View from our bedroom balcony. (Dial up warning)

[Call Me Wesley]

Taken today:

[seemunkee]

1. Not much snow

Looks beautiful but I would expect it to be a little whiter this time of year.

[Call Me Wesley]

5. That's all the snow we got.

It was the warmest winter ever, even it's the South. Usually we get a few days/weeks of snow, but not this year.

[barb162]

119. wow

[terrya]

2. OMG

What a gorgeous view. :-)

:hi:

[Call Me Wesley]

It was nice today,

but I want to take a few pics with clouds. Or the sunset.

:hi:

[billyskank]

3. Beautiful

Can you see Verbania from there? :hi:

[Call Me Wesley]

8. Nope.

But you can see Italy and France from here. :)

[Fran Kubelik]

4. I am so jealous.

Thank you for sharing!!

[Call Me Wesley]

10. Your welcome!

If only this one neighbor would take down his ugly mess ... :hi:

[hunter]

51. Ugly Mess?

In America it's not a mess until you have more than three rusty old cars and trucks, a falling down shack, old unused outhouses housing large accumulations of pornographic magazines, a couple of dead motorcycles, tractors, and snowmobiles, a few dead animals covered with flies, a pile of random trash mixed with stuff that didn't burn the first time you poured gasoline on it and tried to light it, beer cans and bottles you hope to redeem someday when you are not too drunk to drive into town, a couple of pit bulls, a skinny mean horse or two, an angry covey of grotesque maimed fighting cocks that you meant to breed but the coyotes ate all your hens, cats with kinked tails, mishapen faces, and a weird numbers of toes, laundry hanging on the fence because the clothes dryer is broken or the gas and power is turned off, an old refrigerator, a couple of televisions and old water heaters that you shoot at, and a lady with no teeth and no pants high on meth pounding on the door and screaming at the top of her lungs that she is going to kill you fucker.

[Radio_Lady]

54. Yeah. I know that family... luckily, they don't live next to us!

[hunter]

73. I should write about some of the neighbors, roommates, and landlords I've had.

This is an amazing nation.

[johnnie]

6. Wow!

I want to be there!!!

[Call Me Wesley]

11. You'd be always welcome here.

And you can be on our balcony as long as you want! :hi:

[VenusRising]

7. Gorgeous.

I'm sure it's beautiful at night with all the little lights too.

:thumbsup:

[Call Me Wesley]

14. It is.

I'll need to take some night shots, too. Since only the lower part of the mountains are really lit, it's looks somewhat like a big spaceship sometimes with the shape of the mountains. :hi:

[VenusRising]

20. Heidi's so lucky

She gets to live there with you! ;)

[Call Me Wesley]

22. Awwwwww, thank you!

:hug:

[VenusRising]

33. You're welcome.

:hug:

But you're lucky, too, because you get to live there with her. I love it when things work out like that!!

[SeattleGirl]

9. Wow! What a gorgeous view!

:hi:

[Call Me Wesley]

15. It was really nice today.

Last few days we had rain or fog. :hi:

[ceile]

12. Absolutely stunning!!

WOW!

[Call Me Wesley]

16. Thank you!

It's quite nice and calm here. :hi:

[Reverend_Smitty]

13. Color me jealous!

What a gorgeous place to live

[Call Me Wesley]

18. It's not bad.

Public transportation could be better, though. It's very rural. :hi:

[Beer Snob-50]

17. incredible!!

beautiful view. it would be nice to sit outside, have a drink, and just enjoy god's green earth.

[Call Me Wesley]

19. It sometimes is.

Except when the neighbors are here (next house is a holiday home) and are enjoying their new swimming pool ... :(

[ornotna]

21. Adopt me!

I'm going to sit here and hold my breath until you do.





:D

Nice pics, great view.

[Call Me Wesley]

24. LOL!

We don't want kids! :rofl:

Thanks! :hi:

[ornotna]

90. Oh come on

You mean you don't want a fifty year old son. You wouldn't have to clean up after me and we could grow old together.


:rofl:

[idgiehkt]

23. very beautiful pictures

wow. What lake or river is that? The mountains look so naked without snow. :hi:

[Call Me Wesley]

25. Lake Maggiore.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Maggiore

:hi:

[idgiehkt]

28. thanks for that link

what an incredibly beautiful place to live. I could put up a picture of the soybean fields to the left and right of my house and the cow pasture across the street, but somehow I don't think they can compete. ;)

[Call Me Wesley]

26. And a bonus: A neighbor:

[buddhamama]

27. it is all so clear to me

the pleasant attitudes, the kind words, the good souls you are Everyday!

look at where you live!

j/k you two would be fantabulous regardless of location but i am sure it doesn't hurt.

it is absolutely beauitiful. thanks for sharing. :hi: :hug:

[Call Me Wesley]

29. Thank you!

:hug:

Garden looks like nothing yet, so I cropped this out. I'll take more when my prayer flags are hanging again. :hi:

[MissHoneychurch]

30. So why did you invade Liechtenstein?

:rofl:

Great view!! I just see other houses!!! Lucky you to live at such a beautiful place. OK, now when can billyskank and I invade visit you?

