15. I applied the "glowing edges" effect first and then the "twirl". The result a couple of abstract pictures.

Canada geese going home?

We have a lot of Canada geese in the area year round. But there are also flocks which seem to migrate. The flock below is one of the largest I have seen and was heading north. If you click on the picture, you might see the "V" near the bottom. (This group actually looks like a large irregular check mark.) The flock above I saw about 30 minutes later and I didn't notice the direction they were heading. The sky was very gray and both photos have been cropped, brightened and have added contrast.

Barn needs work

The fence looked like this. The barn was not as nicely painted.

I spotted this scene on my search for several of the historic bridges of Frederick County. One of the bridges is posted here.

Corn harvest resumed

Just sitting at my desk minding my own clutter,

when outside my window there arose such a clatter

I went out to the yard to see what's the matter.

There in the corn field so dry and forlorn

was a jolly green monster eating the corn.

The harvest resumed, I presumed.
Back inside I saw him at the end of the row

and took this shot through my rear window.

When last seen, it was night,

and he was charging ahead by headlight.

Project 365 wrap-up

I have successfully taken and posted a picture a day for 2008 along with other Project 365 bloggers. My thanks to Marianne - the love of my life - who showed me the way with her own two-year project, support and encouragement. My thanks also to Karin of Frozen in Time who hosted the project and provided weekly themes to keep us motivated to look for different subjects. And I also appreciate the kind words and encouragement from the various viewers who stopped by Lew’s Pics.

I posted about 650 photos, a large number of them taken in our house and yard. Most were taken in Frederick County. About a hundred were birds and animals, including our cats, the ever-present squirrels and deer that visited a couple of times. Clouds and sunsets were another favorite subject. I have been partial to landscape photography all my life, so there were a lot of shots of farms, rivers, and hills of Frederick County. On looking back over the year, I noticed that I posted only a few photos of people. In recent years, I mostly took pictures when we were with family. There are bunches of family pictures (both 35mm film and digital) of birthdays, Christmas, graduations, and an occasional wedding. With the impetus of Project 365, I took around 10,000 digital photos in 2008. Here are links to a few of my 2008 favorite posts:

Jan 8 - Marianne
Aug 21 - Another butterfly
Oct 22 - Signs of autumn (the ladybug photo)
Nov 1 - More fall colors (second photo)
Dec 28 – Sunset from the cornfield

For 2009, I am going to continue posting, but change my routine. I want to improve my knowledge and skill with the Nikon 40DX to take advantage of more of its features. Most of the photos to date were taken in AUTO mode. I used the “auto focus/exposure lock” feature to control depth of field and exposure, but few of the other features. I expect to plan more photo excursions for particular subjects and take more photos on one outing; and then post results over several days.

And finally, two photos more photos from December 2008.

Squirrel on fence - December 5, 2008

View from my window - December 31, 2008