Signs of life!

Look what's going on in my front yard today. The snow is in retreat, and fresh green things are arching their backs, heaving up the deep brown mulch, and reaching for the sun. Hallelujah, at last, Hallelujah!

P.S., can anyone tell me how to get a cropped photo to display in the full size allowed on Blogger? I had to sign up for Flickr hosting for this, and it still isn't sized right. So much to learn, so little time.

PhotoHunt: Wooden

Hello there! This is my first attempt at playing along with the PhotoHunt group at tnchick.com. The topic this time was Wooden, and entries were supposed to be up Saturday. I just found my way in there, though, so I'm sneaking in late and hoping no one will mind.

This is an older photo, taken with my ageing little Nikon, so the quality could be a lot better. But I like the juxtaposition of twigs and boards in it, so here it is.

Round Robin Photo Challenge: Shoes

All the best buddies have fur.

What could be cozier on a sleep-in morning than a pile of reading, a warm cat, and a fleecy pair of slippers? These are my favorites.They're nice enough to shuffle out in public to pick up the paper off the driveway, and comfy enough to wear all day. Gatsby here keeps an eye on them, because he knows that if I put them on I'm probably heading downstairs. And there's food down there.

Now, don't get me wrong. Fancy shoes fascinate me with their stiletto heels, jeweled straps, and impossibly pointy toes. I love to look at them through shop windows, in much the same way I admire elaborate pastries and art glass. The colors entice, the construction and creativity amaze. But, like sweets and fragile doodads, they're just not for me.

My mother had a wonderful pair of shoes, vintage 1940's sandals. The thick soles were made of many strips of smooth, polished wood held together with long, slim hinges, so that the entire sole flexed with the foot as you walked. They were so cunningly made that the moving parts never pinched the skin, and they made a sound like tree branches creaking in a breeze. I loved those things. They sat in Mom's closet my whole childhood, and I had hoped to recover them when we closed up the old house. Alas, they vanished somewhere along the way. I've never seen anything like them since.

The Round Robins went shopping for shoe shots this week, and they have some fabulous finds. Please do step in and have a look around!

Over the rainbow, way up high

This week's Monday Photo Shoot assignment from Karen at Outpost Mavarin is Something Relaxing. So here we are above the clouds, where it's always sunny, clear blue, and pure white for as far as the eye can see. Whenever I'm stressed out, I close my eyes and soar back up here for a few seconds.

This was taken yesterday, Sunday, on my way back from visiting my mom in the hospital. (She's much better now and came home today.) This view made the worry and airport hassles melt away. I could live up there, free at last.

Well this is dumb.

How evil are you?

Angelic? Moi? Is that anything like Boring Beyond Belief? I found a link to this quiz over at Look at This and played along, mostly because it was short and I was already there. And this is what I got for my trouble.

Oh well. The main reason for this post was to move Valentines Day off the top slot, so ... Mission accomplished.

Happy Valentines Day

Here's a virtual cookie for you, and a wish for a sweet, sweet day.

Inspiration courtesy of Karen's Monday Photo Shoot. Stop by there, OK?

*I'll be gone for a while and probably won't be around here much - family emergency in progress. Hope to be back soon.

There is hope

If the squirrels are nesting, can spring be far behind? I snapped this one through the dining room window with the zoom all the way out. She looks as curious about what I'm doing as I do about her mouthful of leaves. Oddly, she appeared to be wearing a little pink shawl over her shoulders. I'd never seen that coloring before.

We have more than our share of squirrely critters, ranging from tiny chipmunks to little fox squirrels to these big grays. I don't see so many these days, with most of the trees gone, but there are still plenty go around. The chipmunks must hibernate; we never seem them out in the snow. In spring, the babies are everywhere -- they're adorable.

Things that make you go Hmmmm

A friend sent me this in email. Just sharing the smile.

Why do we press harder on a remote control when we know the batteries are dead?

Why do banks charge a fee on 'insufficient funds' when they know there is not enough money?

Why does someone believe you when you say there are four billion stars, but check when you say the paint is wet?

Why do they use sterilized needles for death by lethal injection?

Why doesn't Tarzan have a beard?

If Superman can stop bullets with his chest, why does he duck when you throw a revolver at him?