[Call Me Wesley]

36. Liechtenstein is still standing. ;)

No Liechtensteiner were harmed during excessive Swiss Army maneuvers ... :rofl:

We'll see what we can arrange some day. :hi:

[Starbucks Anarchist]

31. Wow!

:thumbsup:

[Call Me Wesley]

37. Thanks!

I'm also playing with HDR photography, but it doesn't really show on the resized pics here. :hi:

[Whoa_Nelly]

32. So peaceful and lovely!

Does Heidi ever paint landscapes? You two have such great views! :hi: :loveya:

[Call Me Wesley]

38. I think she painted a few landscapes.

Yes, the view is really nice, especially if it's clear like today. :hug:

[huskerlaw]

34. Gorgeous!

I'm going to be in Switzerland on July 20 and August 10.

Unfortunately, my Swiss experience will be limited to their fabulous airline and 2 hours (total!) at the Zurich airport. :(

But I foresee some amazing scenery out my plane window. ;)

:hi:

[Call Me Wesley]

39. Oh, in transit?

I'll hope the weather is nice. At the Zurich airport you won't see anything. The airport is just grey, and there's not much around it except for industrial buildings. :hi:

[huskerlaw]

44. Yep...on my way from LA to Brussels

I'll be landing in the late afternoon, so I'm hoping for some in-flight mountain views.

This will be my first trip to Europe, and I'm already planning trip #2. There is WAY too much to see and do! ;)

[Crazy Dave]

35. Turn the camera around

So we can see Heidi with "bedhead" hair and also see how messy you guys keep your room :rofl:

[Call Me Wesley]

41. Ha ha, you wish!

The room is quite nice, since we just recently got rid of many things. :P

[Crazy Dave]

67. I wish....

...we had that view and a clean room too ;)

Here we call a messy room "lived in" but I might sneak a picture of Mrs. DTW with "bedhead"

[AirmensMom]

40. Wow, Wesley,

that's a nice view! :applause:

:loveya: :hug: :hi:

[Call Me Wesley]

42. Thank you!

:hug: Just wait until the green zone we still have in front is turned into 'Tourist Holiday Home Heaven.' Sooner or later, it will happen.

[cwydro]

43. Question

what is that to the right of the right hand house in the top pic? Looks like a totem pole. Oh, and where are you guys?

[Call Me Wesley]

45. That's the end part of my sister's garden.

My BIL made it, and she painted it. Here's the full pic of it:



The place is state of Ticino, the Southern part of Switzerland, a few minutes from the Italian border. :hi:

[cwydro]

46. Wow!

I thought it was my bad eyes; I was just staring and staring and thinking "I KNOW that is a totem pole". I figured you were going to die laughing and explain it was something different entirely.

How cool that is...what kind of wood is that?

edit for typos

[Call Me Wesley]

48. If I'm not totally mistaken,

it's Chestnut. :hi:

[graywarrior]

47. Awww, maaaan, that's where I want to be.

Stunning!

[Call Me Wesley]

49. You'd be welcome.

Just leave this, uhmm, ermm, you know - behind. This song and dance bird. :rofl:

[graywarrior]

55. Kewl.

I'm on my way.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

50. My dear Call Me Wesley!

Oh, WOW!

What a stunning view!

Isn't it terrific when you have something like that to wake up to?

And to go to sleep to as well......

Are you facing north there?

Thank you so much for sharing these!

Love to you both......

:loveya: :hug:

[Call Me Wesley]

53. Thank you!

Yes, this is facing north. The south view is just the town and the local green hill, but you can't see far. North-east you can see the first French mountains, and east is Italy (also south.)

:hug:

[Shine]

52. Oh.My.Goddess. That's it, I'm coming right over.

Prepare the extra bedroom, please. :D Does it have a balcony, too?

:hug:

Gorgeous pix, thanks for sharing. Wow, you're surrounded by BEAUTY!!!!!

:hi:

[Call Me Wesley]

56. No balcony there, unfortunately.

You know you're welcome. But it's a long bicycle ride to here. ;)

:hug:

[kedrys]

57. Is that what an actual blue sky looks like?

Flabbergasting. Really. I don't remember seeing skies that blue in the States for a very long time.

