Food mode

(edit: I originally wrote this post by email from my phone, however only 1 of the 2 photos I attached made it to the post.  Probably because I wrote it from a parking lot, then started driving while it was uploading and lost wifi connection!  I love technology, but it does have its limits. LOL)

Recently, my Galaxy S4 gave up the ghost.  Among various minor glitches, the first major thing to go was the default camera software. It stopped saving pictures, with either corrupted files or nothing saved at all.

I started using a purchased software and, while still shots worked fine, it corrupted, then lost, some video I took.

When it came time to choose my next phone, I was in a bit of a quandry; do I do what I usually do and get an older phone for cheap?  Or do I get the best new phone for my needs.  You see, I hardly ever use my phone as a phone.  For communication, I am more likely to text. I drive a lot, so even that is limited.

After examining my usage, it was two things that were the deciding factors.  One of those was camera quality.  It was camera quality that lead me to go with the Galaxy S6.  It got really good ratings, and I have been very happy with it.

It has not been until a few days ago that I finally got around to actually looking at the settings and options.  It turns out that there are modes that came with my old phone that are now available as free downloads.  Looking through the various modes available, I found several others I wanted to try, including a "food" mode.

Here are two photos to compare.

One is of a cheap grocery store stir fry meal, just out of the microwave and still in its plastic bowl.  That one was taken in food mode.

The other is of a Soda Jerks build your own burger.  It was taken with default auto mode.

Both were taken in fairly low light.  The burger picture has been cropped, but no other post processing has been done. These are raw photos.

What do you think?  Can you see a difference?

A.

Such a beauty!

My daughter spotted this beautiful dragonfly on the edge of the sidewalk earlier today.  It allowed her to pick it up and hold it for quite a while.

Dragonflies are so beautiful!

I'm really pleased with the quality of photos from my phone.  I upgraded to the Galaxy S4 and, while it has some quirks and toys I don't like or want, I've been really happy with it overall.

So Faaaaahbulous!

Have I mentioned that we're sucks when it comes to our elderly cat?

Yes, these are her new, fabulously pink toenails.

There is a reason behind this madness, however.

This is our 15-or-so year old cat, Tiger.  She hasn't been able to retract her claws very well for some time now, and they are huge and very sharp.  They are also brittle.  When we try to trim them, they crack and split, exposing the nerve.  So we have stopped trimming them.

While it's rough on the clothes, the real problem with this is that she has started going after the carpets again.  When we first moved here, she went after the carpeted stairs with a vengeance, completely ignoring her scratching tower.  We ended up having to cover our stairs with plastic runners to get her to stop.  And it worked.

Until now.

There are still a couple of inches of exposed carpet on either side of the runner, and she's suddenly started to go after them.  She has also discovered a slight bump in the carpet that formed under a heavy bookshelf and started to claw on that.

Yes, we do have scratching posts.  She doesn't use them.

So to save our carpets (and our clothes!), we got these little plastic claw covers.  They're glued on and are supposed to last 4-8 weeks.

She seems quite content with them.

We ended up putting some on our other cat, but just on his front paws.  Sparkly pink ones.  It was rather amusing, the first time he tried to climb up the couch with them!

These things are turning out to be worth the investment!

Update:  I didn't realize my husband had already posted a photo of our cat's new look.  For the record, the other cat did not manage to chew off the pink ones.  They're just not as visible.

Found a coin

So I've got these wonderful Olloclip lenses for my Blackberry Z10 phone; while I'm sure I've mentioned them before, I have to say that the Macro is definitely one of my favourites. This is an old american 50c piece I found in a drawer

Bored on a sunny day

So I'm working from home and taking a break. it's gorgeous sunshine outside :D

Burned

This spring has been an odd one, with cold and snow dragging on for weeks (as you can see from previous posts).

This week, things finally warmed up.  At the time of this writing, we've hit 24C, with a predicted high of 25C (that's 77F for those on Imperial).

Taking advantage of the weather, my older daughter started doing some stuff on the balcony that had her coming in and out every few minutes.

Then this happened.

See that reddish ring on her index finger?  That's a burn that's starting to blister.  She happened to touch the metal door at one point.  I've burned myself on that door a few times, too, but never to the point that it started to blister!

