Camera work: aperture

Today it's 'aperture'. I know the concept from my old 35mm and medium format days, but with these darned tootin' digital cameras, I'm just trying to figure out which buttons can get the effect I'm after.

So, a quiet house, the lads are out and a cup of coffee brewing. Here we go! By the way, this isn't meant as a tutorial for anyone but myself, I'm writing this down to remember and haven't actually tried it out yet!

1. Turn the camera on.
2. Turn the top left dial on the camera body to 'A'. This puts the camera in Aperture mode.
3. Turn Auto/Manual switch on the lens (A M) to the M. This puts the lens in manual mode.
4. On the front left of the camera body, turn the Auto Focus/Manual (AF M) button to M to tell the camera you're taking over manually.
5. Turn the notched dial under the On/Off switch left or right, depending on the aperture you want.
6. The smaller the aperture number next to the 'f', the more light the lens lets in and the camera only focuses on the subject on a particular plane (more depth of field). The higher the aperture number, the more light the lens lets in and the more of the framed image will be in focus (less depth of field).
7. Once that's all set up, point the camera towards your subject and use the zoom ring (turning that ring, shifts the numbers on the lens barrel) on the front of the lens barrel to get closer to your subject via the camera.
8. Then adjust the focus ring (the slimmer of the two rings) to put the subject in focus.
9. Press down on the Depth of Field preview button on the bottom right front of the camera. (P.S. Don't get this mixed up with the 'fn' button above the DoF button.

Some websites that helped me figure out all of this and more:
Wikipedia
Nikon D90 for Dummies and their Nikon D90 cheat sheet
Focusing Tips with Phil Steele

Family goals, as we approach 2014

Goals for the NOW!
1. FREEDOM from 'stuff' and giving 'stuff' a home when we don't even use or need it. Pass it on to others who might use or need it.
2. Keep working on making parts of our home an open environment for LEARNING and CREATING.
3. Remember to CELEBRATE the season and the goodness of our family.  Make sure to add it into the schedule and be ready to deviate from the schedule when something unexpected but delightful pops up.
4. Get outside and stay active as the cold winter creeps in (or suddenly descends), for the HEALTH and WELLBEING of our family.

100+ things to try and do in 2013

With 365 days in a year surely a girl can steer herself in her own direction. A list, big and small of what I'd like to try and do in 2013. Let it commence.

1. Freeze extra food. 
2. Use the food you froze.
3. Remember that after the kids are in bed, you don't JUST have to sit in front of the tv.
4. Learn a new card game and teach the family.
5. Construct a raised bed that can be covered in cold weather.
6. Grow some crazy assed greens in the raised beds. (And if nobody likes them, just give it to the chickens.)
7. Wear more hats, not just in winter.
8. Knit an entire scarf or cowl.
9. Remember people's birthdays.
10. Keep up the nearly daily meditation.
11. Put more photos on blog.
12. Get a new sewing machine.
13. Learn about the new sewing machine.
14. Break apart and try to repair the Singer ZigZagger you got off of freecycle last year. 3 years ago.
15. Sew more with the kids.
16. Plan out and execute the back garden thoughtfully with Michael.
17. Ski at EVERY SINGLE OPPORTUNITY.
18. Bike to work at least two times a week, when the season begins.
19. Make a dress for myself.
20. Create a more comfortable home: rip up the last of the fetid carpet, re-finish unexpected 100 year old pine floor boards, paint bedrooms, make colorful bits to throw around, macrame some plant holders, keep plants alive.
21. Get a Christmas letter and/or cards out before January 10.
22. Make my friends a priority.
23. Create our ultimate budget so I can be done with paper pushing in 2 more years.
24. Remember to find those moments in life where I need to put everything else aside and jump into the fun that's in front of me.
25. Read The Hobbit with the kids.
26. Figure out Roku vs. Apple tv vs. whatever the hell else is out there so we can watch programs via our laptop on the (early 1990's) tv.
27. Don't check email more than twice a day on weekends. (Unless there's something REALLY important you're waiting for.)
28. Call brother more often.
29. Give Skype a jingle.
30. Transfer all digital photos to a safe place so I can sleep easily at night.
31. Figure out if I an afford a marvelous dslr and what my knight in shining digital photography would look like. (Would my old 35 mm Nikon lenses fit a Nikon dslr? Hmmm)
32. Jump into our Disneyland and Joshua Tree vacation with utter gusto and wear crazy outfits the whole damn time.  (I bought a leopard print skirt already. I'm on my way.)
33. Hmmm, working on other ideas!
34.  

thanks

This morning I'm giving thanks for the full night's sleep I hope to get tonight. And the pine boards we uncovered.

