A New Camera for Pink Saturday 2/28/09

The camera is another Canon PowerShot but it's an SD990 IS (which means image stabilizer and that helps it not be blurry if my hand shakes a bit. And ya never know with these old hands! Hah). It's a 14 mpx which is twice as many pixels as the old one, but it is astounding in its clarity. I love it. And I never had to change the settings at all on any of the pictures on this post!! Astounding!! I am just like a kid in a candy shop with new cameras. I am such a techie chick!

I was almost nose to nose with the rose in this picture - very close up and a bit blurry, but it was my first picture with this camera.

Backed off a little bit in this one.

Got in a bit closer and it worked well here. I cropped in closer to achieve the nearness of it but I was still further away than in the first one.

Very close in but turned out good. Plus I cropped in very closely on this picture.

Backed off a bit here and looks wonderful!

Not too tight a shot.

But got in very tight on this one. Cropped this picture a lot also.

Little too close here and a tad blurry but................

Backed off a bit here and it looks much better. Again, cropped closely here.

Now, for an astonishing bit of news here. I didn't change one setting while taking any and all of the above pictures! I didn't turn out the lights, adjust the nearness or the lighting at all. Isn't this amazing?!?!

Oooooh, and the other fact, none - not ONE, of these roses are real, but you would never ever know it by looking at them. They are all different types of roses and purchased at 3 different stores through the years but they defy anyone who sees them to think they are not real. They are gorgeous!
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A Little Whine With My Eggs and Hershey Kisses!

I don't know about you but I love Hershey kisses. Do you know how many Hershey kisses you can get in a small mouth at one time? I'm still working on it! I'm determined to find the answer but scientific tests take time, ya know?!?!! I'm up to 7 now and still finding room. I'll be sure to let you know though........Back to the experiment.

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It's getting close to easter and I love it because of the religious significance and the resurrection of our Savior.

But isn't this little easter egg card gorgeous?! It's probably the prettiest card I've ever seen. And you know what they say about pictures? They are never done the justice that the real thing can do. I attest to that today. Yep, true!!!!

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Okay, most of you have read this blog about my whining with a computer company and receiving a new $2800.00 computer free! Well, I did it again, chicks!!! Squeeeeeeeeeal...

We went out to dinner at a mexican restaurant the other day and the car wash we really like and use was right across the parking lot so I thought I'd give it a try. I walked over there with Love Bunny and told them I'm a regular customer and wanted some free car washes and didn't have a coupon. As it would happen the manager and his family were just pulling away (I didn't realize who he was until he told me) and asked if I needed help and I explained it and he said to just go inside and tell the young man that J*** said I could have 5 free car washes with the purchase of 10 regular car washes. I did and got them - 15 for the price of 10 so that's quite a savings and I'll never use another car wash with service like that. Try it, chicks, because you just never know how it will turn out. I am soooooo blessed!!!!!
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Cottages and Roses Paintings #2

More Barbara Mock paintings for you to view.
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How luscious are these roses of hers on this old sideboard? Beautiful!

Or this one of a mother and her child in the garden by a lake.

A summer afternoon on the porch entertaining special friends.

Ooooh, the magic of vintage carousels in the park and times of yesteryear.

A beautiful teacup awaiting that special blend of herb tea to make the evening delightful.

A morning in the potting shed arranging bouquets for dinner.

An evening stroll through this garden path to meet with a beau.

A table set for a rendezvous for two perhaps. Aaaah, the delight of it.

Of course, you know I can't resist the birdhouses, poppies and bird nests.

A hummingbird wreath of roses and ribbons.

Why I Blog

I bought a new camera today and practiced with it and wanted to show you some eye candy before my "monologue" so here it is first. Now on with the original purpose of this blog post.

