PhotoHunt - Metal wire statues

Marianne spotted these metal wire statues at IKEA several years ago and they have graced the shelf near our front door ever since.

Sky Watch Friday - Wednesday sunset

The view to the west from our yard is through the neighbors' backyards. Now that the leaves are mostly gone, we get a glimpse of the sunset through the trees.

Looking to the southwest over the corn field was a band of color under the clouds. And to the west above the trees was a patch of blue. These were taken a few minutes apart on during sunset on Wednesday.

My World Tuesday - Community Bridge

The city of Frederick was originally laid out along Carroll Creek. Over the years this creek flooded and after severe flooding in the 1970's, the city began planning for a flood control project and redevelopment of the damaged areas along the creek. The flood control project consisted of large underground conduits for excess floodwater and a park along the creek. One highlight of the plan was a community bridge to replace the old Carroll Street Bridge over the creek. The view above is the east side of the bridge. Below is a shot of the bridge where it meets an old building, now the Delaplaine arts center.

The bridge is concrete with a painted mural looking like a stone bridge with various elements of community life painted on the stone blocks. Below are some of the symbols included in the mural. For more information on the bridge see its web site. I have previously posted other photos on my blogs here Bridges Between, a view from the bridge and the fountain.

PhotoHunt - Three reflections

Monocacy River, November 1

Tree and me, November 8

Our house, tree and me, November 13

Sky Watch Friday - Frederick skies

Saturday noon - storm watch

Sunday afternoon - clearing skies

Sunday late - view from my window

Tuesday afternoon - snow flurries on the mountain

Tuesday afternoon - wide open skies

More experiments with Photoshop

I posted the original of this photo on my daily blog. Then I decided it would be an interesting scene to experiment with. Above is the Filter => Artistic => Palette knife effect. Below I did some free hand distortion with the Filter => Distort => Liquify effect. The third picture is Filter => Sketch => Bas Relief effect. PhotoShop Elements has almost 100 different filter effects, with variable parameters for many of them. The trick will be to learn which effects work best with various subjects.

My World Tuesday - Late 1800's housing

The original plan for the town contained 340 lots. Most of this area is now designated as a Historic District and in addition to regular government zoning and permitting, a historic review is required when a building is renovated or repaired. The object is to preserve the architectural and archeological heritage of the site. Last week I posted a photo of a 1756 house. These today were built in the late 1800's. Originally the buildings were residences, but now some are businesses. The architectural style of these houses was prevalent throughout other US cities during 1870 - 1900.

Interesting details on the front of this 1895 building with two residences

An appropriate use for an old building

The Trail Mansion is now a funeral home