Category: friends

Three of my Rapunzel group drove over from Petaluma yesterday to meet me for lunch at Sailor Jack’s.  We missed Darlene, Marie, and Nevin, but had a delicious lunch and great conversation as always.  Plus, it’s my birthday month- so there were PRESENTS!

After lunch we came back to my house to have a Skype conversation with Nevin.  Our group originated in Petaluma when our children were babies, and now only four remain there. Marie is in Sacramento, Nevin is in Irvine, and now we are planning to move, most likely to Arizona.  Thank goodness for the magic of the internet, making it so easy for us to stay connected.

I took this shot of Claudia, Georgia, Jan and myself right before we Skyped with Nevin.

I edited this in Lightroom 5 beta, which I downloaded today. I tried the new, much praised cloning and healing brush, but had a bit of trouble with it- so went back to Photoshop, where I’m more familiar with the tools.  I’m going to have to watch a tutorial, I guess. I did like that all my Lightroom 4 presets (in the Develop Module AND the export window) were absorbed automatically into the new program (not so with Flickr, Facebook etc). I only imported photos from the last month into my new catalog; I want to make sure I know what I’m doing before I totally commit. I’ve been thinking about the new Photoshop Creative Cloud and have decided for now to just go with the new Lightroom- and keep CS5 until it seems unworkable. By then, it will be easier to make a decision to go with the cloud or not.

My friend, Renata’s daughter, Sarah came over today for some photography help with her brand new Christmas camera, a Nikon D3100.  She already has the basics of seeing photo opportunities and composing photographs; she just needs to learn how to make her camera do what she wants- no small task!  We mostly worked on focusing and the exposure triangle, concepts I really struggled with in the beginning.   She’s taking photojournalism next semester in college; I can’t wait to see how she progresses!

My Rapunzel group has been getting together to celebrate Christmas for over 35 years.  We always have a delicious lunch with plenty of desserts and, in recent years, have adopted Vicki’s tradition of bringing small gifts for everyone.  This year we were not only missing Vicki, who passed away six years ago, but also Nevin who has moved to Southern California (but joined us today by phone!). Our gatherings may be smaller, but our bond is as strong as ever!

We were at Georgia’s house this year- look at her mother’s collection of beautiful official White House ornaments lining the staircase.  Wow!

Woo hoo! Happy Birthday, Kathryn!

As I get older, I sometimes find myself thinking about the years ahead and what I will be like as my body (and mind. . .) age.  My father was always my role model for living well in the later years.  Like me, he was a photographer in his retirement years- but he was also a woodworker and stained glass artist.  He was always the oldest in his classes at Butte Community College, where he studied photography and stained glass after he retired from dentistry at age seventy.  So I think I’ve got the hobby thing figured out.

A few years ago, I started looking for some additional role models to inspire me- and one of them turned ninety-three today!

I have known Viola for about three years and have been amazed at how active and involved she is at church.  She had a physical setback this last year, but has come back with determination and verve! She inspires me with her intelligence, enthusiasm, and optimism- and her SPUNKINESS!  The black and white image above gives you a hint of her personality. She is never without glitz- whether its her hat or a scarf, she is someone you can’t miss.  But most of all, Vi is an example to me of someone who truly lives from her heart.

Happy Birthday, Vi!

It’s ten more days before I get to see my own grand-babies, so I borrowed my friend, Debbie’s new grandson, Trevor! His mama, Marissa brought him over today, and I got to hold him and take photos!

Can you believe that hair?

And those eyes!!!

I know he’s a big baby (over 9 pounds), but his feet look so tiny in his mama’s hands!

He is such a doll- I think I’m going to have to insist on photographing him again!

My friend, Debbie has come to stay for a few days! She and Dale moved to Arizona four years ago- so it is a HUGE treat to have her here, if only for a few days.  She drove out because she is moving  one of her daughters from Arizona to Sacramento- and she could quite possibly be here for the birth of her second grand-baby, due any day now.  In the meantime, we are having a great time talking and laughing and laughing and talking!  Bittersweet, though, because she is here for such a short time- and I’ll miss her even more when she leaves. Love you, Debbie!

My dear friend, Barbara came by for a quick photoshoot and knitting lesson bright and early this morning.  We tried front and back yard locations- and my favorite is from my “magic” front porch. Isn’t she pretty?