Cows!

Photo 130 - January 31

I've been watching these guys every day and thinking I should really stop and take their picture. But I was a little concerned that the family that lives on the farm might be a little concerned that I was taking photographs. But this was too much fun...the cows thought I had some great treat for them because they were very interested when they saw me crossing the street and came over to greet me. You'd almost swear they were posing.

Monday with Friends!

Photo 129 - January 30

It's always nice to be able to visit with far away friends...and I'm happy that my friends remember to include me, even though Dale's gone. Tonight I was at Mike and Maggie's for a wonderful dinner with them, the Schnell family, Keith and Dawn and Denise and Bob, who are in town for a couple of days. Dale was a high topic of conversation...they can never remember where he's deployed to, and seem to remember "Kokomo" much better than "Kosovo."

Thermal Spring and Honey Beige

Photo 128 - January 29

Thermal Spring and Honey Beige are the colors I'm trying out for the living room. I've always liked the idea of a focal wall, and Dale and I had talked about a dark green before he left. But the furniture we have is very dark green, and an odd color at that, and he has forbidden me from using any shade of red, so I decided maybe teal would be a good alternative. I'm pretty happy with the Thermal Spring. The jury is still out on Honey Beige, though. I'm wondering if I need something just a little bit darker.

A visit to the lake

Photo 127 - January 28

I suppose I should thank the Saukville Post Office for their incredibly crummy hours of operation, because when I went over there and found them closed, I went home and collected my camera and headed to the Port Washington post office instead. And as long as I was in Port, I took a little side trip over to the lake and took a few (actually about 80) pictures. It was a little cold, but the sun was shining and there were plenty of birds in the sanctuary to shoot.

Lazy puppy (or is it bored?)

Photo 126 - January 27

I think Trinka is as tired of this weather as I am...although it has been warm enough the last couple days for her to stay outside a little longer. Our snow forecast for the evening has been downscaled from a couple inches to less than an inch. And that does not hurt my feeling at all...

More wood!

Photo 125 - January 26

More wood! These are the register covers, and tonight was the beginning of staining them. I'm not very happy with the quality. Besides the one with the huge spot of wood filler on the top, I also found another one one with a smaller splotch of filler (which may look alright when it's varnished), and another one with a chunk taken out of the back of it, big enough that the damper door will fall off it's pins. That in itself won't be a problem, because once the damper is locked in the open position it's not going anywhere. The problem is that quality thing...and the fact that it's missing.

Sure it's pretty, but...

Photo 124 - January 25

Dale and I were busy comparing notes today about who got what snow. He definitely won, because by the time I was leaving work, the people on the base were trudging through knee deep drifts. We only got a couple inches, although the pictures look a whole lot worse than what eventually stayed on the ground. I'm just getting tired of coming home and shoveling. I take great pleasure in looking at the calendar and seeing that it's almost the end of January. Hopefully that means not much more snow-falling time is left in the season. But then again, who am I kidding? I live in Wisconsin...

Christmas Present!

Photo 123 - January 24

As a part of my Christmas present, Cindy gave me a subscription to the magazine "Outdoor Photographer." She knows that I've been blogging, since my camera sits by the side of my desk most days, waiting for something that needs to be captured. I love most everything about photography books and magazines, and this issue seemed almost too appropriate. Note the article on the front cover, "Dramatic Hawaiian Vistas." I think I'm going to have to make a couple more investments in equipment before I meet Dale.

What is quality?

Photo 122 - January 23

Apparently I missed the boat when the definition of "quality" was dished out. The dictionary defines it as "high grade; superiority; excellence," and when I ordered my woodwork, I kind of expected it would be good quality. I guess I was wrong. I ordered six unfinished oak register covers, and as I was opening one of them, I had to take it down by Jeff for his confirmation that what I thought I was seeing was really what I was seeing. Would the manufacturer really use wood putty on the top of it? Yup - that's exactly what it was. I've sanded it and I'm going to try finishing it and see how it turns out, but Zoroufy is definitely getting copies of the before and after pictures and my unhappy email.

