Jay Gaulard

TimeLapse Driving Video and Camera Window Mount

One of the things I plan to do is to take a lot of video while driving. I really love those videos. It’s great to be able to see different places from a realistic point of view. Also, the videos are fairly easy to take and edit.

Here’s a great timelapse driving video I found this morning. This is exactly what I want to do.

Panasonic DMC-FT1/TS1 + Panavise 809 Camera Mount = Timelapse

One tool that makes driving videos much easier to take is a camera window mount. I’ve been doing a little research on the more popular window mounts out there and have narrowed it down to two choices – the Panavise 809 Camera Window Suction-Cup Mount and the Delkin Devices DDMOUNT-MINI Fat Gecko Double Knuckle Single Suction Cup Camera Mount. Both are really good, but I think I have made a decision.

In the video above, the person used the Panavise 809 Camera Mount and as you can see, it works really well. Their editing isn’t bad either, which helped things out. The one problem with the Panavise 809 Camera Mount is that it doesn’t come with the extension. I can’t even find where to buy one of those. The second issue is that there is apparently some impostor out there. Someone is selling inferior mounts under this name on Amazon, so I am not confident that I would be getting the legit mount.

The Delkin mount comes with the extension and people seem pretty happy with it. They say it’s built very well and with that extension piece, it’s pretty versatile. I think I’m going to pick up the Delkin mount from Amazon today.

Here’s a pretty decent video of someone reviewing the mount.

Camera Car Mount Test Footage-Delkin Fat Gecko shot with Canon


Apple Picking at Belltown Hill Orchards, South Glastonbury

This is probably the fastest I have ever written a blog post after an event. It’s because I have been getting kind of lazy and they get piled up on me. This is the last one of the pile. After this, I have nothing to write about.

Today was the day to go apple picking at Belltown Hill Orchards in South Glastonbury. It was a good thing we went today because October is a very unpredictable month when it comes to weather. I remember saying last year, “Next year, we have to take it when we can get it. If the weather is good we jump in the car to go pick apples.” That’s what we did.

This was so much better than last year too. As I have mentioned in some of my older posts, we usually go up to Stockbridge, MA for our apple picking. Well, as I get older, I don’t enjoy driving as much as I used to. From our location to theirs, you have to navigate through some cities and highways. It’s not fun. I would much rather stay kind of local and drive as little as possible.

Belltown had the tractors and the trailers. It is so much fun to hop on the trailer and get towed around to the picking areas. Today, there were about three stops…each one offered different types of apples. Even though the season is almost over and some of the trees were picked clean, we still managed to find very full trees to fill our 30 pound bucket up. That’s right, 30 pounds of apples. Geesh.

I took a bunch of pictures. Take a look at them and try to tell me that the weather could have been better. Nope.

Grass Parking Lot at Belltown Hill Orchards

Grassy Hills at Farm in Connecticut

Dirt Road Through Orchard

People Picking Apples at Orchard

Growing Christmas Trees at Connecticut Farm

Pumpkin Patch at Belltown Hill Orchards

Young Apple Trees in Orchard

Pumpkin Patch

Grass Lawn Between Rows of Apple Trees

Apple Hanging From Branch

Hundreds of Pumpkins on Ground

Red Apple Hanging From Tree

Red Apple Trees


Come Home to Chester Days

This has been on my mind for some time now. I kept meaning to write about it, but then I got busy…etc, etc… I’m sure you have heard it all before.

Anyway. Remember the post I wrote about The Brushmill by the Waterfall in Chester, CT? Well, as I mentioned in that post, a few things happened that day. Not only did we go to the shore and then enjoy dinner at the Brushmill, we also were delighted to discover the town of Chester, CT bustling with people the night of September 17.

That’s right…a small town like Chester was full of people after dark. Amazing.

After we left the Brushmill, we drove towards Chester. As we passed the library, I said to my lady, “Boy, there sure are quite a few cars in the parking lot tonight. Hmmm, maybe they are showing a movie or something.” Then, as we got closer to town, we saw people walking around. As we pulled up to the stop sign right in town, we saw tons of action. The place was full. I found this completely exhilarating. I couldn’t believe my eyes. A town actually doing something instead of just talking about doing something.