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For the past couple of weeks I've read some blogs where women are giving up blogging. I wondered why. Oh, I can understand wanting or needing to take a break and I'm the same way. But for me, it's a creative outlet. One doesn't have too many "creative outlets" in a smallish town in southwestern Idaho! Trust me. It's a different world from the California life style we were used to. Don't get me wrong; I love Idaho and wouldn't move from it but it's a wee bit behind what we're used to. I truly DO love it here.

But I need a creative outlet - always did and always will. Blogging is my creative outlet. It hones my writing skills and my photography skills. I was the worst photographer before digital cameras were invented but they are improving dramatically! I love being in touch with the rest of the world and I do that with blogging. I love looking at arts and crafts and beautiful rooms and eye candy. I love creating beautiful things. I never buy anything that isn't useful or beautiful for my home - NEVER! If it gives me pleasure and makes me smile and/or is lovely, then it's mine.

I like meeting new people and sharing ideas. That is so easily done on the internet. AND as my daughter puts it so succinctly "virtual friends relationships" are much easier to maintain. She's absolutely correct in that! While I love lunch with the girls once in a while I do get that with a group of women from my church every month or so and that's great. (Feed me and I'll follow you anywhere!). But they might not meet a certain need that others on the internet can provide. That's why I love blogging with so many different kinds of people who share a kindred spirit with me. Plus I love encouraging and uplifting people and I think I do it well on my blog as others have emailed me and relayed their feelings about this.

I see blogs that blog about one thing, and one thing only, but that's not me. Ooooh, I love those blogs and visit them frequently but I have too much in this brain to blog about that to only blog about one thing isn't going to "do it" for me. I want to "get it all out" I guess. I want to uplift and encourage, share my random thoughts and musings (that may be redundant, not sure!), share my home that is very special to me, share my creations, share my town, share my life (limits, of course) and share our zaniness, humor and wit with all who can stand it. So I'm of the "don't subscribe to just one thing" type of blog. Frankly, there is so much to blog about I doubt if I'll live long enough to do it all! And yessssss, I live my life in "exclamation points"! I even talk that way, chicks. I'm just an intense and lively energetic person.

I don't want to change the world; I just want to be happy and to help others be happy with what they DO have and not lust for things that are of no importance in the scheme of things. Simply put, I blog because it gives me pleasure and makes me happy and to think it makes others happy just puts icing on my cupcakes!
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A rose in one of my bouquets in my home. Enjoy. ;-)

Finishing Up With Creating My Office Space

Okay, I usually only post every 2 days and I'm prescheduled until the middle of March but I couldn't keep all of you in suspense with what I did today.

I dragged the old wooden slatted bench from the front porch into this office. It is bright red flaking paint but I have extra covers to throw over it. I'm so glad I bought this Rachel Ashwell duvet a couple of years ago since she is closing her stores now. I took this duvet apart to have 2 large pieces of fabric. That's a LOT of fabric but I use each side for throws over furniture or tables I want to change from time to time. I like the way the bench looks now here in my office. And I still have another side of the duvet to use also.
Of course, I always have a plethora of fabric lying around so I took this thrice used fabric, which was at one time a curtain, and tore it in half to make a cover for the front of my desk. The little shelf on the right is now behind my desk chair and I plan on covering it with fabric and starch soon, but I need to do other things and my daughter and granddaughter are coming wednesday.

I then sewed the 2 pieces together to make it wider and then ruffled it in my ruffler. I then sewed on a piece of embroidered ribbon on the front and used my pinking shears to the top of the fabric to stop it from fraying. Then I took some sticky velcro and cut little pieces about 1/2" in length and glued the "fluffy" side to the desk and the other "plain" side to the fabric. Voilà, the cover up for the cords. I am soooooo into easy ways of doing things and this was easy! I haven't hemmed it but just folded it under a bit but I may use tiny straight pins or even tiny safety pins to secure it. I do this because so many things in my home have been repurposed for other uses rather than the original intended use. I've given you 2 views to see it. It only goes across the front area.

It is "serving its purpose" here very well, don't you think?