I felt Audrey seemed a bit "off" when I returned from visiting family - she seemed a bit lethargic, a bit too cuddly, and had an on and off limp. I at first thought that was just a burr stuck in her foot that had aggravated her, but after I removed it this kept happening. I took her to the vet on Monday and being a concerned mom, had her re-checked for lymes. Turns out it's a good thing I did! It has relapsed...
I think she'll have to repeat a long course of antibiotics. Fortunately the pet sitter I have for during my Africa trip is fine with treating her, and will dote on her a lot. She is such a precious dog - she does not deserve to be sick... I am so glad it has not gotten worse - she is showing no serious signs like throwing up, and is still eating and drinking. She is not as bad as she was in the fall. Then again in the fall I had her at the vet ASAP, and this time I don't know how long she's had it.
Please keep her in your heart!!
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Saturday, July 5, 2008
LOVING my new camera!!
I took a hike yesterday evening to test my camera outside... really the hike was because I told Audrey we were going to the beach and she got SUPER excited, then I looked at the weather report and found it was raining at the beach and decided not to go - and I had to do something! So I took my new camera and a very happy dog up the hill behind my house. I've posted pics from here before - back when I first moved to Oregon. Being outside really shows the power of my new camera - I am VERY satisfied with my selection...
None of these pictures were taken with a tripod. Modern image stabilization is amazing! My old camera had 10x optical zoom but could only go to 5 without a tripod or things were blurry. This one has 18x and does great at full resolution with very crisp photos, then if you reduce the resolution and use the digital zoom is goes to about 115x zoom - and I was able to go nearly to full zoom without a tripod just using the back of a bench to keep my arms steady...
First test that impressed me - taken from my porch, can you see the clump of leaves in the first pic? They're about 2/3's of the way up the tree near the right edge of the 1st photo:
If you think that's good, keep looking... Can you spot the water tower? How about now with the optical zoom?? Then look at the extra detail you get with the digital zoom?
Can you spot the bird?? How about now? Let me give more help - enhanced zoom :)
How about the branch? Can you spot it? Here's the progression again!
I wasn't the only one having fun on the hike - here's my cutie girl:
And here are some of my favorite pics:
None of these pictures were taken with a tripod. Modern image stabilization is amazing! My old camera had 10x optical zoom but could only go to 5 without a tripod or things were blurry. This one has 18x and does great at full resolution with very crisp photos, then if you reduce the resolution and use the digital zoom is goes to about 115x zoom - and I was able to go nearly to full zoom without a tripod just using the back of a bench to keep my arms steady...
First test that impressed me - taken from my porch, can you see the clump of leaves in the first pic? They're about 2/3's of the way up the tree near the right edge of the 1st photo:
If you think that's good, keep looking... Can you spot the water tower? How about now with the optical zoom?? Then look at the extra detail you get with the digital zoom?
Can you spot the bird?? How about now? Let me give more help - enhanced zoom :)
How about the branch? Can you spot it? Here's the progression again!
I wasn't the only one having fun on the hike - here's my cutie girl:
And here are some of my favorite pics:
Rusty with a drill...
It's either that it has been too long since I've done any household projects, or that I have cupboards made of steal, but I had a bear of a time trying to mount my new under-the-cabinet paper towel holder. This SHOULD have been an easy project...
Four stripped screws and one broken drill bit later, it's finally installed! It only took about 40 minutes!! My vicegrip is still my most favorite tool and saved the day - removing stripped screws and the drill bit that only had a few millimeters sticking out of the wood where it broke - that was a delicate operation!
Maybe I'm warmed up now and can get a lot more done, or maybe I should give up and shorten my to-do list that way!!
Nah... I can do it - I've done so many household repair projects, much more extensive than this little thing. I think it's hard because I don't have easy access to my tools, and I am still thinking about how I want to decorate, so have been reluctant to do much... but I think it's time I make the plunge and move beyond the mostly-moved-in state that I reached last fall, and claim this house as my own...