So, what did we see that night? We saw the annual “Come Home to Chester Days.” Here is a blurb from the Visit Chester website:

“Every September, we keep our doors open late on the Friday night closest to the Autumnal Equinox to celebrate the beginning of fall. We have receptions in our galleries, shops, studios, and restaurants,” says Leif Nilsson, artist and owner of the Leif Nilsson Spring Street Studio and Gallery. “It is a festive evening when townspeople and visitors are invited to stroll the streets of an antique New England village; to see the latest paintings, photographs, sculptures, fashion and jewelry; to sample baked goods and fine food; and to discover handcrafted decorative accessories and furnishings.” Most everything is within walking distance from the Maple Street and Water Street parking lots.

When I saw this, I immediately looked toward the passenger seat and said, “We’re parking.”

We got out of the car and began our trek through town. Mind you, this was our first real visit…the first time we actually got out of the car to walk around.

First, we visited a few galleries. We accepted the red wine they poured for us and began to smile a lot. There were so many people out that night. All the stores and art galleries were open and showing off their fine items. I had such a warm feeling inside knowing that people had put this whole event together not only for their own benefit, but for the benefit of the population at large. It’s not every night one gets to engage in something so New Englandy and down home. It really was amazing.

As we continued to walk around and visit small shops, we started noticing a few houses that were galleries as well. One of our favorites was the Al Malpa Photography Gallery. We met the person who owned the house that Al displayed his photography in and met the man himself. We great stuff. It was so cool to chat with people we never met before in such a comfortable setting.

As we further enjoyed the night, I began to realize that I am truly out of the loop. So many times I said, “Where in the world have I been? People all over the face of this earth get together so often and I feel so sheltered.” That night, I vowed to get out more. To smile more. To shake more hands. Seriously, life is too short. That’s why people build restaurants and bars, paint and sing, have get-togethers and party.

We picked up a few brochures that described all the annual events in Chester, CT. I have slowly been reading though them and figure that we will attend a few. We actually did make it to the market last Sunday, but I will leave that for another post. At least then, I got some photos.

Till next time…


Nice White Chrysanthemum Pictures

Ya know, I have been writing blog posts about the White Chrysanthemum for years and everything seemed fine. The flower I was taking pictures of and writing about lined up perfectly with what I found in Google images. Well, I just did a quick search for “White Chrysanthemum” in Google and I found a bunch of white flowers that don’t really look like a White Chrysanthemum. Strange. I know this is what I have. I guess I’ll just ignore it and keep writing. At least they look like they are all from the same family.

I couldn’t help but take a few pictures of some of out White Chrysanthemums this evening. We have a few fairly large bushes in the front yard and now that it’s October, they are pretty much in full bloom. I got some decent shots. Some aren’t as crisp as I would like, but that’s probably just because I have a strong desire for a new camera. I really nice one. Of course, that is making everything that my current camera produces sub-par. In my mind anyway.

Here are those photos.

White Chrysanthemum Bud

Bloomed White Chrysanthemum

White Chrysanthemum With Leaves

Single White Chrysanthemum With Yellow Center

Two White Chrysanthemums with Bud


Cleaning the Chimney and Pellet Stove

Ah, it’s October 3 and the chill is in the air. The temperature was in the 40s last night and I couldn’t get enough of the covers. What a change from the humid 90s we were feeling just a month ago.

There are a few things that need to get done in the Autumn. They creep up on you and become less and less pleasurable the colder it gets. Among others, the two chores I am talking about today are cleaning out the fireplace chimney and also cleaning out the pellet stove in the basement.

Now, everyone knows that when spring arrives, you basically close up the damper in the fireplace and call it a season. I mean, the last thing on your mind is to actually clean the fireplace and chimney to prepare it for the next season. That would make too much sense and why do today what you can put off until tomorrow, right?

