Sheila365

Sep 6, 2010

We took a trip through the UT campus today, so Julie would know her way around when she comes back for a meeting tomorrow. The campus is really nice. Today is the Labor Day holiday, so there was not much traffic or people milling about (except for the person I captured in this photo, apparently).

This is a shot from the South of the UT Tower and the Main Building in front of it. The inscription across the top of the Main Building says “Ye shall know the Truth and the Truth shall make you free.” Amen.

We also drove a bit around downtown and south of the river, through Zilker Park — stopping for the mandatory Sno-Beach sno-cone (the best sno-cones in the entire world, by the way).

Sep 5, 2010

Another fun day spent on the lake with friends. Julie, Monte and I gave Laura and Dolya a ride out to the raftup in Arky North. We missed Michelle & Tony, passing them as we were entering the cove. We joined Camelot, Dancer, Island Time, Prelude, and Caribbean Hug and played until after sunset. This is a shot from our bow looking out of the cove. There are quite a few other boats enjoying a quiet night on the lake.

Julie’s taking to this Austin way of life really quickly 😉

Sep 4, 2010

My niece, Julie, arrived tonight for a visit. We went down to 6th Street and caught the Esther’s Follies show – a must see if you ever make a visit to Austin. After the show we walked up and down 6th St for a while. The cross streets are cordoned off at night so that the crowds can walk in the street — no cars. We buzzed through the beautiful Driskill Hotel lobby and bar, walked over to Congress for a view of the lit Capitol dome. Unfortunately it’s surrounded by scaffolding for renovations for the forseeable future.

It’s hard for me to pass up any flashing plasticky fluorescent light bauble — I bought these from a street vendor along the way.

Sep 3, 2010

We had a visitor on the sliding glass door late last night. He was attracted to the light I suppose.

After seeing this picture, I think it’s time to call the window cleaners again 🙂

Sep 2, 2010

We’re birdsitting for two weeks for friends Doray and Tom, who are off on a cycling trip in France. His name is Mr. Echo, and he’s a red-bellied parrot.

It’s been a while since we’ve had bird noises in the house.

Sep 1, 2010

Whenever a bunch of basil is picked out back, we put the leftovers in a vase. It makes the kitchen smell wonderful, and it keeps a few bunches of leaves fresh for some easy picking for the next day or two.

P.s. Happy Birthday Brian!

Aug 31, 2010

Today is Tuesday, but all day long I felt like something was ending…like it was a Friday. Maybe it’s just that today is the last day of August, and after so many years attending one school or another, my biological calendar is still more attuned to the end of summer vacation and the beginning of a new school year. Or maybe I’m just tired 😉

I went for a walk tonight and took some pictures of some tall storm clouds that were reflecting the sunset colors… but none of them came out very well. I also got a close up of a butterfly, but on closer inspection it looked an awful lot like a butterfly that I took a picture of back in July, so I decided to skip that one, too.

So, I’m reverting to a photo I took this morning while the coffee was brewing. I’ve been experimenting to see how well I can use the manual focus on close-up shots. This is a toy Farmall tractor that Monte got when we were at the farm supply company last year to buy hardware for the sliding barn doors that we made for the shop. It reminded him of the Farmall Cub that his dad had when he was a kid. This one is 2 inches long and about an inch high.

I wouldn’t mind having a life size one if it had a lawn mower attachment.

Aug 30, 2010

Tulips – my favorite flower… as seen through the lens, through my glasses. I have no idea why I took this picture….was just messing around I guess. This is a watercolor that my friend Ursula painted for us as a wedding present. She does beautiful botanical drawings.

Now it’s just a moment that I share with you from today on my blog.

Aug 29, 2010

Spent the day trying to make headway on the work-front. I had the local public radio station, KUT FM 90.5, playing in the background to keep me company. An Austin staple — lots of great, homegrown music and regular radio programs. Check out their live stream here.

Aug 28, 2010

We got an early start on a much needed deep clean of the house today. Later in the morning Monte was outside sweeping the patio when he told me that there was a praying mantis on one of the patio chairs. I grabbed my camera and started taking a bunch of closeups. The contrast is a bit poor because this bug was pretty much the same color as the chair.

This shot was taken a couple of seconds before he (she?) lept the few inches of space between it and the camera and hung on to the lens. It’s a good thing this Canon D10 is shock-proof as well as waterproof because I proceeded to scream and drop the camera.

Nothing like a close encounter with an insect to get the blood flowing…

Aug 27, 2010

Sunrise this morning was at 7:05. I watched the sun creep over the house into the back yard, lighting up the trees as it went. The light at that time of the day is beautiful. I took this shot about an hour after sunrise.

As I waited for the sun to hit the birdhouse, Cat Stevens’ Morning Has Broken kept running through my head. Here’s a youtube link if you want to hear it for real.

Aug 26, 2010

Yes, it’s another shot at the hummingbird feeder. This time it’s a pair of house finches. They hung out for quite a while today, while the usually territorial hummingbirds kept their distance.

Aug 25, 2010

It got down to a chilly 79 degrees last night, which is putting me into an Autumn state of mind. For as hot as it gets here in Austin, when Fall decides it’s finally ready to appear the weather sure changes very fast. That won’t be for another month or so. Even so, the big Red Oak in the front yard is loaded with acorns. The squirrels are going to have a big year.

Aug 24, 2010

Wow, it’s been HOT for the last few weeks. Thankfully a cold front came through at about 5 pm tonight, bringing cooler air and a short downpour.

The pic on the left is from our indoor/outdoor weather station at 4pm. 105.6 outside. The pic on the right is from about 2 1/2 hours later, after the front blew through. The temp had dropped by almost 20 degrees. I wonder if this is the end of the triple digit temps for the year.

The weather station also shows inside temperature and records the 24-hour min/max below each of the inside and outside temps. You can see that the max for inside temp today was 84 degrees. That was about 2 pm today when the old A/C unit seemed to just stop blowing cold air and it got very hot and stuffy in the house. I turned it off for a while to give it a rest and started it 30 minutes later. I’m very glad that it kicked back on. I fear a new A/C unit is in our near future… but we’ll see.

I’m very happy for a break from the heat, no matter how short.

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