"Grieving the loss of a child is a process, it begins the day your child passes and ends the day the parent joins them."
BJKarrer

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Camera's. Canning. Puppy's oh my!

I'm in the market for a new camera. I have a Sony Cyber-shot now. It's an OK camera, but I have found that whenever I zoom in on any object, I get a lot of grainy looking pictures. I HATE that. I also cant stand the long delay. Carly is so hard to capture on camera. I need something a bit quicker.

I'm, by no means anywhere near being a professional photographer. However, I do want a decent camera. One that I can snap pictures and get those poses I seem to miss . I would love one that I can zoom in on any object and not get grainy looking pictures.

Anyone out there have any ideas for me?? I would really appreciate knowing what kind of cameras you all have. I know several of you have the Rebel. Not sure I want to spend quite that much money. A happy medium between the Rebel and my Cyber-shot would be nice. Hopefully!

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Today has been a BUSY one! We were picking cucumbers and green beans again out of the garden. I have made another 7 quarts of dill pickles. Still have cukes to deal with tomorrow. Likely, another 7 quarts. I'm also doing green beans again! Actually, I'm still doing them right now. Total of 7 quarts of green beans tonight too. I already did 8 quarts of green beans last week. Sheesh...gardening is a lot of work. Worth it come winter though.

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Puppies. What do you do with a puppy that is so rambunctious??? Our pup is just 6 months old. He is HUGE. He's part Doberman/Rottweiler. We had him fixed last week and he weighed in at 70lbs. The vet says, "he is going to be HUGE". Yeah. We kind of figured that out. However, he has to be the biggest clumsiest pup I've ever seen. He wants to PLAY all the time. I mean always. If you aren't playing with him. He's getting into to trouble. You can pretty much count on it! Such as digging holes in the yard. Pulling flowers out. Yep...he pulls my flowers out of the ground. Roots and all. Chews everything. Loves to eat cardboard boxes. Not that we have tons sitting around, but we do have a few in our garage. Um, well we had a few in the garage.

Yesterday UPS dropped off a large box for Ashleigh. I had no idea UPS had even been here. They never even knocked on the door. Actually, they left the package out in the driveway. Didn't even bring it to the door. Well Diesel, the pup, found that package. He ate a corner of the box. Thankfully, he didn't get into the contents or Ashleigh would have gone ballistic on him.

Today, I was busy getting ready to start canning. First, I thought I had better check on the pup. We have underground dog fencing for our dogs. Works great by the way. Anyway, I went to the back storm door to see what he was up to. Oh did I find a mess. I found particle of minuscule size all over our back porch/steps and side walk. I went out to check this mess out. I had no idea what the heck it was. As I was looking at all the tiny pieces, I also found a large Ziploc food storage bag. It had our last name written on it. Hmm. Still couldn't figure it out. I then decided to check out the yard. That's when I found it. A box. A small box. It had the name of our vet on it. Oh my gosh. I knew exactly what it was. The ashes of out Sheltie, Ruby. Who was killed by a stupid girl talking on a cell phone while flying past our house. The dog was on the side of the road..still, she got hit and killed instantly. I saw the entire thing. That's when we got the underground fence.

I was sickened by my discovery. I was very angry with Paul. I had thought he buried this poor dogs ashes. He obviously did not. OK, so it had been 3 stinking years. He should have got on the ball and taken care of it. Now, Ruby is laid to rest. She is in my flower beds. Home I suppose. But still, I was ticked. That took an hour and a half out of my canning day. You wouldn't believe the mess those tiny bone fragments and ashes make all over your porch. It was not a pretty site.

Will this puppy phase ever end? I sure hope so, for Diesels sake. And mine! Because if it doesn't end soon....Oh my. Not sure what I will do.

7 comments:

Ria said...

