Self Portrait

colored pencil effect

pop art effect

Having fun with Mac's Photobooth software, for
2thingsphotochallenge "Self-Portrait"

My new header is actually my new business card created in PS, layers my painting and photo of my eye with assorted filters. Another self portrait of types. I left out my name and address but you get the gist.

Lovely weekend to all who visit here and thank you for your kind comments.

Cheers! My other blogspot:" The Way I See It"

Native/Exotic

I just couldn't let this 2thingsphotochallenge get away.

I've been mulling over this one all week and then it finally came to me. The Eucalyptus tree is the exotic. It is not a native tree to our country. It reigns from Australia, where there are more that 700 species, mostly native to this continent. Most of the Eucalyptus trees found in other regions of the world have been planted.

The picture of the Eucalyptus below was taken in my backyard. It stands approximately 100 feet tall. Just below this Eucalyptus are many live oaks, some blue and some scrub oak, which are native to this area.


Here are some pics of the scrub oak, but look, underneath the oak is another exotic it's an Agave, otherwise known as a "Century Plant".

There are some 125 species of this plant in Mexico while there are only 15 in the U.S. This species is an Agave atroviriens, it can weigh over two tons. This plant here is actually 10 ft. tall.



Here's a closer look. I should have placed my husband next to it's prickly leaves to give you some perspective. These stalks are well over 6 ft. long and approximately 15 ft. across. This particular genus will die once it flowers which is about 20 years, it's starting to flower.

click on photos to enlarge:


Now for the fun trivia:
The Agaves have been used as food source as far back as 1000 A.D.
Today, just across the border in the state of Jalisco, Mexico, in the town of Tequila, they are extracting Mescal to distill for Tequila from this Agave. By law it's the only Mescal that can be called Tequila.

Perhaps I should consider tapping into this sucker for my Margarita's this summer.

You do not want to be pricked by this cactus nor try to dismantle it without proper protection as it will cause numbing to your limbs, temporarily of course. Now you could suck the Mescal from the plant and your numbing problems will subside.

Have a lovely week! Thanks as always for your comments and visits!

My other blogspot: "The Way I See It"

Old/New

My contribution to this week's 2thingsphotochallenge Old/New

Old/
Here's a photo of Yosemite Valley I took last time my dad came to visit from New York.

This is your first view of Yosemite, located on the lower western end of the valley as you enter the park. It's breathtaking. You can see the sheer granite face of El Capitan on the left, Cathedral Rocks on the right and just below Bridalveil Falls.
Click on image to get a closer look.

Most of the granite features of Yosemite Valley were created during the Cretaceous Period when intrusions of igneous rock comprised of solidified molten magna formed plutons beneath the earth's surface. The earliest of these granite intrusions appeared 114 million years ago.
Plutons, named after Pluto, the Roman god of the underworld.

New/

Here is a recent photo of the Roman Colosseum or Coliseum. One of the greatest works of Roman Architecture and the largest amphitheater ever built in the Roman Empire. It's relatively new in comparison to Yosemite Valley, as it was completed in 80 A.D. under the rule of the Roman Emperor Titus.

It was capable of seating 50,000 or so spectators for gladiator sports, animal hunts, mock sea battles and executions. Last recorded event was in the 6th century.

and another Old/ for old time sake.

my contribution Box/Car 2things challenge. I'm throwing in my image for Box/Car at the request of D.C. Confidential . I thought I was too late last Sunday, so I had deleted it. Might be worth a peek and now it's old.

This was actually a folded box car template that once assembled became a carrier for a child's hamburger.

Thanks for stopping by! My other blogspot: "The Way I See It"