Today was one of those days where nothing interesting happened around here.  Not even kidding.  I TOTALLY botched breakfast and did laundry.

So when I realized I hadn't taken a picture today, I decided to try and use the "discreet mode" on my camera, which shuts off the annoying sounds and the flash.  The cat woke up anyway.  I kinda like this one, though, because he's funny.

(At least, he's funny till about 3 a.m., when he starts knocking stuff off of tables.)

The icebergs aren't as accentuated in this photo as I'd wanted them to be.  And yes, I know my Christmas lights are still up.  The weather has not been so terribly cooperative this month.  (It's a steep roof, and covered in ice, and it would be a really terrible fall to the ground.)

Quilt block 10 (or 11, depending on how you count) with vivid color filter on the camera active.  This was supposed to be one of the most difficult, and I expected to completely screw it up.

I'm learning that, for this project, the month of January is really hard.

INSPECTED BY NO. 9-LIVES

This snow-covered fountain is in our front yard.  Like the lamp, it's never worked right.  I'm convinced it's some odd combination of the switches we've never quite figured out.

Spent some time fiddling with the shutter speed on my camera.  This was the best of the lot.

I like this lamp near our sidewalk.  It's a pity it doesn't work.

It snowed last night, so I grabbed my camera and headed out to get photos of our area under snow while it was still pretty and hadn't turned gray and sludgy yet.  This tree is in my front yard.

Contrary to popular belief, I don't hate snow.  I hate it when it's been melted and refrozen enough and has absorbed enough exhaust from passing cars to turn to lumps of gray ice, but I don't hate snow.

Remember when I said this was all about learning more about my camera?  Today's was supposed to be a lens blur, and it told me to move my camera SLOWLY up, then it told me I'd moved my camera too fast.  I hadn't had a chance to do ANYTHING.  Honest, it was the cat.

I was right, that quilt block was a pain in the neck.  It doesn't even look quite right, it's a little skewed on one side.  But I can work with that, and Block Number 4 is proving to be much easier and much more fun to make.  And there's TWO of those.  I should be able to get them finished tomorrow.

I never saw myself enjoying it this much.  Mom would be pleased.  Mom would let me borrow her quilting frame.  Mom probably wouldn't let me quilt it alone.  I wish like anything she could be here for this.

The kit for my third quilt block arrived today.  I hate, hate, hate making triangles.  The finished project should be worth it, though.  The fabric feels sturdy, I'm growing more confident in my sewing, and I should have it finished by the time next winter rolls around, when we're gonna be glad to have it.

My daughter and I were playing with one of the Lego kits she got for Christmas today.  In general, I don't like pushing gender stereotypes with their toys (see: pink Legos), but we thought this would at least make them easier to tell apart from her brother's.

We didn't need to worry.  She lost no time in reinventing her Lego person as Veterinarian Dr. Princess.

The pinewood derby car that caused so much excitement.  He wanted it to look like a Wii controller, so....

First trophy ever!  First trophy ever!

Fuzzy Lumpkins, in sleep mode.

(And no, his name isn't actually Fuzzy Lumpkins.)

Not the best shot.  But these icebergs were something to see.

edit:  after cropping and applying a filter...

Someone's got a pinewood derby this weekend...

Some days, the solution to everything is a cup of tea and a board game with a little person.

If today had gone as well as it seemed to be going in the beginning, there would be two finished quilt blocks here.  But I finished the first one (as you can see), and got a little overconfident on the second one, and everything wound up being a half inch off.  Nothing fit together right.  So I had to start over again from the beginning with the second block, and that's how I met the nuns at Jo-Ann.

It's a long way from perfect.  It's also a long way from done.  (and yes, the piece on the far left is upside down, I know.  I'll fix it.)  But this is the project I was working on today, and I'm amazed at how fast it's actually going.

I've never made a quilt before.  My mom used to do it with some frequency.  I kind of wonder where all her quilting stuff went.

Look at me, Mom, I'm sewing.  <3

(update:  it's put together, and it actually fits together, and I seriously happy Snoopy danced!  That should say more about my sewing skills than it does about my dancing skills.)

Stuck at the longest red light ever.  I'm pretty pleased I got a shot of this church without a car in the way.

It was another bitter cold day, so I watched dusk fall with a cup of tea.

The birds are back!  (For today, anyway.)

More penguin Christmas ornaments.  We're taking the tree down this weekend, and that always makes me a little sad.

(Also, another ornament picture because it was cold cold cold this morning, and the only creatures out and about today were people.  No deer, no birds, no cats...it was eerie.)

Some days, this project is really tricky.  Today was one of those days.

Legal Stuff

Although I don't feel it's actually necessary to state it, the U.S. Copyright Service holds that this work is legally copyrighted to me the moment it is created.  I'm not required to publish a notice securing copyright, but here it is anyway.

I like to think I'm generally easy to get along with, and if you need one of these photos for some reason (though I can't imagine what it could be, since I'm neither a professional nor even particularly good at this), leave a comment.  I'll get in touch.

Throwing handfuls of snow around and screaming "Let it Go" for the entire neighborhood.

My friend and I undecorated the church this morning.  The only remaining bit of Advent is the Christmas tree on the left, and that's coming down tomorrow night.  It's something like twelve feet tall and one of the guys is bringing in a chainsaw for it.

After a long break, I'm ready for school once again.  This guy, on the other hand, might not be...

Was outside around dusk when I saw these guys hanging out just to the west of my house.  There were five of them.

On a nearby convent campus.  It was not a nice day, but it was a peaceful walk.

So what's going on here?

Hi.  I'm Barbara.

(See?  Now we're not strangers anymore...)

I started this blog to fulfill two of my resolutions for 2015.  Take a photo every day, and learn more about my camera.  Partly, because I believe in preserving memories, even if it's just one photo of a day at a park, and partly because I want to learn a little more about my camera.

I'm not a professional photographer by any stretch of the imagination.  By education, I'm a computer scientist, and by employment, I'm...well, I am fortunate enough to be a stay at home mother.  My children are, at the moment, five and "almost nine".

This is only a hobby, and one I'm not so wonderful at.  With a little luck, a little coffee, and a year of practice, I'll be better at it by the end of the year.

Sometimes if I don't have an interesting thing to share, it'll be a bird or something in my backyard.  With some luck, it will never be a selfie.

Catch you on the flipside. :)

One of my favorite Christmas ornaments.  I got it a few years ago in a gift exchange.  It was sort of perfect, because penguins and wineglasses are two of my favorite things.

It's pretty obvious here that I'm playing with the settings on my camera....

For my daughter's dance recital a few days ago, we bought all the girls in her class a carnation.  This is hers.