Four stripped screws and one broken drill bit later, it's finally installed! It only took about 40 minutes!! My vicegrip is still my most favorite tool and saved the day - removing stripped screws and the drill bit that only had a few millimeters sticking out of the wood where it broke - that was a delicate operation!
Maybe I'm warmed up now and can get a lot more done, or maybe I should give up and shorten my to-do list that way!!
Nah... I can do it - I've done so many household repair projects, much more extensive than this little thing. I think it's hard because I don't have easy access to my tools, and I am still thinking about how I want to decorate, so have been reluctant to do much... but I think it's time I make the plunge and move beyond the mostly-moved-in state that I reached last fall, and claim this house as my own...
Friday, July 4, 2008
Testing the new camera
I got the batteries charged on my new camera: http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/panasonicfz18/
and tested it out today - very exciting! Here's what it does on normal mode:
here's what it does on the furthest zoom setting my old camera could do (without a tripod):
And here's what this one can do, no tripod, with only optical zoom (notice the fibers and cat hairs!):
Pretty cool, huh?
Here's my first unsuspecting wildlife shot - he never new I was there... (note he's behind the basket in the first pic above - I was still sitting in the same place to take the pic)
Then I can use the additional digital zoom features to go beyond the optical 18x zoom to a max over over 100x zoom - but I could only get to ~50x without serious blurring, so a tripod is needed here. Here's the wild cat at ~70x zoom with no tripod:
Meanwhile miss Audrey was wondering when we could go back outside and enjoy the porch again!
No wonder she likes it out there - I do too, with the new hammock and seating area, and the freshly planted plants:
And last but not least, the other wild animal of the house needed to feature in a photograph, too!
and tested it out today - very exciting! Here's what it does on normal mode:
here's what it does on the furthest zoom setting my old camera could do (without a tripod):
And here's what this one can do, no tripod, with only optical zoom (notice the fibers and cat hairs!):
Pretty cool, huh?
Here's my first unsuspecting wildlife shot - he never new I was there... (note he's behind the basket in the first pic above - I was still sitting in the same place to take the pic)
Then I can use the additional digital zoom features to go beyond the optical 18x zoom to a max over over 100x zoom - but I could only get to ~50x without serious blurring, so a tripod is needed here. Here's the wild cat at ~70x zoom with no tripod:
Meanwhile miss Audrey was wondering when we could go back outside and enjoy the porch again!
No wonder she likes it out there - I do too, with the new hammock and seating area, and the freshly planted plants:
And last but not least, the other wild animal of the house needed to feature in a photograph, too!
Ahhhh.... SUMMER!
I love unscheduled days. I am currently working from home, on my laptop, out in my hammock, feeling the refreshing breeze and hearing my wind chimes, and seeing my precious dog chew a stick under my feet. The sun comes and goes from the clouds and provides warmth to counter the breeze. A beautiful day, a beautiful view from my hammock, and I don't have to feel guilty because I'm being productive!!
I just bought a new camera - I hope to get back to blogging more regularly, and improving my blog with much needed photos. I have not had a working camera much of this year, so pictures have been sparse...
So much to blog about - my first grad student finishing, getting my first grant, going back to Purdue for a teaching workshop and meeting up with my fun friend I met in Vegas, going home and seeing my precious 3 week old niece, relaxing with family... Then back to Oregon where I've been very social and am very thankful that school is out!!
Many fun things planned this summer - I'll try to keep it posted!
I just bought a new camera - I hope to get back to blogging more regularly, and improving my blog with much needed photos. I have not had a working camera much of this year, so pictures have been sparse...
So much to blog about - my first grad student finishing, getting my first grant, going back to Purdue for a teaching workshop and meeting up with my fun friend I met in Vegas, going home and seeing my precious 3 week old niece, relaxing with family... Then back to Oregon where I've been very social and am very thankful that school is out!!
Many fun things planned this summer - I'll try to keep it posted!
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Almost finished... thank goodness!
