Where we planted geraniums

Each red dot represents where we planted a cutting. After my first pass at adding dots to the photo, I went with pen and paper to the slope to tally how many between curves (along the fence) and along the curves. I was stunned to discover that the count was more than double what I'd drawn. So, I added dots between the existing dots (a convenience for me compared to redrawing from scratch), a few dots short of reality. Man, what if all of these survive till next year and all bloom? That would be so cool.

See the upper right red dot? It's just beyond the wire fence. I was able to get one hand through a narrow gap, pound a hole and insert a cutting. Even if the rest get cut out, that one will remain beyond reach. :)

Another Thai soup recipe

I think I like this recipe better than the version I posted a few years ago.

FOR STAGE 1
1 can coconut milk, then 2 cans water (or 1 can water, 1 can chicken broth)
1/2 t pepper,
1/2 t salt
1-2 chicken breasts
fistful of mushrooms, sliced

FOR STAGE 2
something hot-spicy (e.g. habanero sauce; 1/4t cayenne; 1/2 serrano, diced)
two med carrots, slivered or bias cut for visual
4 cloves garlic, chopped
2t (or more) fresh ginger, chopped
1/2 red bell pepper, slivered for visual
1/4 c lemon juice
2T cabbage, coarsely chopped

WHILE THE SOUP IS SIMMERING
fistful fresh basil, coarsely chopped
fistful fresh cilantro, coarsely chopped

---

STAGE 1: Start heating a skillet to high. In a large saucepan, add the coconut milk, water, pepper, salt, turn up the heat to boil while you move to the chicken. In the hot skillet, sear the chicken on one side till it has some dark brown, flip briefly for slight cooking, but do not cook through. Cube and set aside for STAGE 3. Dry-sear the mushrooms in the chicken fry pan to reduce mushroom moisture, then brown with a tiny bit of oil or butter.

STAGE 2: While the mushrooms cook, do this for each of the stage 2 ingredients, in the order listed: prepare the item, then add it to the soup base. Reduce to simmer.

STAGE 3: Add the chicken and mushrooms to the soup base. Taste. Increase spiciness, lemoniness or saltiness as needed.

Right at serving time, stir in the basil and cilantro. Serve.

Creating and editing webcam videos with Windows

So, you have a webcam and you want to create some simple videos and post them to youtube?

Recording with your webcam software

Your webcam probably comes with software that lets you record a video. Look for it.

Recording with (free) MovieMaker

If you couldn't find a video recorder that came with your webcam, let's see if your MovieMaker program lets you record video. First, see if you have this program: C:\Program Files\Movie Maker\moviemk.exe. If you do, run it and see if the File menu has the option named Capture Video. If it does not, you cannot record with MovieMaker.

Recording with (free) ManyCam

Download and install ManyCam (http://download.manycam.com/)

After you start ManyCam, you see an Effects tab. It has "Text over video". Uncheck the little box by Show ManyCam Logo.

Under the Sources tab, click Cameras and select your webcam. (Or, if you want to record what's visible on your Desktop, click Desktop and experiment with its options (Full desktop, partial desktop, custom desktop).)

Just below the video display, do you see a red "Rec"? Can you click it and start recording?

Editing a video with MovieMaker

[[to do: add basic split/delete steps]]

Adding words/titles

Split (Ctrl-L) where you want a title to be added. Highlight the segment after the split.
Tools > Titles and Credits.
Select "title before the selected clip"
Put text in the top portion if you want it big. Put text in the bottom portion if you want it to be a subtitle of the upper part or all on its own if you just want the smaller text.
Click Done
Click-hold-drag the right edge of the resultant clip to increase its duration upon playback.


Fading out

Right click the segment you want to fade out at its end.
Click Fade Out. (Similar works for "fade in" at the start of a segment.)


Adjusting the length of a segment without further splitting of it via Ctrl-L

Click the segment. It is "highlighted" as evidenced by the darker border on it.
Click-hold-drag either end of the segment and drag toward the middle of the segment to move that end inward. You can later drag that end back to its original length if you want.


Saving the project

File > Save Project
This lets you save the editing facts but doesn't actually create a movie.


Saving the project as a video/movie

File > Save movie file
My computer (next)
Provide a first name, and set the second box to Desktop
Either leave it as "Best quality" OR select Show More Choices and select High Quality, either Large or Small
Next or Finish...whatever it takes :)
Soon you will have a wmv file on your Desktop and you can upload that to youtube, email it, whatever