Happy Spring!

Forget Me Not

When my younger daughter's cat, Harley, suddenly died of massive kidney failure, the veterinary hospital that had tried to save Harley sent us a card of condolence and a packet of Forget Me Not seeds.  These are from those seeds.

Golden

This flower was planted by one of our neighbours in the raised beds we built last year.  I love how the petals are sparkling ever so slightly in the bright sunlight.

Growing

One of the purple cabbages I've got growing in our balcony garden.  Our garden is doing really well this year, as is everyone else's.  It's been a good year for growing things!

Pink Hood

After our accessible garden beds were built, several of our members claimed plots and planted everything from tomatoes and potatoes to flowers of all kinds.  This one makes me think of a woman wearing a pink hood.

I need to get our more with the macro lens.  I really enjoy it.

The Beauty of Fungi

My older daughter and I visited the downtown farmer's market today, and we couldn't resist picking up a package of mixed mushrooms.  They were just so beautiful and perfect!!



Such interesting shapes and textures.



I couldn't resist getting in there with the macro setting.



And Finnegan couldn't resist trying to eat some!  I couldn't believe how determined he was to snag a piece while I was trying to take photos!

We have an awesome recipe for mushroom soup that we can't wait to use these for.

Funny.  As a child, I didn't like mushrooms.  Now I love them!

At My Shoulder

I sat on the couch, and this happened.

For the foodies...

I had fun with the macro lens while we experimented with a new recipe. 

Can't resist ... too much cute!

Okay, I have to admit, we are suckers when it comes to cats.

First off, we have decided to keep the kitten the stray mama brought to our balcony.  We have also been able to find a new home for mama.  Our older cat has been sleeping a lot since then - I think she was completely exhausted by those two!

The kitten, which we've named Finnegan, has calmed down a lot now that mama is gone, though he does still try to find boob on our other cat, which is rather hilarious.

One of the things we've done that testifies as to what marshmallows we are when it comes to the kitties is set up a cat bed.  On the desk.  In a drawer.  You see, our older cat likes company in the mornings, when hubby is on the computer before heading to work in the mornings.  Or when anyone else is at the computer, for that matter.  We have a cushion that's padded on one side, rather stiff on the other, and it first just right across the top drawer.  The stadium cushion I'd made some time ago was quickly discovered by the cats and thoroughly loved, so it got put on top.  When both mama and kitten were around, our cat would use this space to escape from them, except they'd sometimes both join her up there, too.  Was never able to get a good picture of all three of them crowded onto there.

Finnegan, however, loves this spot too.  Today, my husband was working from home and Finn decided to go for a nap on the drawer bed while he worked.  He couldn't resist reaching for the macro lens and getting this photo.



As I write this, Finn's still on the drawer beside me, and it's all I can do not to break out the tripod and take more photos.  Setting up would wake him, though, and I'd miss the shots I want, but my goodness I'm tempted!  Especially when he grabs his own face with both paws.

Just too cute for words!!

Yeah, I'm a suck. LOL!

Getting along

Yes, we still have the stray and her kitten living with us.  We've gotten the okay to hang on to them a bit longer, rather then send them to the pound when we couldn't find anyone to take them.

This is my older daughter's cat with a kitten that's growing so fast right now, you can almost see it! 

Tiger is getting on in years for a tabby, and having two new and active cats in the house is a bit much for her.  My suck of a husband ;-) created a haven for her.  By opening a desk drawer and putting a couple of seat cushions on it (including the stadium seat cushion I made to experiment with a new yarn), he made a nice little bed for her to hang out that was above the fray.  She often curls up there to sleep while we're on the computer.

Finnegan, the kitten, took a long time to warm up to Tiger.  Tiger's other favourite place to nap is on the top level of the cat tower, so we just tossed him on there with her a few times.  Tiger, being the sort of cat she is, promptly held him down with one paw and started grooming him.  He didn't appreciate that at first and ran off.

Over time, however, things have changed.  Though Finn and his mother are still a lot more energetic than she has patience for, they both turn to her for cuddles. 