Well, today was the day I decided to clean the chimney. I pulled out my chimney brush and those fiberglass rods I bought from the pellet stove place last year and went to work. I think I bought five six foot rods. That length of rods pushes the brush all the way to the top of this colonial that we live in and pops it out of the top of the chimney. It took less than ten minutes to get the whole thing brushed.

There are a few things you need to concern yourself with when cleaning out a chimney. First, you will need to remove the damper and take it down. You won’t be able to get the brush up into the chimney flue without removing the damper. Second, after pushing and pulling the brush up and down the flue for a while, you will need to remove the brush and vacuum out the area up in back of the fireplace. Basically, this is the area behind the damper. This is very important. The guy at the fireplace store told me that serious problems occur when people fail to clean that area properly. It can get very hot back there and with all that buildup, well, you get the idea.

Overall, the job of cleaning a chimney isn’t very difficult, but not something to look forward to. If you have a relatively new home and a chimney in good condition, I highly recommend you go to a fireplace shop and buy the equipment to clean your chimney yourself. Have the pros only come out for an inspection every few years. You will save a lot of money by doing this.

Oh yeah, when I clean the chimney of the house we are currently living in, I do it from the bottom. This house’s roof is very steep and cleaning the chimney from the bottom is quite simple. As long as the house is warmer than the air outside, most of the dust is vented right out the chimney.

Now, regarding that pellet stove. I haven’t exactly cleaned this yet today, but by tonight, I hope to get it all finished. I really want to try out those new soft wood pellets I got a while back.

For my yearly cleaning of the pellet stove, I simply disassemble as much as I can and use my shop vac with a HEPA filter to vacuum everything I see. About every other year, I disassemble the fan area and the exhaust piping in the back to do a real thorough cleaning. The stove burns fairly clean, so this is all it’s needed through the years. I am excited to try these new pellets because they are supposed to offer a hotter burn with less ash. We’ll see.


Night Photography On the Connecticut River

A few nights ago, I enjoyed a surprise birthday dinner at Restaurant L&E in Chester, CT. It was a great time that gave me an opportunity to use a few phrases I learned during my three years of French classes from middle school. I was actually going to write a longer post about the dinner, but I think I’ll save that for another time. I just finished doing a bunch of photo editing and am excited to get the photos up here.

After dinner and on the way back to the house, I remembered that we had to cross the East Haddam Swingbridge. I brought my camera with me to take some photos of Chester, but never got a chance to. Nothing really inspired me in Chester that night. The swingbridge was lit up beautifully though and I wanted to take advantage of it.

Getting closer to the river, I thought a perfect spot for some night photography would be the parking lot for the Connecticut River Boat. The only thing that I thought might screw things up were the gigantic lights they had to illuminate the parking lot. As it turns out, they added a little flair to some of the pictures.

By the way, if you want to check out some really awesome night photography, check this out.

Anyway, we parked and I took a whole bunch of photographs. I was really surprised at how easily my new Canon T3i handled everything. When I learn about ISO and shutter speed, I am sure I can get things more saturated and clear, instead of slightly grainy. I would also love to get some blur on the water and movement on the lights of the cars while everything else stays crisp.

After I took a bunch of photos there, we crossed the river to park at the Gelston House. I wanted to get some closer pictures of both the Gelston House and the Goodspeed Opera House. It was a perfect night with a perfect breeze to do just this. I am so glad I brought the camera with me.

Enjoy.

Back of the Goodspeed Opera House On the Connecticut River, East Haddam, CT

Back of the Goodspeed Opera House and the Gelston House On the Connecticut River, East Haddam, CT

East Haddam Swing Bridge at Night, Connecticut River

East Haddam Swing Bridge, Goodspeed Opera House and the Gelston House at Night, East Haddam, CT

Different Angle of the East Haddam Swing Bridge at Night, Connecticut River

Gelston House Sign, East Haddam, CT

Goodspeed Opera House, East Haddam, CT

East Haddam Swing Bridge From the East

RiverQuest Connecticut River Boat From the East


When To Plant Grass Seed In The Fall

I wrote a post a while back talking about the best cool season grass seed for heat and drought. At the end of the post, I gave a few recommendations on when to plant grass in the fall. Basically, I said to start planting on October 1, instead of the September 1 that many people recommend.

