They Lit the Cabin at the Mill

They lit the lights at the Mill of Kintail on the weekend and kept them on until last evening when we were finally able to visit. We were worried at first, for there were no lights at the 4:30 starting time, but about 10 minutes later a worker pulled in and began to get to work. After another 10 minutes, they were all finally on.

When I say all, it is because I was surprised by the number of lights. From social media posts, I knew that the little cabin would be lit, but I hadn't known about the cloister or the picnic pavilion or other lights.

So I ended up taking more photos that I had thought, but I have decided to just show the cabin today. I photographed the cabin from various angles in the order that you see. The first composition was most in my mind, and I think it's the best, but I like the third one too, and perhaps even more. I am not sure.

I did take other photos that I am sure that I will get to in future posts, but here's one that features the cabin but that also reveals a little more context. The cabin sits on the left and the cloister lies in the background.

I really enjoyed the outing. It was cold, and my hands were really feeling it after about 45 minutes, but it was good to get out on a photoshoot. Due largely to health problems, there hasn't been a lot of that this year, and I have been missing it. While I wish the snow had been deeper and certainly less trammeled, I was pleased that there was snow at all because there wasn't just a few days ago.

Card and Snaps

Thinking more about the gyrations that we had to go through with Shauna as described in yesterday's post, I recalled when we tried the same movements with our second child. PJ just about had conniptions when we got rowdy with her, so we had to learn all over again. Actually, it wasn't a hard lesson because PJ was normal — at least then. 

I had another think about Sha's picture from yesterday and realized that there must be snow in the background. I don't think that I am very good at this, but then again, I am not good at much, and I do have my fun trying. I also changed the aspect ratio and made this version wider do I could insert the greeting. That extra step required a little thought too.

Yay! Snow for a snow-suited baby. Doesn't that make more sense?
Actually, there was green grass in the original photo before
I got to playing, which is why I was ok with the trees at first.

I also found this composite that I created once upon a time and just adjusted it a bit. I should probably have started over from scratch, because I think I am better at it now, but time has been a looming factor. I believe the first image, top left, was taken in the hospital not too long after Shauna entered the world. It reveals the marks of her passage into our realm.

I wrote a lot about Shauna yesterday, so now we have a few phone party pics, taken in horrid lighting.

A gizmo that will play all sorts of old music media

JJ is putting candles on the cake

I wish you Happy Solstice in parting.

Happy Holidays

We here are most definitely Merry Christmas types, but I like to take a stab at wishing folk the more inclusive Happy Holidays, and I have decided to post that on my annual, homemade card, below. I am posting earlier than usual this year while there is still a chance that most of y'all will see it before going a'wandering or a'wassailing. 

The scene is from the park around the corner, and since I just got Photoshop up and working, I used generative fill to add the other bits and bobs. Generative Fill is what Adobe calls their AI. In this case, for example, I targetted the area on the lower left, and typed white snowman, and what you see is that which the program inserted, As you can see, I also added bridge lights, a sled, and a deer in the same way although I don't know about that deer; it seems a bit odd looking to me.

I thought that all these things added a bit of fun and interest, at least for me, even if they are a bit kitschy. I like to learn and experiment or more likely experiment and learn from my mistakes.

Anyway, it is my card to you as I wish you happiness and joy in this festive season.

Christmas is almost upon us. We've moved everything back a day to accommodate split families. We will do Christmas Eve on the 23rd and celebrate Christmas on the 24th. We will have snacks and things and likely play games on the Eve, and I shall make a Mexican lasagna for our Christmas meal. We'll have an apple pie for dessert that I will pick up at the Ashton Church, which you see and read about several times a year.

There will be a somewhat disappointing difference on Christmas Eve, for Sue and I shall return home after our little family gathering. For all of the years since the grands have come along, except for the COVID interruption, we have slept over at theirs and been present in the morning for the fun to begin. Now, with my rotator cuff nonsense, I can't get comfortable in bed, and so I sleep in my chair. We will drive back there bright and early, however.

I have been sleeping in my recliner for months now, and it is pretty well a necessity. I gave into temptation the other night went to bed, but I only managed a few hours before the pain was irritating me too much. My arm was also sorer than usual the next day. So, I will return home to slumber on our Christmas Eve and will return to Sha's early on what will be our Christmas morning.

Today, however, is the actual beginning of Christmas for us because it is Shauna's birthday. My little girl has been living in tis world for 51 years, How can that be? She was born on the 20th of December 1972 and came home on Christmas Day. What a Christmas present!

However, Sha was not happy about being home, and we were at our wits end until Sue's mother arrived all of the way from Toronto (200 miles) with Christmas dinner. More important than dinner, however, was that grandma knew just how to settle and comfort a distressed Shauna. Thankfully, she was able to teach us before she return home abut a week later. Basically, we had to bounce her (Shauna, not grandma) furiously in the carriage or rock her with exuberant gusto. People couldn’t believe what we had to do to keep this little baby girl content. 

Once upon a time, Sue’s Aunt Elsie came to visit. When Sue was out, Elsie took Shauna for a walk in the pram. Fortunately, she was walking with our neighbour who also had a baby girl. Shauna was unhappy with the way Aunt Elsie was pushing the carriage, so the neighbour, who knew the routine, took over the carriage, bouncing it with considerable enthusiasm. This settled Shauna right down, and Elsie, pushed the neighbour’s normal child sedately, as normal people do for normal babies. I swear that I am not exaggerating. Our routine perplexed and astounded many a person, let me tell you. 

