A good day for digging...

What a great day for digging!  And what is the best tool for serious digging?  Yep, the Cat wins that day on that front.  Got any holes you need dug?

A good day for digging...

Details:
iPhone 5S, vividHDR, Filterstorm, Snapseed, PhotoStudio


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It's a small world--or is it?

Is it a small world?  I guess it all depends on your perspective.

It's a small world--or is it?

Details:
iPhone 5S. ProCamera, Filterstorm, PhotoStudio


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Colorful crawler

The aquarium does have some interesting inhabitants.  This colorful little guy reminded me of the many hours of snorkeling we did in the clear waters of Hawaii many years ago.  Too many years ago...

Colorful crawler

Details:
iPhone 5S, ProCamera, Filterstorm, PhotoStudio


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Grandma goes fishing

Went to the new Loveland Living Planet Aquarium in Draper, Utah.  Nice place with some great exhibits.  Some of the other things to watch closely are the visitors.  Sometimes they can be as fun to watch as the fish  Here is one that I call Grandma goes fishing as this older woman gets in close with her tablet to take her pictures while at the same time being the subject of my pocket camera.  Overall, a good visit--just the right size to enjoy exhibits without coming away exhausted.  

Grandma goes fishing

Details:
iPhone 5S, ProCamera, Snapseed, Noise Master, PhotoStudio


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Mall Moose

Let's see--50% off everything in the store plus another 10% off taken at the register and at a big brand name outlet store where prices are already low...  What more do you need to suck you into a shopping trip?  Or to suck your wife into taking you on a shopping trip?  After all the Tanger Outlet mall moose even greets you as your arrive.  A shopping we will go.....

Mall Moose

Details:
iPhone 5S, vividHDR, Retouch, Snapseed, PhotoStudio


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Toasted around the edges

Seeing these little blossoms with the petal edges browned reminds me of my mother's admonition during my early youth.  You all have heard it.  The classic "Don't touch!  It's hot!"  Seems these flowers tried a little too hard to reach the sun and got burned in the process.  Anyway, that's the memories they invoked as I passed by and noticed this strange edge shriveling.

Toasted around the edges

Details:
iPhone 5S, ProCamera, Filterstorm, Retouch, PhotoStudio


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Yellow flower funnel

Time to buy some lawn fertilizer so we went to the local nursery.  I went off to find the chemicals while my wife went off to buy some additional flowers to plant in the yard.  Needless to say, my errand was completed quickly which left me with some "wandering" time while my wife looked over the goods and decided--not an easy task with the myriad of choices available.  So I wandered....  This beauty is one of my findings.  No I don't have a clue what it is called but I liked the color, the funnel shape and the pinkish/purple blossoms in the background.

Yellow flower funnel

Details:
iPhone 5S, ProCamera, Filterstorm, PhotoStudio


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Springtime yard improvement choices

Memorial Day weekend and still yet more springtime yard choices.  This place has rows and rows and rows of such choices.  I have no green thumb so I leave all this stuff to my dear wife.  My job is to make sure the sprinklers and watering system is working and the garden gets irrigated.  Oh, and I fertilize the lawn.  Any other yard activities are done only under close supervision--the supervision part based on past consequences from experiences when I was not supervised.  Load up the shopping cart...

Springtime yard improvement choices

Details:
iPhone 5S, vividHDR, Snapseed, Filterstorm, PhotoStudio


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What goes up must come down

Walking down the hallway I passed the water fountain.  Since I was thirsty it was time to stop.  After catching this image I got to thinking what a great physics lesson is contained here.  What goes up must come down.  If it doesn't go down into the drain, it will go down into my belly.  In fact, a lot of it did end up down in my belly--I was thirsty.

What goes up must come down

Details:
iPhone 5S, ProCamera, Snapseed, PhotoStudio


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Tools of the working day

Every working day these three tools get added to my pocket.  Gotta have them with me just to get around and take care of those daily duties.  Forget them and I end up locked out or unable to get into the necessary software.  They don't take up much room but I don't like much in my pockets.  In fact, my wallet is about as minimalist as they come--it is a rubber band around my driver's license and one credit card--that's it.  So these tools really bulk up the daily pocket.

Tools of the working day

Details:
iPhone, ProCamera, Filterstorm, PhotoStudio

A drip not quite ready to drop yet

We are now in the lawn and flower watering season.  As I walked outside today I saw these sprinkler water drips gathered along the bottom of our porch railing as the day came to a close.  I slipped on my Olloclip close-up lens and caught this one just hanging out not quite heavy enough to drop yet.

A drip not quite ready to drop yet

Details:
iPhone 5S, ProCamera, Olloclip lens, Snapseed, Filterstorm, PhotoStudio


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Just hangin' out...yoga style

Just hangin' out.  That's what the kids call it today.  No more dating.  No more boys taking the initiative to ask out a young woman on a date, have a plan, pick her up and focus their attention on each other for the time.  No, now its all just hangin' out.  Well Lego Man Joe has his own version of "hangin' out...yoga style.  When he wants to be with a woman he makes a date and treats her like his date.  None of this fooling around with hangin' out stuff.  Maybe he is just old fashioned.

Just hangin' out...yoga style

Details:
iPhone 5S, ProCamera, Snapseed, PhotoStudio


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Who is that handsome guy?

I learned a long time ago that you've gotta keep Lego Man Joe away from the mirror.  He gets too full of himself when he finds one--must be the Elvis hair do...  Anyway, I thought I was keeping track of him and the next thing I know he found this reflective pair of sunglasses.  It may not mean much to you but now I have to live with him for the next few days...sheesh!

Who is that handsome guy?

Details:
iPhone 5S, vividHDR, Snapseed, Filterstorm, PhotoStudio


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Spuds! Lots of spuds today...