Gorgeous place you have there! :hi:

[Call Me Wesley]

60. It's a bit enhanced I have to say.

All the pics here are combinations of 3 individual pictures with different exposures. But yes, sometimes we do have a dark blue sky here. :hi:

[GoddessOfGuinness]

58. Makes me wonder why Mr GoG's ancestor left...

That is gorgeous! :)

[Call Me Wesley]

61. Perhaps his family came from another place here?

There are dull places, landscape-wise. ;) And there are nicer places, too. :hi:

[GoddessOfGuinness]

63. His great grandfather was a mountaineer...

I think it was lack of work or an inability to earn a living wage that led him away from the Alps. Same reasons my great grandmother and her sisters left Sweden.

[Pithlet]

59. What a stunning view!

Just breathtaking.

[Call Me Wesley]

62. It is nice,

but I really wanted to have more of these clouds we usually have. I'll make sure I take more pics if I see them. :hi:

[LostinVA]

64. I hate you

:cry:

[Call Me Wesley]

65. You hate me for my views?

:rofl:

[LostinVA]

66. Ugh

:eyes:

You know, Heidi seems to be so nice and normal... except for her unhealthy iPod obsession.

[Call Me Wesley]

68. Make that iPod posession ...

;)

Why the eyes?

[LostinVA]

69. Because they're obnoxious,a nd it annoys me when people post them

I'm just teasing you.

Your view and Binka's view on Sicily are both just amazing.

[Call Me Wesley]

71. I know, they are obnoxious. And I know you were teasing.

In fact, next to the popcorns, they're my least favorites ...

But, a proposito iPod obsession, looky here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=105&topic_id=6199538&mesg_id=6199768 :eyes:

:rofl:

[LostinVA]

76. Maybe for Christmas -- if she's good

Hehehehhehehhehe... which means I won't have to buy one.

[Call Me Wesley]

77. LOL!

Christmas is only a few month away ...

Congrats to you both. All my best! :hi:

[LostinVA]

78. Thank you, CMW

Heidi is safe from my evil grasp now!

[theNotoriousP.I.G.]

70. beautiful skies

and beautiful pictures. How lucky you are to have such a wonderful view from your balcony.

[Call Me Wesley]

72. Thank you!

I guess I have to thank my family who bought a holiday home here in the late 50's. :hi:

[Catherine Vincent]

74. That is just beautiful.

How lucky you are!

:hi:

[Call Me Wesley]

75. It's nice.

And the best part - it's calm. :hi:

[Redstone]

79. Argh! Mrs R's sister and her husband live next to the Achensee in Austria, so they have a

similar view. I'm insanely jealous of both them and you.

Redstone

[Call Me Wesley]

80. Austria has some gorgeous places.

And now that I revived my old tripod, I'll see what I can get out of my Nikon D50 - I haven't done night shots yet, and I fear this won't go at all. Can't they just make my old F2 digital? :cry:

As I said before, these pics are combined from three different exposed pics. :hi:

[Redstone]

81. "Merge to HDR" in Photoshop? I haven't tried that yet. Hey, don't throw your F2 out,

just buy a film scanner. I still use Velvia in a Century Graphic (or the Canon EOS-3) when I shoot landscapes; the digital files from the 10D just don't get the job done, even when shooting in RAW format.

And digital or not, it's always been my rule to use a tripod unless I can't.

Redstone

[Call Me Wesley]

85. The PS plug-in is pretty useless for HDR.

I use Photomatix Pro for it.

And I do have a film scanner, bought one a few weeks ago and am still trying to get it right.

I have one lens I can use with the Nikon D50, but I do so miss my 85mm/1.2 and 180mm/1.4. Mostly, back in my 'professional' days, I used these and my 35mm. Landscapes are somewhat new to me, but I have a few I'm still trying to get them right.

I haven't used a camera in years, and had a digital Olympus for just doing some snapshots. I spent too much time in darkrooms, and now I'm somewhat frustrated that the old pics I have don't do well in my film scanner. :hi:

[Redstone]

92. I firmly believe that the best lens ever made was the Nikkor 105, back in the

1970s. (Yes, I'm old.) Or the SMC Takumar 50mm 1.8 of the same vintage (I was a Pentax guy back then).

Both of those lenses were tack-sharp in a way I haven't seen since.

