Guess Who?

Guess who rolled over and thought she saw 6 AM on the clock, only to discover once she got up it said 5? Have you noticed how the days are getting longer, with daylight until 6 at night? Of course that means it is dark in the morning, but that will change before too long. Hurray for daylight!

Guess who has nearly finished painting the sunroom?

This room was never meant to be gold; actually more than 10 years ago it was meant to be yellow, but the yellow I chose was so ugly, the painter did some faux finishing which turned it gold. We loved it for a long, long time, however, now it is time to say hello to "Popcorn!" Yes, that's the name of the color and if that isn't enough to get you to buy some paint, I don't know what is! The accent color is, you ready for this?..."Dancing Water!" Too good to be true! That said, this time I used Valspar paint because that is what they sell at Ace Hardware, and although it goes on smooth as silk, I'm not so big a fan of having to use two coats. Nonetheless, it is mostly done, and that's what is important. There is one corner that has Bruce's office stuff that is awaiting his return from Miami.

Guess who drug an old chair out of the closet, and in a nod to my sister Lisa's favorite passion, spray painted it blue?

So, we're getting there, slowly, but surely:

What's left to do? The window treatment which will be a swag above the windows, bright white with some sort of turquoisy ties. Plus, the striped chair needs a new look, although that may prove to be a bit challenging as my upholsterer is eight weeks out, and Lord knows, I don't like waiting. I checked with another local guy whose price of $450 is pretty darn high. TBD. As well, the fabric on the end table is for recovering the seats of our little breakfast table chairs. I'm pretty mad for turquoise right now. Well, duh, that's pretty plain to see...

Guess who has a new camera? Nearly four years ago I was looking to buy a MicroFourThirds camera as a purse camera. You may, or may not, know that I'm a Panasonic girl, having started with that brand. I purchased Nikon because that's what Mr. Roger used, and I knew he could help me with it. But that's a DSLR, and they are big and bulky. This girl wanted a little camera and so, I bought an Olympus PEN EPL1 in 2010 because that is what they carried at Colonial Photo and Hobby. The thing is, Olympus and Panasonic developed the MFT camera in tandem, making their lenses interchangeable. Just before we helped Jonathan and Alissa move to Austin, I bought a Pansonic 20mm 1.7 lens, and it has rarely left the front of my Olympus since then. Except, in the last year a problem began developing that, if fixed would cost about half the price of a new camera. The LCD screen on the back of the Olympus pretty much wore away, making shooting in bright conditions well nigh impossible. Long story short, it needed replacing as it is the camera I use most.

Last evening, in what I'm terming a stroke of luck, I was doing a little web searching and went to the Costco website. No Panasonic MFT. I called our store, and what do you know, they had one left in stock; when he told me the price, I could hardly believe my ears! $399 for the body AND two lenses!!! Plus a camera bag and 16MB card! I paid about $650 for the Olympus with one lens that I ended up never using!! I got myself in the car, driving there immediately, well, as immediately as one could in rainy 5:00 traffic!

I broke it open as fast as I could once home,

and put that battery in the charger! While fixing my dinner, I kept going in the office to see if it was charged yet. Because I've had two Panasonic cameras in the past, I'm familiar with the menus, so it didn't take long before I was experimenting.

Star effect!!

Darling red cardinal, a gift from my friend Mary:

Darling hand-made calendar, a gift from Alissa and Jonathan:

Called, "An Adventure Calendar", perhaps this means I should take the new camera on a hike today?

After chatting with Bruce, I played around some more from my bed, checking out the various settings. The effects have some funny names, including this one called "Impressive Art."

Sepia seems nice:

Baxter all cuddled up in his favorite sleeping spot beside our bed. He's wrapped in a throw that I gave our Mother a gazillion years ago.

There is a retro setting:

and it seems pretty darn impressive in the near dark at 1600 ISO.

I had one lamp on to my right.

Darn it all, it is still dark outside! I am DYING to take it outside! The weather today is supposed to be cooperative, or so I hope.

Guess who has her first Paper Whites blooming? I thought it was never going to happen as those stalks came up what seems like forever ago!

How about one more flower for you? Or make that three:

Nope, they are not mine--no room for a rose garden in our yard, however there is room in Central Park, our version anyway, located in Winter Park. Such a beautiful color, and what a fragrance!!

I guess I'm a sucker for language--how else to explain someone who buys paint by the name? Dancing water indeed:

Now, if only the sun would come up....I'll be a dancing 60 year old with a new camera!