Last August – photo redux

I’ve been having an issue with the USB device for my external hard drive. And now that I think of it, it was acting up a little even before I got the new laptop. I thought I had it figured out over the weekend, as it was working just fine; but tonight it once again decided not to be recognized by the computer.

It wasn’t until I shut the laptop down, did a voodoo chant over the Maxtor hard drive, powered the laptop up again and voila – it worked.

Because I’m rather tired of it all this evening, and today was the first day back to normal hours after a summer of shortened days at work, I’m especially tired.  So I’m sharing photos that I took at this time last year.

I don’t ever remembering re-posting photos before, so this is a first.

I know that my long-time readers have seen these already. But maybe you won’t mind for now. The dish at the bottom right is one of my favorite summer salads, [Watermelon, Feta & Olive Salad].

This year, these are purple.

I had discovered textures and was having a lot of fun with them.

And my cosmos were still alive and thriving. This year’s crop didn’t fare so well because of the extreme heat, I guess.

I don’t want to sound like I’m complaining, so I think I need to zip it.

But just one more before I go . . . this is my favorite iced tea and I’m actually getting really thirsty right now just gazing at it. It’s Bigelow’s Raspberry Tea and the simple recipe follows:

Boil 2 cups water. Remove from heat.

Add 4 raspberry tea bags.

Let steep about 15-20 min.

Add 1 cup sugar (or less) and stir.

Pour into 2 qt. pitcher and add cold water to taste.

It is so refreshing on a hot summer day and perfect to come home to at the end of a long one.

Until tomorrow, my friends . . .

Three things

One. I did sleep in the tent last night. Did you think I was kidding when I said I would? My husband, on the other hand, elected to stay inside in the nice soft bed. So George and I went outside under the stars in the tent. For some reason, I woke around 2 in the morning and was surprised to see that there was no dog in the tent with me. Upon closer inspection, I saw that he had somehow burrowed his nose between where the two zippers met and let himself out where I’m sure, he was gallivanting about and cavorting with squirrels.

Two. Today it rained and we sat outside on the little back porch and just watched for awhile. It was soft and gentle and we were content to just look. I love a soft summer rain, don’t you?

Three. Today, because it was raining and my husband was watching golf, I opened my computer and went onto Netflix where I queued up a little number called Dragonfly. Kevin Costner plays an emergency room doctor who has lost his pregnant wife, also a doctor. Kathy Bates delivers yet another solid performance as the next-door neighbor and friend, but it’s Costner who surprised me the most. In one of his best performances to date, Costner perfectly fits the role of the doctor who may or may not be slowly going insane. Darkly filmed in a sort of Sixth Sense-method, there’s a little suspense and a little bit of a mystery as it begins to dawn on the good doctor that his wife may be trying to reach out to him from the grave. But it’s the profoundly joyful ending that left me in tears of happiness. It’s a perfect movie for a rainy afternoon.

Or any other time, for that matter.

I really like a movie that leaves me feeling good.

Until tomorrow, my friends . . .

Time for a cool change

The weather has been beautiful here in Maryland and we were actually able to turn off the air conditioner today. I had begun to wonder if the oppressive heat would ever abate. But today we got a reprieve. And tonight -- well, tonight is even better.

So we’re going camping in the backyard.

George loves the cooler weather.

I love my new laptop. It’s a Dell Inspiron with a 17” screen. I can’t believe I was afraid of Photoshop CS5. Sometimes I am simply ridiculous.

Is it wrong to pretend that we’re camping?

We have the tent ready.

And I do believe that somebody wants to sleep out here with us.

The only thing we’re missing is the campfire and the s’mores.

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I watched The Proposal again the other night. It’s on Netflix in the ‘watch instantly’ section but is also available on DVD. It stars Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds and although I enjoy the story, I really just watched it to see the Alaskan landscape. It’s so beautiful along the coast.

Readers have asked me how I find the time to watch movies and whether or not I have to tackle my husband for the use of the TV. The answer is that I make the time to watch them. And rather than watching them on the TV, I view them on the big monitor that I have attached to my laptop. That way, I can be in the same room as everyone else and while George and my husband are watching golf, or MLB, I’m happy as a clam over here in the corner with my laptop.

And I can toss Scary Bird around for George.

Hope your weekend is a good one. It’s always nice to see you here.

