Corona

Playing in Lightroom

I have the opportunity to be playing with the Lightroom program.  It's taking a bit of time to figure out since it's different from PhotoShop but I think it's going to be fun to use.  Here's my first photo attempt there.  I cropped this out of a larger photo that I took last summer out at Sand Wash Basin, Colorado.  I also played with the vibrance and saturation.

Here it is cropped without anything else being done.

And here's the original photo.

Fleck Playing

We went out to Sand Wash Basin in NW Colorado for my birthday last week.  This has become a yearly tradition for us to see Mustangs on my birthday.  This year did not disappoint!  There's a drought but we saw LOTS of horses!

Photo Contest

It's been awhile since I've posted.  The inspiration hasn't been there as much and my time has been limited too.  I'm wanting to post more again though, although African Violets may not be my focus as much for a bit.  Mustangs are going to be the focus for a bit... the blog is called Violets and Mustangs, after all!

I entered a photo contest sponsored by Canon this morning.  I doubt I'll win but it's always fun to dream.  If I win then I get a new camera and a printer!

I asked my friends on facebook to help me decide which photo to enter and this was the one that seemed to be the most popular.

The top 10 finalists will be chosen by August 23 and then it'll be up for public vote.  I hope I'm in that (but reality says I probably won't).  Again, it's good to dream!

Here are some of the other photos that my friends really liked...

Ack!

I just watched what was probably one of the worst videos about African Violet propagation that I've ever seen.  I'm glad that a young person is in love with our plants but I hope that he learns some better tricks than what he shows in his video.

Here's my comment that I replied with:

Thanks for your enthusiasm! We need more younger people involved in the hobby!  I have a few pointers. 1/ You don't need to use rooting hormone.  AV leaves are prolific in production without it, so you're wasting your money.  2/ While some varieties are very slow to produce babies, most will have "mouse ears" poking up within 6 - 8 weeks if they're put down into a very small pot.  Think 3 oz Dixie cup or smaller.  You also need to separate the babies so they grow better! And I'm out of space!

I ran out of space on YouTube's space but I also wanted to say that watering a leaf that frequently will probably rot it.  You also do NOT want to tamp the soil down like he did.  You need to leave space for the new roots to grow and for the baby(ies) to make their way up through.  Even better than using straight African Violet soil is to mix it with perlite (50/50 is good) so it's not so heavy.

I couldn't believe the babies that he showed that had been there for a year and were growing up in the original pot as the momma leaf.  Those babies would look so much better if they'd been separated out months ago!

And now I'm off my soapbox.  Just remember that not everything on the internet is the best advice.  m3rma1d makes excellent videos with great advice on how to care for your African Violets and I highly recommend her over just about anyone else out there!

Richter auction... MINE! :D

YAY!  I just won an auction for Richter's Chenille!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/261058080719?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649&autorefresh=true

I lost several of the Richter babies that I had and will be getting replacements next week of all except for Green Dawn.  That's the only one that I have to find out of the Richter hybrids that are known to still be available.  So close to having them all!

French Lilac - plant 2

Last summer I received a plant of French Lilac and immediately fell in love with it.  It was such a gorgeous plant and I absolutely loved it.  My absolute favorite of all of my violets.  When I moved in March, I lost my plant and I was heartbroken.  There are two strains of the plant... the original has wonderfully wavy leaves and the other has more flat leaves.  In my search for a new plant, I was scared that I'd end up with a flat leafed variety...

Last week, I found one on ebay from a seller that I greatly respect.  The photo appeared to have wavy leaves, so I bid on it.  I bid more than I've bid on any plant because I wanted it that badly and I won!  The seller wrote to congratulate me and told me that it was actually just starting to bloom...

She arrived in today's mail and I was blown away by her beauty.  Gorgeous wavy leaves, beautiful blooms... I'll take photos of her tomorrow as my light tonight was really crappy.  I'm in love though!  <3 <3 <3 <3 <3