Monday, September 27, 2010

New Camera

before

after

This summer I replaced my old point and shot with a Cannon PowerShot 3500 IS Digital Elph with 14.1 mega pixels. Pricy, yes, but nothing like the big boy stuff. I have decided that my eyes don't work well enough and I'm too lazy to haul around all the professional equipment anyway. I chose this camera because of its remarkable close-up ability. The camera focus automatically as the lens approaches it's target, saving the operator from having to shift the mode to close-up. I take it with me when I do genealogy research. I just snap a picture of the page rather than try to copy it. Recently, I visited a cousin who had wonderful family pictures. Since these old and priceless pictures were too precious to take from the owner for scanning, I simply snapped them with my Elph. Further complicating the process was that I had no tripod and the light was not desirable on this raining day. Still, I am very happy with the results. Take a look at what came from the camera and what the final project looks like after some restoration efforts. Certainly good enough to tell the family history.

Sunday, September 12, 2010

Planting Time

We had the eye of a downgraded hurricane pass over our property last week. Bad news is that we lost a rather big limb off our very large oak tree at the side of the house. Good news we just had small limbs and branches to clean up ... no real damage. Better news is the nine inches of rain that came. I know that sounds huge, but we were very dry, and we have shallow soil over hill country rock. The rain headed straight for the aquifer, but it left the garden perfect for tilling.

I got the cemetery bed cleaned, tilled and ready for planting. The big garden in the back is partially tilled, but needs another round. Surprisingly, the front of the garden will till, but I can't say it's moisture content is perfect. I'm hoping to get my seeds in this week...and, for another lovely rain to germinate them. Tomatoes, which I put in last month, have a couple of blooms. I'm already thinking about eating those lovely fall vegetables.