Flowering Again?

Some thing peculiar is happening. This has never happened before as far as I know.

The rambutan season here just ended about 2 weeks ago. In fact, there are still some rambutans on the two trees that I have, though they are not human edible anymore.

And last week, new flowers are blooming again! Not just on one but two trees.

Yes, we have had two rambutan seasons before within a year in the past. But normally, they are spaced out on a couple of months apart.

What's happening? What's triggering this phenomena?

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R.I.P. LahChee

I have been expecting this and it finally happened last month on 18th July 2024. LahChee died with what looks like brain seizure.

It was around April 2024 when I first noticed that something was wrong with her. She wasn't gaining weight and looks a little skinny even though she was eating and drinking normally. She was of the size of a 3 month kitten even though she was 7 months old.

Rest in peace LahChee. We all are going to miss you.

R.I.P. AhChee

The stray mother cat that can came into my life some eight or nine years ago, died last Sunday 14th July 2024. Funny thing was on the evening before she died, she was still very active and came to me looking for food at around 6:30 PM in the evening like she alway do. I obliged.

She gulped down about half a cup of liquid in the food while consuming some noodles and anchovies in between (it was chicken feed meant for my chickens). She then followed me around and even went hunting for rats.

Next thing I knew was my neighbour found her dead in the morning.

R.I.P. ChahJee

I feel so sad. ChahJee died yesterday 5th July 2024 after been with my family for only 18 days. He died at around 1:35 P.M.. My wife and I was by his side.

Welcome ChahJee

Not too sure why but this mature cat has decided to call my house home. I tried to chase him away but he just refused to go. On the next day, he was still loitering around in the backyard. But on the third day, he got all friendly, brushing himself against and bonding with me.

So, welcome cat, welcome to my home.

R.I.P. - Chahchee

Name: Chahchee

Date Of Birth: Sometime begining December 2023

Date And Time Of Death: 13th June 2024 6:00 P.M. (after short illness since 3rd June 2024)

Cause of death: Unknown

Age: 6 months+

Thank you Chahchee for coming into my life. If only we could have spent more fun and time together. 6 months is just too short.

Focus Bracketing With Olympus EPL-9 And Nisi 58mm Close-up Filter

Greater depth of field. That's what I want for my macro pictures.

So, focus bracketing with a close-up filter attached was one of the first thing that I tried when I first got my Olympus Pen EPL-9 camera and Olympus M.Zuiko ED 40 - 150mm R zoom lens. Tried a few takes and I was disappointed. The results that I got then was unimpressive. I was confused and I wrongly assumed then that the close-up filter combination with the zoom lens doesn't work. How wrong was I. It does works, albeit with some limitations.

The focal length must be between 40mm and 80mm, and ideally, the subject should be at least 25mm across in size. Beyond the 80mm focal length or if the subject is too small (like a lady bug that is 5mm across), the pictures will be unimpressive.

I haven't tried but with a Raynox DCR-250, the focal length range should be less because of its higher magnification capabilities. Maybe between 40mm to 70mm. Again, I haven't tried.

I stumbled upon this find accidentally earlier this month. Not sure why but when I saw this colpacampsomeris indica wasp (thanks to bob296 at iNaturalist for identification) resting on a leave in the cool 8 A.M. morning air, I turned the dial on the camera to AP mode, selected Focus Bracketing, and I clicked away. And the outcome (after much editing because it was shot handheld) was this:

Sorry for the Dreamstime watermark. The picture was too good to not submit it as a stock photo. For a closer look of this picture at Dreamstime, click here. And oh yeah, I wasn't stung by this wasp.

Nest In A Tree Branch

This is the first time I am seeing this. A bird nest in a tree branch. My, the bird is not even a woodpecker but a Coppersmith barbet instead. The old tree where the nest is sits on my neighbour's property. The place is quite tranquil, now a home-stay with not much human activity. Probably, this is what attracted the mother bird to this place.

My Nisi 58mm Close-up Filter

Well, things does not always go according to planned as we all know.

A couple of months ago, I had the intention of getting a budget macro lens; the ones that are made in China. I've narrowed down my choice to either a TTArtisan or an 7Artisans.

Guess what. I bought a Nisi 58mm close-up lens (NOTE: a Lazada Malaysia affiliate link) (Also available on Amazon.com - Note: an Amazon affiliate link) instead in the end.

The deciding factor: the ability to auto-focus when shooting macro. I already own a Raynox DCR-250 (a +8 dioptre lens), by the way. But I felt that I needed the extra working distance than a +8 dioptre close-up lens offers.

Yes I know what they say about most macro photographers where they focus exclusively in manual. But I am just not that confident with my manual focusing abilities. With stock photography, where my macro pictures will end up eventually, sharpness at the point of focus matters. And when you miss your opportunity, there may not be second chance. Hence, my decision with the Nisi over a manual macro lens.

Resynthesizer's Heal Selection In Gimp Under Linux Mint 21.2

Installing the plug-in Resynthesizer in Gimp 2.10.30 running in Linux Mint 21.2 is not as straight forward as it seems. The root of the problem, it seems, is that Resynthesizer requires Python 2. However, Python 2 has been dropped on Linux Mint 21.2 in favour of Python 3. But luckily there is a work-around thanks to some very clever people on the Internet.

Anyway, this is how I got Resynthesizer (and thus Heal Selection) working on Linux Mint 21.2 for Gimp 2.10.30, as of 21st February 2024.

1. Install Gimp via Linux Mint's "Software Manager".

2. Download and install Resynthesizer executable into the local gimp plug-in directory (usually ~/.config/GIMP/2.10/plug-ins)
   
   (description can be found in this forum thread https://www.gimp-forum.net/Thread-Gimp-2-10-Resynthesizer-Linux?pid=11261#pid11261)
   
   The rest of the Resynthesizer Python scripts can be found in the folder PluginScripts at github.
   
   Make sure all downloads are executable (via the command line, I use the "chmod 664").
   
   I could have compiled the Resynthesizer executable myself, but I didn't.
   

3. Download and install 'gimp-python2-overlay-launcher-ubuntu22.04.AppImage' (a 27.2 MB download)
   
   In the description (scroll down to the 25 Apr 22:22 announcement) it says:
   
   "These AppImages launch a system installed Gimp and add Python2.7.18 and MathMap. This solution loads Gimp without changing the operating system. They are intended for current systems @ June 2022"
   
   

4. Test your setup by launching the downloaded Gimp launcher AppImage from 3. It works for me.

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