Finn is old enough to be weaned, but he does still nurse when his mother will let him.  A short while ago, he was such an adorable bundle of napping fluff, I picked him up to snuggle while sitting at the computer.  He noticed Tiger on the drawer beside me, however, promptly hopped over and started looking for boob.  Yes, he tries to nurse on her now, too.  When he found no sign of a working teat, he settled for cuddles and Tiger, as she is wont to do, started grooming him.

As I write this, they are looking even cuter, with Tiger curled up around Finnegan, her chin resting on him, their legs entangled.  I'd take another picture, but the camera disturbs them.

The cuteness is overwhelming.

My food is looking at me.

Today the girls and I headed to Kyoto for lunch.  Handily, it's close to my husband's office, so he was able to join us.  This has become one of our new favorite restaurants.  Well, for the food, anyhow. Unfortunately, their service is touch and go.  Today, when the girls and I arrived in advance of my husband at about 11 (we go out of our way to avoid the lunch crowd), we told the hostess there'd be 4 of us, not three.  As we were being seated, we were asked if we could possibly not take too long because they had a lot of reserved tables for noon, and it would be really appreciated if we would be able to finish before then.  Uhm.  Yeah.  An hour is more than enough time to eat there, but still... it was awkward.  Then we sat down to our menus and realized that one had not been left for my husband.  It ended up not mattering, as he ordered his usual (Gyu Don), and it took long enough for him to join us that he could use one of ours, but still...

Yeah.

Anyhow.

My younger daughter and I love their Bento Box D, which has chicken, beef, green salad and their awesome tempura vegetables and seafood.  Their tempura is excellent.  I seriously considered their tempura vegetable lunch as an appetizer, but decided against it.  We wanted to be out by noon, after all....  My older daughter, on the other hand, has discovered their chirashi and LOVES it.

 

She is much braver than I am, when it comes to food!

You see that battered, spiky thing in the back, with the lettuce leaf behind it?  It's a tempura battered upper body of a prawn. See that dark spot under the piece of crab leg?  

That's an eye.

Yes, her lunch was looking at me as I took this photo.

And then my daughter ate it.

Trying new things.

IMG_5087-50%
Originally uploaded by amkb

The girls and I like to try new foods now and again. My older daughter has particularly adventurous tastes. *L* Today while shopping in a grocery store we don't often visit, she went through the import aisle and found these. Taro flavoured mochi.

How... fascinating. *L*

We had no idea what it was, though after looking it up I realized it was just a matter of forgetting the name. I even have recipes for mochi. We just never had the chance to try it before.

I'm not sure if I like it! The taste is sweet and I like taro, but the texture...


... it's like flesh. That's all I can think to compare it too! When we opened the package, we all just sort of looked at them for a bit. It did not look much like the photo on the package. Then I poked at it.

Gah!!!!!!

So... fleshy.

That didn't stop us from trying it, though.

We've had two each, and I still don't know if I like it or not. That weird, chewy, fleshy texture.

I just asked both girls what they thought. My younger daughter can't get past the texture and has decided she finds it icky. My older just said, "skin!" *L*

Yeah, that about sums it up.

Yet I can picture myself suddenly craving this stuff at some point!

Spring!

We are finally seeing leaf buds. :-D  It was a beautiful day for a walk, so I dug out the Canon S3 (smaller, lighter) and took a few shots.  Click on the photo to go to my flickr page and see a few more.

Gone Batty

Gone Batty
Originally uploaded by amkb
Anna: The Little Brown Bat is still hanging out above our door. It looks like it's chosen that spot to hibernate. I tried to get some different angles, but it's so close to the corner, I can't really get the camera in there.

It's so cute! While I was taking pictures, I could see it's furry little sides moving as it breathed. I just want to scoop it up!

I'm not sure this is a good location for it to hibernate, though. It's well sheltered from the weather, but not the temperature. I'm a little concerned it will freeze. Will have to look for some information about that, and see if there's something we can do to protect it.

Itty Bitty Batty

Itty Bitty Batty
Originally uploaded by amkb
Anna: As a friend of my daughter's was knocking on our door, he noticed this little smudge of fur above the doorway. As soon as he realized it was a bat, we immediately grabbed the camera! The gap it tucked itself into is about 3-4 inches wide. As I write this, it's still there. This tiny, adorable ball of fluff. It's all I can do not to try and pet it, or scoop it into my hands.

I love bats.