At The Lake

We are back at the Lake for the Nth time, where N is a number somewhere in the teens. We have no real idea how long we’ve been coming to “The Lake” but it’s over 14 years. If you go back in this blog you will see pictures from 10 years ago taken at “The Lake.” You could say we like it here because we do!

There’s water in the lake this year. Last year the lake was at 7%, this year it’s closer to 40% full. That’s a HUGE difference. Southern California has had some rain, just not enough.           

This is the typical landscape ... very very dry. The grasses are beyond dry, and it’s the reason why there have been fires nearby. In a typical winter, this should be a green grassy area.

I love this picture. The area is called “Harvey’s Cove” named after a goose that lived here for many years. (The goose was named Harvey and sadly, he passed away 2 years ago) The area should be filled with water, but it’s dry with a small “swamp” at the neck of the cove. Maybe it will fill while we are here, if there is rain.

It’s good to be back at the lake.

 

 

Christmas Plus One

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas. We did! We visited family, laughed, talked, had some fine food, and laughed and talked some more. A good time for everyone. 

Merry Christmas to Everyone and a Happy New Year Too!!!!

 

Bear

The little kitties were an inspiration...so tonight I designed a little bear.

He’s a tiny little thing...just what I needed! A perfect ornament for my Christmas tree.

Merry Christmas everyone!

 

Kitties

I saw these adorable kitties on Pinterest...but the pattern was in Russian! I enlarged the photo, counted the stitches and...

I made these “essense of kitty” mini-pillows. I think they are cute...hope my niece’s kittlies will like to play with them.

 

Sunset on a Cloudy Day

It was cloudy and gray today. The sun never even showed a ray of light! But I looked out the kitchen window as I was making dinner and saw this!

Isn’t this a spectacular sunset?

 

Finally

I started this blanket on the ship 3 different times. For some reason it would not come together. Finally, it’s done in time for Christmas. Do you know of a Christmas baby who needs a red baby blanket? If you do, let me know and I’ll send it to you.

Of course, it has teddy bears on it. This is the first time I made the blanket in red. In the past, I’ve used “baby” colors of pink, blue, white, yellow, lavender and mint. It’s good to break the mold every now and then.

The pictures were taken with my new Canon SX730HS camera. My old camera died and I replaced it with the newest equivalent camera by Canon. The times have changed. This camera has wifi and bluetooth, so I can transfer pictures directly to my iPad or computer without using any cables or removing an SD card. That makes life a bit easier. I’ll keep you posted on how well it works over the next few months.

 

I did a lot of online research before buying this camera. After deciding that my iPhone camera was not enough, I looked at point and shoot, DSLR and mirrorless cameras. The latter two are “high end” and need different lenses and filters to make them work. I’ve had the high end cameras before and discovered they involve a lot of “stuff” that has to be easily accessed if you are going ot use the camera well. This is too bothersome for me at my stage in lilfe. So that left the Point and Shoot cameras. I narrowed the search to three compact super zoom cameras: a Sony, a Panasonic and a Canon. The first two had electronic view finders and I thought that would be as asset. Hands-on testing happened yesterday at Best Buy (one of my favorite stores). They did not have a Panasonic, but they had the Sony and the Canon. The Sony with the electronic view finder was on sale for $949 reduced from $999 and it had a $50 gift card! I looked at this camera very seriously...but the view finder was a joke! Instead of showing a clear view, it was blurry. The fellow who was showing me the cameras looked thru the view finder too and he agreed it was HORRIBLE! Then we both went thru the internal programming and could not find anything to make the view finder work better. It was clear at that point that I would buy the Canon. Since I’ve been using Canon cameras most of my life, I don’t need to learn any new procedures. It’s like picking up an old friend with some new bells and whistles. I’ll be showcasing pictures soon. So far, I like it. I think I made a good choice.

 

 

A Christmas Tree

We had great plans to get a Christmas Tree, but with recovering from the long cruise, we never got around to getting the tree. The problem was solved by taking the little tree that stays in a box inside the RV and moving it to the house. While not as big as we are used to in the house, it’s big on memories filled with love, joy and laughter from many years of celebrating Christmas “on the road again.” You can’t beat that!

Hooray for Presto!

One of my wedding presents “died” last week. The present was a Presto Pressure Cooker that has seen regular use for the past 40+ As you can see, one of the handles broke. Without 2 handles a pressure cooker is useless. 

 

The pot has seen a lot of wear and tear. It’s not pretty...and now it’s not useable. To that end, I replaced it a new Presto Pressure Cooker. I don’t know if I have another 40+ years of cooking in me, but based on past performance, I’m guessing the new pot will last that long. 

A Christmas Poem

This poem was sent to me by my good friend Ed. I thought it was worth a little space on my blog. Please enjoy!

 

 

TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS, 

HE LIVED ALL ALONE,

IN A ONE BEDROOM HOUSE

 MADE OF PLASTER AND STONE.

