Budding Photographer

 Oldest granddaughter who's almost 7 was over Friday afternoon.  She spied my camera on the window sill here near my desk and set out to take some photos.  I'd given her my oldest digital camera sometime ago and she remarked that this one was very similar.  She knew what to do mostly.

Here are a few of the photos she took.

I was standing at the puzzle table.

Close up of the fabric on the futon.

A long shot of one end of the great room.

Two more close ups: the rug at the front door and heat return grate on the floor.

A vase on a shelf.

My keyboard

Self portrait in the mirror in guest room. This is the one photo I edited to delete her facial features.

[The pink sticky on the door was her idea awhile ago.  There are two doors to the bathroom there so she labeled them in and out.]

Dan in the front room.

A paperweight with frost etching behind.

She took more than 40 photos, many of them blurry.  Some of these still have the blur because she hasn't quite mastered keeping still as she presses the shutter.  I think she has some talent for what will look good in a photo.

My favorite is the view of the puzzle.

Time for Some Laughs

 Thanks to my friend Marilyn back in Maryland for sharing laughs with me on a fairly regular basis. I have quite a few now so will set up several posts of these.

Enjoy!

I may have to resort to this later this winter!

New Snow

We had about 2 inches of snow last night.  It freshens everything up, covering tracks, and snow piles.

Our street gets plowed and sanded but the main state road gets salted so you can see its clear there in the background.

My footprints to get the morning paper were not the first.  I saw possibly cat prints that had stopped on our porch and then headed to the neighbor's yard.

 

In the backyard the trees have a lacy dressing of snow and the birds are busy at the feeders.

Inside, my benign neglect of the poinsettia is working out just fine.  I water it only once a week.  It looks as good as when I first purchased it.

One thing I've learned since moving north from Maryland is how to dress for the cold. Lots of layers even inside the house.   I purchased long underwear, a warmer coat, boots that fit better and are insulated for the cold, warmer gloves, flannel shirts and a warm sweater.  I wear a hat when I go out even if it electrifies my hair and flattens it.

For an old house this place is well insulated. We keep the thermostat at 69 during the day and 66 at night. The coldest spot is in the great room which is farthest from the furnace.  We also have the benefit of passive solar and enjoy the warmth of the sun streaming through the south facing windows.  I was surprised on Monday how warm the clothes got that I'd laid out to fold on the guest room bed.  They were in the sun soaking up the heat.

This place is feeling like home.

Our Barn

We have had light snow off and on for a couple of days.  It freshens up what snow is laying on the ground.  It also hides the ice unless you know where it is.

On this Friday afternoon we dressed warm to walk in the field behind our house.  Granddaughter was over and wanted to see the barn again.

In she went with Papa and I followed.  It smelled like a skunk had visited.

I haven't taken an inventory on what was left behind for us.  The previous owner gave us a list.  This large wash tub was on that list.

In the fourth space on the first floor lots of gardening tools have been left.

Upstairs is a semi finished space complete with ceiling fan and world map - see it on the wall under the window.  I want to put a ping pong table here.  Granddaughter was lobbying for a pool table.  She remembers that there was one at the retirement community where we used to live in MD.

Looking out the door up our driveway.

Not sure what kind of key would work in this lock hanging by the door.

There's lots of work to be done to the barn but it's part of being stewards of this bit of history.

Looking back at the barn and the house from the field where we took our walk around.  The red paint never was finished on the back.  Our neighbor's barn seen to the left of ours looks immaculate from the front but the back is in worse shape than ours.

 

On the far side of the field is a bridge over to very tall old blueberry bushes.  We will pay our neighbor and pick blueberries this summer.

First Vaccine Hurdle

 

Hew Hampshire opened registration for those 65 and older today to register for the Covid vaccination.  The site opened at 8 AM and with a few initial glitches we got through to register.

PROGRESS!

President Biden

 Welcome Joe!

And at last a woman in the White House and not as First Lady but as Vice President.

Welcome Kamala!

Four Years Ago

 A lot has happened in four years.  Rather than reflect on the political side I want to travel back to the memories we made on a road trip we took in January 2017. [If you want to read all the posts start here and then read newer posts. }

Here are some photos of note.  I selected houses and of course uploaded them in order but Blogger then doesn't recognize that order and puts them in willy-nilly!  I'm not going to sort them again!

Houses come from Memphis south to New Orleans then east to Tallahassee.  The first one you may recognize as Graceland.

Oak Alley below.

This mansion was in Memphis.

Our bed and breakfast outside Memphis and across the state line in Mississippi.

Slave quarters at Oak Alley.

It was a good trip - one of two that year.  The other was to Scotland in the Fall.  I sure do miss traveling! Can't even begin to plan any trips until we get our Covid vaccines.