Winner announced in print Giveaway

Congratulations to long-time reader Donna, from Brynwood Needleworks, who is the winner of my print Giveaway. Donna, your photographs will be on their way this weekend. Donna was chosen by the random integer generator at Random.org and her choices from my etsy shop were Little Acorn and Spring Bloom.

Thanks so much to everyone who participated and I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Love,

Sardines, laptops, magic mushrooms, and mice

I thought that today would be the day. I thought it’d be the day that I’d be able to use my new laptop to write a post and to work on my photos in the new Photoshop program I have. But, alas, it is not.

I bought a new laptop recently but I’ve been putting off getting it set up.

There’s just so much, you know, and it all gives me such a headache. It’s why I get someone really computer-savvy to help me with it. At school today we got Photoshop CS5 loaded into it and then had to figure out how to get the actions and brushes from the old version into the new version. And while we were in there, CS5 was looking a little scary to me.

But I’m not a wimp.

After bringing it home and setting it up, complications ensued which were all solved but one. It wasn’t until the new laptop wouldn’t recognize my external hard drive (where I store all my photos) that I gave up. Try as I might, I couldn’t figure it out, so I called it a day and turned on the old laptop.

And now I am sitting here with my faithful old friend where the Photoshop is familiar and the keyboard is soft and sweet. And I don’t care that I can’t read any of the letters.

I am going to get this all figured out but until then, here’s a few more glimpses from Maine for you. I opened up the album this afternoon and looked at the water just to calm down.

One morning, we drove to the peninsula across from us and hiked up Pigeon Hill. It was a nice little walk and a we had a pretty decent view at the top.

We started down and saw some beautiful birds hanging out together at the top of a dead tree. They were cedar waxwings! I changed lenses and this was as close as I could get with the 70-300mm.

They look like fun guys, don’t they?

Speaking of which.

This little mushroom is half-eaten and you can see the little critter bites, probably from a mouse. I wonder what would happen if a mouse nibbled on one of these and it happened to be a magic mushroom.

Maybe then he would see a face in the rocks.

Or maybe a giant cut-out of a fisherman holding a can of sardines.

I took this in Prospect Harbor, home of Beach Cliff sardines, the last sardine cannery in the United States. They closed their doors just this past April. Maine was once the center of the thriving sardine industry which began in the 1870’s and reached its heydey in the 1950’s.

But we were talking about mice, weren’t we? Or was it computers or birds? Anyway, here’s a question for you:

Have you ever eaten sardines? And if so, did you like them?

Hey, it’s not too late to enter my Giveaway, especially if you’re reading this before 6 PM on Friday, Aug. 13.

Until tomorrow, my friends . . .

Photos of Maine (and it’s not too late for the Giveaway)

I thought I’d share some random photos taken while my husband and I were vacationing in Maine last month. And if you haven’t entered my Giveaway, there’s still plenty of time as it closes Friday at 6 PM.

Check out this interesting way to travel. Seen in the parking lot at Schoodic Point, this little camper and VW Beetle isn’t something you see every day. I was not surprised to see that they’re from California because I think it’s really cool. My husband noted the bike on top, which has a small motor. Very retro.

The view is incredible from where they’ve parked, especially at high tide when the waves crash against the rocks.

Speaking of views,

this is where we pulled over and had a small picnic. The doors of the Element open like a clam shell, so that’s what you see on either side of the photo.

The weather that day was so perfect. Cool enough for a sweater in the shade but nice and warm in the sun.

The kayaks at low tide. Kayaking is fun and work at the same time. I’m liking it a lot.

And  before you say, ‘Awwww, that’s sweet’ when you look at the photo below, I want you to look at what my husband is using to comb George’s fur.

This is my comb. My husband forgot to bring George’s brush, and this is what he chose as a replacement. Actually, once I got over the shock, it sorta did make sense.

And it’s only a comb.

It was this next photograph that made me saw ‘Awwww’.

I think they’re having a moment.

I’ve enjoyed reading all of your answers to the Q&A I posted below. It’s always so interesting to find out who actually comes here. The craziness begins when I try to remember everyone. For those of you who asked where the house for sale is located, here’s the link to the realtor page. It’s a really beautiful home that hasn’t been updated since what looks like the 50’s or 60’s.

