Sunday, October 18, 2015

Am I in heaven here or . . .

Greetings from Maryland on a crisp, chilly October day. As I write this, the clouds have moved in so rather than take my Kindle outside to read a bit, I decided to stay in and actually write a post . . . something that’s been long overdue. Because here’s what I think:

Thank God for this blog.

When I am feeling down, which thankfully is not all that often, I can go back and read about happier times. It’s also a resource for photo storage. What I mean is that I’m one of those people who detests filing. And my photos are filed by month and year. This has been working for me, especially since I have this blog – because when I forget when I took that one certain photo that I’m searching for, I can run a search on my blog and voila – the date of the post shows up and when I hover over the photo, I now have the image number. Unfortunately, all too often it’s a photo that was lost in the Great Hard Drive Crash of 2011 – what I call what happened when I lost 85% of the photos I’d taken since 2006.

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When that happened, I was pretty upset but was going through a difficult time with my husband’s illness which overshadowed the photo issue. Besides, I had some key pictures saved on what I thought was a cloud with a company that I will not mention (because it’s not their fault). Unfortunately, last month all of these key photos were lost – deleted – from said company. Why? Because I didn’t purchase something from them in the time frame stated on their policy.

I actually cried when I found out. My husband’s cardinal – the female cardinal in snow – that he took and I edited and sold so many copies of – was gone. I contacted my gallery and told them I didn’t think I could do this anymore (to which they said that they hoped I would change my mind). I closed down my etsy site (because all of my photos for sale were on said company’s website and were now gone). The company told me to simply upload them all again. But I couldn’t . . . because they were lost in the crash.

 

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Or so I thought.

 

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I found the cardinal this weekend. I remembered that I’d e-mailed it years ago to a publication for cancer patients. The full resolution size was in my gmail account! And my bluebird . . . and my mourning dove . . . and my hawks . . . all found because of the blog and my filing system by dates. I still don’t have all of them but that just means I need to start taking pictures again.

 

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These were all taken over the weekend using my iPhone 6 and edited with Photoshop for the most part. It was beautiful this morning and most of yesterday and I took George for a ride in the car to run errands, taking the long way through beautiful countryside.

I saw a starling murmuration (see example at end of post) and slowed down to watch, noticing that several other cars had done the same. It was like watching a graceful ballet with thousands of little birds all synchronized in flight and it was absolutely stunning.

 

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I took this one coming up the driveway this morning after a trip to a grocery store a few towns over.

 

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One thing I love on a weekend morning: If the sun it out, no matter how cold it is, I like having my coffee outside. I will wrap myself up in a blanket and wear a coat, hat, and gloves if I need to – but it’s really nice just listening to the birds and watching them go from tree to tree. The distinct sound of a pileated woodpecker, geese flying overhead, nuts falling from the trees and squirrels scampering about.

 

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Hello, my friend.

For supper I’m making a roast pork loin and some butternut squash soup which I plan on packing for lunches this week. I’m making an apple crisp for dessert and will probably take some to work tomorrow. If I leave it here, I may end up eating the whole thing.

And life is good.

Hope you are, as well. Thanks so much for stopping by to visit.

123 Signature[5]

A Starling Murmuration

Post heading is from Hold On by Sarah McLachlan.

30 comments:

Cloudia said...

Thank you for posting. You always make me feel good!









ALOHA
ComfortSpiral

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(='.'=)
(")_(")


Winters End Rambler said...

Kate...thank you for sharing your beautiful photos...I'm always happy to see you've posted...the series Poldark you mentioned last time is actually a remake of the original which will age me but I can remember as if it were only a short time ago rather than the thirty plus years it actually must be, Jackie. x

Sheila said...

George is beautiful and dinner sounds delicious, I love squash soup! Have a great week.

Gail said...

At the beginning of the digital age, I laboriously put on my photos on floppies. I no longer have a way to see them. They were happier times too.
Sometimes we get lucky. I'm glad your found many of your favorites.

Blessings.

Country Gal said...

I love taking my tea or coffee or chocolate outside and doing the same thing no matter the weather as I have a nice protected porch to sit on and enjoy the sun fresh air and nature . I am glad you found your photos . I have a few external hard drives that I back up my photos to and they get catalog automatically each time I load them in with the program Lightroom which keeps the originals NEFs as I photograph in raw as well as any of my adjusted ones which then get turned into JPEGS ! I am glad all is good and you are doing well ! Oh supper and desert sounds YUMMY ! Wonderful photos as always . Thanks for sharing , Have a good week !

Country Gal said...

