Current events

Hello my friends. It’s been a long week, culminating this evening when I arrived home, flush wish joy because it was the weekend . . . and sunny. I reached to open my back door, and in doing so, slipped on the ice that had accumulated there and fell, shocking myself, ramming my elbow into the concrete walk, and subsequently bursting into tears. I tried to get up, but kept sliding on the ice – so I laid there. Crying.

Good grief.

I am not a crybaby, but damnit – it hurt. I had an armful of things including the mail, my lunchbox and another bag I take to work. I eventually made it to a standing position after seeing a puddle of what I thought was blood. OMG – I’m bleeding!! (this was my first thought). On closer inspection, however, I saw that I’d broken the bottle of wine I had just bought. And I was now lying in the puddle that it had caused.

Oh, good grief.

But despite that unfortunate turn of events, things have actually begun to take a positive turn – or so it seems. It’s maybe too soon to celebrate over, but a lot of little things have been conspiring into something akin to joy. Yes, it’s true. And while I’m at it, I think I’ll share with you now some photos I’ve taken during the past week. Just because, you know?

 

Cold and ice can be beautiful, you know.

 

I keep the feeders filled because I can’t have my bird friends hungry.

 

This was the view out my kitchen window at one point this week.

 

I buy myself flowers because they make me happy.

And a bunch of tulips are currently $4.87 at the local WalMart.

Win. Win.

 

Crazy blur.

Took this last weekend sitting in the sunshine in the freezing temps.

As long as you’re dressed properly, it ain’t so cold. And the warmth of the sun is the nectar of the gods.

 

The tufted titmouse is one of the loudest visitors to my feeders.

Seriously.

Shut up already.

(good thing they’re cute)

 

Wing action on a nuthatch.

Say that three times real fast.

 

In other news . . . things seem better with my son.

We are getting a new kitty tomorrow.

I have been selected by a juried committee to have my work shown in a local gallery.

I love hawaiian pizza.

I bought two bottles of wine today (and only one was destroyed).

And spring is coming.

So how are things in your neck of the woods?

Visitors to my feeders

The winter continues to hold us in its icy grasp, but I’m thankful I don’t live in New England. Sorry, my New England friends. I just can’t handle that much snow at this point in my life. I’ve seen pictures and heard the news and winter this year has been brutal to so many in this country. So far, ours here in Maryland has been much less severe than last year – and for that, I am grateful.

We’ve had some snow, though. And it’s been rather pretty. But it’s been terribly cold lately and when I woke up yesterday morning, the temperature was –1. With the wind, it felt a lot colder.

I still don’t have internet at the house, but am using my mobile hotspot on my cell phone to post some photos I’ve taken over the past week or so. I keep the feeders filled but this past week, have been inundated with the damn starlings and they have eaten me out of house and home. I have to go out today to get more bird feed because we’re expecting more snow tonight. Starlings annoy me because they arrive in flocks and swoop down, ruining my feeders and scattering all the smaller birds.

 

I always like to name the birds for you. This is one of my favorites ~ a female cardinal.

 

Tufted titmouse.

 

Ditto.

 

And again.

They’re photogenic little things, aren’t they?

(so are the bare branches, imho)

 

Male red-bellied woodpecker.

 

They do have red (pink) bellies. The males sport a red head as well.

 

I sat outside in my lawn chair last Sunday in the sunshine. It was cold, but the sun was warm. As long as I’m bundled up, it doesn’t bother me. And I was in a protected area from the wind. I sat there reading my book and looked up when I heard a pileated woodpecker calling. I went inside to get the camera after hearing the distinctive sound of him drilling in one of the tall trees on the property. It is a very loud drilling sound. He was eating the snow when I caught this photo of him. Guess he was a little thirsty.

 

Downy woodpecker.

(I love this photo.)

 

Border collie.

(I love this dog.)

 

Thank you for your continued visits despite my lackluster posting of late.

Stay warm, my friends ~

Oh there you are

Hello, my friends and apologies for not posting regularly. I have some things going on right now and one of them is the fact that I currently do not have internet at my house. It was my own doing and I have my reasons and they involve my son. To write and upload this post, I’m using the mobile hot spot on my phone. I looked into all of it before the Big Decision and the hotspot comes with my plan. I rarely use it but it’s nice to know that I have access. I also bought a Kindle and have been reading a lot.

