I started out the evening with a mess of ladies headed downtown to serve at a Mobile Loaves and Fishes dinner downtown. We prepared food, mingled with the guests, and helped pass out clothing. Our party included a teacher, technology experts, a VP, retirees, and retiree-wannabes. It was a night well-spent.
Afterwards we moseyed into Pelon’s Tex Mex on Red River,and enjoyed margaritas, some chips and salsa, queso, and very good service. You should check it out.
Outside art: 
And inside art:
Went to see a screening of a restored 1978 made-in-Austin film tonight, said to have initiated the local indie film genre and inspired Robert Redford to start the Sundance Institute to support independent filmmakers, along with its annual film festival. The film was The Whole Shootin’ Match, at the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum. I enjoyed it quite a bit. 
From time to time, we like to stop in at the pet store where Keeto found us. They have birds of all sizes, bunnies, fish, and the new resident — a large tortoise. His name is Columbus, because he walks around the store, exploring, all day. He’s a big one, over 2 feet long.
I guess my iPhone camera skills are ruined now that I have my new camera 🙂 This was the best shot I took. 
Julie has moved back to Austin! She’s staying with us, ’til she moves in with friends next month. Her dog, Blake, is part of the package. She’s such a pretty dog – my model for the day. 🙂
We drove to Wimberly today with Tom and Doray. They have property there. We toured the town and their land and made a nice day of it.
Their property is covered with the live oaks that I have grown to love. They look beautiful no matter which way you look at them.
I thought this wavy cloud formation was interesting. A cold front came through early this morning and the skies eventually cleared to become a clear sunny day.
The red oak out front is sporting its awesome fall foliage.
Yesterday was my last day of work for the year! A shot of my office for the day:
We have lots of different types of trees in the yard. Their leaves are turning lovely shades of autumn color. This is the mimosa tree out back.
…a juvenile yellow-bellied sapsucker. He suprised me while I was trying to take a picture of something else. I had to use google to help me identify him. Pretty cool, though!
“It is Christmas in the heart that puts Christmas in the air.” —W.T. Ellis
I was pleased with this one, taken while walking around a nearby pond. Was able to focus through the brush to get a shot of this Great Egret.
Then back at home caught a lady cardinal on a feeder.
Every once in a while I stumble across a tip that someone shared that is amazingly simple yet solves a problem that has forever bugged me.
When I find one, I’ll share in the event you find it useful, too.
Here’s one that I appreciate every time I open my kitchen drawer to get out the superglue.
Problem: A tube of superglue, once opened, dries up before I can use it a second time.
I must have bought a hundred tubes of superglue over my lifetime. You know, the tiny tubes that come in packs of 2 or 3 (for this very reason!).
Then, one day, someone told me that the reason superglue dries up so quickly is that the way it works to create a bond is that it reacts with moisture in the air. So, essentially, as soon as you open it, it starts hardening inside the tube.
Hack: Save those packets of silicon that you may sometimes find in a bottle of aspirin, a new pair of shoes, etc. The next time you are done using a newly opened tube of superglue, store it in a ziploc baggie along with a packet or two of silicon. The packet will act as a desiccant and absorb the water in the air; preventing the superglue from hardening in the tube.
This hack has kept my current, open, tube of superglue usable for almost a year. I just pulled it out to mend a broken Christmas ornament.
Monte has nurtured my love of photography over the years; starting with the gift of my first 35mm film SLR camera – a Nikon FM10. On it, I learned the basics: how to manually adjust aperture, shutter speed, film speed, focus, depth of field, flash… everything. It was the only camera we brought on our honeymoon, to capture all those once-in-a-lifetime moments – a bit risky since we wouldn’t be able to see how they turned out until we got home. I was thrilled to see that they all turned out to be beautifully captured images after getting the film developed.
Then he got me my first digital camera – a Nikon Coolpix 7600 point and shoot. It was his first experience w/ digital photography as well.
Once we started making regular sailing trips in the Caribbean, I bought a Canon PowerShot D10 for underwater photography. It turned out to be such a great camera that it has been my main, go-to camera on land or sea, and it sparked my desire to start this photoblog almost 6 years ago.
In the last year or two, pure laziness has led me to use my iPhone camera for many of the shots I post here, though I still drag the Canon along everywhere I go.
But my wish all along has been to get a “real” and quality digital camera – a big-girl camera – one that might allow me to take my photography to the next level.
Last week, since I had a whole week off of work, Monte took me camera shopping. He helped me pick out The One – an Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark II. Along with two lenses, this is the latest (and best!) gift of photography equipment from him to indulge my hobby; for which I cannot thank him enough.
All of a sudden I feel like a real photographer!
The camera is amazing. I am taking the time to study the 170 page manual to learn about each of its features in the range of all-automatic to all-manual operational modes. I’m only taking practice shots for now, but with the rain and lack of sunny days lately, I haven’t yet taken it for a real spin outside.
I can’t wait to see what develops. 🙂
I have been side tracked a bit since my last post 3 1/2 weeks ago.
Summary of excuses:
But, I’m back!
I may share a bit more on some of these moments in future posts. But for now, here’s a photo from New Orleans – St. Louis Cathedral and Jackson Square as the sun was heading for the horizon.
Sheila365 