Getting ready for warmer weather

Most people rake leaves in their yard.  With all the trees on our property I've tried different ways to remove the leaves from the pool cover before taking the cover off.  This year's method looks very promising and relatively less labor intensive from previous years.

Time to upgrade....

In the good old days, hard drives either gave the death rattle right before they bit the dust (which preceeded rapid floppy disk backing up) or just failed altogether with no notice.  The new drives, paired with the operating system, now have the audacity to tell you they don't want to work anymore.  This hard drive is named Apollo and is installed on my desktop and has been online continuously for over 3 years.  He is imaged and backed up on Cronus which I'll probably be using soon to create a new C: drive.

Writing Style

Our youngest (and cutest) cat staying warm and cozy....



And occasionally Skyping me using Moyia's username.  I can usually make out the subtle difference in her writing style and Moyia's---though I'm not always sure especially when she gets a lot of X's and O's involved.  I'm just glad she's not a big fan of iPhones :)

Let it snow!

Christmas Day afternoon we started with a light rain mixed with sleet which progressed to a light snow whipped by fairly strong winds.  The 5-9" blizzard forecast for the area did not appear but we did get 2-3" of the white stuff.

 

 

 

 

 

Scenes from a Christmas Morning

As usual, Alex guards the presents in the early AM before his sisters arrive on the scene.  He actually is scoping out name tags and planning a strategy to maximize his present opening.

The butter braids have been rising all night---Strawberry Cream Cheese was on the menu this year.

And of course the little woman has a breakfast casserole in hand waiting to cook along with the braids.

Meanwhile, back at Central Command, the girls have arrived.  Alex shares his strategy with the triumvirate.

The fun begins!  First Blood (virtually speaking) is Call of Duty.

The better looking half of the upcoming empty nesters has scored a Sony DSLR.

The Littlest Princess is now the proud owner of her first UM sweats.

And she dons the apparel quickly to show her school spirit.

A bit later in the day Madison, one of the Seniors from MTSU (and soon to be Florida resident and son-in-law), dropped by to open a few gifts with the other soon-to-be MTSU grad Brianna.

Santa has time to play...

15 second exposure/ISO 80/

1/4 second exposure/ISO 400

In years past, Santa had just gone to bed after a long night of delivering and assembling toys along with the usual cookie eating.  Nowadays, Santa has more leisure time and can play with getting that just right shot of the Christmas tree before all mayhem lets loose---some things never change :)

Cookie Decorating Time!!!

The BAM Crew had reinforcements this year----Grandma came up to help!!!

The team working the designs under scrutiny of the cameras.

Alex has really upped his game this year....must be all that bachelor living at college.

The littlest princess taking care of a casualty.....obviously a strong Walking Dead influence here.

Brianna was at her Christmas creative best as always.....

And the results are in...some of the most colorful and creative cookies to date!!!

St. Jame Park Christmas Decorations

Yours truly tried to act casual sipping coffee along a busy street whilst my camera was time lapsing the park this past week.

Nighttime in St. James Park

St. James park in Toronto is all decorated for Chritmas with lighting along the walkways and on some of the trees.

Church on the Town Square in Copiapo

Large church takes up one side of the town square.

http://www.gcatholic.com/churches/southamerica/2875.htm

It's fairly old, but not too old.  Copiapo is in the Atacama desert and until a railroad was built it was fairly isolated.  Mining of course is the big business here though grape vineyards are fairly common as well.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atacama_Desert

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copiapo

And a 3-D shot just inside the doors of the church.

Birthday Girls and Boys around the World

Popped into the local grocer in Copiapo to do some comparison shopping.  Looks like the kids in Copiapo celebrate like kids in the USA do when it comes to birthday parties---Barbie, Hot Wheels, Superman, etc :)

Chilean Home Away From Home

Looks like the gringo scored some impressive digs this week visiting Chile.  Actually most any manager-type gets this type of room---even down to the mongrammed towels and fresh cut fruit on the tray.

Downtown Copiapo

A small shopping area sits to the east of the center of Copiapo.  Many of the trees appear to have been planted about the same time as the church on the west side of the town center (1851).

Silver Beauty

I noticed a fairly unique statue erected near the hotel and walked by this morning to take a look.

Apparently the folks in China were just as thrilled as the rest of the world with the rescue of the Chilean miners a few years ago and dedicated the statue to the effort.

Guarding the Hotel Chagall

Upon arriving at the hotel, I noticed the first shift guard dog on duty.

When leaving a short while later the second shift guard had started.

http://www.chagall.cl/