Cap'n Bob & the Damsel

Home & Garden

R10 Panoramic Mode

Panoramic images have always been an interest of mine. Early on, I used to take a series of adjacent , overlapping images and would “stitch” them together using an old application that did the job. Now, the function has been integrated right into some cameras.

My Kodak PixPro FZ152 has a panoramic function, but it can be kind of picky in the stitching process, and frequently will overlap in the wrong places. Maybe that is due to the way I used it, but regardless, it seemed clumsy to me.

I took the panorama above with my Canon EOS R10 in its panoramic mode. It works much better; all I have to do is press the shutter button and hold while I smoothly pan from left to right (optionally the other way too) to get what my eye perceives as a smooth and seamless image. Click on the image and pan using the image viewer scroll bar at the bottom.

I took the image from our courtyard looking west; the image spans the west leg of the RV drive sweeping from the road across the west cactus and rock garden, mesquite and paloverde trees, the lemon tree to the back gate of the courtyard.

I will try and get some more interesting panoramas as the opportunities arise.

22 Jun 2026 by Arizona Home & Garden Notions Panorama Photography Technobabble 0

Garage Door Opener Repair

After fifteen or sixteen years or so since we built the house, the original garage door opener (pictured, clickable) developed a quirk such that if the sun was shining in the door, the obstruction detector would “think” that there was an object blocking the door and would refuse to close the door. This condition progressively got worse and eventually wouldn’t close regardless of the amount of sunlight. We had to press and hold the indoor control to get the door to close. This was very inconvenient, especially if we were departing, since one of us would have to close the door manually and come out the side door to get into the truck.

Yesterday, enough being enough, I called a repair facility to come out and fix the problem. The technician offered to clean and align the sensors, or to replace them both at our option. We opted for the latter, assuming that zero-time sensors would last longer.

To make a long story short, the tech replaced the sensors in ten minutes or less, and the door worked fine. Same-day service call, reasonable rates and problem solved.

Click on the links below to see the new sensors:

Sensor Transmitter Unit

Sensor Receiver Unit

Bottom line (literally) — stuff is going to wear out in the desert. We already need new exterior paint after only nine years or so. More on that later.

09 Jun 2026 by Arizona Home & Garden Notions Technobabble 0

Torch Cactus Flowers
  a.k.a. Cherry Red

It’s once again the season for the bright red flowers of our “Torch” or “Cherry Red” cacti. One flower opened today and two more buds look like they’re ready to pop open tomorrow. Click on the image above to view enlarged.

Trichocereus Grandiflorus

T. grandiflorus is sometimes called the Red Torch Cactus or the Desert’s Blooming Jewel because of its signature blooms, which are produced in the spring. When in bloom, this species produces vibrantly colored funnel-shaped flowers at the end of the stems.

In nature, red is the most common color for the flowers, but yellow and orange may also be found in some areas of their habitat.

Mature Red Torch Cacti can grow up to three feet in height and about four inches in diameter. They are a columnar cactus with branches sprouting near the base. These cacti have sharp spines lining their 12 to 18 ribs. The spines themselves measure between one and two inches in length.

We may post the opening of more of these on our social media as they occur. Watch for that.

07 May 2026 by Arizona Home & Garden Photography

Potpourri Post

Last week I posted about a cactus flower and this week (am I doing weekly posts now?) I am going to ramble on about a few things going on. First of all, There is plenty going on in our lives these days, some quite boring things and some a little more attention getting. Let me elaborate a bit:

  • We continue to live in a peaceful, tranquil place which does little to generate exciting headlines.
  • There are some background issues (mainly healthwise) that take up a little bit of time to accommodate what with professional visits and other things to do with growing older.
  • Life goes on with the usual business of running a household (max kudos to Damsel) with our flock of dependents (2 dogs and numerous cottontails, squirrels, birds, etc.)
  • The yard and garden are looking good this spring, but there is always some little chore that pops up. If it’s a big chore, we have our Landscape crew deal with it.
  • There are the hobbies and other time-consuming activities to relieve some of the boredom and/or excitement that comes along.
  • Food and Dining are a major item in our lives; we’re both on special needs diets and almost exclusively prepare all of our meals at home.