Wow! You are hard at work with canning. I don't have the skills and know-how to do that.
As for the camera, I don't know anything good in between a Rebel and a Cybershot. I have my eye on a Rebel XS, which is not as pricey as the other Rebels but has the fastest shutter speed to capture all those action shots. Maybe wait for Memorial Day or some big sale to get one?

Me said...

Wow...that's a lot of canning! Care to share any tips for me? I don't have a garden (well, not a big enough one to get enough stuff to can) but the farmer's market down the road from me is full of great things right now, and at great prices. I'm looking for a salsa recipe, or even how to can tomatoes. I used to do dill pickles, which were yummy....but I haven't done them in a few years. Once the kids came along it became too hard. Plus no one in my family will eat dill pickles except me.

I'm sorry about the mess your puppy made. I'd be heartbroken. Puppies are sooooo tough. Tougher than kids! I miss having my dog around (she died a couple years ago), but i just can't do the puppy stage. Just too hectic right now.

The VW's said...

My sister has a Nikon D40 camera. It works excellently! I'm saving for one right now. It's around $400. She loves hers and I've used it a couple of times and really liked it. It has a really fast shutter speed, which helps when you are taking pictures of kiddos. There is also a Nikon D90 and I think a 5000, or something, but they are a lot more expensive!

I hated the work of the 'puppy phase'! They are into EVERYTHING! It took about 2 years for our Golden Retriever to settle down. He's a great dog now though! Hopefully yours settles down before then! Hang in there, in the mean time!

Kelli said...

I have the Nikon D40 and LOVE it! There are what I like to call the "dummy" buttons that have everything preset for you until you can take the time to figure out the details and I do still use them. DSLR is the only way to go so you never miss getting that smile on camera.
My sister just bought a Nikon Coolpix for about $199 and she loves it. Tons of options and the pics turn out nice. The shutter lag is still there.
Sorry to hear about the puppy phase. It will fade.

Kristen's mom said...

Wow I thought I was the only left on the earth that stilled canned. Luckily I am finished with the string beans and I have never learned how to make dill pickles. My father in law had everyone ever last night to help with his corn. He picked 16 of his 21 rows and we set up a make shift assembly line outside. It was really a good idea. We did over 200 bags with 2 cups in each bag. now that's a lot of corn. Just waiting for peaches, pears and tomatoes to be ready. I too was surprised that the docs suspected a relapse with Zoey based on her platelet count. Kristen's have been kinda low ever since we finished treatment. We had labs again today and she is barely hitting 140,000. Her white count is taking it's sweet time as she is still only at 1.6 and her ANC is only 1200. We have been off treatment for almost 5 months. I guess everyone is different.

JennyH said...

I also have the sony cybershot. I really like it. I have tired kodak, samsung and another one- there were all much slower with the shutter speed. Good luck finding one that doesn't cost a fortune!

Sorry about her last dog.

Beth said...

I have the Nikon D40 (or at least, I did have it, until it drowned in a liter of water accidentally). It took excellent pictures with no shutter lag at all. However, it is bulky, and I found it cumbersome to use when out and about.

I will be replacing or repairing it soon. In the meantime I am using a Kodak-something-or-other (in the $160 range). I like it because it can live at-the-ready in my purse. It is grainy with the zoom too, but I like how simple it is compared to the D40. I'm not all that savvy--too lazy to read all the way through the manual!

As for the puppy--I'm so sorry to hear about Ruby's ashes. (Though perhaps she did enjoy one last unexpected romp?)

I have a degree in animal behavior. I'd suggest that Diesel get regular walks. Exercise is the best way to get his energy under control. Playing with him won't cut it--he needs to be incorporated into your "pack" and the best way to do that is to "lead" him, both figuratively and literally.

I know you probably don't have time/opportunity to walk him, but it would probably be worth it to figure out a way that he can get regular exercise. (neighbor teenager? early morning walk before the chaos of the day begins?) It sounds like he's too smart and mischievous for his own good!

I am envious of your canning! Yum!