Aperature

I have had my Canon for a few years now and I must admit that I rarely take it off Auto. It takes wonderful pictures that way so I thought…why change things. But through the course that I’m taking I am learning that you can control a lot of things yourself. So today I experimented with aperature priority. This is controlling how much light goes into the camera. I used the f stop 7.1 for these photos and my 50mm lens.

Anticipation

I'm starting to get excited. My two sisters are coming tomorrow from Virginia. We are so close and have a ball every time we are together. We have a few activities planned for the week but they love just to relax at my house. It seems everyone who visits here remarks on how peaceful it is. On Saturday we are going to the Buffalo garden walk. This will be their second and my third time to visit various neighborhoods and delight in the gardens. Other activities include dinner at Docksiders overlooking the lake, a picnic at allegany State Park and maybe even a Rolling Stone tribute band. It will be a joyful week.

 

 

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Family dinner

 

We are very lucky to have wonderful family. Jim is Don's step brother. He and his wife Sandy came to dinner tonight. It gave Don a good excuse to make his famous strawberry pie. I think it was the best one he ever made. I also sautéed some zucchini in garlic and rosemary that I spiralized. It makes a great accompaniment to the burgers

Sandy spent a lot of time looking through my books that I made from my blog. I used the program Bookemon which is easy. I also showed her the scrapbook that I made from my dad's memoirs.

 

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First time gig

 

Last night my grandson Scott played in public for the first time. He has been practicing with the band Echo Threefold for a while.

 

 

He is a fantastic drummer and we enjoyed watching his show.

 

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Here we are at the vet again

My little Sadie…poor thing. She just hasn’t been acting herself lately. All she does is lay around and has a difficult time getting up or hopping up on the couch (even refuses to use the stairs we got her)  She just looks up as if to say..please help me. Last night when I let her out she just went and laid under a bush. I knew that wasn’t a good sign.  The only time she ever did that is when she ate some spicy raw deer sausage (long story…we were transferring food from a defrosting freezer and she sneaked it in the back yard and got very sick).
She has been very listless and when I tried to take her for a little walk she lagged behind me.
  So we were off to the Animal Hospital in Buffalo for  diagnosis. After the exam we found out that she has a torn ACL in both her hind legs. As well as problems with her kneecaps in both legs. This may be caused by her rare arthritis. He prescribed some pain meds and to continue the anti-inflammatory. The next step will be surgery.

  I feel so bad that she isn’t her usual busybody self. I asked him about swimming and he said that would be good for her.  

Doing a little Photoshopping

These lilies from my garden are gorgeous this year. Combining my photos with word art in Photoshop is really fun. These were taken with my new 50mm lens. It takes beautiful pictures.

Thinking

Are you a perfectionist? Do you like everything in your life to be just the way you want it exactly? Here are some signs you are a perfectionist:

1. You’ve always been eager to please. It usually starts in childhood. Nothing thrills you quite like impressing others.

2. You have a great fear of failure and sometimes have self defeating behavior such as excessive procrastination.

3. You are highly critical of others.

4. You go big or go home. You throw yourself into a new project if you know there’s a good chance you can succeed. 

5. You Have a hard time opening up to people. Perfectionism is a 20 ton windshield that you carry around to protect yourself from getting hurt. You have a hard time letting yourself be vulnerable.

6. You take everything personally and get really defensive when criticized.

 

I think all of us want to do well and are proud of our achievements. But having such a high standard of performance as a perfectionist does makes life hard for them. Do you know someone like that? I always want to just tell them to relax.

 

Circle of Friends picnic

Today our Circle of Friends group met for a picnic under a lovely pavilion at a member’s daughter’s home. The weather was very cooperative and the nice breeze and 77 degree temperature made it very comfortable.

There were bountiful hanging baskets all around the pavilion.
A pool and a bar made this a party place.

We sat a large mosaic stone topped tables.

It was a lovely afternoon talking and eating and enjoying the company.

In other news Sadie will be getting her bandage off her foot tonight. She had cut the pad on her paw and kept licking it keeping the wound open.  The vet put a lot of salve on it and bandaged it for a week. She has done well not to tear it off but I’m sure she will be glad to have it off.

Another bulletin…..some little critter is enjoying the tomatoes.

Don cleaned out our pond and refilled it today.

I am definitely a girl of few words .

The jewels of summer

 

 

 

 

 

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Begin to see the light

Guided 365 Lesson 4

I don’t know how I found the website..Digital Photography for Moms. Erin’s site is full of great photography and tips. I am currently taking her Guided 365 course and loving it. Each day she sends an email with a link to the day’s lesson. Today’s objective..analyze light, all the time. Our assignment was connect the photo with the effects of the light in the photo itself.
    Since it is cloudy and there seems to be little light today I am using old photos. In these photos of Sadie the light is streaming in from the front south window. I love the pattern it makes on the rug and the shadows on her shady side.

 

This picture I took the other day when I saw the late afternoon light on my baker’s rack.  I just loved the warmth of the light coming in.

What Inspires You?

 

inspire

verb in·spire \in-ˈspī(-ə)r\

 

Simple Definition of inspire

• : to make (someone) want to do something : to give (someone) an idea about what to do or create

• : to cause (something) to happen or be created

• : to cause someone to have (a feeling or emotion)
  
  Inspiration is everywhere on the internet. I think it has been the greatest invention ever because it enables anyone to discover information about every subject imaginable. No matter what subject you find fascinating you are able to see pictures, read articles, and find other perspectives from people all over the world. Information is just a touch away.

•   So what inspires you?

•  

One of my great inspirations from the internet comes from Susan whose website is Between Naps on the Porch. You can find a link to her on my sidebar. She was one of the first decorating bloggers that I began to follow. It was from her that I learned the word Tablescape.  I always loved to set my table with a centerpiece and pretty dishes but she carries it to an all new level. On her website she does Tablescape Thursdays where she invites bloggers to submit pictures and links to their site where they have created a tablescape. It is amazing how many creative people there are out there. There are some people who come back every week with new and exciting tables. I love to tablescape but don’t have the ambition to change it weekly. But I did do this one for summer. It was inspired by the new tablecloth I purchased at Home Goods. The paper napkins and salad plates are from Tuesday Morning.