WhatcomTom

Whatcom Falls February 11, 2012

Tom Gurney — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 00:02:47 +0000

We had another beautiful almost springlike day so it was time to gather the dogs and go to Whatcom Falls off leash dog area.

Apparently we were walking a bit to slow for some members of the walk…

The sun was shining.

The falls were roaring…

Listen :

Camano Island February 4, 2012

Tom Gurney — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 22:38:30 +0000

Remember the last visit to Camano Island? Wet, cold cloudy.

Well today was beautiful, sunshine and water so calm you could see the snowy mountains reflected in the bay. Please be sure to scroll down to the last photo. It is quite interesting…

Mount Baker is beautiful from every angle.

And as promised. These sculptures were down a private road. The sign says Harley Blvd so assuming they are made of Harley parts.

Beautiful Bellingham February 2, 2012 Sunset

Tom Gurney — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 15:08:57 +0000

Easy Creamy Tomato Chicken Soup

Tom Gurney — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 02:18:55 +0000


From guest blogger Bliss

Easy Creamy Tomato Chicken Soup (dairy free)

1 box chicken broth (about 4 cups)
1 tsp garlic powder, Or 2-3 cloves of fresh garlic pressed.
1 Tbsp of basil, Or a handful of fresh basil chopped
2 tsps of oregano
1 tsp of powdered ginger, Or use fresh I did not have any
1 14 ounce can of Coconut Milk or Coconut Milk lite
1 14 ounce can of diced tomatoes and their juice
4 cooked chicken breasts (I marinated mine in Italian seasoning and then baked in the oven)
1/2 to one bag of fresh washed baby spinach (or chopped if big spinach)
*for vegetarian version add cubed pan seared tofu and substitute vegetable broth
*for fishatarin use cooked shrimps instead of chicken and substitute vegetable broth
salt and pepper to taste. I did not add pepper but served with hot red chilli flakes.

1. Put everything in a but the chicken and the spinach into a large pot
2. Cut up or shred the chicken into bite size pieces and add to the pot
3. Heat to a nice boiling simmer, turn off the heat and add the spinach stirring well. Cover and let sit until spinach is nice and warm and wilted then serve.
More fresh basil can be used for the garnish when served.

Recipe adapted from this recipe.

Time and Date Website

Tom Gurney — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 15:23:14 +0000

I came across this website today and found it so useful I thought it deserved a blog post.

It is called timeanddate.com

There are all sorts of interesting useful tools and information but I used it for the date to date duration as I wanted to look up how many days (183) until the Warrior Dash Race . I am going to be participating in the July 22nd Dash with a group of friends.

2012 01 14 Showing Camano Island and Stanwood property

Tom Gurney — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 22:24:24 +0000

I had some out of town clients that are looking at waterfront property and we went to Stanwood and Camano Island on Saturday.

Sunday Lake – Stanwood

Another one from Sunday Lake

A really pretty Madrone tree. There were a lot of Madrone trees on Camano Island.

One of our favorite houses of the day, was a beautiful newer home built in the style of an old fashioned craftsman with plenty of cubbies and fun roof lines.

Our view on the way home, even though it was cold and almost snowing it was still beautiful.

Snow Day

Tom Gurney — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 06:48:17 +0000

Earn Your Body

Tom Gurney — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 04:41:38 +0000

Photo Fun

Tom Gurney — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 04:42:22 +0000

Went and took the dogs for a hike on Sunday at Stewart Mountain Trail. I discovered a couple of interesting things which I shall go into in more detail in my next post. For tonight I thought I would share a little of the process I go through when I decide a photo needs some editing. Most photos when they show up in the screen untouched to not have the vibrancy or “life” that they had in person. So that can be added back a bit with photo editing. Tonight was just more about having fun but can also sort of explain where hours can be spent on photo editing. Not complaining as it is a interesting entertaining process. The hard part is which edit “wins” and gets to be on the blog. Well in this blog they all win…

All these edits were done in flickr with the free picnik software. It is a great option if your computer is to old and slow for photoshop.

to get a larger size click on any of the photos.

Original: nice perspective in this picture but a little washed out:

Cropped and “boosted”:

Sepia with a touch of “matte” finish around the edges:

Black and White with vignette finish:

And my favorite? “Holgish” similar to the B&W with some subtle differences:

Have a great 2012

Tom Gurney — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 01:38:13 +0000

I hope it is a “roaring” good year!