Cats and Trails and Garden Tales
Musings on cats, travel, gardens and life
Practicing Moon Shots
Yesterday was cold and sunny and last night remained clear. Time to practice some moon shots.
I turned out the lights and went outside to watch as the moon rose over the trees. I took my tripod and cameras and wore my warm jacket and head lamp.
(I once took a nature photography class, and the instructor spent an entire session on safety. I thought it strange at the time, but not since, and am careful when I venture out, especially at night. But I digress)
I started with my Sony RX10 and liked the pictures of the moon lassoed by branches the best.
I followed with my new Lumix FZ300 for the best closeups; the 600 mm zoom clearly outperforming the 200 on my Sony.
Both cameras have their place and I’ll continue to practice with both when the weather cooperates. I woke to snow falling this morning – already turning to slush – and rain and snow are in the forecast all week.
Sharing with Sunday Stills, Lighting the Night!
~ Susanne
The Weather of 2021
There was record breaking weather everywhere this year, but I’ll focus on my own little corner of the world – the Greater Seattle area of the Pacific Northwest.
It started out normal enough. In January there was pounding rain and sunshine, with balmy temperatures at times, making us think we’d already had spring.
Until February and March came along bringing snow, not as much as I like, but enough to have pictures to show for it.
Then winter gave way to spring and the clematis grew furiously trying to escape my yard,
while the bees were happy to stay in the herb garden.
By the end of June, temperatures soared to the highest on record – from 108 to 113 – depending on whose thermometer you believe. With higher temperatures came drought and no measurable rainfall for more than fifty days, while smoke from wildfires turned the sun orange.
We thought it would never end and craved the rain. But soon fall arrived and not to be outdone by summer, became the wettest on record. Over 19 inches of rain fell from September through November, the most of any meteorological fall.
Later, the frost arrived along with colder temperatures.
And still the rain poured, an atmospheric river above, causing flooding, and heartache for some, but also beauty for others.
And now as December draws to a close, what’s next?
Hopefully snow, but no need to be record breaking. A normal year will do.
~ Susanne
Metallic is for the Birds!
It’s time for another Sunday Stills Challenge and it’s all about Metallic, which for my purposes is defined as having a quality of metal that includes shiny, lustrous or sparkling colors!
It so happens I found a cormorant preening on Lake Washington this week, and the lake looked like molten silver, rather metallic I thought.
Closer to home in my backyard, the neck and crown of the male Anna’s Hummingbird looked metallic when he turned his head just so.
But if these aren’t metallic enough for you, I’ll close with ‘Firebird’ – an 18 ft. sculpture also known as ‘Disco Chicken’ – I found in front of the Museum of Modern Art in Charlotte, North Carolina!
And that will do for now.
~ Susanne
Hiking Yosemite’s “Mist Trail”! Here’s Our STEEP Climb To The Vernal Waterfall!
Have you been to Yosemite? My brother takes you there on his blog today, up close to some fabulous falls!!
“The last few hundred meters up the Vernal Falls trail are stairs cut into the cliffside…”
With that simple line, the National Park Service warned us that a very steep climb was ahead of us!
Welcome To Yosemite’s “Mist Trail!”
Welcome back to Yosemite National Park, roughly a 7 hour drive northeast of Los Angeles, and about 3 hours slightly south and east of San Francisco. The “Mist Trail” hike is 3 miles round trip to the Vernal Waterfall and back, but you can go much further as well, as this park has trails lacing it like Christmas ribbon!
We were here a few days before Thanksgiving, and the park’s shuttle buses to the trailhead weren’t operating due to Covid restrictions, so we added another 1.2 miles walking over from the legendary Ahwahnee Hotel.
To get to the Mist Trail, you get to follow the gorgeous, serene Merced River on…
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A Medley of Frosty
I wanted to participate in this week’s Sunday Stills Christmas Song Lyric Challenge and went looking for the holly and the ivy. Unfortunately, they were not full grown so I had to settle for these berries in my garden.