Today is a snow day, only our second of the season which is pretty amazing. No snow but we certainly have a layer of ice. I was super careful walking across the patio this morning when I went to top off the bird feeders.

I keep the camera by the kitchen window in the wintertime and am sharing some images of the visitors I’ve had over the past week or so. The light in the mornings is not so great, but by the afternoon, it’s sometimes enough to make me swoon.

 

I didn’t think this one was at all good, but when I began to edit it, I changed my mind,, falling in love with the soft colors and the pretty background. And of course, fat Mr. Cardinal.

 

A downy woodpecker visits my suet block. This double-block is a new addition this year.

 

And Mrs. Cardinal with her soft and pretty blue background here.

It is difficult sometimes to get photos through the glass and this one is a bit distorted because I’m shooting at an angle and not straight on.

 

The Carolina wrens love the suet blocks.

The feeders are straight-on shots through the glass.

 

This soft little house finch waits her turn for the sunflower seeds.

 

The afternoon light was soft and pretty when I captured this male cardinal. I cropped him for just the head shot.

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Today I’m going to get some laundry done and will probably make something yummy for dinner. I have reading to do and will take my buddy on a walk later on. But for now, it’s another cup of coffee for me.

 

My son, Matt, gave me a Kindle for Christmas this year and I had really wanted the Paperwhite. So I returned it and upgraded to what I wanted and I love it. I also needed a cover so I did some research and found one that I am really happy with. I couldn’t believe how much some of those covers sell for, but this one was only $16 from Amazon (Prime). It’s super thin, which I like. And it’s really pretty. Here’s a link:

Kindle Paperwhite Cover

I’ve read several books this past month but my favorite so far is the first of the Outlander series. I’m well into the second book and am liking that one as well, but it’s a great story.

 

Thanks for stopping by to visit. I don’t tell you enough how much I appreciate it.

Until next time, then ~

Birds on a Sunday afternoon

It’s been a mild Sunday here in Maryland and I think it just may be the calm before the storm. I spent the day getting the feeders ready, buying more bird seed and adding another feeder or two to the dogwood tree so that I could shoot pictures out the kitchen window. I was down to one old feeder out there and I hadn’t filled it until just last week. But I always keep the back patio feeders filled so it didn’t take long for the birds to arrive to the new ones.

These were all shot through my kitchen window, which faces west, using my Nikon D7000 and the 70-300mm lens. I chose manual mode to get the light just right. Unfortunately, in manual mode, the 70-300 lens doesn’t autofocus very well, so I had to resort to manual focus. And if you know anything about birds, they move fast.

 

Not that I’m complaining, because I did manage to get several decent captures. But you shoulda seen the ones that got away . . .

Above: Carolina wren.

 

This female cardinal sat and posed for a good 10 seconds or more.

 

This little sucker, however, was jumping all over the place.

This is a tufted titmouse. Don’t you love the little blue feet?

And that dreamy bokeh in the background?

Bokeh is pronounced bow-kay or bow-keh and it refers to that lovely out-of-focus light and all the different shapes and colors you see in the background of photos taken with a digital camera. It is created by light and and the glass in your lens and distance and wind and focus. It's a Japanese term for the subjective aesthetic quality of out-of-focus areas of a photographic image.

 

Even faster moving is the White-breasted nuthatch.

They like to walk along the branches upside down.

 

The house finches, however, are content to sit and relax and have their photos taken.

They don’t mind, like the cardinals do, if they see me moving from the window.

 

That’s the old feeder on the right. I bought a new double-suet feeder today, on the left.

It was half price at the feed store.

 

When I was younger, I never would have believed that sitting by a window and photographing birds would have given me this much pleasure. I would have laughed long and hard had I been told this about myself. But then I got older and life slowed down a little more and now this is something quiet and simple that I can do on a weekend afternoon. And if I am lucky enough, I may even glean an image that is good enough to add to my etsy site for sale.

 

Black-capped chickadee.