Hot chocolate that is lol

Sabrina Steyling said...

Oh, George, he always seems to get handsomer with every photo you take of him, Kate! I would adore giving him a hug. <3

I am glad you were able to recover a lot of your photos; I had gotten into the habit of storing my photos on a flash drive and then, when it got to a certain point, burning them onto CDs.

Enjoy your week! That pork loin and the soup sound so warm and delicious! yum :)

The Furry Gnome said...

So glad you were able to find some of the photos!

JaneK said...

Was just thinking of you this morning and, voila! There you are! Horrible about your pics.
It is beginning to feel like fall for sure.
Love that last shot of sweet George!

Michelle said...

Oh, I was feeling so bad for you! Then . . . "Or so I thought." That phrase made my heart leap; I can only imagine how it made you feel!

alphabet soup said...

WE might have to wait for a while for a post but when it arrives it is well worth the wait.
How well I remember the Great Hard Drive Crash of 2011!!
All's well that ends well - you found the photos in another place. Hurrah!!
Great bridge photo Kate.
I'm waiting now for the next post.
Ever the optimist.
Ms Soup

Gayle said...

Awww, a Monday morning treat……to read your blog and enjoy your beautiful photos. Thank you for taking us with you.

Daryl said...

you knew this would be my comment


CORNFIELD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

jo said...

I'm so happy you are finding your photos. It's heart-breaking to lose something like that. Also, it's so good to hear from you again. Too much time had gone by, and I missed you. Lastly, thanks so much for sharing the starling video. I have never heard of a murmuration or seen one, and it was stunning. I would give anything to see one in real life. Enjoy your week, my friend.

Lee Owenby said...

So happy to hear from you. Love the corn photo, the bridge too - and George of course. Glad you recovered some of your photos.

Linda Kay said...

Congrats on finding your photos in this wide world web, Kate. Love the pictures of George...do you have many, many? Thanks for sharing your wonderful photos.

Low Tide High Style said...

It was a gorgeous, chilly fall weekend wasn't it?! I am SO glad you were able to find some of your lost images, I hope you find more in other hidden places. I haven't seen the starlings yet this year, but I love watching them fly in unison and dance their dance. I hope you have a great week!

xo Kat

becky up the hill said...

It was lovely hearing from you. Thanks for posting. I always am concerned when you don't. Happy Fall.

beth said...

like you…i often go back to find/get/remember the photos i have taken….

and what a blessing that truly is!!!

i love fall, too…
but outside on a cold day drinking my tea with a blanket and mittens….nope, not me :)

xo

Connie in Hartwood said...

Was the great crash really all the way back in 2011? This reminds me to check the status of my cloud backup subscription, since I rely on it to keep my photos and other things safe. Can't be too careful.

I find that I use my blog to keep track of when things happened, as well as being a good place to find photos. Like you, I don't post as often as I used to. Perhaps I should make more of an effort.

Sweet, sweet George!

Annie said...

So glad you were able to find some of your photos Kate. I do remember that awful crash you had with the HD. My photos are in such a jumble on various computers and devices I lose all heart of ever having them in order again. Oh well. I guess they are always on the blog if I need them.

Loved the birds video. Such an amazing thing. I'd have to stop and watch too!

Warming up over here while you cool down there!

Jill of All Trades said...

Kate, I think you can right click on your photos off of your blog too to resave them to your computer. Maybe.... I periodically back up my photos to an external hard drive & USB that I can grab in case of fire/flood/tornado...

Glad you were able to find the photos. Makes me nuts when I loose one I know I have somewhere...

The photo place problems make me need to visit my sight!!!!

Carla

Hilary said...

What a gift to have found some of your lost images. I can only imaging how your heart soared when you did. Lovely photos, one and all. Your always are.

sharon said...

one day I hope to see a murmuration. They have to be one of the coolest animations of nature. Happy to hear you found some of your pictures. that happen to me once too. It's devastating when you lose something so precious. Have a great week, can't believe November is almost upon us.

Karen thisoldhouse2.com said...

Good to "see" you, friend. :-) Happy for your good news.



R.M. said...

We went riding up at Gunpowder State Park - Sweet Air area - on Columbus Day. So beautiful! I'm relieved your deductive reasoning kicked in and you were able to retrieve some of your work through other ways. I keep my blog to keep track of what we did, when and how. Can't remember any other way!

becky up the hill said...

You okay?

Country Girl said...

Yes!!

Unknown said...

Just want you to know that it's always wonderful seeing new posts on your site and I hope we hear from you again soon. Happy, happy holidays!

Pix said...
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