I Got a NEW Camera!!

I have been taking so many flower, fauna, and winter /spring pictures, that I was beginning to feel the limitations of my present camera. Don't get me wrong my camera takes wonderful pictures as long as you are close enough to your subject. Unfortunately when you are in the woods or on a mountain top, getting close to a subject is not always an option. There was a sale at Staples, on a Kodak camera which I am familiar with, (my last three cameras were Kodaks) and George and I went to look at it. It has 7x digital zoom and 12x optical zoom. My friend, Susan, told me I should have no less than 10x so I thought that was good. The sale price was pretty good also. I was going to think it over a bit, but my husband said GET IT, you use your camera so much! So I did. It is bit bigger than my last camera but I will cope. Now if I can just learn to use it. It is a Kodak Z712 IS. Susan did I do good? Funny they give you a minuscule manual in four languages. BUT the user manual, they tell you, is online! So I had to download the file and take it to Staples and have them print it for me. What in the world do people do if they don't have a computer????? Time to go out and give this baby a try.

Trials and Tribulations of Heading South!

We started for sunny Florida on the fifteenth of January. George and I stay with my mom, and as she worries about our traveling, I don't usually tell her we are on our way until we get through Virginia. Usually that means the worst of the weather is over. Hah!

It snowed before we left home so we did not leave until noon. We spent the night in Binghamton, and started out bright and early Wednesday morning. We drove about nine hours and stopped again in Hillsville, VA. I thought we would be fairly safe as we were only a few miles from the NC border. We had dinner that night at Shoney's....never again! George woke up at 2 am and he was running a high fever, ached all over, and kept telling me he was freezing. (The room must have been a hundred degrees, I could not turn the heat up any higher.) To add to the misery when we got up in the morning, there was five inches of snow on the ground!!! We delayed our departure a bit and then took off at a slow pace. The roads were a mess! George was feeling awful so we decided to go just to a hotel we like in Columbia. We were going to get there before their check in time, so we stopped at JR's first and then to Mary Jo's. I needed some fabric for a special project, and had all the measurements on a notepad. I tried to get a bolt off the shelf that was wedged in so tight, that I had to set my notepad down. A salesgirl helped me pull it out and suddenly no notepad!!! Three girls helped me look, I was so upset, I was trying to hurry because George was napping in the car, I was so prepared...and ended up guessing what I needed. We left Gastonia and headed for Columbia. When we arrived the parking lot was filled with police cruisers. They apparently were having a conference. One of the patrons parked near the cruisers thinking their car would be safe, and someone smashed their window in during the night. I think since this was the only vandalism, it was an in your face thing to the police. So sad for this lady, she was elderly and just beside herself. She had purposely parked her car in that spot for what she thought was added security. This world is so crazy sometimes.
We managed to finish up the trip on Friday, and make it to Mom's before the heavy rained started. Florida downpours are not fun to drive in when you are tired and feeling sick!

Today we spent most of the day in the ER, since we have no physicians here, getting George a prescription for his illness. Hopefully all will settle down now for the next three months or so!

Better late than never!

I try to make George a quilt each year for Christmas and also two high school friends. Actually we have been friends since we were in second grade, so that is a few years ago! I got the two friends done, but George received his as a top! I am so bad. I made it out of flannel because that is his all season choice of fabric! He chose the fabrics, the log cabin setting (navajo), the quilting design which he thought looked very southwest and the binding color. I finished it finally and he tells me he has never slept better!

Time to be more diligent!

It is fairly sad, that I have not posted anything since 2006. I know that my dear cousin Missy used to check often to see what we have been up to, I am sure she has given that up as a lost cause. So my new year's resolution is to be more diligent with this blog. Today is like every other day in the Northeast in the winter, gray, dull, cloudy, and that HORRID WHITE WORD....SNOW!!!! George and I are preparing for our annual trip south and it cannot be soon enough! I need to see some sun. I have seen more snow than I care to and frankly I am freezing! This is a picture of a blue spruce in our yard during the last storm. It was pretty but enough is enough. The picture next to the spruce is one of my favorite trailheads. This was taken on a lovely cold icy winter day. It was so beautiful.