2 mice! FotoSketcher results. And...Great Osprey/fish photos!

Yesterday morning I noticed two empty non-electric campsites that I could see from my perch over the lake, and since I was worried about mice, I decided to move.  I got everything together and lastly, picked up the rug runner I had outside in Katie’s fenced area.  The wind had bunched it up, and when I shook it out to fold it, out popped a little fat mouse.  Another of those EEEEKKKK moments from me and from the critter.   He took off and ran away, and I thought, okay, that was the mouse.  Then I opened the hood of the truck engine, and there was a little fat dead mouse in one of my traps.  So we had TWO mice in the vicinity.  I was happy to move on.

So I drove down to the road, turned left, and saw that both of the sites had already gotten occupants.  Rats!!!  There are only seven dry campsites with a shelter, which I wanted, and two are for tenters only - impossible to get level in those - so it's hard to get a regular non-elec site here, unless you're willing to get creative or park in the sand by the lake.  I'm a little afraid to do that, although tons of RV are next to the lake every weekend. 

I feel better going to town or leaving the campsite to dump the tanks when I have a shelter and can leave out chairs, etc. so show it’s an "occupied site."  I wasn’t comfortable leaving our stuff in the “side of the road” site we were in.  So, all packed up and ready to go, I decided to head toward Wal-Mart.  Once the shopping was done, I decided that since I had less than a week to go at Elephant Butte Lake, I'd just head on down to Caballo Lake State Park.

We arrived about 5ish and – as I usually do – I just headed for the boat ramp area and parked above the lake in the parking lot.  There’s nobody else here, so it’s nice and quiet and we again have a beautiful view.

There are multiple campgrounds in this state park, so we’ll probably be here a day or so and then move to a more “designated” campground, Riverside, where there are lots of elec and non-elec sites.  It's along the Rio Grande and a pretty area.  I've had problems there with mice and squirrels getting into the rig and engine, but down along the river at the end of the park, I've been okay so far.  I'll probably head there.

Since my last post I downloaded FotoSketcher, a free painting program for PCs.  So far I really like it.  I don’t know how it compares to Apple’s Waterlogue, but so far I’m enjoying it, and I just started.   I did a little research and found “Tips” and a full Tutorial for the program.  I haven't checked them out yet, but will today to see what I can do to change and enhance my “digital paintings.” 

Here are four samples, the first is my original photo, the second is a watercolor, next a color pencil sketch, and the fourth filter is called emergence.

 

 

Pretty cool, huh?  I like the different versions of this Great White Egret that I snapped at Santee Lakes RV Park a few years ago.

Here’s a couple more of my first attempts.  This watercolor was done from a photo I took on my condo patio:

This was done from a photo of cactus flowers at one of the state parks here in New Mexico:

I love photos of doors - this was a door that I copied from somewhere on-line:

Here's my roadrunner from the other day:

And this is an older photo that I've always liked - I think from Quartzsite - done as a watercolor on textured paper:

So, those are just some quick examples of what I did with no tutorial or tips, just playing around.  Imagine what I could do after I read through those.  I’ll let you know…

I have to show you photos of an Osprey I took a couple of days ago.  I was talking to my neighbors, Carol and Chuck, who are avid birders, and they told me about an Osprey that flew right over their heads with a big fish in it's mouth.  I was wishing I had seen it!  So, I walked on and saw an Osprey again on top of a pole.  Even though I had already taken photos of this exact situation, I couldn't resist snapping a few more pictures.  When I pulled them up on the computer, here's what I saw:

This must have been the same bird.  He just sat there holding onto his fish, looking back and forth, guarding it.

I love the way he's got the fish secured with his claws - showing the face with it's eyes, gills, and open mouth.  How lucky was this shot!?!

"Yeah, and you stay back - this is MY fish!"

I was so excited when I saw the detail in these pictures.  :)

Okay, enough photos for today.  I'm accumulating a bunch again, so hopefully I'll be posting more.  I have a few more from Elephant Butte, too.  I had an up close and personal experience with a Roadrunner yesterday.  I'll tell you about it next time.

From me and Katie, have a great Friday, everyone!  :)