Her morning tanning

Every morning when I wake up and leave the bedroom to put the kettle on Lola struggles her way from the bedroom to the sunlight bathing the ground behind the back of the sofa. And, I'm not exaggerating when I say struggle. It's the most dramatic, lazy walk you've ever seen. She rounds the corner to the light and just collapses to the floor for the next hour or so. After a good bake she moseys back to the bedroom panting to cool down.

My brain is behind the times

With a new piece of technology comes a new pile of I've-heard-about-this-in-conversation-but-I-really-have-no-idea-what-it-is-or-what-it-does-or-how-to-use-it questions.

I got a new Canon Rebel XSi digital SLR camera for my birthday but I have a serious learning curve ahead of me. I used to shoot 35mm SLR ten years ago and I kinda forget what I'm supposed to do. Yes, I remember f-stop and ISO and all that basic functionality but what about...

1. selecting the f-stop I'd like to use, it's not just a ring on the lens anymore?

2. is it easier to use the camera's presets rather than manually selecting my shot settings?

3. should I always shoot in RAW format?

4. do I edit the RAW images differently?

5. how do I use Adobe Bridge?

6. do I convert the file to a jpg to add it to flickr?

7. what other lenses should I get?

8. is my husband going to return it because I won't stop snapping pictures of him at inopportune times, ie. when he's trying to sleep?

These are my pressing questions. Maybe I'll hunt down answers and post them back on my blog, but if you can direct me to any answers for any of them I'd really appreciate it!

Surprise!

I got a new camerafor my birthday and we're all trying to figure it out.

I've always been The Baby

I am the baby of my family and I am still affectionately called Little Baby Heather. Today I turned 30 years old. I'm not really sure how that happened and I'm not really sure if I like it. But here I am. 30. As I told my best friend, Susan, I never really thought I'd turn 30. As a kid I was excited to be a teenager. From a teenager I was excited to jump into my twenties. But I never prepared to enter my thirties. It's a shock to my system and the only thing getting me through is a quip my friend Marian said in conversation, "I can't believe you're only 30, you sure packed a lot in to the first 29 years!" That line makes me think about how I could fill the next 29 years, and that makes me kind of excited. And, I'll still be the youngest person at my party!

Now I want to go back

Two of my photos from our trip to London have been included in the Schmap London Guide! The Schmap series of guides are all internet based and even have mobile pages for your iPhone. They were kind enough to select a photo of Neal's Yard Dairy, the cheese shop of my dreams.

And one of my favorite photos, this shot of the Churchill Arms Pub.

You can see my photos here and here.