78/365 - Molly is Petted

Molly jumped up on the swing to sit with me, but after I got up to leave, she didn't feel brave enough to jump back down. Of course I had to take some photos before helping her down. ;o)

77/365 - Cozy at Home

There wasn't a lot of real "picturing" going on here, yesterday, but I did sit on the couch and play around with the new camera a little while. Most of the playing around was with the special settings (selective color, color replacement, etc.), and the results were odd. (g) I think I prefer to take a regular photo and mess around with it on the computer. You have more control that way.

So, the photo I chose is just a plain picture of Trixie and my feet being warm, cozy, and dry inside on a rainy December night.

76/365 - "Please Let Me In."

She looks so sweet and beseeching, here. Her expression seems to quietly ask, "Please?" Actually, it's the paw on the door that asks, I think.  Reaching out.  Making contact.  Imploring.

What the photo doesn't show is how she was jumping impatiently against the door and barking very demanding, urgent barks just moments before and after this shapshot.

Ah, photography, with the power to make a loud, somewhat naughty dog look like an innocent little angel! ;o)

75/365 - Return of the Hognose

This afternoon, while bringing in groceries from the car, I saw a dark shape in our yard.  It looked like a shadow but was where no shadow ought to be.  Also, a small part of it appeared to be moving slightly, frontwards and backwards, repeatedly (something shadows in these parts aren't known to do on regular occasions).

I walked over to investigate and my suspicions were confirmed:  it was a snake. At first (from the very safe distance I kept), it looked like a moccasin, and I was thankful I hadn't let the dogs back outside yet. After taking some photos, though, I saw that it was only a hognose snake-- most likely the same one I photographed last week.

I tried to get a little video of the snake (which I haven't yet loaded or even viewed), then prodded him (or her?) with a shovel in hopes of getting it to play dead so that I could more easily relocate it outside our fence. Unfortunately, this one refused to play 'possum, but I was still able to scoop it up in the shovel. The last I saw of him, he was eagerly slithering away (outside our fence on the east side, for those familiar with the area). I hope he'll take the hint and stay out. My poor nerves have had enough "I think it's a moccasin!" moments for a while.

ETA: I've put together a few snippets of video of the snake, in case anyone's interested in seeing it in action. ;o) Sorry for the shaky camera. I was trying to watch the snake, hold the camera, and maneuver the shovel all at the same time.

74/365 - Hazardous Moving Parts

"Keep fingers and other body parts away". Yes, other body parts like, you know, neck ties and strings of pearls.

Donald and I spent Sunday afternoon/evening working on a project for, well, work (Donald's job). Part of it involved using a piece of machinery with hazardous moving parts-- but 99.9% of the time, they weren't moving at all, so there was very little hazard. Also, we took care not to feed our hands, neck ties, or strings of pearls into the moving areas, so all was well.

73/365 - EXTRA! EXTRA!

Molly was in the newspaper today! ;o)

She seems to really like her Christmas gift-- a new dog bed. Maybe someday Trixie will be trustworthy enough to get one, too. Right now, it seems too risky. She just likes chewing on blankets and things a little too much...

(If you'd rather see a "real", less doctored photo, there's a black-and-white version on my Flickr photostream.)

72/365 - The Christmas Feast

I didn't know which photo to choose to represent yesterday (Christmas), but this one seemed apt. (It is, after all, a day of feasting.) We had a fun and festive day visiting with my mother's side of the family (and then later on, coming here to exchange gifts with my immediate family). The rest of our Christmas Day photos are on the photostream (at Flickr). One of these days (soon), I'm also going to upload more photos from the early Christmas we celebrated with my father's side of the family.

I hope your Christmas was merry and bright!

71/365 - Trixie Waits

I know, another Trixie photo. Oh well. There's sure to be a non-dog photo tomorrow.

Meanwhile, if you're one of the few who can't get enough Trixie photos, there are a couple more from today on the Flickr photostream-- including one of her lying in my lap this morning. (I think that one is more fun than this one, but since I didn't take it, I couldn't count it as the photo of the day.)

70/365 - Christmas Baking

Donald baked a small batch of Lucia katter ("Lucia cats"-- saffron-flavored buns) last night. They're a traditional Christmastime treat in Sweden, and now they're one of our Christmas traditions, too.

I forgot to take any photos of the finished product, but I'll try to do that before they're all gone. We sampled them, and they were just as good as they usually are. :o)

69/365 - Gloria in Excelsis Deo

I took this photo of part of our nativity scene yesterday (day 69), but I must admit that I didn't play around with the layers, textures, and colors until today (day 70). I'm still counting it, though. (g)

I suppose it's possible to go too far with layers and textures, but it's so addictive! Today's photo used three layers. First, there's the one I took yesterday-- the nativity scene. The other two are older photos from a special folder kept for occasions just such as this. There's a rainy windshield and an unusual play of light through the glass block window in our bathroom.