 

 I HAD COME DOWN THE CHIMNEY 

WITH PRESENTS TO GIVE,

AND TO SEE JUST WHO IN

THIS HOME DID LIVE.

 

I LOOKED ALL ABOUT, 

A STRANGE SIGHT I DID SEE, 

 NO TINSEL, NO PRESENTS, 

NOT EVEN A TREE.

 

NO STOCKING BY MANTLE, 

JUST BOOTS FILLED WITH SAND, 

ON THE WALL HUNG PICTURES 

OF FAR DISTANT LANDS.

 

WITH MEDALS AND BADGES, 

AWARDS OF ALL KINDS,

A SOBER THOUGHT CAME 

THROUGH MY MIND.

 

FOR THIS HOUSE WAS DIFFERENT, 

IT WAS DARK AND DREARY, 

I FOUND THE HOME OF A SOLDIER, 

ONCE I COULD SEE CLEARLY.

 

THE SOLDIER LAY SLEEPING, 

SILENT, ALONE, 

CURLED UP ON THE FLOOR IN THIS 

ONE BEDROOM HOME.

 

 THE FACE WAS SO GENTLE,

 THE ROOM IN SUCH DISORDER,  

NOT HOW I PICTURED 

A UNITED STATES SOLDIER.

 

WAS THIS THE HERO 

OF WHOM I'D JUST READ? 

CURLED UP ON A PONCHO, 

THE FLOOR FOR A BED?

 

I REALIZED THE FAMILIES 

THAT I SAW THIS NIGHT,

 OWED THEIR LIVES TO THESE SOLDIERS 

WHO WERE WILLING TO FIGHT.

 

SOON ROUND THE WORLD, 

THE CHILDREN WOULD PLAY, 

AND GROWNUPS WOULD CELEBRATE 

A BRIGHT CHRISTMAS DAY.

 

THEY ALL ENJOYED FREEDOM 

EACH MONTH OF THE YEAR, 

BECAUSE OF THE SOLDIERS, 

LIKE THE ONE LYING HERE.

 

 I COULDN'T HELP WONDER 

HOW MANY LAY ALONE, 

ON A COLD CHRISTMAS EVE 

IN A LAND FAR FROM HOME.

 

THE VERY THOUGHT 

BROUGHT A TEAR TO MY EYE, 

I DROPPED TO MY KNEES 

AND STARTED TO CRY.

 

THE SOLDIER AWAKENED 

AND I HEARD A ROUGH VOICE, 

"SANTA DON'T CRY, 

THIS LIFE IS MY CHOICE;

 

I FIGHT FOR FREEDOM, 

I DON'T ASK FOR MORE, 

MY LIFE IS MY GOD, 

MY COUNTRY, MY CORPS."

 

THE SOLDIER ROLLED OVER 

AND DRIFTED TO SLEEP, 

I COULDN'T CONTROL IT, 

I CONTINUED TO WEEP.

 

I KEPT WATCH FOR HOURS, 

SO SILENT AND STILL 

AND WE BOTH SHIVERED 

FROM THE COLD NIGHT'S CHILL.

 

I DIDN'T WANT TO LEAVE 

ON THAT COLD, DARK, NIGHT, 

THIS GUARDIAN OF HONOR 

SO WILLING TO FIGHT.

 

THEN THE SOLDIER ROLLED OVER, 

WITH A VOICE SOFT AND PURE, 

WHISPERED, "CARRY ON SANTA, IT'S CHRISTMAS DAY, 

ALL IS SECURE."

 

ONE LOOK AT MY WATCH, 

AND I KNEW HE WAS RIGHT.

 "MERRY CHRISTMAS MY FRIEND, 

AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT."

 

This poem was written by a Marine. The following is his request. I think it is reasonable.....

 

PLEASE. Would you do me the kind favor of sending this to as many people as you can? Christmas will be coming soon and some credit is due to our U.S. service men and women for our being able to celebrate these festivities.Let's try in this small way to pay a tiny bit of what we owe. Make people stop and think of our heroes, living and  dead! , who sacrificed themselves for us. Please, do your small part to plant this small seed.

 

May God Bless You and Have A Great Day

 

 

2 pictures

I took this picture in Hobart, Tasmania. I was aiming at the seagull as he was landing on the pond, but sadly I missed that shot and this is what happened. I was disappointed and almost deleted the shot, but I noticed how evenly the ripples radiated away from the bird and thought that might work. Tonight I looked at the picture again, and discovered the lighting is perfect, the ripples and reflections are wonderful — this is a really good picture. In fact, I think it's a better picture than the one I thought I wanted.

 

This picture was taken today in northern Caifornia. It's autumn, and while the trees are dressed for fall, the colors are on the wain. There does not seem to be any new life...it's all dying. Then I see this patch of living, vibrant, color! Flowers are blooming! It's the last day of November and they are in full bloom like it's a spring day. What a joy that they can show off and brighten the day!