Mad March Focus Stack

In what felt like the blink of an eye, we went from spring-like weather back to winter with today's high 33F/1C.  Brrrr.  And although I spent a little time outside snapping shots of the cardinals, I decided to go with flowers today. With special thanks to Anni for hosting Flower Friday and thus giving me an excuse to fartnarkle around with focus stacking!

This image was done in my light box, with D600/105 mm on a tripod.  I shot 15 images at varying focal points and stacked them in Helicon for this final image. A few tweaks and small crop in Lightroom.  These daisies, along with a few carnations, are the last surviving flowers from the bouquet Hubs gave me on Valentine's Day - amazing how long they've lasted.  I did a focus stack of one of the carnations, here on Flickr.  Was undecided as to which I liked better.

MIL was in fine spirits today when I visited.  She's definitely starting to recognize people, even if she doesn't know their names.  There is one nurse in particular who she loves kidding around with and the two of them had me laughing so hard I could scarcely breath.  She still asks if she's going to be "here forever" but is accepting when I explain that we need a safe place for her to sleep.  We had two walks up and down the length of the hallway today, part of her ongoing fitness/balance program.  The entire time, she was keeping a sharp eye out for any men - she's now informed me that two boyfriends would be excellent as just one wouldn't be able to keep up with her.  Her words, not mine.  Heaven help us.

Fire is going nicely in the fireplace, keeping the house toastie warm and in a few hours I plan to settle myself on the sofa with a good book.  Or perhaps I'll watch some episodes of The Indian Doctor.  

Hubs made the entire 880 mile drive yesterday, arriving in Alabama at 10:30 local time.

Thanks for stopping by, and have a wonderful weekend!

xo
Debbi