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For dinner, I’m making {this} and enjoying it with a nice salad. And for dessert, I’m heating up one of the pain au chocolate delicacies that I made for yesterday’s breakfast. Made up the recipe myself and you can get it {here}, on my old Picture A Day blog that I haven’t updated in years. Hey – one blog is enough.

And I’ll be watching a movie that came in the mail yesterday: This is Where I Leave You. I hope it makes me laugh. I could use a good laugh. Hell, we all could. Right?

Enjoy your Sunday. And to those in the path of the impending storm systems . . . be safe.

 

Your friend,

Zee master bathroom

At the request of my sisters and several of you who read this blog, I’m posting pictures of the finished bathroom in the manor house where I live. I had said I would, but then recanted after deciding it was way too boring. But the pressure became too great, especially when so many of you said that you couldn’t wait to see the after pics. Ha!

The old bathroom leaked and I wasn’t able to use it since October. Prior to that, we never ever used the bathtub because the former tenants told us it leaked into the dining room. No matter, because we had another bathroom on the other side of the house. So that bathroom became our main shower area. But now I have a fully functioning bathroom. And the hot water finally works.

 

The door you see leads to a very large linen closet (which had to be completely cleaned due to all of the demolition dust that accumulated in there).

Prior to this, everything below the chair rail was green tile. The tub was removed and a large shower stall was installed as well as a new toilet and a vanity.

 

When the plumbers and carpenters were done, my son and I painted it ourselves.

I had thought of replacing that old medicine cabinet (it was gross) but because of Rehab Addict on HGTV, I decided to take it all apart  and clean and paint it. And I love how it turned out. The lamps are old but they kind of go with how the rest of the house looks. And they really didn’t need replacing.

 

 

I actually enjoy painting, or rather I used to. I haven’t actually done it in years and had forgotten how tedious it really is. But I think we did a good enough job of it. The woodwork was all a kind of seasick green color and most of it took 3 coats to cover. Seriously tedious and so time-consuming, but also so worth it.

 

This is a basic bathroom with no fancy frills. And I think it’s great.

The curtains came from a friend who was moving. The wall color is called Ancient Stone, a Behr paint color that I also saw on Rehab Addict. I have always painted with Behr and think it’s quite good.

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I didn’t take before photos but I did take a video after the plumbers fixed all the pipe and repaired the drain bed (whatever that is). I watch so many home improvement shows and one of them recommended taking a video after the workers leave. Just in case, you know. If I knew how to make still shots from the video, I would have done that. So for what it’s worth, the before bathroom is in the video below but please excuse the lengthy and boring zooming in on all the plumbing work. The day after I took it, the carpenters showed up and shored up the floor which was in pretty horrible condition as you will see.

 

DSC 5569 from Kate Young on Vimeo.

Today was the first time I took a shower in this bathroom since I moved here in 2008. I actually accidentally headed into the other bathroom and had to stop myself. I am so happy to have a fully functioning master bath. Yay!

Waterlogue love

I am loving the new app that I downloaded for the iPhone. It changes your photos into watercolors and I’ve been playing with it all week. I’m sure my love will die down soon and I’ll get back to my true love (my real camera) soon. But for now, here’s a few photos I’ve taken.

 

Coming up the driveway after work today.

 

I love coming home to the old manor house on the hill.

 

Scenes from the school where I work. The cupola on the top of the building and the old bell from the school’s former site which is now housed in one of the courtyards.

 

Portraits are a little more tricky. Here are a few of my co-workers. Left to right: Priscilla being the car line diva that she is. (That’s our Head of School, Christine, in the background in her red slacks). Rich, our business manager in the center. And Amy, our middle-school head. Makin’ some copies. I bet they’re mid-term exams.

 

The view from my desk.

The blue sign on the top of the mailboxes says, “Keep Calm and Stay Awesome”.

 

And speaking of awesome . . . my George.

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The Waterlogue app is 2.99 and is available for iPhone only. And it’s super fun.

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In other news, I am still not done with the painting in the bathroom. It’s the trim that’s taking so long. (That and the fact that my son doesn’t get as excited to paint as his mother does). But my goal is to have everything finished by the end of the weekend.  This includes cleaning out the linen closet which is attached to the bathroom. It’s covered in dust from the construction. And it’s a huge job. But hey – I have a bathroom that works!

Until next time ~