These Turret shells are from the Turretella genus of sea snails that prefers living on muddy or sandy bottoms.
I believe that they were used as a sort of currency in ancient times.
A simple still life with some white flowers, an empty Patron tequila bottle, and some black velvet.
I shot this for Project Flickr… the theme is “Rule of Thirds”. It’s pretty minimal, but I like minimal!
I set it up my “new” taboret that I found at a second-hand store. Just realized… ‘my new taboret’ rhymes with ‘Raspberry Beret’… I may have to paint it!
Listen or download Raspberry Beret for free on Prostopleer
Had a bit of excitement yesterday. The main water pipe leading into the house broke sending a 20 foot geyser into the air. I had some trouble turning the water off as the valve is right next to the break. Talk about a face full of water. I got thoroughly soaked from head to toe.
Roger, the park maintenance guy got there just as I finally got the water turned off. He didn’t even get wet! But he did get it fixed right away.
Turns out that all the underground water lines are PVC and coupled to copper when they come out of the ground. The coupling is the weak point in the system and that’s where it broke.
See the “water pipe” ground wires attached to the riser? I’m thinking that they are not quite up to code. The PVC is just a few inches below and is not conductive. Hmmmm
This guy was trying his best to get to the sugar water… he sat and watched the hummingbirds, then came over to try it himself.
Here it is, December 27, the middle of winter… and the oranges are ripe in Arizona! Born and raised in Seattle, I’m not used to anything being ripe in the middle of winter. *eyes wide open in awe*
I just tried one right off this tree and… OMG… they are as sweet as can be. The neighbor told me to take as many as I need… WoooHooo!
I went out looking for the ornate and wildly beautiful holiday decorations today. Plenty of them out there, but this house really caught my eye.
The artificial snow on the windows, the hyphenated “Mer-ry Christ-Mas”, and the small creche on the green table spoke volumes to me.
The sign on the doorpost says:
No – NoOne
traspassing
beware
Guard dogs
A bit of the not so extravagant side of Americana…
As I got out of the Jeep, I heard a little yipping sound… figured it was a coyote or something. These tracks looked pretty fresh.
Still looking for an appropriate table and a good looking tequila bottle.
These are old beater chairs I’ve found in second-hand stores for a buck or two apiece. In fact, I found the yellow one abandoned in the desert. It was pretty nasty! A little TLC and a coat of paint made all three suitable models for various photo shoots. I have another in the garage in the process of being painted green.
I may need to learn tole painting and paint Mexican designs on them.
My first try at a still life after the 17th century Dutch painters.
Lighting is only candlelight, except for a 25 watt lamp aimed at the wall behind me. Shot at f/18 for DOF with a 30 second exposure.
Unfortunately the long exposure time creates an unwanted candle flare. But all-in-all I’m happy with the result.
