Category Archives: Home

Barb’s Garden (May 2024)

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The DJI Osmo Pocket 3 has scores of features and hundreds of settings but I’ve been reduced to just capturing a few minutes of straight-on video. (I’m just guessing about the number of features and settings because I’m still discovering new ones every time I turn the camera on)

All of those options allow one (who knows what they’re doing) to create amazing cinematic shots. If you don’t know how to configure and use this camera, it is frustrating. Even with countless how-to videos on YouTube. I’m determined to get comfortable with this camera but I know there will be times when I’m tempted to just grab my iPhone and start recording. Shoot, I haven’t scratched the surface of what the iPhone camera can do. This is probably what it would feel like to take your first flying lesson in an F35.

Target Practice

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My friend George and I took our shotguns down into the woods for a little target practice. George is experienced with all type of firearms… I’m a novice. I recently traded my Remington .12 gauge for a Mossberg Shockwave 590 in .410 gauge and this is my first time to shoot the gun. It was a lot of fun. Video runs 3.5 minutes.

I learned a couple of things from today’s practice session. Most importantly, there’s an issue with the new shotgun. Very difficult to rack and jams frequently. It’s on the way back to Mossberg for repair or replacement. Secondly, the Hornady .410 Triple Defense (41 caliber slug + two 35 caliber pellets) has “stopping power” but far too easy for me to miss (in the middle of the night out of a dead sleep in a dark house). I did much better with the 12 pellet BBB Buck Shot ammo.

Osmo Pocket 3: Big Ass Rock

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Trying to get the hang of the DJI Osmo Pocket 3 camera. The camera is on a selfie stick about four feet above the deck. I’m using the remote mic which works great. I try to stay out of the videos I shoot because I look older than Keith Richards. I like the distance I get with the Pocket 3 face-tracking. And the audio with the remote mic is exceptional.

At the 3:08 mark I refer to another rock formation on the other side of the house.

Target Practice

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Last time I took the 12 gauge out for a little target practice was back in January. The Remington was what everybody recommended for home defense but it always had a little more recoil than I liked so I gave the 12 gauge to my brother-in-law and purchased a Mossberg 590 Shockwave in 410 gauge.

Now that my busted arm is on the mend, I’m ready to try it out with the .410.

Poppies

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It has been many years since I used the WordPress app on my iPhone. So long, I don’t recall why I stopped. Thinking about giving it another go. 

Target practice

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Some years back I had a sheriff’s deputy do a security check of our home. He looked at the locks on our doors and places around the house where someone could… lurk? He didn’t find anything obvious. I asked about best firearm for home protection and he immediately said shotgun. A few weeks later I purchased a Remington Model 870 12 gauge. I had some reservations about having a gun in the house but decided I’d rather have a gun and not need it, etc etc. It occurred to me I’d be much more likely to pull the trigger if I could do so without killing the intruder so I investigated “less lethal ammunition” for the shotgun.

Once a year I take the 12 gauge into our woods and fire off a few rounds, just to stay familiar with the weapon. The weight, the recoil, the sound, etc.
I was firing from about 20 feet from the targets on the assumption I’d never be farther away from someone who got inside our house. The blue circles are the wadding from the shotgun shells; the yellow is birdshot; and the green is 00 Buckshot. I’m not a great shot but with a shotgun you really don’t have to be.

Icy hill 2024

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Regular readers know we live at the top of a pretty steep hill, at the end of a gravel road. This week’s weather left our hill slipperier than I’ve ever seen it. Nobody was getting up or down. The truck above belongs to a man who delivers part-time for Amazon and he was trying to bring a package to us. Dude, we can wait.

Four or five years ago our neighbor braved the hill trying to get to church. It was not god’s will. And way back in 2008 I recorded one of my more popular videos: Icy Road of Death. I wouldn’t live anywhere else.