68/365 - Snake in the Grass

This afternoon, I was treated to the harsh sound of Molly's "snake bark".  Fortunately, the squeaky toy trick I used last time worked again, so I was able to get her and Trixie inside quickly.

(Ever since last time, I've kept a very squeaky, highly desirable dog toy on hand-- one she hardly ever gets to play with, so that absence gets a chance to make the heart fonder.  She completely ignores the sound of my voice calling, begging, or scolding, but she apparently can't resist the alluring squeak of that toy.)

I went out (camera in hand) to see if I could find and identify the snake.   (I didn't actually see it earlier, but I could tell from the bark and the way Molly acted that there was one.)  The first I saw of it, it looked like just a loose piece of that black insulation foam that's designed to go around pipes-- but then the foam started hissing, and I knew I'd found the snake.  (g)

I couldn't get a really good look at it, because it stayed partially hidden under some overgrown grass, but our zoom lens let me take a couple of decent photos.  Though it had a heavy body and those rough (keeled) scales-- both of which (to me, at least) signal "MOCCASIN"-- I thought I also detected an upturned "nose".  That and the hissing (and the lack of the display of a milk-white mouth) made me a little more comfortable.  Looking at the photos on the computer, I'm convinced that this was a hognose snake.

Hognose snakes display some interesting behaviors when threatened.  They flatten out their necks and sometimes even lift their heads to further resemble a cobra.  They may also hiss and strike (though experts say that if you look closely you'll notice that the mouth stays closed, as the strike is only for show).  Supposedly, they are very unlikely to bite, even if handled.  Instead, they roll over and play dead until the coast is clear.  If a "playing-dead" snake is repositioned so that its belly is back on the ground, it will roll over again into the "dead" position.

All very interesting, but I'd rather it stayed out of our yard.  I don't trust it not to hurt our dogs, and I don't particularly want to stumble upon it, myself, the next time I'm doing yard work. . .

67/365 - Divinity

Granny sent some sweet treats home with us, yesterday evening, and I thought this one-- called "divinity"-- was worth photographing, primarily because I will always associate this homemade candy with holiday get-togethers at my paternal grandparents' house.

Divinity is a very sweet, light, nut-laden confection. I've always thought of it as a Southern goody, but apparently it may not be peculiar to this region.

I don't know Granny's recipe (& so ought to ask, one of these days), but there are of course many to choose from online. On one such recipe web page, I found a Google ad for "diabetes recipes". Way to take the joy out of Christmas sweets, Google! (g) ...But the stuff is almost pure sugar. Definitely not an everyday snack.

66/365 - Christmas Peeps!

Those Christmas Peeps must be really good! ;o)

(This is Olivia's reaction after opening a gift at my paternal grandparents' Christmas party, yesterday afternoon.)

65/365 - Moody Sky

We've been having a lot of rain, lately, but now we're due for a few days of sunshine.  The clouds didn't clear until the very end of the day, though, so our Friday sky was moody.

This was the view across the neighboring field (reached by a little walk). 

64/365 - Trixie, Molly, Banana

It's another of those "waited too late to take my photo today" photos.  ;o)  Of course, you already knew that, as soon as you saw this blurry snapshot.  Here we have Trixie licking a banana peel while Molly eagerly awaits her turn.  (Taken with the point-and-shoot.)

63/365 - Finished Millicent Scarf

I finished blocking this scarf a while ago. (There's even a photo of the process, further back in my photostream.) However, I never got around to taking a photo of it, afterward. These still aren't the best possible "beauty photos", but they get the point across.

I've yet to wear the scarf, but I plan to remedy that almost immediately. I'm happy with how it turned out. It's probably not perfect, because I'm not a perfect crocheter, but it doesn't have to be perfect (especially since it's mine-all-mine ;o)).

62/365 - ...And Neither of Us Even Fish!

Maybe I shouldn't comment-- just leave this photo (and its companion, which I'll stick at the bottom of the post) as a mystery to keep you awake at night. "Why would they possibly need so many reels, even if they both did go fishing? And why so many of (nearly) the same exact design?! WHY?!"

Rather than drive you mad with curiosity, though, I'll acknowledge that they aren't really ours.  We're just receiving them and mailing them on to someone else, and he won't be keeping them all for himself, either.  (g) 

I find it amusing that these Swedish reels are going home after their adventures in the U.S.  Won't they have some tales to share?  ;o)

In the meantime, they make quite a little collection!

