Real Snow!

I realize that this isn't a big deal to many of you, but we don't often get a foot of snow in Kentucky, so I'm excited! Snow just floated down like big white feathers, it streaked sideways in the wind, it fell in buckets and just kept coming. Then the shiny ice pellets came, sounding like millions of june bugs tapping on the windows. This was followed by- guess what?- more snow!


Since we've been off all week (believe it or not, we teachers are more excited than the kids), I've had time to work on art, and also to try out my new camera. I stood on my back porch and took pictures of birds at the feeder about 30 feet away; if had set up the tripod (not really practical in the snow) and zoomed in all the way, I could have taken pictures of their eyeballs. I LOVE this camera!


I call this cardinal Marilyn because she loves to pose- or really, she's probably just a glutton because she's always at the feeder. I thought she was beautiful, though, and she didn't flit around as much as the smaller birds. Did you know that birds can move astonishingly quickly? Unbelievable! I really did need a tripod.


Hey! I just found out we have another snow day tomorrow! Whoo-hoo!

New camera!!

Okay, long story short (or maybe not): I have not had a camera since last summer. I was taking pictures while standing on a rock in the middle of the Kinneyconnick Creek. Of course, I had to stand there to get a better shot of - whatever it was. So the camera slips out of my hands and lands on a rock- striking right in the middle of the lens (what are the odds?), resulting in a big scrape on the glass, which causes a big floopy blurry spot on all my pictures.
I set out to buy a new camera, but couldn't decide what kind to get; if you've been reading my blog you'll see several references to my inability to make decisions, and this is a lot of money we're talking about here. My son would come up every once in while and photograph the artwork that was too big for the scanner, so I continued to put it off.
I finally ordered one on December 29, because to get the special deal I had to order before December 31. It came yesterday, so I'm very excited, and this morning it was raining ice, which reminded me of last year when we had an ice storm. The sun came out afterward, making everything sparkle because it was encased in ice, like this magnolia tree I took pictures of. So if it happens again, I'm ready. Oh, and I got a strap for this camera.