Redstone

[Broken_Hero]

82. Not bad,

:D Reminds me of home, except we got a ton o tree's on our mountains, :) Oh, and it hardly sunshines....:D

[Call Me Wesley]

86. There is a ton of trees,

but (I don't now the names of them) these aren't the kind that keep the green through winter. They're still blank, so to speak. :hi:

[LynzM]

83. You guys...

Gotta be the luckiest people in the world, I swear. Damn. *jealous!*

:hi:

[Call Me Wesley]

87. Not when you hear our neighbors splashing in their new pool ...

Enjoying their holidays so much they sit right next to the street to eat (grilled stuff), when a car drives by on this dusty road, producing a big cloud of dirt. ;)

:hi:

[NC_Nurse]

84. Wow, what a beautiful view!

It must be inspiring to look at that every day! :D

[Call Me Wesley]

88. It is.

I grew up in a different place, but there was always a lake and some distant hills. I don't know why, but I always liked the view of a lake and the shore on the other side - somewhat reminding me of different possibilities. :hi:

[mainegreen]

89. Dammit, I need to learn French so I can move there.

Make some use of this dual citizenship thing.

[Call Me Wesley]

91. Uh-huh ...

This is the Italian speaking part. ;)

But no worries, English will do fine here. :hi:

[auntAgonist]

93. I am SO envious

Gryphon and I will just have to move there :)

:hi:
aA

[Call Me Wesley]

96. There's a piece of land you can still buy a few steps away from us.

:)

:hi:

[Ptah]

94. Marvelous. Wonderful. Beautiful.

* * Ptah checks his thesaurus * *

Thank you, CMW.


:grouphug:

[Call Me Wesley]

97. Thank you, Ptah!

I'll make sure and catch some sunflowers in summer, too. Way too early to plant here yet. :hi:

[u4ic]

95. Wow!

No wonder why you both are so happy and grateful - you live in splendour.

I am in awe. Beautiful! :loveya:

[Call Me Wesley]

98. Thank you!

Four times a day we see ponies going by; the bells of sheep, and the trumpeting of ducks. :)

:hug:

[zanne]

99. That took my breath away.

What part of Switzerland are you in? What is the name of the town on the opposite side of the lake? It must look like something out of a fairy tale in the spring!

[Call Me Wesley]

100. Southern part of Switzerland, state of Ticino.

And there are a few towns you see on the opposite side, Tenero, Muralto and to the left there's the most known, Locarno. :hi:

[bridgit]

101. nice pics, no wonder it's hard for you guys to get your blood pressure up...

about the outside world :)

[Call Me Wesley]

102. I think it's the mountains ...

they're blocking the view into the outside world. It's like the Shire here and then there's the walls of Moria. :rofl:

[Orsino]

103. A view like that is distracting.

You could, like, invade Lichtenstein before you realized it.

[Call Me Wesley]

108. LOL!

And since Swiss guards observe the Liechtenstein border, the whole 'friend or foe' might not have been worked well. ;)

[applegrove]

104. Now that is how to live!

[Call Me Wesley]

111. Thanks!

Now I'm waiting for the lunar eclipse - and it's a clear sky here! :hi:

[Ms_Dem_Meanor]

105. Great pics!

The scenery is beautiful. Was it warm?

[Call Me Wesley]

112. It was in the 60's (F),

and today, if there wouldn't have been wind, it would have reached the 70's again. :hi:

[Dangerously Amused]

106. Honestly CMW... trying to pass postcards of beautiful scenery off as one's own back yard...

:hi:

[Call Me Wesley]

113. Hmmm ...

You think there's a business involved? ;)

:hi:

[Lavender Brown]

107. Beautiful

I feel like I can smell fresh air just from the photos. I can't wait to see Europe again someday.

[Call Me Wesley]

114. Unfortunately,

fresh air isn't what we really have here. A lot of times we get the smog from Italy ...

:hi:

[BarenakedLady]

109. Wow!

Simply georgeous views. I'm so jealous. Thanks for sharing. :thumbsup:

[Call Me Wesley]

115. Thank you!

I'll post a few more in the future. :hi:

[neweurope]

110. And you don't feel just a little bit bad? I mean...

...because I don't have that view and you do? :evilgrin:

It's gorgeous, but no, I don't envy you (only maybe just a very little). I'm happy as can be in our house and I have a gorgeous view, too, small-neweurope scale gorgeous: meadow, birch trees, pines, no neighbors (well, out of two windows one COULD see MacDonald's and Burger-King if one wanted, but who wants to?).

But you really do live in a very, very beautiful spot. Thanks for sharing!

--------------------

Remember Fallujah

Bush to The Hague!

[Call Me Wesley]

116. No envy necessary,

except for the McDonald's. ;)

I'm so glad you found this new place! :hug:

[Guava Jelly]

117. I would never leave my house if that was my view

WOW!

[Call Me Wesley]

118. Good thing I'm self employed!

:rofl: However, I have to either go outside or into the bedroom to see it. :hi: