Tales from the Shark Tank

Mid April as it is, not only are the days perecptibly longer but the weather has become warm and beautiful. Some of the sounds around and about are easily identifiable, be they red-winged blackbirds or tractors. Some, however, are less so. I can tell a woodpecker is a woodpecker if I’m outside, but from inside through an open window, it isn’t quite so easy. I’ve learned now, but I answered my door no less than four times today before I finally had it down. I was up in my attic, reorganizing so that perhaps I can finally get some sewing done – necessary, since I have several commissioned pieces I’ve agreed to do. I opened the windows to air it out, only to have the sounds thus admitted leave me running down the curving stairs to the back door repeatedly. Oh, well, I needed the exercise, I did.

Then there’s my cat. I’ve set up a nest box for her, which she disdained to notice until I had the bright idea (last night) of tossing in an old t-shirt of mine that I’d worn to sleep in and not yet washed. It seems the missing factor was the scent of her personal housemonkey. I expect k-day to be sometime in the next 24 hours, as she’s gone from “I want you right next to me wherever you are” this morning to “let me lead you back to my nest box” (I spent three hours this afternoon sitting beside it reading a book I’ve been trying to get to anyway) to the current situation, which is “I’m not leaving this nest box for anything, not even to get you to come back here”. Now, if I get too far away for too long she mews long and loud until I return to her. I don’t know how I’m going to explain to her that it’s a bit too cold at night still for human camping. Both she and my son want my attention, both are entitled to it, and I still can’t get the dratted bi-location spell to work!

Next are the trees. They’ve been shedding branches and twigs all winter, as the one thing we do not lack for in this area is wind. I figured I’d rake them up before I mowed. Wrong. Sticks are not rake-able. They turn against the tines, and then just slip between. So it’s me and the garden cart, picking up the detritus of about thirty trees spread over an acre by hand. It’s a good thing my back hasn’t gone all middle-aged on me! I hadn’t counted the trees, but our son wanted to hunt for Easter eggs pagan fertility symbols, so we picked up a couple dozen plastic eggs, put small chocolate bars inside them and I broadcast them about the back yard. Not wanting them to escape, I decided to mark them with trees, putting one in or near each tree beginning by the house. I ran out of eggs before I ran out of trees, which told me the count was over 24. Turns out we have 30. The leaves blew away last fall, but the sticks just blew down. And so now I’m trying to spend the same time playing with my kidling, attending to Miss Gravidity and getting the sticks collected before the grass gets too tall for me to see them. I knew spring in the country would be busy; I just didn’t quite expect it to hit the non-farmer as well, at least not until the neighbor came with his tractor and small harrow to turn up my garden for me, which will happen in a couple of weeks.

Anybody got a time-turner I can borrow?

I’ve been hunting around the internet, looking at various and assorted digital cameras and being grateful that when mine decided to die, it did not take the media card with it.  I still have those photos, at least.  I wanted to know, before I got into the details of the different models, what I might expect to be spending to replace the camera.

What I found surprised me, though on reflection it should not have.  I can get a smaller, lighter, more versatile camera with considerably better resolution (6.1M or better as opposed to the 3.1M I have) – for 35% less than I paid for the one I’m replacing.  I remember my surprise when I first saw calculators in shrink wrap that were smaller, with more functions, than the first one I bought as a science major in 1976, and at approximately 20% of the price of that first one.  Now I’m seeing the same phenomenon beginning with the digital cameras.  And though it is the way of technology, I am still amazed.

Hey, y’all out there! About two years ago I used my midwinter money to buy myself a digital camera, which I have absolutely loved. Unfortunately, over the past few days it has gone from working beautifully to “the lens cover won’t close” to “zoom error”/ dead as a doornail. This despite changing batteries (twice, in case the first replacement set was bad) and leaving batteries out overnight to let it reset itself. So I think it’s thoroughly dead, and being out of warranty as it is I suspect it will be less expensive to replace than repair; such things generally are.

So have you who enjoy such gadgets any recommendations for me? It’s replacing a Fuji A310. My primary requirement is that it be small and light enough for pocket or purse, but with decent picture quality and flexibility.

Thanks, gang!

My poor cat is so pregnant she is ready to pop.  She looks as if she’d swallowed a cantaloupe, she waddles when she walks, and for the most part her attitude seems to be “Oh, G-d, I don’t want to move”.  She’s been like this for near a week now.  I’ve set up a nest box for her, which I hope she’ll use, though I realize that the decision in that is entirely hers.  She’s grouchy with our son (I don’t blame her; I’d be grouchy with a creature that insisted hauling me around when I was already damnably uncomfortable too) and clearly ready for the kittens to be on the outside rather than on the inside.  But they will come when they’re ready, and all she – and we – can do is wait.