February 29, 2020

I've been on a potato soup kick for a while now.

Today I finished the last of the third pot I've made since Christmas...

...not exactly helpful for a low-carb diet.

As much as it grieves me to think that spring is just around the corner,

(because that means summer is just around the corner, and summer basically slays me)

at least it will bring to an end the soup and hot bread and heavy stew and cream sauce season.

I'm actually looking forward to lighter fare.

(And I'm trying desperately to remind myself of good things about warmer weather.)  :)

I played around with the camera's settings a bit this afternoon.

The first picture uses the flash, this one doesn't.

It's strange how much detail the flash washes out.

See that little shrimp poking up on the left side towards the back?  :)

My mom's potato soup recipe is the best!

This shot was taken with the setting I've been using for the sunsets recently.

At first I thought the distortion might be because of how close I was to the subject,

but now I'm thinking those gorgeous colors I've been capturing might not be exactly right.

Rats! 

Happy Leap Year Day to you all!

February 28, 2020

I wasn't going to post any more sunset photos for a while - 

really! - 

but these blue clouds along the horizon tonight were so striking.

But to make up for it, here's a pic of the crescent moon tonight.

It was so tiny in the photo yesterday you could hardly see it.

February 27, 2020

Another beautiful sunset, 

this time with a bright crescent moon included.

click on image to enlarge - 

the moon is at the top of the tree line on the left

February 26, 2020

It was so foggy this morning!

February 25, 2020

My cousin sent me two of these tall hot cocoa mugs

and Jed and I are loving them!

February 24, 2020

Took a walk with my next door neighbor this evening.

I only had my phone camera with me,

which was a shame because the sky was such a pretty color.

February 23, 2020

I was able to contact the letterboxer who planted the boxes Rhonda and I looked for on January 19.
We had a lovely conversation -

letterboxers are such nice people!

- and she gave me a little bit of a hint.

I wasn't convinced it would help that much, but it worked!

For 2 out of the 6 boxes we looked for, at least.

It's been over 3 years since I found a letterbox.

It's been way more years than that since I had a letterboxing buddy.

I'm so glad Rhonda was willing to give this another try, 

even though we haven't had much success so far.

She didn't even bring her camera with her today,

so she could concentrate on the clues we were trying to decipher.

And we saw herons on the river!

Rhonda, if you see this, thanks for being such a good sport!  :)

February 22, 2020

There was a pretty sunset last night, and I went outside to take pictures.

Looking at the screen on the back of the camera,

I was once again frustrated that the beautiful colors were not showing up,

so I did something really brave....

(for me)

I played with the settings on my camera.

I've tried reading my owner's manual, several times - highlighter in hand, ready to tackle it.

I've never managed to get even halfway through it without feeling like crying,

because it's so complicated and I feel so hopeless in figuring it out.

I was born too early to feel comfortable figuring out how to operate an electronic device

by just playing with it.  :)

But I tried - I tried! - just this once to play, and it really paid off!

I got these two shots with beautiful color in them!

The problem was, I wasn't keeping track of how many pictures I was taking with each setting,

so I had no idea which setting produced these shots.

By the time I had realized this problem, it was too dark to try again last night.

So tonight I went out again at sunset,

a little earlier this time than last night, so there wasn't as much color yet,

but I was cooking and had to work around food on the stove and in the oven.

I took 2 pictures with each setting so I could match up each picture with the right setting.

When I was done, I looked through the pictures I took and when I came to this one,

it was one of the only two with any color in them.

I figured out which setting had produced it, switched the camera back to that setting,

and turned the camera sideways to take the same picture as last night.

And this is what I ended up with.

Argh!!!

I took four pictures sideways, and this is how they all turned out.

It did just occur to me that the angle in these pictures was lower,

as I was hoping to capture the reflection in the pond.

I can't imagine how that would cause such a huge difference, though.

Back to the drawing board.

February 21, 2020

It got down in the 20s after midnight last night, 

and there was some ice on our back deck as a result.

Not much to play in, but it's better than nothing.  :)

February 20, 2020

It snowed today!

I know it's pitiful to get excited about what can hardly even be called a dusting,

but it's the best we've got and I'm trying to be content.  :)

February 19, 2020

Jed took the opportunity today to wear the scarf my friend Lin made him,

since it's all but assured summer will be here any moment.

*sigh*

Our friends in Colorado had 3 snowstorms last week.

*weeping quietly*

February 18, 2020

My lovely friend from Malaysia, Lin, sent me a surprise package!

This beautiful card was nestled on top.

She is a gifted card maker, among many other talents.

Lin is a master quiller and makes stunning cards with the most intricate patterns I've ever seen.

You should check out her blog to see her work:

https://azlina-lin.blogspot.com

She sells quilling kits to help newbies get started, and posts video tutorials for instructions.

She thinks I can master this skill...I'm dubious but I'm going to give it my best shot.

I'll post my results here if they're not too embarrassing.  :)

Thank you so much, Lin - I'm so grateful for you!

She also very kindly included a gift for Jed - 

she has been weaving recently and wove this beautiful, masculine scarf.

Jed does not have as much panache as this scarf does, but he'll try to do it justice.  :)

I love the flecks of color in the fiber!
Thank you, my sweet friend!

February 17, 2020

Jed has three classmates in his weekly homeschool class.

I am the self-appointed homeroom mother, 

which basically consists of baking birthday cakes for everyone.

I asked all the moms what their kids' favorite cakes were,

and was surprised at the variety.

One of the young ladies favors lemon pound cake.

I'm not sure if I've ever baked a pound cake before, of any flavor,

and I was a little intimidated.

I tried a recipe I found online and it was terrible.

So I tried another recipe I found online, this time from Bon Appetit,

which I thought might be more trustworthy.

