Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Zen ~ Moment

This moment contains all moments.
                                         
                                           C.S. Lewis

~ garden snail, photo taken by my friend Linda in her garden ~

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Woof ~ Lottery Winner

New Mom is finally letting me write a post on Her blog. 'About time. Anyway, I guess I should stop calling Her "New Mom" cuz She really is the only real mom I have ever had. Ever.

So. Anyway. Last year at this time I was far far away, and then I went on a long trip in a cage, and ended up in a foster home, and then I ended up here. From where I started to end up HERE is winning the doggie lottery - and I'm not just saying that. Do you have any idea what kind of lives so many dogs have??? Oh I wouldn't be able to tell you my BEFORE stories because it would make you cry, so instead let me tell you about my NOW life.

Yesterday went like this: wake up on my warm comfy couch bed, have a bowl of kibble, go out with Mom to take care of the goats, sniff the kitty, check on the fishies, play Bumby Ball, help Mom shovel (all while wearing my kinda-gay-but-very-warm coat), then go in and lounge by the fireplace at Mom's feet while she monkeys around on the computer, chew on one of my many bonies that are scattered around, sniff my sister Sophie's bottom, wrestle with my sister Mari (even though she's ancient she loves it), nap with Mom on her bed, another bowl of kibble, outside with Mom to put the shed animals to bed, chew on my bonies, then snuggle between Mom and Dad (yeah, I have an awesome dad and human brother, too) while they are in bed watching something on tv that makes them laugh. The whole time they are kissing me and rubbing my tummy and telling me how much they love me.

Seriously. I couldn't make that up. I'm telling you, I am spoiled. I didn't know life could be this good, that people could be this good. Yeah, I still get really nervous when Mom has certain things in her hands cuz I remember how when humans carried things in their hands they used those things to hurt me, but I really don't think Mom is ever going to hurt me. I'm starting to really believe that. Mom tells me that I helped to save her ... not sure what she means by that but boy oh boy she sure did save me.

Like I said, I won the doggie lottery.

Mom still doesn't let me help her take pictures, but I'm working on that.





Saturday, January 21, 2012

Gratitude

I had to post this so I can easily watch it whenever I need to be reminded ... 'brilliant and moving ...


Saturday Morning


Zen music ... coffee ... goats ... shoveling ... playing with Bum ... pond check ... sunshine ... peace ...

~ water still running, keeping the sleepy fish healthy ~

~ sedum with snow - why I don't trim my gardens til spring ~

~ lines ~

~ rose of sharon pods with snow ~

~ tufts ~

~ sedum and brown eyed susans ~

~ lilac buds, ready for spring ~

~ Bummy : ) ~






~ Video experiment: iPhone, iMovie, Moby, effects ~


Saturday, January 14, 2012

January Morning, Part II: Video

Here are the video results from my iPhone test. 'Varying light conditions, varying background noises, varying amounts of motion, and it was really difficult to keep the "camera" steady.

The jingling sounds come from the goat bells but also from the wild Bumble's collar as he is tearing around looking for trouble. I love the sound of happily munching animals - can you tell?! Part of what keeps my relatively sane is my shed time and my pond time, and sounds are very much a part of that. Peaceful ... nondigital ... grounding. (Yes, 'ironic that I am sharing this digitally)

For photo results and my thoughts about using the phone for video and stills, see the previous post.

winter pond ... keeping the water running

geese

goaties munching

Apollo munching

January Morning

Winter has arrived in Western New York - at least for the weekend - and I decided to test out the recording capabilities of my iPhone. The results are so-so. 

My iPhone will not replace my nice camera and camcorders, but it does take decent shots for those spontaneous times. When I was shooting video, if I moved away from or closer to my subject the phone struggled with staying in focus. That also happened with taking still shots - it did not adjust its focus to subtle changes in distance, so I had to swing the phone away and then try again until I had the right composition in focus. To be fair, it is an exceedingly gloomy day, my fingers were frozen, and it is tough for most consumer-level cameras to shoot in that combo of poor light and white snow (and frozen fingers). In any case, I had fun on this brisk Saturday morning with my animal friends. For video of this morning, check out the next post ...


staying warm ... Apollo

staying warm ... the shed heater

staying warm ... electric bucket

staying warm ... heated water bottle for Bun

staying warm ... Bun with a Buffalo Bills blanket around his cage
(and I painted that wooden box for my horse when I was 12)
winter greens

remember when this had flowers??

thistles ... macro testing

more snowy thistles

winter window box

winter pond ... keeping the ice open for the fish

winter pond ... drifts

winter pond ... everything is asleep