One of my favorite answers to the Q&A this time was this answer to the question: What is your first name? How do you feel about it? The reply was:

Wayne. It was a gift. So I accepted it.

Nicely put, Wayne. In fact, I think I found the answers to this question the most interesting. So many unique names like Cloudia, Jeanne (pronounced the French way), Manden, Charlane and Ramona as well as so many different feelings about our names. Thanks for your honesty.

I also enjoyed the answers to your favorite summertime drink and had never heard of some of them, such as Watermelon Lime-Aide. Thanks, Karen for posting this for us! It looks really refreshing. 

Until tomorrow, my friends . . .

Giveaway Time – win two prints

I think it’s about time I host another Giveaway, don’t you? It’s been way too long since the last one. Whenever that was.

This time, it will be not just one, but two prints of your choice from my Etsy site. They’ll be printed on Kodak professional supra endura vc digital paper and will be ready for framing. I’ve posted several of them here for you to see.

THE RULES: Leave a comment after choosing your favorite two from this post or from my Etsy site. Please make sure I have a way of contacting you. That’s it! The Giveaway will continue until 8 PM on Friday, August 13 and is open to everyone in the States and beyond.

GIVEAWAY ENDS FRIDAY, AUG. 13 AT 8 PM EST

DRAGONFLY IN TEXTURE

SILVER BUTTER KNIFE 

SEAGULL

WHITE BEACH ROSE

SINGING FOR HIS SUPPER

EVENING SWIRLS

Thanks for your visits. Good luck!

Cruisin’ on the Coastal Highway in Maine

One day when we were heading back to our rental cottage in Maine a couple weeks ago, we got behind this vintage vehicle in Maine, so I snapped a few pics.

What we didn’t know was what was in front of it.

It was a long line of vintage cars. How often does this happen?

We followed them north for many miles.

Intersection of Cottage & Main Streets in Bar Harbor.

This place is for sale in Milbridge. It has a view of the water AND an indoor swimming pool.

This brightly colored home is also in Milbridge.

Antique shop in Cherryfield.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

And now, because it’s Tuesday, and because inquiring minds want to know, here are a few questions for you.

1. What’s your favorite summertime drink?

2. When were you last in Ocean waters?

3. When did you last attend a sporting event?

4. What is your first name? How do you feel about it?

5. Can you keep a secret?

See you in the comments, my friends . . .

Ice cream castles in the air

I had the most wonderful time over the weekend. I say it was wonderful because I spent it with my family, some of whom I hadn’t seen for awhile.

My sisters and other family members travelled from as far as California and Florida to attend my twin brother’s 50th birthday party which was held in NJ at the home of my brother Pete and his wife, Pat. It was to be a surprise for Pete’s twin, Steve, and you may remember me posting a little about him earlier this year when he was diagnosed with a serious illness. (He is doing ok and is almost at the end of his chemo treatments.)

It’s late as I write this, and I’ve been working on photos since I’ve gotten home, trying to get an album done for them. These are some of my favorites that I’ll quickly share with you.

My niece, Samantha, created this unique cake that’s designed to look like poker chips. Sam is very sorry (not) that she kicked all the guys butts in poker Saturday night.

My brother Steve, completely overwhelmed at having realized everyone was here to see him. This is my niece, Melanie who came from far far away to be here with all of us. She is tons of fun.

Melanie’s mom, my beautiful sister Judy with her husband, Rick. We love Rick.

My brother, Pete. (Steve’s twin). I do hope you’re taking notes on all these names.

Whenever someone says, "let’s take some family photos", I secretly cringe inside. I do this because it’s like herding cats to get them all together. But it’s fun, too. I like taking shots in between the staged ones and thought this one was fun. That’s my son, Matt in there, and my sister’s hand. She was trying to help me herd them, I think.

My niece, Naomi. She’s Steve’s daughter.

I stayed at my brothers house, while other family members stayed at local B&B’s for the night. I thought it was fun sleeping on air mattresses so close together you could hardly get from one end of the room to the other.

And the next morning, Pat the wonder wife, cooked us all a real Philadelphia breakfast, complete with eggs, sausage, bacon, scrapple and bagels with cream cheese. It was fantastic.

I hope she recovers quickly from the onslaught of our family at her home.

And I had one of these for dessert. I just want to say that they were magically delicious.

I love my family.

Until tomorrow, my friends . . .