Can't squeeze out another drop

Photo 121 - January 22

You know what really sucks? Getting down to that last couple of inches of painting and running out of paint. And this is not paint I'm going to go out and get more of. It's old paint that has been sitting downstairs, and I'm not even sure if it would be the same color if I ordered the same color, it's been sitting downstairs in the can for that long. But it will be fine, since the spot that was missed should pretty much be covered up with drywall, and I'll probably end up painting it all again anyways. But voila! Another completed closet! And I didn't even strip any screws this time.

My boyfriend is a hottie...

Photo 120 - January 21

Yes, that is what Rebecca told me, as she held up the guy with the snake mohawk. "My boyfriend is a hottie." I told her that would be my blog for the day.

Today was a sad day, as we said goodbye to my Great Aunt Gertrude. Funerals do offer opportunities for family get togethers, and it was nice to be able to spend time with Dad and Liz today, along with the rest of his family, although it's too bad that it couldn't be for happier times.

School Play!

Photo 119 - January 20

Kristin asked me if I would be able to take head shots of the kids for their publicity for their upcoming school play. How do you say no to that? Today we shot close to 30 kids, and it went pretty well. I got to use my backdrop and lighting (which was as sassy and picky as ever). Here are Renee and Jesse, and a fun picture of Renee and her cousin, Savannah.

Sendoff

Photo 118 - January 19

First off, this will teach me not to try to use the zoom feature on my iPhone. It did leave the picture looking a little like a painting, which I think is kind of cool, but the resolution on the zoom is pretty awful. This lone pheasant was waiting for me today as I left work. Since the wind chill was below zero, I didn't figure I would find anything to photograph so I left my camera at home. Guess I won't be doing that again. As I see what the phone captured, I can only imagine how nice the picture would have been if it was taken with my camera. This picture isn't great for quality, but seeing the pheasant climbing the hill needed to be recorded.

The moon in the morning

Photo 117 - January 18

I've been hoping to get a good shot of the moon coming up over the lake, but that has not worked out for me very well. So this morning, the crescent moon was still pretty bright in the sky when Trinka and I got back from our walk. My goal has been to get the exposure right so the moon doesn't just look like a light up in the sky. I was pretty excited when I could see craters in some of the pictures. This is a crop of my original, but other than that there is no retouching. I think it looks pretty cool.

Morning Drive

Photo 116 - January 17

Yes, this is taken from the driver's seat of my car, on my way to work this morning. I wasn't texting...my eyes were totally on the road. I didn't even have to look at the phone when I took the picture - I just kept my finger on the button and snapped a few. We had a lovely day of snow and blowing snow today. But of course, my sidewalks and driveway were clean for me when I got home - thanks, Jeff, for taking care of us today!

Leaving Again?

Photo 115 - January 16

Yes, this is the pitiful face that looks at me while I'm getting ready to leave, as if to accuse me of not spending enough time with her. She strategically takes her place on the rug next to the cupboard where the treats are kept, because she knows I will find something for her before I leave. Don't feel too sorry for her - she's pretty well taken care of. I'm usually told that means she's spoiled.

Gotta Find Something to Cheer About

Photo 114 - January 15

Well there's certainly nothing to cheer about in the Packer game going on right now, so I figured I needed to fabricate something of my own to cheer about. So yay for stain and the first coat of varnish on my cold air returns! Today has been a pretty motivated day. In addition to that, I have Kayla's closet stripped and almost ready for painting, did a lot of filing, paid some bills and put most of my and Dale's clothes back in our closet. Next up is the heat registers for the living room, so I can start cutting the baseboards and get furniture back in that room (so my car can go back in the garage where it belongs)!

House Projects!

