Violets.

Some recent blooms in our yard:

     The previous owner of our house lived here from 1930 until 1988 or so, and the garden still has a few descendants from earlier eras, which we have retained and encourage to grow. Violets are a flower that were more popular a long time ago, and do not seem common in this area anymore. They need a bit more water than occurs naturally here, so we have herded the violets together as ground cover beneath our roses, in areas where we irrigate a little more.

Creek Series 9

A continuing series of images created from photos of Wappingers Creek, taken over time:

    The previous views were all taken around the same time in the morning. This view is a departure from the norm, having been taken in the afternoon.

January 27, 2012

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Creek 9A

Creek 9B

Creek 9C

Creek 9D

Creek Series 8

A continuing series of images created from photos of Wappingers Creek, taken over time:

    This was a difficult bunch, because the relative lack of color and narrow tonal range. At a glance, these four do not seem much different, but subtlety is an essential quality of such overcast days.

January 21, 2012.

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Creek 8A

Creek 8B

Creek 8C

Creek 8D

Creek Series 7

A continuing series of images created from photos of Wappingers Creek, taken over time:

January 20, 2012

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Creek 7A

Creek 7B

Creek 7C

Creek 7D

Creek Series 6

A continuing series of images created from photos of Wappingers Creek, taken over time:

    Winter weather has arrived in earnest.

January 18, 2012.

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Creek 6A

Creek 6B

Creek 6C

Creek 6D

Creek Series 5

 A continuing series of images created from photos of Wappingers Creek, taken over time:

January 15, 2012.

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Creek 5A

Creek 5B

Creek 5C

A House on the Bay

     Last week, I was able to visit the job site of the house under construction in the photos below. This was one of the last projects I was working on before I was laid off from my previous employer. The house has been under construction for  a year or so already; this is a steep site on the bluffs above the Pacific Ocean in Emerald Bay, and there was a lot of site, foundation and steel work to be done before framing, all in order to create large cantilevered patios that take advantage of the nice view (below).
     The house does not look like much yet, as they are in the midst of framing, but some of us love to look at steel:

Lots of steel supporting the main patios above.

More steel in the basement; these frames anchor the patio and resist lateral forces.

View out from the basement. There will be large sliding glass doors here.

The view southwest from first floor patio.

This is the pay-off: the view southeast from the first floor patio
.

     I will update with more photos as construction progresses.