I re-edited this photo of Baby Shauna in her snowsuit. There was no snow on the ground, but that was often the case when we lived in Sarnia. The snow came and went and came and went again. Here in Easter Ontario, it tends to come and stay although the big snow of December 04 did almost vanish before we got a little more on Monday night.

I used generative fill for the background. Why I didn't specify snow, I know not.
I simply asked for trees, and AI gave me very summery ones.
Perhaps I shall retry later when I have the time,
for it is going to be a busy day.

That is our precious and beautiful, Christmas baby, Shauna. She looks sweet, sedate and normal. Doesn’t she? Actually, she was always sweet but just not normal. However, I think she had grown out of the frenzied state by the time of this picture, which I liked well enough to print as an 8x10, just to have around for the party.

Back in the Game

The monitor was finally delivered yesterday afternoon — three days after it could have conceivably arrived (as predicted by Best Buy) but two days before it's projected date (by Purolator). After finishing the last ten minutes of the latest episode of Midsomer Murders, we got into it.

Instructions consisted of just a few diagrams, but we figured it out and set up the monitor. The next photo shows its capabilities with a sticker attached to the corner. Yes, after first coming home with the 32 inch, curved cheapie, I really dipped into the bank account for a high quality, flat, 27 inch, 4K monitor. I really wanted a a quality display, mainly for photo editing.

I called up several photos to see how they looked, and they looked good and better than the snapshot records.

You have seen several versions of this ↓ photo in the past, but I hadn't processed this take, so did a very quick edit, and this is how it looks.

One final photo checking out another old photo: Sue staged the monitor certificates. The crazy thing is that the keyboard is from two computers ago. I liked it better than the keyboards that came with the previous computer and with this newest computer. That is another thing that must be updated and soon — maybe just after New Years.

As you can see, I am getting back into circulation, albeit slowly.

Later, Dude

Still no monitor in Anvilcloudia. It has been picked up by Purolator, but I have had no subsequent update after the wee hours os Saturday morning — 1:12AM to be exact. Apparently, they put their emphasis on the Lator part of their moniker. I was originally told that it might come last Friday but am now advised that it may not arrive until this Wednesday.

While I can, quite obviously, post from my tablet, I cannot comment from either it or my phone. I did try from Sue’s laptop two nights ago, but the process was neither fun nor fluid, so I gave up. Sorry about that, especially since catching up on many days of blog-reading will be too daunting for me, particulary in this busy season. I will have to begin commenting on new posts whenever I get back in the blogging game for real  

Part of this season’s busyness is Sauna’s birthday. My baby will be 51 on Wednesday, and we’ll do a little dinner here. 

Last night I moved from my chair to the bed after not being able to settle in my chair.  It was my first attempt at using the bed in about a month. The previous trial only lasted for minutes. This time I did get a few hours of sleep in bed, so progress I guess. I might have slept there a little longer, but the cat found me at 4 o’clock, purring and making biscuits on my hapless body. I did not indulge her but hied back to my chair and managed to get another two hours of sleep. For whatever reason, she doesn’t pester me in the chair at night — just in the bed. Yet, she will visit me in the chair during the day. Cats:who can comprehend?

She doesn’t really visit Sue in bed, lucky woman, but her lap is fair game at lunch time, and she does’t let Sue’s lunch get in her way  

So, that is I, explaining what is going on and why, for the time being, I am not paying attention to your pics and prose on your exemplary posts.  

Picturesque Fire Hydrant, Not

 I am sans computer today. Because I wasn’t pleased with my new monitor, I returned it and bought a new one. But it wasn’t in stock, so it will be delivered sometime. They said today, but I am dubious  

So, I am experimenting by typing on my tablet. I have done this fairly often before, but I don’t think I have ever tried to add a photo from my iCloud photo roll to Blogger. We shall see if it works. If it does work, you will see a rather glorious big fir tree across the street lit up and snow covered.

Well, yes and no. Although I can plop a photo from my iPad to approximately sixteen-thousand places, Blogger does not seem to be one of them. So, I copied and pasted. But I did it, and what a great tree, especially the fire hydrant inclusion. Again, if I had access to my computer, I would be tempted to photoshop the hydrant into oblivion. 

Looking Seasonal at the Eatery

We hadn't been to breakfast with these guys for several months, so it was time to go forth and have a little meal stuff ourselves.

But the first thing that I noticed was that Bob was wearing Christmas green. I might not have been exactly wearing Christmas red, but it was red, so I cuddled up and insisted that Sue take a photo. You may recall that Sue doesn't require much cajoling when it comes to getting her phone out. She also edited in the spirit of the season — twice.

Then, I realized that Sue's scarf was also a seasonal fit, so she also snuggled up with Bob, and Barb squished over on the other side.

Later, Sue remembered to have the server snap a group photo. We had forgotten last time. You'll note that Barb was more in the Easter spirit than Christmas. There's always one, eh?

Our breakfast came, and I will post my skillet, especially for Margaret, who seems to have a similar breakfast appreciation comme moi.

Of course, Sue did one of her composites — because she is Sue.