Posted by Nancy

Once you start getting to work on a complex graphic, you’ll want to use layers. Here’s what I’ve found works best for me and seems to flow easily in GIMP. You can start with your own image, or download my classroom graphic here: classroom_small_zip.

To view the Layer’s dialog box, press CTRL-L or from the Dialog menu.

Create a new layer:

Notice that in the dialog box for a new layer you can select different options. I use the “Transparent” option most of the time, so my new layer will overlay the background layer. Also notice the size of the new layer. This is where it gets tricky in GIMP. Leave it at the size of the image right now.

Next, draw a new selection on this new layer and fill it with a color. When you click on a tool in GIMP, the dialog box below the tools area will change to allow for options with that tool. Experiment a bit with that and you’ll find some cool effects. Read more…

Posted by Nancy

For an even easier way to crop images in GIMP, use the Selection Tool:

1) Click and drag a selection over the area that you want to remain as your image.

2) From the Image Menu, choose Crop To Selection

3)You now have a quickly cropped picture in GIMP!

Posted by Nancy

First day Jen and I have been out caching for awhile, so we def had to get back to this one. The past few weeks the Asian Gardens has had some rennovations done on it and we were hoping the find would be easier this time around. Beautiful oasis in downtown Des Moines, right on the river:

GPS was pointing in a different spot this time…hum….maybe we’re onto something!

Does this rock wall make my butt look big?!

Jen begins her search just ahead of me and Ne-hau! Theres the clever little hide! She felt around one of the larger stones and there was a coat hanger type wire - push it and out pops this container with the cache:

A quick sign of the log and off we went to find the next cache!

Posted by Nancy

Middle of the day. Downtown Des Moines. Gritty. Hot. The smells of steel and asphalt assaulting the senses. We need shade. And we need it now. As is true with most of Des Moines, there are beautiful artworks in the weirdest of places. We steadfastly follow the GPS needle to this little concrete oasis:

We follow the GPS which leads us right…to…a bush. Hum. That can’t be right. But as the Taurus that I am, I start feeling around the clumps of grass. On my hands and knees. Needless to say, I am a magnet for any kind of LEO and sure enough the faux-po comes out to watch us. Greaaat. I know. Let’s pretend we’re here to admire the art! Yeah, I’m clever like that. So, we do! Look at this cool stuff:

Jenny does a quick circle around the whole area to reorient the GPS and voila! There she be! A nano magnet on this sculpture:

The cache owner remarked in his post that “I was tempted to hide it somewhere else, but I decided it wasn’t prudent.” Hum. Wondering. Wondering.

And bonus! Urban caches don’t have any of this:

Posted by Nancy

I signed up for a few days of volunteering with the Des Moines Sports Commission - hosts of the 2009 AAU Junior Olympics. The event will run from July 27th thru August 8th and there’s lots of ways to get involved. Here are a few of the categories where volunteers are needed:

• Athlete Registration
• Baseball Volunteer
• Baton Twirling Volunteer
• Beach Volleyball Volunteer
• Boys Basketball Volunteer
• Cheerleading Volunteer
• General Volunteer
• Girls Basketball Volunteer
• Gymnastics Volunteer
• Jump Rope Volunteer
• Karate Volunteer
• Power Lifting Volunteer
• Swimming Volunteer
• Table Tennis Volunteer
• Taekwondo Volunteer
• Track and Field Volunteer
• Trampoline & Tumbling Volunteer
• Weightlifting Volunteer
• Wrestling Volunteer

Visit the Des Moines Sports Commission’s Volunteer Webpage for more details and to sign up!

Posted by Nancy

The other day, after finding the bluebirds nest ravished by a gnarly racoon, I thought for sure they’d move on to start their second brood somewhere else. Bonnie and Clyde don’t give up that easy it seems , because just a few days later, I see them around the feeders and the birdhouse. Curiosity got the best of me after a few days so I sneeked a peek. Whoa, what do I find but 3 sparkling little eggs:

I gotta tell ya, I felt a bit like Count von Count from Sesame Street, everyday finding a new egg, for a whopper of a total - 5 cuddly bluebird eggs!

So, here it is 12 days later and the nest is still secure with my bungie cord, the weather’s been warm - perfect for a nesting mommy. Just a few days more and I’m hoping to hear the peeps chorus to wake me.

Posted by Nancy

Well, I hid another cache recently! I volunteer, as you know, up at the Arboretum and there was only 1 geocache there. What?! 1?!

Now that is unacceptable! So, to inspire more people to visit the Arboretum, I hid a cache out there amongst the Oaks:

As you can see, things are getting rather lush out at the Arboretum - beautiful place to spend a few hours with nature. Just on the other side of this hiking path are some lounge chairs where you can chill and listen to the birds and enjoy the breeze and the sun.

Whoa! I got lost in a moment there… *ahem* My mind went here:

Even if you’re not into geocaching (muggle say what?), the Arboretum is a great place to find your happy place.

Posted by Nancy

Came home from work. Pretty average day. No weird “wildlife encounter” stories to tell. Um, whoops, I spoke too soon.

Went back outside to sit and drink a beer - watch the sun set - enjoy the birds at the feeder when what do I see scoot right in front of my big toe:

Yes, it’s a baby snake. Really, what is this Ace Venture syndrome?

Posted by Nancy

Ghost-like train rushing by a rural country road late at night. That’s what I like about living in Iowa. There is a simple, grounded beauty hiding in the ordinary.

Posted by Nancy

Sadness upon waking this morning…looked out the window, holding a cup of coffee and what do I see but the birdhouse door wide open! *Gasp*

I rushed outside in my jammies, in the pouring rain, in my socks to find the nest on the ground and the remains of damaged eggs:

Two damaged and Two survivors. Now the two surviving eggs may have been damaged in the fall but I couldn’t see any visible cracks to the egg shell. I put the nest back together in the box after drying it out a bit on a lamp/lightbulb. And, I cupped each one in my hand and warmed the egg up (bluebird eggs need to be at about 98 degrees) by covering and blowing warm air on the egg.

As I was warming them up, I noticed Bonnie hanging around. Yay! She will try to finish incubating them if they are not damaged.

Put them back in the nest:

Probably a Racoon got into the nest, from the type and style of the damage to the eggs. I put a bungie cord around the nest box to prevent the Racoon looking for a quick meal from getting into it tonight.

As a note: Bluebird eggs (and most birds and eggs) are protected by law. They are best when left to their natural habitat if at all possible.