Category — Personal

I brought my camera on the Buckquarter Creek Trail last week. My intention was to find the two trees my mom and I saw in October that she wanted a photo of. I could not find them. All I have to say is: you try going into the woods and finding the same trees twice!

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I make excellent soup of all kinds. Some are invented, and some are tweaked recipes that I find elsewhere.  One of the universal favorites is my beef stew which I have honed over the years. Although all beef stew has some similar ingredients this recipe is crafted by yours truly. It is really delicious. I don’t have a recipe per say, but after making it many times I have a similar process I can share. This is an art, not a science so don’t take the ingredients as hard and fast rules. Mine change regularly.

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Took a visit to New Orleans last week. Spent most of my time in the French Quarter, but also visited the Audubon Park and Audubon Zoo.

My only regret on this trip is that I noticed that there was an “endangered amphibians” exhibit at the zoo right before it closed which I wish I had seen. I love painting frogs. Ah well…there is plenty of other great reference photos for painting from this trip…including a couple neat frogs who lived in the reptile exhibit.

In the Quarter

Street Musicians

I originally gave Phoenix an old comforter to sleep on since we have hard wood floors, however it looked really sloppy and I got fed up. A few days ago I caved and bought her a real dog bed. It lives right next to my desk all day. She naps by me all the time: on her new bed if I’m at my desk or on my favorite chair if I am reading or on my laptop. I took this picture last night because she was so cute. Sometimes Robert and I wonder what it would be like to be that adorable…it must hurt a little.

Phoenix on her new bed.

I recently visited Alaska for one week. Flew into Anchorage, drove to Homer and spent most of my time there except for two days I spent in Seldovia.

Alaska can at times be a very rainy and foggy place. This made a lot of the days difficult to catch clear photos of the incredible mountains without a lot of noise. But I did my best. [Read more →]

I am currently in Homer Alaska on vacation. I had a quick moment before breakfast so I wanted to post a photo from a kayaking trip yesterday of an otter. I saw four of them. They are very cute and I wish I could take one home.

It’s been a little over a month since we got Phoenix from the Animal Protection Society of Durham. She’s doing pretty great. Put on some weight which she needed and seems content. We’ve been getting to know her personality a lot more as she has come out of her shell. She is still very sweet, gentle and obedient. Well, obedient in the house, if we’re outside where there are squirrels and other distractions it’s a lot harder to get her attention and I am not sure we have succeeded yet getting her to learn her name. Also, when she knows you’re not looking she will do a few sneaky things, like jump on to the wrong couch (she is only allowed on one). She can’t really get away with it because she leaves hair behind. So I’m thinking of leaving some uncomfortable things on the couches overnight so she won’t want to lie on them. [Read more →]

On June 24th Robert and I adopted a dog from the Durham Animal Protection Society. We had been thinking and talking about it for some time. I’m always concerned about taking on a 10-12 year responsibility when I can’t see 10-12 years down the road. But I finally decided that if I always held decisions to that standard I would never be able to do anything. We both work from home and will be doing so for the foreseeable future. We get a bit lonely and we need more exercise. And Robert and I both like dogs. So it was the right decision at this time and that’s the best I can do.
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