You see, yesterday my husband and I ripped out the aged, off-color wall-to-wall carpet in our bedroom.  The foam under it and the particleboard beneath that, with warnings of urea and fromaldehyde (which it appears is highly dangerous and hightly un-spellable), is now out of our home, no longer welcome!  Decades of dust and mold lay beneath each layer. 

The mouse skeleton was our most horrendous find.  How did we not sense the decomposing corpse feet away from us as we slept?

Last night's sleep in the living room was non-existent, but no matter!  Six inch pine boards were unveiled yesterday, likely the original flooring in our 1898 Victorian abode.  We'll get to sanding and treating them in the next season.  But for now, I can hear the century old floor breathe again, seeing sun for the first time in decades. Such history right there under our feet. Lovely.

stash sewing: part one

The mighty budget has finally been tended to at our home.  Once again we have quickly realized we need to be more thoughtful about how we spend our earned money.

So begins a new journey for me: I shall work through the stash of fabric and re-cycled clothes (converted into fabric), to make what I'd like to make.

First up: Grain bags for the family to keep us warm through these cooler autumnal days and into the winter that will surely be thick with snow. 


I hope to start these tonight and at the weekend figure out the grain that would be the cheapest to use: rice, lentils, any other types?  Hmmm...  Should be done by early next week and then my second project will be...

mission accomplished october 1, 2012

this past month (cause it's been awhile):

• oven roasted anaheim and poblano peppers.
• successfully stuffed poblano peppers with tomato, corn, cheese mixture - alas, the end of tomato and corn season!  i can't make these again until next year.
• froze basil in olive oil & herb mixture in olive oil to start out soups or pasta dishes over the chilly seasons ahead.
• made a rather large square pillow for the kids' room.
• successfully installed a 20" zipper into the aforementioned rather large square pillow.
• made lotion via sonoma garden's recipes & i really love the beeswax lotion (i hadn't made that one before).
• been biking to work on fridays - this week it was tuesday - and having a marvelous time.  can't believe i didn't think of this until now.  moron.
• entered a local photo contest.  not so proud of the finished images.  but very proud of following through with a promise to myself & of seeing through a vision to the end product.  high 5!
• patched some kid trousers that will see, maybe, one more season of use.
• made, ate and froze tomatillo sauce.
• read 'Wild' by Cheryl Strayed.  i'd like to move to the pacific coast trail.  i'm now in a reading rut, nothing could be as satisfying as her book to me right now. come on library, i dare you to find me a book that could hook me like that so soon.  (please, i hate finishing books that are that good because it means no other books can live up to those standards of honesty and connection.)
• came up with some more photography ideas.  maybe a portable light studio for taking pics of things on the trail.
• performed cpr on my little canon camera by giving it a good whack!  phew.  i nearly lost it.
• leisurely weekend trips to the library
• kids helping with meals, creating their own recipes, we all bounce along in the same space, in our own space.  
• finally re-connected to American Routes - and this last weekend was a very strong show.  in fact, it was perfect for cooking alongside the kids, as we bobbed and weaved around one another, dancing along to the mighty fine tunes.

mission accomplished august 13, 2012

This past week:

