A New Year, A New Project

My camera is nothing fancy, a little Canon Powershot, several years old. I've always just used it on automatic, letting the camera do all the figuring. This year I want to (finally) learn how to use the programmable settings. Downloading the instructions was a start. To make sure that I actually used the directions, I signed up for a Project 365 group on Flickr.

You may have seen some of these groups on-line. There is the original Project 365. Most of the social media sites have groups with the same type of daily project. Some have more rules than others. The group I've joined is fairly laid-back and welcoming.

Since we are already 2/3 of the way through January, I thought I would show you my photos so far. Most of them were taken while walking Knight. These are in no particular date order.





The top left is rocks in my yard, using the vivid color setting. The Christmas lights used the night setting. I think the other two were automatic. A squall was coming in over the hockey players.




The picture in the middle doesn't look like much, but in real-life it was very interesting. A nearby pond had frozen, thawed, and refrozen, causing these star or snowflake-shaped holes to form. There were a bunch of them, but to get any detail at all, I had to zoom way in. They were about 2 feet in diameter. Does anyone know if this happens often? I've never noticed it before.






On the right,  another snow squall makes my neighbor's shed look like a Christmas card. In the middle, a cheery bit of green. On the left, one of Knight's favorite things. I keep telling him not to be such a cliché.

 

Speaking of Knight, here he is in dragon slaying mode.

 

On days too cold to go outside, I photographed a stack of papers with the corner of a folded up bunny tunnel. Also, some clamps in the workshop. The last one is my parking spot at the MFA, with some Photoshop lighting effects.

You may have seen the pictures above on Facebook. It's amazing how good zooming in can make things look. Just like in the garden in the summer!

 

Of course the bunnies haven't been left out. Here is Jensen, looking regal.

 

And finally Buttercup, grooming. Or maybe plotting. Not sure. What I do know is that she has gotten the most views of any of my pictures for this project so far. But then, that is the way it should be, right?

Rabbit Approved. Barely.

Before I went away for a little trip, the weather had cooled off enough to be able to stand having a quilt on my lap. That meant I had to stop procrastinating, and I finished the binding on this quilt.

 

That also meant that it was time to have the quilt rabbit-tested. Buttercup and Jensen got together, and consulted on the criteria.

 

 

Jensen took the time to explain to Knight about their rating system.

 

 

Meanwhile, Buttercup got serious about the testing process.

 

 

She even checked out the back of the quilt.

 

 

She and Jensen talked over their findings. The discussions went on for a while, and I started to get nervous.

 

 

Finally, Buttercup informed me that they had decided to give the quilt their Paw of Approval. She also told me that too much dog smell on the quilt should have disqualified it, but they took pity on me as I had taken so long to get this done.   

 

I was grateful, and promised to try harder to meet their standards next time.

Wabbit Wednesday

BC here. Today I'm speaking for the Rabbits of this household. (Not Wabbits, Mom. I know how to speak English, primitive language that it is.) We are feeling outraged, and full of disapproval. We are very upset that a Predator has been brought into our house.

 

And a smelly predator, at that. His fur smells, his breath smells, his food smells, and his toys smell. On top of that, all his toys squeak like a small animal in trouble. What the heck was Mom thinking?

 

 

 

She says she wanted someone to walk with and cuddle. So, I'm being punished because I'm too smart to walk on a leash (apologies Speedy) and don't like Human Bean smell all over me? I mean, us. This is so not fair.

 

 

Guess I'm going to have to do something about this. And, I'll probably have to do it all by myself. Jensen is too busy trying to see if that smelly food is edible. (It's not. That's obvious.) Watch out, Predator, I'm coming for you!

 

Happy Camel Day, Everybun! Now, how do I load this pellet gun....

 

Relaunch

This post is starting what I am hoping will be a relaunch of my blog. I've never really been able to get back into the rhythm since Weasley crossed the bridge, and it's starting to feel like something is missing. Facebook is fun, especially for keeping up with my scattered family, but it seems like we build stronger connections on the blogs.

So, if you haven't been on Facebook, you won't know about our new family member. Buttercup and Jensen the Wonderdog have been joined by Knight the Real Dog. Some kinks are still being worked out, but overall the adoption is going well. It might be easier if Knight hadn't fallen in love with Buttercup, and if he didn't think bunny treats should go to Real Dogs....

Knight in Jensen's window. He likes to keep an eye on the neighborhood.

Knight with my Dad. He really does think he's King of the Hill. Knight, that is, not my Dad.

My Dad is the Emperor (with old clothes) , crowned by one of my nieces during a family gathering.

 



As for creative work, I haven't been doing much sewing since the weather turned hot. Except for repairing dog toys, as Knight is heck on squeaky toys. I have been doing the weekly prompts over at Journal 52. This week's prompt was technology. While I love technology, and playing with new gadgets, sometimes I get frustrated because it changes too darn quickly. That leaves me feeling like this.

 

Well, I won't say I'm officially back until I manage to maintain this for awhile. But right now, it feels really good to be writing here. Thanks for your patience. See you soon.