Do you shorten the word sandwich to “sammy”?
In favour of lazy lingo, we’ve done this for ages.
What’s your fave sammy?
Ours is the home-made BLT. We prefer home-made because we can be sure the bacon is thick cut, lower fat, and warm. There’s just something about this crunchy, soft, savoury, tart, warm and cold, combined meat and salad sandwich that satisfies so many sensory food experiences at the same time.
I smile every time we have an overnight stay in Mineral Wells, TX and read this sign.
I hinted at this in a previous post and it finally arrived last week!
The Moment 240 mm mobile lens was yet another reward for myself.
On May 11, I achieved three smoke-free years after an almost 54 year habit.
Each year on my anniversary, I spoil myself with items from various wish lists. This year, it was the mobile phone camera gear list that got fulfilled.
This lens works with the 4x native zoom in my iPhone and creates a true optical 8x zoom.
The phone does have an 8x zoom, but it’s not a true optical zoom, so although great photos can be captured with that, there are a few issues with clarity – especially with birds and wildlife.
After I’ve practiced more with this lens and my new mini tripod (if it’ll hold the weight of my phone with this lens attached), I’ll share a few photos in a future post.
For size reference, here’s the lens in my hand:
Do you use photos to guide your posts?
Sometimes, a blogger will write that they’ve run out of ideas for a post, or that their writing well has run dry.
Something that always works for me is to review my thousands of photos.
There’s almost always an idea amongst them.
Yes, I take lots of photos. I’ve done that since I was a teenager and was gifted my first camera.
Photography to me is a magical hobby where I can explore the world either close up or from a distance. Looking for subjects while I’m out for my walks, while we’re out for a drive or on vacation, or even when I’m just hanging out in the house keeps me grounded in the present.
Almost all of my photos are time and date stamped, so they’re also the diary of my life.
Whenever I wonder about a future blog post, I just go to my Amazon photos and start browsing. Before too long, a photo or group of photos (from the over 8,000 I have stored there) will turn on a lightbulb and away I go.
My photo muses lead the way.
This is an extremely controversial proposed project in our area. These signs are posted everywhere.
The 8x zoom on my iPhone 17pro requires either a very steady hand or a tripod. Macro and night photography require the same.
I have a full-sized tripod in Texas. Here at home, I have a compact table top tripod. Neither of these is of any use to me when I’m out for my morning walks because I choose to not carry anything with me besides my house keys, my phone, and my headset. If it isn’t light weight and doesn’t fit in a fanny pack, my jacket pocket or the slim pockets of my exercise pants, it doesn’t go with me.
Recently, while searching other phone camera gear on Amazon, I came across this tripod made by Lamicall that folds flat. When folded up, it’s thinner than my phone, and isn’t much bigger overall than the palm of my hand.
I read the reviews and when anything I’m interested in has a 4.5 out of 5 star reviews from many customers, I’m interested. This little gadget met my requirements in every way, so I ordered it.
The tripod sets up quickly and easily (instructions are included but not required). It includes a strong extra magnet to attach to the back of the phone case. The magnet on the tripod itself is very strong, and held my phone easily, but I attached the extra magnet for additional security.
The day after it arrived and a day later, I gave it a test run on my morning walks.
Because I was the only one out at that early hour, I had to be my subject. Modeling is definitely not in my skill set nor in my comfort zone. That said, I was anxious to try out my new gadget, so pose I did.
For both of the above photos, I used the timer for shutter release.
The next two photos are the same scene. I used the new tripod and a wireless bluetoothed shutter release.
I’m anxious to see how it works when my next gear item arrives.
Can you guess what that might be?
**Note: I’m not affiliated with, nor do I get paid by the brands/web sites I mention in my posts. I simply hope to pre-answer any possible questions about the gear I use.
Last winter in Texas, with the helpful guidance of a friend in our park, I made my first attempt at Cacio e Peppe. Cacio translates to cheese and Peppe to pepper. Those are the ingredients in this spaghetti dish that’s apparently a favourite in Rome.
With only three ingredients, you’d think the dish would be easy. It’s far from that.
The cheese paste is then added to the pasta in the pan and stirred with tongs to coat – then served immediately (feature photo)
The reward for the required attention to detail is a pasta dish with a creamy, peppery cheese sauce.
My second attempt turned out even better than the first and hubs claims it as his favourite pasta dish.
We’ve been overrun the past few years, and it’s to a point where they’re destroying crops and campgrounds.
This fella didn’t get the memo.
Some days the baking stars all align and I know from the time that I see this exact meringue stiffness that my macarons will be perfect.
The lemon macs from the merengue in my feature photo turned out nicely.
As I’ve said in previous posts about these divas of cookies, my ocd-ish personality loves the attention to detail and perfection that’s required in every step.
Charla is one of the travel bloggers I follow.
She and her husband are full-timers in their RV and once a week, through photos and fun descriptions, she recaps their journeys across the USA.
You can find her blog here.
In her post yesterday, Charla had a photo and information about this controversial metal sculpture at Council Bluffs Iowa. As soon as I saw the photo, I said to hubs, “We were through there last fall and I have a photo of that sculpture too!”
Because my photo was shot through the tinted front window of our truck, the white balance was skewed. I corrected it in one move in Lightroom. Here’s a before and after:
Today’s post seemed the easiest way to share my photo with Charla and to introduce my readers to her informative, educational, and entertaining blog.
Radically Retired 