• Canned tomato sauce after 3 years of wanting to try it. 15 pounds of toms = 7 pints of sauce & 2 quarts of tomato stock.  Not sure it's worth the hassle.  When we get our next c.s.a. influx of toms think I'll just wash 'em and freeze 'em whole, then smoosh them into sauce when I need it.  Later.  Not now.
• Convinced the little lads to part with some of their toys for a tag sale I hope to have this coming weekend.  I'll post of craigslist, sit out there for about 3 hours, then call it done.  Everything else goes to Sal. Army and we divy up the cash.  There may also be a lemonade stand (but i need to find a pitcher first), so we can continue to work on our list of summer project to try out.
• Cleaned out my closet: putting things away that had accumulated in a pile and getting rid of a lot of 'cute' things that did not look 'cute' when I put it on.
• Dealt with the violent rains of Saturday that flooded our basement.  Usually we store our basement goods on top of pallets (the flooding has never been higher that the pallets), but due to some photo album hunting last month, bags of stuff ended up directly on the concrete floor and hadn't been returned to their safe zone.
• Trip to the Shelburne Falls Trolley Museum, Bridge of Flowers, ice cream cones (reminder: always ask for a 'kiddie size' to avoid the melting downfall of a 4 scoop SMALL cone!) followed by a deluge that had me pulling to the side of the road on I-91.
• Family Day on Sunday, trying to reinstate the good ol' Family Day by purchasing our own MacBook Pro (the tax free weekend couldn't quite make up for the fact that we had to travel to the local mall and spend time in it).  And spending the afternoon at an outdoor pool.  Aaaaah...
• We ate deliciously since I had the week off, that and bushels of fresh produce made it delicious.  Then there was the plate of half semolina pasta noodles I made with fresh basil & dry roasted almond pesto!!!  That disappeared very, very quickly.
• Loving the jars of zinnias and sunflowers scattered around the house too.
• Sneaking in some excitement for autumn.  Not so much the start of school, more for the thrill of layering, eating apples all the time, putting on sweaters and cuddling to stay warm.  And no ticks on family hikes and no need for air conditioning.
• Finished 'Shadow of the Night'.  Fun summer read.  On to '$100 Startup' and continuing on with 'French Kids Eat Everything' which I really like.

t.s.

Tag sale or Thrift store?

Tag sale pros:

1. the kids would love to be a part of it aka: it would make them happy

2. we could (potentially) make some cash

Tag sale cons:

1. the space it takes to set it up, price items, etc.

2. the time it takes to set it up

3. advertising, with pics, on Craigslist (well, not that hard really)

Thrift store pros:

1. you just box it up and drop it off

2. it’s out of your hair lickety split!

3. tax deductions

Thrift store cons:

1. finally getting around to filling up the van and driving out to drop it off

mission accomplished july 30, 2012

This past week:

• We leveled the refrigerator in about 20 minutes after talking about it for 18 months.
• I re-registered the truck 6 weeks before the deadline to do so!
• I found our new Family Almanac, where we record what we’ve done each month that we can expect to do again 12 months later.  Presumably this will give us a 'heads up' of what we need to take care of each month.
• The kids and we finished up our latest round of Thank You and Happy Birthday cards.
• We attacked the paper angle of our basement: going through the file cabinets, child artwork and schoolwork, receipts, etc.
• I kept up with the biking last week, going 4 out of 5 days.  Saw some snakes, frogs, a crazy long-necked bird, butterflies.  Read a lot, Shadow of Night anyone?
• Hux identified some mini-stinkhorn mushrooms at his summer camp!
• Tried the summer zucchini bites, half of my family was taken with them, the other half not so much.
• Blanched and froze zucchini, squash and eggplant for use in the cooler months of the year ahead.  I'm tickled for tomatoes to be in full swing so I can preserve a ton of it into sauce, freeze, salsa.
• We tried raw goats milk.  For the first time.  Ever.

basement attack!

Now I bring the ‘Storage Locker Ethos’ back to my basement.  Go through it quickly, 1 box for thrift store, 1 bag of paper recycling, 1 big garbage can, 1 box for stuff to keep.  Once those get full, start using the boxes you’ve already cleared out.

We have a LOT of crap, some of which has been:   

• hit by mold
• lived in by mice
• certainly home to some large and nasty house centipedes (that’s what we call them)
• and the rest of it is perfectly good stuff that we need to rid our home of.  Of which we need to rid our home.  (That’s better.)

We started this past weekend, and:

• Huxley even swept, organized hardware and found some old records he hadn’t listened to in quite some time.   
• (Meanwhile Dashiell was quite content to have some quiet, alone Lego time upstairs.)   
• Michael fixed a cabinet door, gluing it back together and re-attaching it in the living room.   
• I (learned how to) rewire my bedside lamp, a victim of our rabbit’s chewing skills.   
• I swept and vacuumed out the cobwebs and dust in the rafters, around the water heater, etc. making it easier for me to get to boxes without being wrapped up in dusty old spider silk.