Then I considered other Christmas carols:
O Holy Night! ~ Hark the Herald Angels Sing! ~ Silent Night!
but there were no pictures to adequately convey the spiritual nature of these songs.
I soon realized I was getting too complicated so when I saw Frosty the Snowman next door, I went down a frosty path.
All that frostiness reminded me of another of my favorite holiday songs.
“Oh the weather outside is frightful, but the fire’s so delightful,
and since there’s no place to go –
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!”
Yes, I love the snow and hope we’ll get some this year! But if we don’t we can head to Mt. Rainier,
and if we’re lucky we may see the moonrise over the mountain.
Which might do for Silent Night, after all.
~ Susanne
Raindrops on Berries
There was finally a break in the rain and I went outside to practice using my new camera.
Honestly, it’s a slow go. I’m thinking I’ll need to print out the entire 300 plus page manual to figure out even the most basic functions.
Still, you can’t go too wrong with raindrops on berries.
~ Susanne
Happy Day! My New LUMIX FZ300 Arrived!
Hooray for Cyber Monday!
I’ve been using my Sony RX10 for the past five years and love it. But ever since it froze up earlier this year – remember camera woes? – I thought about getting another camera.
At the time, Terri at Second Wind Leisure recommended the Lumix FZ300 as a cheaper alternative to a new RX10; and her beautiful photos vouched for it.
I finally took the plunge when I realized the Lumix has a 600mm zoom (my old RX10 has 200) which I hoped would improve my bird photography.
I couldn’t wait to get started even though I hardly know how to operate it! So I turned it on yesterday in Auto mode and went outside for my first Lumix photoshoot.
Hello Anna’s Hummingbirds! Hooray for more zoom! 🙂
I have SO MUCH to learn about the Panasonic Lumix as the functions and controls are very different from my Sony RX10. That will take time. Fortunately, I have all the time I need – did I mention it came with a 3 year warranty?
In the meantime, I already love it and can’t wait to keep practicing! Hope you enjoy as I’m learning. 🙂
~ Susanne
Cozy Benji Inside and Out
I can’t think of anything cozier than Benji on my lap.
Whether inside.
Or out.
Sharing with Sunday Stills Cozy.
~ Susanne
Pretty Clouds at Sunset and More Rain in the Forecast
No, it’s not my imagination – we’ve had record amounts of rain here in the Pacific Northwest. Seems like I say that every year. But according to the Seattle Times, “With 18.91 inches of rain recorded at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport between Sept. 1 and Nov. 28, and another atmospheric river of rain due on Tuesday, it’s looking like this will go down as the wettest early fall on record.”
Yippee. 😉
But we did manage to score a rain-free day yesterday and by late afternoon I got to enjoy this wonderful sunset out my front door.
Today the sky is milky gray, the clouds no longer beautiful. Just full of rain.
~ Susanne
I Did it! I upgraded to Windows 11!
I admit I wasn’t thrilled when I heard that Windows 11 was coming out and I had no intention of upgrading. After all, my computer’s getting old and I’ll probably replace it in the next year. But I also wasn’t thrilled with the current version of Windows 10 so I went ahead and took the plunge. It took about 5 hours to download, update, restart again and again but I went about my day while it did its thing. And you know what? I like it!
First thing I noticed is the Windows icon has moved over to join other icons on the task bar in a central location. Click on it and you’ll find everything you had before displayed in a more pleasing and logical way. You’ll also find the Power button at the bottom, so technically you still go to Start to turn off your computer. Some things never change. 😉
The Pictures folder has a better look and feel as well. And while we’re on the subject, here are a few pictures from a hike earlier this fall at Nolte State Park. What’s a post without a few pictures?
There are other new features including an icon for creating multiple desktops. Not sure why I’d need that but who knows it may come in handy. And there’s an icon for Widgets that I still need to explore.
But I saved the biggest improvement for last. You know the annoying news box that used to pop up unbidden, interrupting whatever you were working on with no apparent way to turn it off? Gone! That alone is worth the upgrade.
And that will do for today.
~ Susanne
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