Why do Kamikaze pilots wear helmets?

Whose idea was it to put an 'S' in the word 'lisp'?

If people evolved from apes, why are there still apes?

Why is it that no matter what color bubble bath you use the bubbles are always white?

Why do people constantly return to the refrigerator with hopes that something new to eat will have materialized?

Why do people keep running over a string a dozen times with their vacuum cleaner, then reach down, pick it up, examine it, then put it down to give the vacuum one more chance?

Why is it that no plastic bag will open from the end on your first try?

Why is it that whenever you attempt to catch something that's falling off the table you always manage to knock something else over?

Why do we try to keep the house as warm in winter as it was in summer when we complained about the heat?

How do those dead bugs get into those enclosed light fixtures?

How come you never hear father-in-law jokes?
 

Round Robin Photo Challenge: Veggies

"Are you all ready to EAT YOUR VEGETABLES? Tee Hee. I hope so, because that is the subject of our next Round Robin Challenge! And that challenge will take place on Saturday, February 9th. Jill, one of our newest members,who authors the blog, 'Letting Crazy Take A Spin' recently submitted the idea, and here is what she says... 'Anything veggie related. Veggies can be so interesting.'" - Carly, Round Robins.

It's that time again, and I've really been looking forward to this one, because A. Veggies ARE gorgeous and B. This will be my first chance to use my new camera. It's supposed to be good at macros, so I took a stab at that. For my trial run here I used Auto settings to shoot and Auto Edit in the program that came with the camera. Obviously I have no clue what I'm doing, but getting better is going to be fun. Behold:


Somehow, the light turned out better on this one.
To see much better photos than these, be sure to click over to the rest of the group: Round Robins Photo Challenge: Eat Your Vegetables!

PS - The new camera is a Canon PowerShot G9. Scroll down to the previous two posts for details. If anyone else is using one of these, tips and suggestions are welcome.

I bought it!

A bit late on the update, but yeah ... I am now the proud owner of a ridiculously complicated camera, which I hope will turn me into a ridiculously great photographer. (Hey. A girl can dream.)

I came home Sunday with a Canon PowerShot G9, which I plan to explore fully tomorrow, my day off. Judging from the manual and specs, this little guy has skills. Sadly, I do not. None of the quick snaps I've done so far have been worthy of posting. But Round Robin is coming up Saturday, and I plan to have a grip on the situation by then.

Santa may have been late this year, but he was very, very good to me.

Camera quest

I've been bitten by the shutter bug. Thanks in part to the Round Robins Photo Challenge, I find myself looking at the world through imaginary frames. I notice things I wouldn't have a few months ago. Textures and planes of light are suddenly fascinating, pathways of all kinds are irresistable, and I've stalked the cat to point where he avoids me. I carry my camera in my purse, along with a replacement battery, just in case something interesting presents itself. Now, if only I could actually capture what I see ...

My old Nikon Coolpix 2500 has been a fine little starter camera. It takes serviceable shots for sharing online and has lots of automatic settings. But it gets noisy in low light, and at least half of all my shots are too blurry to be of any use. The screen is small and dim, completely useless in bright light, and there is no viewfinder. And let's face it, there's only so much you can do with two megapixels. It's high time for an upgrade. The question has been, to what?

I'm looking for a point and shoot camera with SLR-like performance; I want one camera that can take decent snapshots of a kid's birthday, freeze the action at a sporting event, and do artsy fartsy macros and landscapes. I do not want to memorize a manual the size of a dictionary, lug around a bag of lenses, or pay over $500. On the other hand, I do want a camera with advanced features that I can grow into.

After three months of study and shopping and dithering, I think I have found it: The Canon Powershot G9 appears to be The One. I pretty quickly narrowed the field down to Canon, based on reputation, features and reviews. No camera has everything I want, but of those available in my price range the G9 appears to have the best combination of features for me with the fewest drawbacks. It's on sale today at Circuit City, so I'm going in to check it out.

Wish me luck!

News flash from Gobbler's Knob

Say it ain't so, Phil! Say it ain't so! The word from Punxsatawney Phil, official prognosticator of Groundhog Day, is that winter 2008 has six more weeks of bleak, grey torture left in it.

Man. One giant rat sees his shadow, and everybody suffers. Where is the justice.