Spuds, spuds and more spuds!  Peel 'em, cook 'em, mash 'em up and smother them with turkey gravy.  Ya, that's what I'm talkin' about!  Hopefully I don't bite into any hard plastic parts.  Lego Man Joe, you didn't lose anything in there did you?

Spuds!

Details:
iPhone 5S, ProCamera, Filterstorm, PhotoStudio


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Tomatoes in and watered

The garden tomato plants are finally in and the irrigation is flowing.  Trust me--the tiny plants are down under the bottom of each tomato cage...just hidden by the irrigation trench wall.  By the end of the summer they will be up and over and all around the cages with more than enough of the fruit (yes it really is a fruit and not a vegetable) to go around here.  Grow babies, grow!

Tomatoes in and watered

Details:
iPhone 5S, vividHDR, Snapseed, PhotoStudio


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Serenading gator

Moonlight brings out the most interesting creatures.  It was about as dark as a moon lit night in the shadows under the cupboard where I found this guy.  He looks like he is serenading his sweetheart up above.  Hmmm, I have never heard about this strange gator mating practice.  Yep, moonlight brings out the most interesting creatures....

P.S. Sometimes I am truly amazed at the low-light capabilities of this iPhone camera.

Serenading gator

Details:
iPhone 5S, ProCamera, Snapseed, PhotoStudio


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Sweet! Homemade strawberry jam.

Eat your hearts out gents....  The love of my life has many talents and making tasty homemade goodies is certainly one of those talents.  I arrived home to find 25 jars of freshly made strawberry jam.  24 of them will head to the freezer where they will slowly feed my habit over the next year.  Of course there is nothing better on a piece of fresh homemade (right from grinding whole wheat kernels into flour) honey wheat toast spread with a thick coat of nature's magic ingredient--butter.  Mmmmmm, mmmmmm, good...!

Sweet!  Homemade strawberry jam.

Details:
iPhone 5S, vividHDR, Snapseed, PhotoStudio


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Simply Refreshing

Stormy, cold, rainy weather is finally gone.  The sun is out, the flowers are blooming and the days are finally warming up.  All that is captured in this flower and fountain image.  Simply refreshing.

Simply Refreshing

Details:
iPhone 5S, vividHDR, Snapseed, Filterstorm, PhotoStudio


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Old friend

Nothing like slipping on the tried and true, broken in and comfortable favorite shoe.  Everyone has a favorite pair that just feels right, nice, relaxing and at home on the feet.  This is one of mine.  I hope you have one a good as this one is for me.  Much like an old friend, a friend that takes the foot no matter what the situation and just surrounds it, doles out the comfort of being in a familiar and accepting place and making it feel at home.

Old friend

Details:
iPhone 5S, vividHDR, Snapseed, Filterstorm, PhotoStudio


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Grip strength buddy! It's all in the grip strength.

Lego Man Joe demonstrates the grip strength advantages of being a Lego.  When the grip fits it provides for absolutely unprecedented and seemingly impossible feats of strength.  Joe demonstrates here...

Grip Strength buddy!  It's all in the grip strength.

Details:
iPhone 5S, ProCamera, Filterstorm, PhotoStudio


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Sucking on the BIG gulp

Drinking the big gulp sized soda.  To put this into perspective, Lego Man Joe is sucking on the straw of a mini-reservoir sized soda.  There would be enough here for an entire city of folks his size.  Take that Mayor Bloomberg (New York City mayor who limited the size of soda servings within his city)!

Sucking on the BIG gulp

Details:
iPhone 5S, ProCamera, Snapseed, Retouch, Filterstorm, PhotoStudio


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Face plant

Went down to the gardens next to Temple Square in Salt Lake City with hundreds of volunteers this morning to yank out all the spring flowers and tulips, turn the soil and spread mulch in preparation for the summer flower planting.  Hundreds of hands make light work and after a few hours most of the flower beds in a half a block area were cleaned out and prepped.  This little spring flower had done its own face plant after all the rain this last week.  A little while later all was gone--ready for a new round of flowers.  An army of volunteer gardeners can sure accomplish a lot is a short time.

Face plant

Details:
iPhone 5S, ProCamera, Snapseed, Filterstorm, PhotoStudio


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Manhood on hold for the day

Birthday decorations for one of the manly men in our office.  Decorations courtesy of his female coworkers.  They definitely put his manhood on hold for the day.  But I gotta hand it to him, he was man enough to leave it up all day and work through all the attention it brought him throughout the office.

Manhood on hold for the day

Details:
iPhone 5S, vividHDR, Snapseed, Filterstorm, PhotoStudio


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Sprouted

This plant image grabbed me with the intricate and interesting pattern of it's leaves against the rough finish of the wall behind as I walked right by it in a restaurant.  I had to pause and capture the moment.  Looks like a mature sprout to me.

Sprouted

iPhone 5S, Camera, Snapseed, Filterstorm, PhotoStudio


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Time to let go....

There are times we hold on and there are times we let go.  Today is a letting go time.  We let our youngest child go today.  She will serve 18 months as a full-time Spanish speaking missionary in Virginia.  She is on a plane as I write this, headed to Mexico City for some high intensity Spanish and missionary training lessons.  After six weeks she will move to Virginia and settle into this new phase of her life.

Time to let go...

Details:
iPhone 5S, Camera, Filterstorm, PhotoStudio


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Bouldering...

Bouldering.  Lego Man Joe practices his skills where ever he can--even if in the middle of the craft room between dozens of handmade gifts being prepared for a big event.  Leave it to him to play while the rest of us are working on the project.

Bouldering...

Details:

iPhone 5S, ProCamera, Snapseed, Filterstorm, PhotoStudio


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