A little bit of weather

Snow day today...school for tomorrow has already been cancelled and it's not looking promising for school on Thursday. Or, depending on one's perspective, it could be looking quite promising!

Today's photo was taken by my daughter, Heather. She wrote a little message in the snow. I didn't go out...I have a cold and didn't think it would be wise to be outside.

Thanks for stopping by. By the way, Rufus says thanks for all the cute kitty comments! :)

A little bit of...Rufus

Rufus is our 3 year old tabby. We adopted him from the Humane Society in 2005.

One of Rufus' favorite "hobbies" (besides trying to trip me when I'm doing the laundry!) is playing with straws. He has cat toys, but really prefers to play with, chew on, throw in the air, pounce on, carry around, straws. There are gnawed up straws strewn about my house. (eww! lol!)

We can throw the straw and Rufus will chase it, fetch it and bring it back. So dog-like...he has other dog like tendencies, too, but those are a whole 'nother post! Or we can drag a straw along the floor and he will stalk it and pounce. We can't leave a fast food or gas station cup sitting around with the straw in it or Rufus will steal it, spilling the drink in the process.

Rufus was batting the straws around when I snapped this shot.


In this shot, you can see Rufus' shaved belly from his ribbon removal surgery December 23rd. His hair is finally starting to grow back.

Thanks for stopping by!

A little bit of Technology

This is my Seagate external hard drive. My husband bought it for me for our anniversary last year. I know...so romantic! lol! It was something I needed and wanted, so the gift was well received. However, I didn't fully appreciate it until last night.

Last night I was organizing some recently downloaded pictures, deleting as I went along. I clicked on one image, hit delete, confirmed the action and next thing I knew my ENTIRE picture folder was being dumped! AAAAAAAAA! I hit cancel furtively (and in a slight panic), but it was too late. I'm not sure what happened. After a few seconds of shock, I thought, "I'll just go to the recycle bin, find the folder and do a restore. No problem." Yeah, right...no problems. Wrong!

At first I couldn't even find the folder, so I decided to do a restore all. It wouldn't work. It only restored a portion of the items in the recycle bin. Then I kept getting an error message and the "operation was aborted". I finally did find the picture folder, restored, but not everything came back. Some of the folders inside the picture folder are missing, and a few of the folders are missing pictures. (And some pictures are in the wrong folders)

This is where the EHD plays a vital role in my story. That's right....I'm backed up! Yeah!
There are only a few things that weren't backed up on the EHD, but I have them elsewhere, so all is good. Well, not entirely...I have lots of reorganizing to do, this little hiccup messed stuff up and since restoring practically my entire recycle bin, I have deleting (CAREFUL deleting) to do.

Things could have been worse...I could have lost everything (over 3000 images...basically all of 2008). Consider this your PSA for the day! ;)

Thanks for stopping by!

A little bit of knitting

Wow, where did the week go? It doesn't seem like I was too terribly busy...just the normal day to day stuff. I know there were a couple days I didn't take any pics at all. Then the days I did take pics, I didn't take the time to blog. I've been trying to be more "present" with my family instead of multi-tasking by being on the computer and watching t.v. together or playing Wii or whatever toys Wendy is playing with. So, that means no blogging.

Today's photos were actually taken last night. My knitting fits the theme of texture in a couple of ways. First, the yarn itself; it's an alpaca wool and silk blend...so soft and squishy! Then the pattern of the stitches adds texture of it's own. This particular piece will eventually be a scarf. The pattern is a free download at Knit Picks. The yarn is called Elegance.



I started knitting about 3 or so years ago. I love it! It's so relaxing. I do some of my best thinking as I move my hands in a rhythmic fashion, relishing the feel of the yarn as it slides through my fingers. When I became interested in learning photograpy, knitting (and every other hobby!) took a back seat. I've been feeling the urge to knit again. Maybe it's the cold weather.



I bought some new sock yarn the other day...looking at it inspires me. That could fueling my urge, too. I have three other projects "on the needles" right now, but that's okay. (the scarf pictured here, a pair of pink socks and a convertible mitten.) More than likely I won't finish any of these before starting socks with my new yarn! lol! Switching projects keeps the whole process fresh. Picking up a project that has been hiatus makes me fall in love with it all over again.

There's a little bit of knitting for you! Thanks for stopping by!

POTD-Texture

I found my texture at supper tonight.






















My cork trivet.


Thanks for stopping by!

You get a line and I'll get a pole and we'll go down to the fishing hole...

My dh loves fly fishing as much as I love anything crafty and creative. He's an avid fisherman anyway, but there is something about the challenge of fly fishing that excites him. He even ties his own flies, which is a whole craft in itself. Dh has all the gear, studies techniques, practices, and can't wait for the chance to go and do. (sounds a lot like me and whatever hobby I'm currently obsessed with!)


I fish with him, but have never tried fly fishing. It looks complicated and I'm afraid I'll get tangled up in the line. Dh has always wanted me to learn so I could join him; he wants me to share in his fun and passion. I promised him I would give it a try in 2009. So, he bought me a belated Christmas present. (meaning he saw it on sale while perusing Slick Deals after Christmas...lol!)


