Pictorial

Over Christmas my parents gave me my mom's old camera. My old camera is awesome and I still use it quite a bit, but hers was much smaller and skinnier than mine allowing me to slip it in a pocket or my purse. So this morning I took it along on my morning walk with Bleys to document some of the neat-o wildlife I see around here. This morning we saw...

A great Egret and what I thought were some white ibises but they don't have any black on the wing tips*. Also a great blue heron hiding at a bend in the canal. There also about a ba-gillion tennis balls in the water because a little upstream along this canal is a tennis center.


An female anhinga (cousin to the cormorant) also known as the darter or snake bird. It was drying it's feathers presumably after a dive this morning. The second picture is a little grainy because I was using the enhanced zoom on the camera. I was trying to show what the anhinga was perched on. It is a canadian goose decoy that people put out in the water to discourage ducks from hanging around.


Also recently, some cool art has been installed along Sportplex Drive. Two sweet metal sculptures have appeared near a school crossing.


And last buy not least I was walking along and suddenly it was like being in Animal Crossing. There was this little tiny palm tree that looks just like when you plant one in the game and it isn't full grown yet.


*Update: They are, in fact, White Ibises.

Checkup

P.W. and I ended up going to the vet today. I called to make an appointment for the vet to listen to his heart murmur (just a recheck nothing big) and they had an opening today. Bonus. We went in and the vet took a listen. He listened for a very long time and then told me he couldn't really hear the murmur. Woot! The damage to the valves is still there and he will still have to be monitored for the rest of his life and eventually go on meds, but for now...it sounds good.

Smooth

Jason, the party house gauntlet has been thrown.

Marketing

Do you have a hard time waking up in the morning? Is it too easy to just hit snooze one more time? Well, check out Clocky!

The answer to your *ahem* dreams. Hit snooze once? No problem. Hit it twice? Clocky will jump off your bed stand (up to 2 feet) and go find someplace to hide, beeping and flashing all the while.

I find this highly amusing, thanks Dad.

Better than the alternative

Here is a product I haven't seen before but might come in handy in the winter here in Florida, all the time up in Michigan. My only concern would be if it added wear and tear to the wetsuit? After diving here in February it's definitely something to think about.

Crafts from way back

My dad sent me a picture of the shirt that I embroidered for him. I couldn't post it earlier because it was for Christmas and I didn't want to ruin the suprise.


And here is a close up of the embroidery. The lighting on this one is wierd.

Delay

It's been a while since I posted last so I have a few drawings I've completed.

Daisy


Goofy


Pluto

Uni-tasker

While I was home for the holidays I had a poached egg on toast made with my mom's neato poached egg pan similar to this one. I really enjoyed this and was thinking about getting one for myself. While looking for one I found one of the most ridiculous kitchen items ever, not only is it completely unnecessary, it looks silly. I mean, can you imagine having that sitting on your counter?

I have to admit though, I've thought about getting rice cooker, because I seem to be really good at messing up rice. You'd think it would be simple to cook up a pot of rice...you'd be wrong!

Tough

Last night and tonight I drew Donald Duck. He turned out alright although the full body one is sort of wonky.

Vlog Entry #1

Anne challenged me to create a video blog, so here it is. It is mostly me not having anything to say and being technology challenged.




I forgot how much I don't like the sound of my own voice.

Splorch

Today I ran a bunch of errands including ordering a Kapoosh for Roland's new knives and visiting pretty much every store in the area that sells fabric. I'm on the hunt for some fabric to match some that I found at Walmart. The stuff at Walmart is one of the fabrics that Marcie really likes from the picture on a McCalls pattern. Unfortunately I can't find the main fabrics, only the one (4374-B) used on the crib skirt and the crib caddy. I also found some in a different series that I kind of like, but I'm not sure I like it as much as the My Blue Heaven ones. They are much darker and I think I like the lighter better. I also refinished our butcher block cutting board after I got home, so Roland should be in cutting heaven now.

This evening I had some more time to draw. They turned out pretty well, but somehow the full body pose turned into baby Minnie. I'm not sure which proportion is wrong, but she definitely looks like baby Minnie.

Voila

For Christmas I recieved some learn to draw books and a really nice Mickey Mouse sketch book. Tonight I cracked one open and drew a little. What do you think?



UPDATE: Anne asked if my sketch book has a cool cover, and low and behold it does.


Also Karl insinuated that I traced my Mickeys to which I have only one reply...ptthhhhbbbt!!!!

Hordes

Today I took my car in to be looked at. I thought it might be a good idea since the check engine light came on back in Indiana on our way home (yipes). Apparently my somethingerother hose and my emissions whatchamadoozie need replacing. The bad news? Lotsa money. The good news? Since the parts were in stock I can get my car back tomorrow morning.

Roland went back to work today. He didn't actually have any classes, but he went in to get everything ready for the rest of the week. Now he is at the grocery store picking up some food since our apartment is pretty bare. I spent the day unpacking, finding places for things (mostly books as our shelf space is pretty tight), and working on computer stuff. For Christmas I got a cool program that will help me do some of the more interesting stuff with my embroidery machine, but I had to download it onto the computer I use for that sort of stuff. Unfortunately that compy wasn't attached to the internet in any fashion. So I dug out my drivers for the wireless adapter I have for my desktop and installed them (and it) on that computer for long enough to take care of that. I was a little worried about it working because my mom actually purchased the program and the people she talked to didn't seem to understand that she didn't want the thing for herself, she wanted to give it as a gift. So it is technically registered in her name, but I don't think it matters.

I'm also attempting to live up to Anne's vlog challenge. I'm still figuring out the recording and editing thing, but I think I can make it happen. Something for ya'll to look forward to. If you are curious about the origins of this insanity check out Brotherhood 2.0 which I am finding amusing.

Special Thanks: Karl (with a K), for giving us Zelazny's Amber book on tape CD, and to Jason for helping us get them from CD to iPod. You both made the drive back much better.

Furminator

A while ago I posted about the Furminator. Well, I was lucky enought to get one for Christmas, and I have to tell you...it works. I didn't get quite the pile that Chester did, but it was close. Hopefully it will help with the heat bearability for the Doom Bringer. He also got a new collar for Christmas so he is totally stylin'.

Bedward

Back in Florida, tired but unpacked.