61/365 - Seed Pods

We had a heavy fog this morning.  It took about half the day to complete dissipate, and even now it's pretty dreary out there. 

Subject: Crape myrtle seed pods in silhouette.

60/365 - Donald

Donald was trying out the other camera.

If we aren't already, we will soon be all set, as far as photos of one another holding cameras are concerned. 

(Only 305 days to go!  ;o))

59/365 - Trixie in Sepia

When I wait until dark to take any photos (dark and late, this time), my options are limited. Yesterday, you got Christmas lights. This time, it's Trixie. I'll try to get a daylight shot next time. Just for variety's sake. ;o)

58/365 - Curlicues

This is what happens when you wait too late to take your Project 365 photo for the day, then don't want to use a flash to take the gazillionth photo of your Eskie. If there's a Christmas tree about, you're bound to start taking silly snaps of it. This (purposely) blurry one was my favorite of the bunch.

(I've fallen into the habit of taking my photos later in the day, then not getting around to posting them until the next day. I ought to try not to do this too much, though. I think the next step would be forgetting it altogether.)

57/365 - Water Ruffled by Wind

It was a chilly twilight. A sudden wind ruffled the water's surface. . .

Sunset reflections in water-- another latest photo-obsession.

(I also posted a photo of Donald and myself, but it wasn't nice enough to deserve the honor or being photo of the day.  I'll try to get around to taking a people-photo now and then, though.  Nature photos probably get boring after a couple hundred or so.)

56/365 - Our Christmas Tree

Our Christmas tree is up and fully decorated. 

The lights make all the difference in a tree.  Without them, it wouldn't be half as beautiful. 

55/365 - Welcome Home!

One of the pleasures of sharing your home with a dog-- they aren't shy about expressing their joy at seeing you again, whether it's been a week, a day, or only a few hours. 

54/365 - Sunset Blur

I feel a little pretentious taking these purposely out-of-focus photos, but I still do enjoy taking and looking at them. I guess it can be excused, so long as I don't start spouting nonsense about the deeper meanings of the colors and their juxtapositions.

"The frantic burst of pale gold surrounded by mottled blue is obviously a symbol of humanity, isolated in a cold and impersonal universe.  However, the lighter field further off hints that perhaps there is something more beyond our current level of knowing.  And then there is the diagonal bar of black, which has no fewer than twenty accepted interpretations. . ." ;o)

No, it's just a pretty (imho) play of light and dark, gold and blue.

53/365 - Trixie from Another Angle

I was playing around with the new camera again, today.  One thing I do really like it for is getting quick and easy shots from unsual angles-- as in this photo.  I also think it'll be great for self-portraits.  Maybe I'll give that a try, one day this week. 

52/365 - Dainty

I believe I may have mentioned that I love backlit grasses. ;o)

I decided it was time to go back to the "old" (SLR) camera. The new one is undeniably convenient--  and it takes video, too, which is nice--  but this one's just so much better in most ways.  You have so much more control with it (and I already know how most of it works (g)).  I think I'll be sticking with it for most photos.

51/365 - "Maybe I can reach it with my tongue..."

This is one in a series of quick snaps I took (with the new camera) of Trixie "waiting" for treats (as directed by Donald, out of frame). She did a pretty good job, though she eventually got a little bit snippy. I guess you can only expect a dog to wait so long for a tasty tidbit that's sitting inches from her nose. ;o)

50/365 - Christmas Lights

(I've made it to the fifty-day mark!)

We put up our Christmas tree, but it's still not completely decorated. It's pretty even as it is, though. Surprising, how much difference in mood a few strands of Christmas lights can make. . .

(There's something strange here, though. Maybe I need to look into cleaning the lens. . . This was taken with the DSLR. The point-and-shoot is nice, but Donald was right-- the SLR is better. There's really no comparison.)

49/365 - Pine Reflection

...Still learning the ins and outs of the new camera.

I took this down at my maternal grandparents' pond on a sunset walk. I guess fish were making the rings.  I didn't see them, though, so maybe it was a pond mermaid. ;o)

48/365 - Trixie (taken w/ new camera)

...Playing around with our new (point-and-shoot) camera (which just arrived today)!

It'll be fun to see how it performs in better lighting-- keeping in mind that it won't be able to compare to our "old" camera in terms of quality and versatility-- but so far, we're happy with the results we're getting. For low-light situations, it does seem to do a good job.

The new camera's so small and lightweight, there will rarely be a time that we simply can't bring a camera along-- a nice change from the chunky DSLR. I should also be good for taking portraits on the sly (or at least without attracting quite so much attention). ;o)