Photo 113 - January 14

Yes, it is a house project weekend! That is definitely not a bad thing, seeing as I have way too many house projects underway at the same time. Today I got all of the smaller cold air return covers stained, and also finished putting together the closet organizer in our room (after Jeff came down and undid the stripped screws...thanks, Jeff!). I think I'm past the learning curve with my new drill, and have learned that you have to run the pilot holes in as deep as the screw needs to go. I don't anticipate any more stripped screw heads.

Snow, Snow, Go Away!

Photo 112 - January 13

And it doesn't even have to come back! We only got a couple of inches, but then the wind whipped up and blew it into obnoxious drifts. You can see by my car which way the wind was blowing. One of my wonderful neighbors had me all blown out by the time I got outside shortly after 6:00 a.m., and for that I am very grateful. It's nice to be taken care of like that without my handyman around!

New Monitor

Photo 111 - January 12

I'm blogging this using my new monitor! It was one of those "too good to be true" deals that I seem to find way too many of. It's funny - the new monitor is pretty much the same height as my old one, but it is almost twice as wide. The nice thing is that for things with a 4:3 ratio it doesn't try to stretch them to fit the screen, but it fits them in as they should be fit in, so there isn't any distortion. It will take a little bit of getting used to all of the extra real estate, but I'm excited to see how it handles my pictures and what I'll be able to do with it.

No It's Not Snow

Photo 110 - January 11

This has to be some huge disruption of the ecosystem. Spiders are not supposed to hatch in January, in Wisconsin, the day before we are scheduled to get up to 8 inches of snow. We usually see these kinds of hatches during our warm times, few and far between as they may be. I guess the poor spiders have been confused by the 50 degree temperatures we've been enjoying the past few days.

Looking for the moon

Photo 109 - January 10

My goal tonight was to take a picture of the moon coming up over the lake. Judging by where the moon was last night when I was coming home from Menard's, I figured that if I drove straight to Port Washington after work I would be there in time. Not...apparently the moon does not rise at the same time every night. So I took some pictures of downtown at night. I think this is the old Courthouse building, and I think the lighting at night is beautiful.

Thoughtful Friends

Photo 108 - January 9

The main reason I started directing the bell choir at church this year was because Dale wouldn't be there, and even though I would much prefer playing, I didn't want the choir to fall apart in his absence because of lack of direction. I've also played my flute there for years, and was asked to be an assisting minister this year too. I guess my involvement with the church has caught some attention, because some very thoughtful people gave me some very nice gifts at Christmastime. Personally, the caramel apple is to die for. Thank you, special people!

We're Baaaaack!

Photo 107 - January 8

Ever since the week before Thanksgiving, I have been sleeping on a mattress on the basement floor. Last night I slept in my room again. It wasn't on my bed, but it was in my room. Trinka got her bed too, although she switched off between my bed and her own through the night. Today I found my stain and varnish and ordered my baseboard registers, so let the rest of my projects begin!

Cake Boss

Photo 106 - January 7

We're getting ready to welcome a new member into the family this month. Dale's nephew, Trent, and his wife, Amy, are expecting their first baby, and today Laura and I went to a shower for them. Laura was tasked to make the cake, and as usual, it looked fantastic and tasted even better. Cake Boss is definitely the right term for her. Kayla got me "crochet-motivated" while I was with her in California, so I was able to get a baby blanket finished for them too, in addition to picking out yarn for Evelyn's blanket. It's a good thing I have a while before that blanket needs to be done.

Hi, I'm Colby

Photo 105 - January 6

My daughters are both very lucky to have adopted gentle, sociable, and very friendly cats. Personally, I am not a cat fan, but Kayla's Holly and Laura's Colby are some of the nicest cats I have ever been introduced to. And even though I am allergic, they are welcome to curl up in my lap any time. And Andy told me this was Colby's first photo shoot!

Laura and Andy started moving into their new apartment on New Year's Day, and today was my first introduction to it. They have a very nice place, and even though they're still semi-unpacked, I was treated to a very nice dinner of Spanish Rice. Thanks for the hospitality! And your place will be wonderful when you have everything in and unpacked!