Sewing update:  Now I have a pile of old pillows to wash and sew new pillow covers for.  For which I shall sew new pillow covers.  Ah, the quick and easy pillow cover.  A neatly stacked pile (I wish it was neat, the basket is an overflowing jumble of mess) of clothes that need the pocket sewn back on, holes closed, etc.  August is going to be about fixing all of those holes and tears.  I started the job in June and got some taken care of, July has been a wash due to vacation and assimilating back to work (boo!), but August should allow me more freedom to take care of this little chore.

garlic love

The garlic has been pulled and brought into the safety of our basement.  After collecting it in the heat of Sunday a last minute decision to finish the project had me box it up and put in the basement around twilight.   

And for the first time in three weeks the heavens opened up and stormed!  Oh happy garlic, safe and sound and drying.  A project I completed and just in the nick of time.

mission accomplished july 23, 2012

This past week: I started biking again, after 2 weeks away on a bike-less vacation.  Two days in a row now and ooof, do my legs ever ache! We swept & vacuumed the basement floor and ceiling and anything that was covered in cobwebs. *Now ready to clear out the excess we don't need/want. Dashiell jumped off of a rope swing and into the CT river. Huxley explored a porcupine cave. I cleaned out the freezer in preparation for the summer's bounty. I was pleased to discover a large bag of frozen strawberries (in freezer) to make into jam!  the rhubarb has been prepped and sugar bought. I've been wearing lots of dresses and tank tops to complement the weather. I started a new journal.  Same style notebook I've been using for over 20 years: University Book Store Narrow Ruled/Greetint 8 1/2 x 7 - 80 sheets wirebound. I finally got over jetlag. Entered a photo contest and have a few others on the horizon to look into.

Mend-Patch-Alter

Mend
Many t-shirts with itsy, bitsy holes that need to be sewn shut (a stitch in nine, and all that).  A bag that needs it's hem sewn shut and reinforced.  That cute floral yellow romper with the split seam - in a not-so-demure location!  The seam on a maxi skirt that makes the slit go on and on too far!

Patch
Pairs of laddy trousers and short on the knee side and the bum side that need to be patched.
Love the monster knee and I know that would be a hit.



Alter
I'm going to use One Pearl Button's transformed tutorials for ideas to use up some clothes that aren't quite my style.

Silk Shirt Refashion

and 

Twenty Minute Skirt

I have a lovely navy with white polka dots button-up dress that I'd like to change up.  And some 80's looking long prairie skirts with nice fabric, but the style is all wrong for me.

A lovely brown floral Benetton linen dress I bought 2 years ago from the Goodwill was a little too low on the chest, so I need to pull those seams together and sew that inch up.

So many pastel long sleeved shirts that fit in all but the bodice.  I need to trim them to be more fitted.

Maybe think ahead to some use of the warmer clothes in the pile too: butt warmer over leggings, legwarmers, quick wool hat or mittens...  One cannot limit oneself to one season, can one?

No new clothes: June challenge

When I say 'No new clothes', I mean no clothes that are new to me.  Besides the black leggings I bought last month, I haven't bought new vestiments in months.  I see no need to pay a full price (including the full environmental price) for items when there is plenty to be had at a variety of second hand stores in the area. Remove self from soapbox, and continue...  I have recently uncovered a large pile of summer clothes that needs repairing, from a small hole to be sewn closed to a split seam on a very sweet vintage romper to some hemming that needs to be updated.  Gonna do some fixin' this June and make that pile of 'to do' disappear. It's already June 4 and I haven't bought anything, so how difficult can another 26 days be?  Not very, I'll just avoid my usual hospice shop vice (I'll spend a good $20 on average a month there) at lunchtime and go on a bike ride instead.  Yeah for the outdoors to salvage a wayward shopper from yet another summer skirt purchase!

enjoying home

Our family is transitioning into a better use for our home: enjoying it! There's always been so much talk (from the grown-ups) that we have too much stuff and we need to thin our belongings. But it goes beyond that: we need to take pride in our home and enjoy living in it. So we're: moving things (and kids) around; planning on some not-to-expensive upgrades to rip out nasty grey carpet and install wood floors; re-paint the bedrooms; liven up spaces with properly hemmed drapes and colourful pillows; switch out the artwork that went up by default when we first moved in (nearly 11 years ago); and pay attention to both how we use the space and how we'd LIKE to use the space. As the children get older, the lads just turned 6 & 8 last weekend, we need to make them more responsible for housekeeping and animal-keeping. We've tried a few iterations of chores but have discovered that while the younger lad loves the daily routing of being responsible, he hates the 'one-time-big-clean-up', whereas the 8 year old isn't into the daily clean, but doesn't hesitate to help out with the weekly overhauls (and loves it when he ends up finding something he'd been missing or all but forgotten about). How we treat our home and family reflects on us and what we make important to ourselves.