First, here is a photo I took this morning of a squirrel and a peanut. Note that the animals we consider as “dependent” don’t really depend as it were; we just like to treat them now and then.

I used the Canon SL3 camera for the above photo. Part of the hobby thing mentioned above. Our main cameras (my 2 and Damsel’s Canon T6i) continue to provide us with entertainment and some good photos now and then. Click on the image to enlarge.

I recently upgraded my everyday carry from the one I have carried for years to a new, easier to rack semi-auto S&W M&P Shield 9mm EZ. The old muscles and ability to operate the old Glock were getting to be incompatible.

Tomorrow, we will be taking the dogs for their annual exams and immunization updates. We will renew the County licenses afterwards.

This week, I need to make time to get a haircut. Due to other commitments, I have fallen out of sync with my regular trim schedule.

On Tuesday, I have consecutive visits with the General Practitioner Doctor and the Ophthalmologist, neither of which is other than a regular visit for checkup. I also need to reschedule a checkup with the Nephrologist which I had to cancel due to a conflict.

So, we’re still here doing things that you might expect for “generians” (septi- and octo-) to encounter in our lives. We will continue in this regard as long as it takes.

12 Apr 2026 by Comrades in Arms Critters Entertainment Firearms Food & Dining Home & Garden Notions Photography Retirement Second Amendment Technobabble

Buckhorn Cholla Flower Season

Not exactly an Easter Lily, but . . .

This is one of the many flowers or flower buds on the various buckhorn cholla (Cylindropuntia acanthocarpa) cacti around the yard. Some are open like this one and some are still in the bud stage waiting for their turn.

I was finishing filling the bird feeders today and stopped to snap this shot with my Samsung S23. (I know, I have better cameras, but this one turned out OK, didn’t it?) Click on the image to enlarge.

We have been a little slow on getting blogs to post, and there is a good, but, undisclosed for now, reason. We’ll try to do better over the next several weeks as the disturbances are abating somewhat.

With the season of Easter upon us, may we wish you and yours a very Happy Easter!! HE IS RISEN!!

04 Apr 2026 by Arizona Environment Flowers Home & Garden Photography Religion

Our Oldest Store-Bought Cactus

This cactus, now in The Damsel’s Rock and Cactus Garden in Wickenburg, was originally procured from a garden shop in Torrance, our original abode prior to Arizona. We can’t recall the place where we purchased it, but it was likely at a Lowe’s or Home Depot garden shop.

Although the photo on the left has no flowers, many have come and gone and some can be seen here. It has been a prolific flower-bearer during its tenure with us.

Having developed our Arizona property, we have many cacti, some of which are natural to the area and were here (or their ancestors were) when we arrived. Our parcel is home to lots of native vegetation and some imported as well.

The only photo I could find of the cactus we bought in 2006 is one we took at night in June of 2008 when the cactus was still in a pot and had a couple of flower buds ready to open.

We loaded this cactus and several others including a golden barrel cactus aboard the trailer we used to transport yard stuff to the new house.

Click on any image (or link) to enlarge.

09 Mar 2026 by Arizona California Home & Garden

Rosemary Orchids

All of these tiny blue flowers that appear several times a year on our rosemary bushes attract bees and other pollinators. Today, they attracted me and my new Macro lens, to wit; an EF-S 60mm f/2.8 Macro Lens. The image above is of one of our several rosemary bushes behind the retention wall north of the RV Drive. The image below is one of the tiny flowers up close using the new Macro lens.

I was not in optimum lighting for the above shot since the sun was getting low in the sky, but I managed to get a pretty good look up close at one of the flowers on the bush. Additionally, the wind was a factor and the image may have a slight blur due to motion of the subject. Nonetheless, I am pretty satisfied with the new lens and its close up performance. I am still learning to use the correct camera settings, and as time and experimentation go on, I’m sure that I can improve with it.

I can’t get over the little flowers resemblance to some orchids we see in other photos of flowers. Click on either image to view enlarged.

08 Jan 2026 by Arizona Home & Garden Notions Photography

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