The Coffee House

SquarePeg · Jul 11, 2025

snowbear said:
That sounds great!

It looks like Woodland Stonecrop is native and as far as native dogwoods, Red Twig and Silky are but both are in the three to six feet size range. It's very possible the lighthouse has non-native. There is quite a bit of sea rose along the coast and it comes from Asia, I think. The broadleaf lupines are all from the west coast. I'm not a stickler for natives but prefer tham if possible. My goals are to cover the ground so I don't have to kill myself trying to mow the hill, and provide something for birds and butterflies. Additionally along the shore I want to prevent erosion from boat wakes. Now that the pond has been drained some, I cleaned up a bit and started collecting rocks. Those will also line the shore to help prevent erosion. I'll take the camera down this weekend to recod my progress.

Even if they’re not native, the beach roses (Rosa rugosa) are beautiful. Also in Maine I see and love the Queen Anne’s lace, the fireweed and the beach plums. Lupine is a great idea just be aware the wild type can really spread and I have read that it attracts ticks.

jeffashman · Jul 11, 2025

VidThreeNorth said:
Temporary(?) Warning About My Patreon Account:

I just created a "Patreon" account. If you happen to run across a link to it, IGNORE it, at least for now. I plan to announce it when I have something to post that I like. If I understand how this works, you might get charged a fee if you "view" something on Patreon. So that's why I'm posting this warning. I don't want anyone getting charged for accessing something that I created by accident while trying to learn it.

Patreon uses a tier system with the free tier being the base, and then someone who has a Patreon account can add paid tiers with subscription amounts.

snowbear · Jul 12, 2025

I guess I’m finished with this glass of water.

cgw · Jul 12, 2025

Had a Manx who was fond of flat beer--shameless old guy!

VidThreeNorth · Jul 12, 2025

jeffashman said:
Patreon uses a tier system with the free tier being the base, and then someone who has a Patreon account can add paid tiers with subscription amounts.

Thanks for the info! I'll be thinking about it. I'm just not comfortable with it. At least it sounds like I won't be costing anyone money, at least for now.

VidThreeNorth · Jul 13, 2025

VidThreeNorth said:
Yes, It's The Moon Again . . .

And Again:

Having struggled with the GF3 with a lens with the proper M43 mount, of course I had to try again with an adapted lens. Specifically my ancient (all manual) Pentax 300mm Takumar, which gives a 600mm angle of view. The GF3 gave NO FOCUS assistance, and the lens is already soft. I tried about a half dozen exposures, and this looks about the best. The file size was just a bit too large to upload, so I re-sized it down to 1600 wide. Compared to the original file size, I can't tell the difference. Either way, well, it's just "reeeealllyyy" soft.

SquarePeg · Jul 13, 2025

Arghhhhhh! Knocked my camera off the table. My 70-300 was attached and took the hit. Barrel separated from the mount. I don’t see any other damage. I reattached it but the camera is not reading the lens as attached. Camera is working fine with my other lenses. Off to Fujifilm repair the lens goes. Hopefully will have it back before my vacation next month.

cgw · Jul 13, 2025

SquarePeg said:
Arghhhhhh! Knocked my camera off the table. My 70-300 was attached and took the hit. Barrel separated from the mount. I don’t see any other damage. I reattached it but the camera is not reading the lens as attached. Camera is working fine with my other lenses. Off to Fujifilm repair the lens goes. Hopefully will have it back before my vacation next month.

Lucky you! Think that's why I like primes...Fingers crossed the Fuji wizards can revive it.
My last almost-unforced error involved tutoring a Zoomer who shifted their tripod-mounted Pentax 6x7 from landscape to portrait. We're talking concrete block weight throwing a tripod
totally off balance. Gravity almost won!

jeffashman · Jul 13, 2025

Heyho Campers! Another weekend come and gone. We learned this past week that our two little kittens are most likely lynx point shorthairs, a type of Siamese breed. Back in the late 40's early 50's a breeder crossed a Siamese with a Tabby and created a new breed. When full grown, these guys will keep their blue grey eyes and beige coat, but with Tabby pattern and dark tipped ears and tail. Atticus has made friends with our Cavvie Nixie, to the point that he crashed and was using her as a pillow to sleep on. Daisy on the other hand, just barks at them and makes them arch their backs and hiss back at her. Honey just looks at them and wags her tail, occasionally growling because Daisy is growling, and Honey is learning bad habits from Daisy. I think we'll have to introduce the kittens to Honey next, with Daisy outside or banished to the bedroom.

smoke665 · Jul 14, 2025

SquarePeg said:
Arghhhhhh! Knocked my camera off the table. My 70-300 was attached and took the hit. Barrel separated from the mount. I don’t see any other damage. I reattac

Been there, had a few accidents, will likely have a few more in my life. C*** unfortunately happens.

smoke665 · Jul 14, 2025

Well we had a costly day yesterday. Ms Phoebe jolted us wide awake just after 5am with that "unique" sound that a retching dog makes just before they upchuck in the middle of your bed. The only sound I know that canoeing you out of deep coma to wide awake and alert in a NY second. Over the course of the next 8 hrs she threw up 10 more times. We were going to try to wait it out till our vet opened this morning, but as she continued to not show much improvement, we decided to take her into the new emergency vet in town. Despite all her problems intestinal/gastric aren't on the list. Blood work normal, no temperature, couldn't really find anything. Gave her a shot to calm the stomach, some anti nausea meds and a nice little bill for $650. Nothing significantly wrong apparently which is good, and she slept through the night without incident.