Outside My Window ~ 6.19.11

Outside my window…is a cloudy, humid morning.  At 10:30 and we are at 75°F with 84% humidity and little to no wind at the moment.  One word…humid.  The forecast high is for a chance of thunderstorms and a high of 84°F.  I was checking out the Weather Channel online a few minutes ago and it appears as if a large storm system is moving east towards us…I suppose our storms will come from a combination of that and our typical afternoon heating plus humidity that produces some storms.  I’m not so fond of warm, humid weather but my tomato plants seem to love it…they are growing like weeds.

I am glad…that school is over for another year.  I do realize that this summer could bring its on individual set of issues….but I am so glad I don’t have to worry about waking up a sometimes impossible to wake up (and might I add sometimes cranky) teenager for at least another two and a half months.  Hallelujah!

I am thinking…I would like to wish a Happy Father’s Day to the two men that helped me become the person I am today….my dad and my step-dad.  With their love and guidance, I was able to make it through all the hills and valleys in my life thus far.  And I’m fairly certain it wasn’t always easy for them.  😉 

From my kitchen…well, my plan was to have a recipe ready for today…but I don’t.  So instead I will share a handy kitchen tip with you ~ don’t get too excited, I’m seriously no Suzy Homemaker in the kitchen.  This is something I discovered years and years ago, and it has worked for me without fail each and every time.  For a perfect hard boiled egg every time…fill a pan with cold water…place the desired number of eggs in the cold water…heat on high until water begins to boil…cover, remove from heat and wait 25 minutes.  Uncover, drain water and let cold water run into the pan for a couple of minutes…I usually drain out some of the water and add a little ice to speed the cooling process…peel and enjoy!  The whites should come out not too firm but not too soft and the yolk will be cooked to perfection.  Have you ever boiled eggs and the yolk had dark areas around it ~ the egg was overcooked.  And you can pretty much determine what undercooked is.  Seriously, I have been using this method for probably 25 years…perfect hard boiled eggs every time. 

I am working on…developing my own work flow action in Photoshop.  An action is a recorded series of steps you use on one image but can play back on others to replicate what you did.  There are certain things I usually do to all my images when processing…cleaning up the image and fine tuning if you will.  I have been practicing on several older images I have on file this weekend and I think I have figurered out how I want it to flow, or in other words, what steps I want to follow and in what order.  Once I record my action, I will simply open a new image, press a button and it will process all those steps for me.  The only thing I will need to do is go back to each layer and tweak the settings for that particular photograph.  I will also be able to do a batch processing, or a lot of images at one time.  Once I get the cleaning and fine tuning out of the way, I can spend more time on adding textures or creating a different look for the image.  I know, I may be speaking Chinese as far as some of you are concerned, but if you process images, you know how time consuming that can be. 

I am going to…finish the potato salad I am making and get ready to go to my mother’s house for dinner today.  On the menu today, barbeque chicken and ribs as well as other assorted goodies.  Yum!

I am hoping…that the forecast thunderstorms hold off until this evening when I am home with no place to go. 

I am hearing…the ticking of my many clocks…the hum of the refrigerator and ceiling fan…a siren off in the distance…an otherwise quiet house. 

Plans for the week include…working from home on Tuesday….going to the dentist to have a filling replaced (groan)….maybe harvesting more tomatoes  🙂  ….finishing my work flow action.

One of life’s little pleasures…fresh, clean sheets on your bed.  Is it me, or do you sleep better that night? 

From my camera…a couple of images from back in the day.  The first one is my father, my brother and me and the second is an image I took of my step father during a back yard cookout….Happy Father’s Day ~ I love you both!!  🙂