So, here I am, ready to go fly fishing.







It doesn't do a thing for my girl-ish figure, does it?! ha! ha!

Wendy came home from school today and said, "I'm going to get right down to doing my homework." She asked me for a glass of milk, I poured it and left the kitchen. When I came back, Wendy wasn't at the table, where she usually does her homework. I called out for her and she called back, "I'm in my room." Okay, I thought, that's different, but she has a desk, so, whatever.

I walked into her room, but she wasn't at her desk, she was sitting on her bed.

"Why aren't you using your desk," I asked. Then I look over at her desk.

Well, no wonder she can't use her desk!

What's for Dinner?

I love trying new recipes and visit several recipes sites looking for inspiration. I also like watching the Food Network...I'm addicted to watching the Food Network Challenges. The other day, they had a food stylist challenge, meaning the food had to photograph well. I was very interested in that one.

Now, I'm not a food stylist by any stretch of the imagination, but I do like to photograph my food. One of the first pictures I took and actually printed after getting my dslr was of a ham and swiss on rye sandwich. :)

More than once the family has had to ask, "Will you please stop taking pictures so we can eat supper!?" I made myself stop tonight before they had a chance to say anything...the chili smelled too good and I was hungry!

The chili is a Rachael Ray recipe, BBQ Beef and Baked Bean Chili. DH requested it, which made me feel good. Not all the new recipes I try are "keepers"...lol! I pretty much followed the recipe, except I didn't use ground sirloin (too much $$ for my budget), so I had to drain the extra fat. The recipe never says when to add in the bacon, but I add it in at the end, so it doesn't get soggy. I also don't do the biscuits on top; I bake them separately. (from scratch)

Do you follow the recipe? I usually do the first time around. On the recipe sites I visit, the recipes are reviewed. It cracks me up to read the negative reviews. They usually start out by saying how horrible the recipe is, then proceed to say what they changed about it. Usually they've changed so much, it's not even the same recipe. On the flip side, there are postive reviews where the reviewer did the same thing, changed just about everything there is to change, but rave about the recipe. Too funny!

Thanks for stopping by!




(quick question: are my images over-sharpened? They look ok to me in ps, but look a bit over-sharpened on here.)

POTD- January 6th- Ready to Sew

Not only is Heather a rocker, but she's also quite the designer. She's playing around with a design for a new dress. (It's just pinned together right now.) She called me into her room, saying, "Mom, you've got to take a picture of this...it's perfect!" I go into her room and the above is what I found. She said, "I didn't intentionally lay it all out like that, it just happened." I love it! The pink book under the fabric is her sketch book of designs. It's covered in pink duct tape. You can also see a bit of Roxie.

The swirl is part of an "H" pillow. Her carpet is actually black; it looks a little off in the pic. Thanks for stopping by!

POTD- January 5th

The sun was out today, so this afternoon I headed outside to try to capture a sunflare. I'm not sure if this exactly a sunflare, but I think these photos are pretty. ;)
I'm not sure what Wendy was playing, but she was really engrossed in her game of pretend and didn't even notice I was snapping away.

This one is my favorite.

Settings for all 3:

ISO- 2oo

SS- 80-100

f-stop- 5.6

18-55mm lens

POTD - January 4th

Here's Heather...ready to rock! She's been playing for about 4 yrs. Her guitar's name is Roxie. : )

I used my flash bounced off a piece of white poster board. I'm loving my flash! I'm using it everyday...there's not much sun happening around here. Even when it is sunny, my house is a bit dark in the winter months.

I would have cloned out the outlet and the shadows, but my clone tool and I are not getting along tonight. lol!

(please ignore the carpet...I should have vacuumed first!)

POTD- January 3 Meet Max & Ruby

These are the adorbable puppies of a friend. They are a mix of beagle and some other breed I can't remember right now. It doesn't really matter because they are so cute! I had a blast taking their pictures New Year's Eve. Max & Ruby (Ruby is on the left in the photo) are very active puppies, so I'm guessing it wasn't too much different than trying to photograph toddlers. This photo was the only one I could get of them both together and still...finally settling down for a nap!

Annual Christams tree photos

I have to do this every year...take their pictures in front of the Christmas tree. I don't know why I wait until the last minute. When hubby says it's time to take down the tree, that's when I decide it's a good time to take the pictures. I think these are some of the best I've ever taken thanks to a new external flash for my camera and a little photoshop work.

Looking back over the different years, it's amazing to see how the girls have grown and changed.

Thanks for stopping by!

Very cool photo related, scrapbooking related, FUN related give away going on right HERE....check it out! I'll be back later with my POTD. Blessings!

My very first POTD!

Happy New Year 2009! I'm so excited to be posting my very first POTD! Here's my wonderful, beautiful family starting the new year with a toast. (the girls are having sparlking white grape juice) Are you ready for a great year? Ready, Set, Go!