Four-Years Ago (21-December-2014) — Falkland Islands

Gone to See Antarctica 2014/2015. Hurtigruten Christmas Voyage on the MS Fram. Day 6: New Island, Falkland Islands.

Rockhopper Penguin, New Island, Falkland Islands. Image taken with a Leica T camera and 18-56 mm lens (ISO 100, 56 mm, f/8.9, 1/400 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, Focus Magic, and Photoshop CC.

Rockhopper Penguin, New Island, Falkland Islands. Image taken with a Leica T camera and 18-56 mm lens (ISO 100, 56 mm, f/8.9, 1/400 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, Focus Magic, and Photoshop CC. (David J Mathre)
Rockhopper Penguin, New Island, Falkland Islands. Image taken with a Leica T camera and 18-56 mm lens (ISO 100, 56 mm, f/8.9, 1/400 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, Focus Magic, and Photoshop CC. (David J Mathre)

Tuesday (11-December-2018) — New Jersey

Home Cooking. Savory Herb Loaf.

Savory Herb Loaf Recipe: Sprouted Wheat Flour (1 cups); Whole Wheat Flour (1 cup); Bread Flour (1 cup);  Dill Seed (1 tbs);, Celery Seed (1 tbs), Poppy Seed (1 tbs); Dill Weed (1 tbs); Oregano (1 tbs); Parsley (1 tbs); Garlic Powder (1 tbs); Chives (1 tbs); Flax Oil (2 tbs); Salt (1 tsp); Egg (1 large); Brown Sugar (2 tbs); Water (1 1/3 cup). Above ingredients added to Panasonic Bread Bakery. Yeast (2 tsp) added to yeast hopper and the unit set for Whole Wheat Bread (Rapid) and started. Three hours later, I removed the loaf of bread. It rose to well above the top of the pan — and the house smelled of herbs. I only let it cool a few minutes before slicing a piece. It was good, but next time I will add a bit less sugar so it doesn’t rise too far.


Individual images from the slide show can be viewed here.

Monday (10-December-2018) — New Jersey

Indoor Nature in New Jersey.

Most of the herbs I planted in a hydroponic garden have sprouted. This is day 10 since I set the system up. It will be interesting to see how big the herbs get. I am going to need a larger system for growing indoor lettuce this winter. A couple of the cactus plants have started to bloom after I moved them indoors for  the winter. The cactus flower images were taken with a Fuji X-T2 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 macro lens.



Individual images from the slide shows can be viewed here.

Saturday (01-December-2018) — New Jersey

Adventures of iRobot.

Time-lapse video from the perspective of an iRobot floor vacuum. Images taken with a Garmin VIRB-360 camera. I am actually impressed with the iRobot. I thought the floors were relatively clean, but had to stop and empty the bin several times. I guess my beard has been shedding. The robot does this random walk as it moves through each room. It automatically stopped and switched direction when it came to the stairs to the Great Room. At the end of an hour when the battery was getting low it found its way back to the charger.

 

Thursday (29-November-2018) — New Jersey

Elby Electric Bicycle.

I picked up an Elby 9-speed electric bicycle. Some assembly required — attach the left pedal, and straighten the handlebars. Plus adjustments to the seat height. My last bicycle was a single-speed Schwinn that I had trouble getting up the hill to my house. The Elby has four-levels of power assist, and four-levels of battery regeneration (when going downhill or breaking). A bit of a learning curve to figure out how to use the SRAM X5 derailleur for shifting since the levers were a bit too close to the RC3 controller. I also installed a mount for my Garmin VIRB-360 camera (the bike has a USB power outlet). Once I got things figured out, the power-assist was great, and got me up the hill to my house. One potential downside is that the company that provided the BionX 500 watt DC motor for the bike went bankrupt. I look forward to having the bike along for my next road trip.

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Elby-9 Electric Bicycle. Image taken with a Leica D-Lux 7 camera (ISO 200, 21 mm, f/4, 1/125 sec). (David J Mathre)