The recipe is time-consuming and I didn't have time to bake two cakes before the birthday celebration,

so I sent the cake to class completely untested.

This was back before Christmas, and I've been meaning to bake another cake for weeks now,

so I can see for myself what it's like.

I finally had the opportunity, and the lemons, a few days ago.

The jury is still out on the results.

It was baked in a loaf pan, which I liked, and it's very lemony, which I like.

The drawbacks are that it's very tart is some parts, and hardly lemony at all in other parts,

and the tart parts are very moist (almost soggy) while the hardly-lemony parts are a little dry. 

You poke holes in the cake when it comes out of the oven and pour straight lemon juice in them,

then after the cake cools, 

you top it with a lemon glaze made with more straight lemon juice and powdered sugar.

None of that could reach the bottom of the cake, which was the dry part.

Maybe next time I'll make two (or three) batches of the glaze and swap one out for the straight lemon juice, 

or maybe I'll add some of it in to the cake itself,

to make it a little more moist overall.

Do any of you have better ideas?

I'd love to hear them!

 

February 16, 2020

We're back to the cloudy weather, but it wasn't windy or overly cold

so my next-door neighbor and I took a long walk this afternoon.

 Some of the slabs of cement on the path in our neighborhood have impressions of leaves in them.

We would love to know if this was intentional, 

or if leaves just fluttered down into the wet cement.

The creek is still running pretty nicely.

February 15, 2020

After my oldest granddaughter and I had breakfast at iHop last Saturday morning, 

we went to Hobby Lobby for essential Valentine supplies...

card stock and stickers.

She made 14 cards!

She loved decorating them but writing 14 cards is a lot of work for a kindergartner.  

She tried to hide the card she made for me...

unfortunately I caught a glimpse of the front,

but I didn't see what she wrote until I opened it.

This literally made me cry.

It was different from everything else she wrote in the other cards.

The Bible verse I printed in my Valentines this year is from the book of Ezekiel:

"I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; 

I will remove from you your heart of stone

and give you a heart of flesh."

Ezekiel 36:26 

Today is the 34th anniversary of the day 

the Lord Jesus gave me a new heart and put a new Spirit in me.

If there is any possibility of my granddaughter, or anyone else, seeing anything good in me,

it will be from that new heart and that new Spirit,

which is really the Lord Jesus, 

and not me at all.

He is altogether lovely!

February 14, 2020

 The sun was out today ALL. DAY. LONG!!!

It was AWESOME!!

February 13, 2020

I was so delighted to receive a Valentine today from Melissa,

probably my oldest artist friend

(nearly 25 years)

and I love it!

She is not only crazy talented, she's such an original creative spirit,

and she has a sweet, gentle and quiet spirit as well,

which I treasure and aspire to.

February 12, 2020

I had lived in North Carolina for nearly 20 years when Tracy and I married

and I joined him in Missouri in December 2002.

I remember struggling with the weather that first winter in Missouri...

it was awfully gray and cloudy most of the time.

I even called a local weatherman and asked him if this was normal, 

and when he didn't seem to understand what I meant, 

I took that as an affirmative answer to my question.

Although I can't say I really remember, 

North Carolina winters must not have been gray and cloudy typically 

because it wouldn't have been a struggle for me in Missouri if I was used to it. 

This has been a Missouri winter in North Carolina.

I am not wishing for summer heat in any way, shape or form, 

but I sure would love to see some sunshine.
Which is funny, because it almost never rained in Colorado
and I missed rainy days so much.
It must be as hard for nature to maintain a healthy balance
as it is for me.  :)

February 11, 2020

Would you believe these are the towels needed for one little girl to take a bubble bath?

Oy vey.  :)

February 10, 2020

When I fell into bed last night, I was delighted to find this on my bedside table.

While I was in the bathroom yesterday morning getting ready for our worship service,

apparently my granddaughter was busy organizing my nighttime necessities.  :)

I was too tired to get up and get my camera,

so I was careful not to disturb her work till this morning,

when I had a bit more energy for photography.

February 9, 2020

I took my granddaughter home this afternoon and visited with the other grandbabies for a while,

and talked with their tired mama.

I had wanted a large family,

but I honestly don't know how anyone does it.

I need to pray for her more.

On the way back home, I was shocked to come to a tiny break in the endless trees that make up North Carolina 

and see the hugest, orangest moon I've ever seen in my life, 

hovering just above the horizon.

It was astounding.

I got off the highway as quickly as I could and got to a spot where I could take a picture,

but all I had with me was my cell phone,

so this was the best I could do.

When I got home I grabbed my camera and headed down the street to a clear area.

The moon was higher in the sky, and it had lost its orange color, 

but it was still  huge and there were still clouds lit up with colors surrounding the moon.

After taking several pictures in normal mode,

I switched the setting on my camera to night photos.

It was surprising what a difference it made...

the aura around the moon doesn't look as interesting,

but it was nice to see the face of the moon better.

It's going to take a lot of playing around to figure out what the different settings do.

And that's just in auto focus...

I can't even wrap my head around manual yet.
 click to enlarge the pictures

February 8, 2020

Sneaking out of the house for breakfast before anyone else is awake.

:)

February 7, 2020

My granddaughter is staying with us this weekend -

let the fun begin!

February 6, 2020

The egg in the picture I posted yesterday was a gift from a little mama bird in Colorado.

When I took the wreath off our front door last spring to pack it up, 

I was surprised to find a nest nestled in the back of it - I had had no idea it was there.

While I was trying to remove the nest from the wreath, I was equal parts 

delighted

and

mortified

to find this perfect, tiny little egg.

I packed the egg as carefully as I could and brought it with us.

I felt terrible, robbing the mama of her one little egg,

but I have loved it.