Two dogs

I read a quote featured on Fields and Fire's blog that makes my daily choices, when dealing with various situations, much more visceral than I've realized.. I recently ran across a story about a Native American tribal leader describing his own inner struggles.  He said, "There are two dogs inside me.  One of the dogs is mean and evil.  The other dog is good.  The mean dog fights the good dog all the time."  Someone asked him which dog usually wins, and after a moment's reflection, he answered, "The one I feed the most." -Rabbi Harold S. Kushner We make many choices each day to give over our energy, or feed the dogs.  Which dog we decide to feed is a wonderful visual to have pop into my head when I find myself at those crossroads.  Let's just say that the good dog's more plump than the mean and evil dog these days.

Word of the year

Let the bells ring!
The word for our family in 2012 is 'Intentional'

Forget reacting to forgotten appointments and last minute requests. We're forging plans on how to deal with these things. We're designating Sundays as family days, for cross country ski lessons and/or a hike together. The choices we make will be thoughtful and intentional as we make them together.

Distractions and Intentions

Just gonna start by saying, I'm paying closer attention to the things in life that are distracting me. I like the concept, anyway, tis worthwhile for sure.

Last night, when I was cleaning the kitchen and making dinner, I was also listening to a podcast. I think that's one reason why I felt yucky. Too many things going on at once. I had enjoyed the first half of the podcast on the ride home and was excited to hear the rest of it. Can I just say, I don't remember a single thing from part 2? Can I also say, I felt incredibly hyped out by too many things happening at once? I tried to calm down by putting on music afterwards, but I just needed 'quiet'. And when I say 'quiet', I mean just the regular household background noises and chatter. It made it easier to hear the kids when they wanted to ask something, it gave me a clearer head to answer thoughtfully, it made me enjoy what I was doing too.

Just a little lesson on why I'm not getting as much accomplished as I'd like to.I have to work on the physical clutter here too. I'm trying an experiment to clear away as much of the stuff in my bedroom that doesn't need to be there.  Too often my side of the room ends up as a temporary storage area for items.  When the closet had a pipe leak, the boxes of photos and paperwork went on my side of the room. (Psst... it's still there!). When the laundry didn't get all put away and when I started to fish out the boys clothes to give away, that all went on the chair and now it's all mixed up and has to be gone through AGAIN. Oh, and we can't sit in the chair cause it's filled with aforementioned clothes piles.  Sometimes the cat can find a small space in the chair mountain.  But that isn't good enough anymore.

So, now I've had it!I'm sick of manouvering around all of these things that threaten to topple over when I close the curtains at night!  I want to find out how big of a difference it makes once these items have a permanent home (which is NOT in my room). I can't wait to discover the amount of peace my bedroom can provide for me once the clutter is gone.

Daily good: January (and lifelong) goal

Daily creating: not necessarily always 'good'; but always good to do! Write a journal entry, make a new dish, pick up a needle and thread, create a stronger bond with loved ones.

Holidays and activity in the home

The tree is dismantled and the overwhelming sweet and creamy season is our most recent memory. My big gift to my family this year was an advent calendar of activities.  There were nights when, after work and school, it was near to impossible to fulfill the goal I'd intended.  That's when putting 2 packets of fruit leather in the envelope became indispensable.  But other nights were spent taking family pictures, dancing around the living room, dipping various foods in chocolate, etc.  The gift of activity and time is something I'll be doing again. My husband gave me the gift of ceramic classes and studio time.  He'd thought it through, investigated a bit and accidentally ran into the teacher whom he talked to at length.  As he unfolded his gift to me, tears leaked out of my eyes.  He is so in tune with me, he knew I needed to be more active in my creativity.  Through our first few years together I was taking ceramics classes and enjoying it so thoroughly.  It's been over ten years since I threw on a wheel, but one week from yesterday gets me back on again.  Ideas are spinning around in my head like crazy.  So many ideas that I can soon make happen!