I reached a state of near burn-out a few weeks ago, and it's all I could do to make sure my classes go well every day. I have not had energy for much else. To make it worse, the weather continues to be miserable. In the next 7 days, it won't top 65F, and it'll be raining most every day. I've been wearing sweaters and jackets, in Janurary! I now understand why people dress the way they do around here, though I hope to never see the day I wear a summer skirt with stockings and sneakers :)
Speaking of clothes, one of my girlfriends here (from the NYC area) wanted to get together for dinner and out to see Sex and the City. I wouldn't have gone otherwise, but it's fun to go out with my girlfriends. It was fun to see all the fancy clothes and shoes, and since most of us are east coast girls, we reminisced about dressing fancy, and all had similar feelings that we draw too much attention to ourselves around here if we pull out a cute outfit and fancy heals.
So back to the burn-out issue, the quarter is finally nearly over. Tomorrow is the last day of classes, and I am giving finals on Wed and Thurs next week. Nearly done now! I am so glad. I think classes have gone well this quarter, I'm hopeful for good evals, and have been able to try some new things and refine some of my teaching ideas I've been working on all year. I am VERY VERY glad for summer to start soon though... now if only the weather would make it FEEL like summer :)
(Did you notice the slip - I typed that it was January in the first paragraph - it's june!!)
Speaking of clothes, one of my girlfriends here (from the NYC area) wanted to get together for dinner and out to see Sex and the City. I wouldn't have gone otherwise, but it's fun to go out with my girlfriends. It was fun to see all the fancy clothes and shoes, and since most of us are east coast girls, we reminisced about dressing fancy, and all had similar feelings that we draw too much attention to ourselves around here if we pull out a cute outfit and fancy heals.
So back to the burn-out issue, the quarter is finally nearly over. Tomorrow is the last day of classes, and I am giving finals on Wed and Thurs next week. Nearly done now! I am so glad. I think classes have gone well this quarter, I'm hopeful for good evals, and have been able to try some new things and refine some of my teaching ideas I've been working on all year. I am VERY VERY glad for summer to start soon though... now if only the weather would make it FEEL like summer :)
(Did you notice the slip - I typed that it was January in the first paragraph - it's june!!)
Sunday, June 1, 2008
"June-u-ary"
I have a friend here who is from Alabama (oddly enough, she knows one of my cousins well!). She calls June "Juneuary". I now understand why. I was fine with the weather here most of the year, but the last few weeks have been really rough on me. I'm sitting in my house typing this, wondering where the sun is, wearing a winter sweater, jeans and thick socks. It's not quite 60 degrees, and the air feels cold. We have only had 3 warm days here all spring! Happy June 1st everyone!! I need a vacation, and somewhere hot and sunny!
On top of the weather, I'm feeling quite burnt out, and am very ready for the school year to end. There's one week of classes to go, and then finals. I'm leaving town as soon as grades are in! I wish I could leave town today, but I have to force myself to buck up and end the school year well.
On the brighter note, yesterday's weather was better (70 and sunny by the afternoon - the morning was cold), and I totally cleaned the front year, and with Ryan's help, did a decent job of doing the biggest cleaning needs in the back yard. The back porch is now totally nice to sit on, and the path through the yard can be walked without needing to push branches aside. I bundled up and enjoyed the yard with breakfast on the porch this morning - totally worth it :)
On top of the weather, I'm feeling quite burnt out, and am very ready for the school year to end. There's one week of classes to go, and then finals. I'm leaving town as soon as grades are in! I wish I could leave town today, but I have to force myself to buck up and end the school year well.
On the brighter note, yesterday's weather was better (70 and sunny by the afternoon - the morning was cold), and I totally cleaned the front year, and with Ryan's help, did a decent job of doing the biggest cleaning needs in the back yard. The back porch is now totally nice to sit on, and the path through the yard can be walked without needing to push branches aside. I bundled up and enjoyed the yard with breakfast on the porch this morning - totally worth it :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)