I am writing this post to reaffirm what I said in my earlier post. We had a hot September here in the Northeast and any grass that was planted probably would not have made it without ample irrigation. If you had enough water, good, but if you didn’t then you may as well have planted the grass in the middle of the Summer.

Today is October 1. It’s been raining for a few days, which means the rains have returned in this area. This is perfect for planting grass. The soil is moist and able to be properly aerated which will allow the seed to germinate faster. Of course, there is always the change of some freak early Winter, but I have seen people around here start their grass planting in November with good results.

We are located in central Connecticut by the way. Of course, New England is a pretty big area and the climate changes dramatically from place to place, but I would rather plant grass in cooler weather as opposed to warmer weather.


Visiting Martha’s Vineyard

A few weeks back, my parents came up to visit. One of the few surprises I had for them was a trip to Martha’s Vineyard. Visiting Martha’s Vineyard has been on my mother’s wish list for a while and since I had never been to the island either, both of us were excited.

Now, I would like to let you know that I have been to Block Island a few times, so I kind of knew what to expect. I understand that Martha’s Vineyard is a much busier place, but how different can they be? Well, as it turns out, they were different but the same.

To me, Block Island is a really nice place. I have never visited Block Island during peak months, so I always enjoyed a fairly thin crowd. There were never any waiting lines to eat and getting around was easy. During our last visit to Block Island, we rented a scooter and drove all around. It’s a pretty special place.

I was expecting something more of a party atmosphere when visiting Martha’s Vineyard. I think I was right on target. Martha’s Vineyard is more crowded and a bit more energetic. Now, I will tell you that we only visited Oak Bluffs while on the island because that’s where the ferry from Quonset Point brought us. If we visit Martha’s Vineyard again in the future, we will surely rent a scooter and visit Vineyard Haven and Edgartown. But for now, I guess it’s Oak Bluffs.

After we got off the ferry (that took 1:40 mins), we started walking around. We immediately found a small alley that we walked down. It was pretty cool because it was one of those alleys that looked like it had some interesting bars or restaurants. It set the theme for the trip. We did a lot of walking around that day. I mean a lot. So much that I took a long nap for the whole ferry ride back to Rhode Island. My feet hurt too.

So, what did we do? Well, we walked up Circuit Avenue and visited a few shops. Then, we had lunch in one of the eating establishments and then walked around the Gingerbread village. That’s a pretty cool place with something called the Camp Meeting Association Tabernacle at the center. I am not sure of the story of the place, but it sure looked interesting.

After that, we strolled over to Ocean Park and walked around a bit on the beach. We found some pretty cool rocks and shells.

So, that was about it. After a few hours of eating, discovering and walking around, we hopped back on the ferry and headed towards Rhode Island and Connecticut. Overall, it was a good, but tiring day. I guess any time you have to take a ferry somewhere for the day, it’s going to be long and tiring.

I took a few photos and have posted them below.

Beach in Rhode Island at Martha's Vineyard Ferry Launch

Martha's Vineyard Ferry Launch Parking Lot

Martha's Vineyard Ferry

Alley Way on Martha's Vineyard

Small Shops with Wooden Walkway

Gingerbread Houses on Martha's Vineyard

Gingerbread Cottage

Purple House on Martha's Vineyard

Row of Cute Houses

Front Porches on Row of Houses

Brightly Painted Houses

Pink House on the Island

Camp Meeting Association Tabernacle on Martha's Vineyard

Camp Meeting Association Sign

Huge Oak Tree on Island

Large Mansion on Martha's Vineyard

Gazebo in Park Near Ocean


Canon T3i Camera Is In Hand

A few days ago, I received my new Canon T3i. It’s really nice.

Of course, the first thing I did was to walk around to take a few pictures. I’ll post them below. I do want to mention a few quick things first though.

