There's Nothing Like a New Toy ...

to divert one's attention!

Attended my first digital photography class on Tuesday and have had my head behind the lens all week.  We had homework.  You would NOT have wanted me to not do my first homework assignment ... would you?  I knew you wouldn't.

This week we learned to do this:

and this:

There's one more thing, but I haven't done that yet.

Even if it takes me a while to get comfortable with all the things one can do manually, there is always automatic on which I can fall back.  (Ms. Eula Snelson would be proud of that sentence!)  But these are all manual.

See the bee? dead center ...

There's not much happening in the garden right now.  We're in that hot and dry phase between effusive early summer and the rebound of early fall.  Thank goodness for the cutting garden and the planters!  Everything has its role. 

Happily, I'm feeling anything but hot and dry right now.  Mind engaged and looking forward to the coming Tuesday to see what new things I can learn.  Oh, and I still need to do that last homework exercise....

Tiny Steps to the Future

A little more than a year ago I was lamenting the fact that I had 27 more months to work before retirement.  One of you - very helpfully - pointed out to me that anyone can do anything for 2 years and that it would fly by before I realized it.  She was right, of course. 

But things also change over time.  After a particularly difficult week at work I had a revelation.  While i really do love the people with whom i work, and for the most part enjoy the work i do ...  the partners for whom i work would never move ahead in hiring a replacement if I didn't do something serious. 

I sat down with one of the partners and gave her a definite date - June 1, 2015.  It's not that i am especially good at my job, it's just that i have done it a long time and they trust me.  (I have worked with one of the three partners for more than 20 years, and for another for more than ten.)  They just keep putting off the hiring process because they are concerned about finding someone they can trust.

Azalea 'Vanilla Strawberry' - August 3, 2014

I get that, but i am done.  Seriously ... June 1st  - a mere 10 months away. 

So, i now have a bad case of "Short-timer's Disease".  I am treating it, by taking small steps to get ready.

Step # 1:  One of my long-held plans was to get a better camera and learn to take better photos.  Mitchell celebrated my birthday by giving me a digital SLR camera... a lovely one.  Initially, i put it away planning to pull it out next year.  Then I realized how stupid that was.  So, Tuesday i begin a month-long class in using my wonderful camera.  I have taken off the time to attend the class and to practice. 

I hope you will be the beneficiaries of any progress i make. 

 These are my first untutored (i.e., point and shoot) photos with my new camera.  It's the Hydrangea 'Vanilla Strawberry' that I first shared about six weeks ago.  You can see that the panicles have started started changing color - from white to pink to darker pink.  I think it will darken even more.

Now I am remembering, tho, that azaleas have trouble staying pink in our acid soil.  Don't know if I need to enjoy it a lot this year, because it will be purple and white next year.  Time will tell ...