If you are interested in this type of camera, take note that it won’t come with a memory card. I realized that after the screen kept telling me “No memory card,” which prohibited me from recording any photos. The photos that I mentioned above were taken after I drove to Staples and paid too much for an 8gb SDHC card. I also purchased a 32gb card from Amazon, although that’s not here yet.

There is a nice feature that I have already used quite a bit. When I use manual focus and need to make sure the shot is really focused, I can use the 5x and 10x magnifying tool to really zoom in to see what I am doing. I initially thought this was a digital zoom, but it’s not. It’s just a tool to help you get the shot you want.

That’s pretty much it. I think I’m going to go about things this way – I’ll look up a feature in the manual when I need it and then really explore it and write about here. Peace.

Honey Bee On White Chrysanthemum - #1

Water Droplets On Leaf

Mountain Laurel Flower

White Chrysanthemum - #2

Large Orange Cat - #1

Honey Bee On White Chrysanthemum - #2

Large Orange Cat - #2

White Chrysanthemums

Flower Of Mountain Laurel

White Chrysanthemum - #3


Planting Evergreen Tree Transplants

Okay everyone, since Autumn is here, I figured that it’s just about time to plant a new batch of evergreen transplants.

I had a tough time with this one. It’s been a really hot and dry Summer, so I wasn’t sure when to have these trees shipped. On one hand, I wanted to get them fairly early in Autumn so they would have a chance to get acclimated in their new surroundings, but on the other hand, I needed the soil to be moist enough as to not shock the tree roots. I chose the middle of September as a compromise. I figured that the rains would return soon and until then, I could keep the trees watered.

I have been watering. I will tell you though, it’s not much fun trying to find 150 young trees. I know that the water isn’t really penetrating the soil, but I know that keeping things as moist as I can is better than doing nothing. Also, I am fairly confident that many trees with survive; the ones that don’t can be replaced next year. They don’t cost much to purchase and have shipped.

With that in mind, I would like to give a big thanks to a new tree nursery with really great prices I found online. They are called Needlefast Evergrees and are located way out there in Michigan. The owners seem like nice people and I am happy to give them my business. It has become sort of a hobby of mine to locate various seedling and transplant nurseries that offer good product for a great price.

Anyway, I have written about transplanting trees a few times before. In one post, I told you about my new garden auger and in another post, I told you about this Spring’s evergreen transplant activities.

Let’s talk about the garden auger first. There are a few things I would like to express. First, the tool works very well. It’s strong and does exactly what it says it would do. I used it with an 18 volt cordless drill and everything was good. The only problem is that using this tool takes a bit longer to plant the trees than the faster “shovel in dirt” method. Also, when you drill the hole in the ground, the dirt that you bring up kind of disappears. It gets spread out to the sides and when you are ready to fill the hole back in, there isn’t much material to work with.

My father keeps asking me how the tree planting project went. For some reason, he wanted me to buy a really strong corded drill. He likes tools. He also wanted me to use the garden auger for all 150 trees. I had to break his heart when I told him that my existing cordless drill worked fine and that I only used the auger for about 25 trees due to the reasons I just described above. I explained to him last night that if I only had 50 trees waiting to be planted, I would have used the drill and auger method. I also told him that I would have picked up some top soil to fill in the holes as well.

Okay, so now at the time of this writing, all 150 trees have been planted and have been watered twice. It is supposed to rain for the next few days, so I am hoping that this will aid in the moisture aspect. I really don’t want to keep watering. You can well imagine how long that takes.

Here are some photos of the project…beginning to end. If you have any questions, please leave a comment.

Watering New Spruce Tree Transplant

Planting Bare Root Norway Spruce Transplant

Bare Root Hemlock and White Pine Tree Transplants

Bare Root Hemlock Tree Transplant

Bare Root Transplants in Shipping Box

Norway Spruce Bare Root Transplants

Drilling Hole in Ground

Using Small Auger For Tree Transplants

Using Auger for Transplant Hole

Placing Tree in Hole

Watering Pine Tree Bare Root Transplant