We have foxes. I’ve seen foxes on and off since we moved here, so this is not exactly a surprise. The first time I saw a fox here it was wandering across the front lawn. I was on a conference call and was so shocked I had to stop and remark upon it. Since then, the foxes have been elusive to my camera, but definitely around.
The triplets? They were a surprise. Mamma fox camped out just beyond our fence, made a nice little den, and is currently raising 3 rambunctious kits. She’s beautiful, they’re adorable, and I’m constantly checking to see if they’re out now. (Special thanks to Violet for seeing them first and making me come see them!)
They started as little brown kits with black legs and feet. So utterly adorable. Winter is very, very into dogs lately, so they’re doggies to her, naturally… but sometimes these foxes are indeed rather dog-like. Mamma chomps on a stick at one point. Today there was a LOT of scratching. (Don’t tell, but someone might have fleas…) They play, they pounce, they misbehave. Mamma (bottom photo) looks like she wants the kits to just use up their energy already so she can rest too. I can relate to that. Go her for managing triplets.
Almost all these photos were taken from the window in my living room. They’re not the greatest, but I’m just so blown away by the adorableness that I have to share.
Ok, I’m oversharing. I’m taking dozens and dozens of photos of these adorable little ones and having a very hard time pruning the photo set to just the bet. They’re so expressive and active that I want to share every photo. (Trust me, I’m not… even if it seems that way.)
The full set of fox photos can be found here. You can see just how quickly they’ve grown and how their color has changed since we first spotted them on April 12th. Wow, just 2 weeks ago!
Now if only they’d keep the deer at bay…
As a post script:
Today, Winter watched me swap out lenses on my DSLR. She is now fascinated by the camera and lenses. Oops.
13,020 photos in 2013 and they weren’t all of cats and Winter again!
It wasn’t my most creative year. I did get about halfway through the year doing daily photos of things other than Winter. I got a nifty 50 (50mm prime) lens in January and I don’t think I took it off the DSLR more than three times during the year.
Of course, a lot of my photos came from my iPhone 4s last year. It’s always at hand and far more portable when also juggling a toddler. 2014 will see slightly improved iPhone photos since I’ve upgraded to a 5s. (I was hoping to get more than 2.25 years out of it, but the battery life was just shot on the old one.)
I should do one of these reviews for the cats too… Maybe I’ll let Monster Cat pick the photos. ;)
January: One of my tangled messes of Viking accessories.
February: A bright, winter sky.
March: A surprise, late-March snow.
April: Cherry blossoms at Sakura Sunday.
May: Columbine in my garden.
June: Strawberries from my garden.
July: Roots at Cooper’s Lake Campground.
August: Grape vines on the ruins.
September: Tasty hot cocoa.
October: Autumn in Maine.
November: My car apparently found some mud without me.
December: A happy, indoor tree watches the snow on the outdoor tree.
1. IMG_2436, 2. IMG_2735, 3. IMG_9471, 4. IMG_4270, 5. IMG_5132, 6. IMG_1673, 7. IMG_3683, 8. IMG_5315, 9. IMG_5476, 10. IMG_5440, 11. IMG_6494, 12. IMG_5821
Once again, I think I will decline to get a count of just how many photos I took of Miss Winter this year. It’s just better for all of us. Trust me. There were a lot of photos though.
It thought there were vast changes during 2012. The changes in 2013 were even huger. Huger.
She’s never been quiet, but she’s gone from baby-talking to serious intent to converse (or order you around) with actual words this year. This child has a full and complete personality. She’s hilarious. She’s dramatic. She’s an utter goofball.
Her grins are awesome.
Her laugh is infectious.
Her bedhead is epic.
She’s also very good at being 2. She’s stubborn. She has selective hearing. Her moods are mercurial. Her default answer is “no,” even if it’s followed up by “mine” to indicate that she does indeed want whatever you’re offering. She grumpily finished getting in all her teeth this year too… so at least we’re done with teething.
And all of this is utterly delightful.
January: At the piano being loud.
February: She’s a big fan of the pretzels from the Amish market.
March: She’s incredibly expressive and you MUST listen to her stories.
April: We finally made it to Sakura Sunday. She had Japanese sweets while chilling in the stroller.
May: Playing in the rain is the best.
June: Her frog boots were such a favorite I’ve ordered the next size for this year.
July: At Pennsic, playing with rocks and charming strangers with her cuteness.
August: Serious fun with an umbrella!
September: Feeding the goats at the Linvilla petting zoo.
October: She is very serious about romancing that lollipop.
November: She’s already stealing my accessories – totally my hat and scarf.
December: Watching the deer in the side yard.
1. IMG_1832, 2. IMG_3025, 3. IMG_3461, 4. IMG_4311, 5. IMG_1264, 6. IMG_2967, 7. IMG_3572, 8. IMG_4155, 9. IMG_5050, 10. IMG_5558, 11. IMG_5738, 12. IMG_5911
Monster Cat: Subtle
Categories: Cats, comics, Monster Cat, PhotographyAh… the follies of photography, productivity, and other such ramblings.
Categories: Photography, Random, Weather, WorkI just unloaded my camera’s storage card for the first time in over a month. I didn’t take the big camera on vacation because I barely used it last year and anticipated not wanting to haul it around this year either. There’s a big gap in the photos: none were taken between 7/16 and 8/20. My camera got more than a month off. Terrifying.
Yes, I did still take plenty of photos on my iPhone, but this does signify the demise of my photography focus, at least for the summer. Alas and all that, but I’m not going to beat myself up over it.
Productivity has been weird since I got back from Pennsic. I’m super productive in the morning but my afternoons seem to languish and run on forever. I’m unimpressed. I suspect the major problem this week is a maelstrom of allergies and weather changes. I do wonder how much of it is that Pennsic was so much earlier this year that my internal clock, which has been doing Pennsic later 19 other years, is completely confused. At any rate, I’m taking a different approach (and zyrtec) this week and things seem to be a little better.
What certainly didn’t help was BEAUTIFUL weather when we got back. It was gorgeous. Cool. Autumnal. The heat is back this week though and it’s summer again. I was lulled into thinking we might really get a Fall, like we kind of got a Spring, this year. I was tricked into thinking it was here. I feel betrayed, once again, by the weather. You’d think I’d learn, but no… I fall for its little tricks every time. False Fall, you bastard.
Despite all this, I have high hopes for snow this winter. I’m a doomed optimist.
Finally, it is with sadness that I start to look in earnest for a replacement for Flickr. I’ll enumerate the issues in more detail separately, but it boils down to the changes to the layouts, the changes to paid plans, and, finally and fatally, issues with upload tools slowing the process. My account expires in late December.
I really like the community aspect of Flickr, even if it has gotten a bitter edge of late (due to the above-mentioned changes). But, while trendy and pretty, the new design removed several key previously-at-a-glance data points. However, I also have over 3,400 photos up there, so should any one of the problems improve, I’ll probably try to soldier on…
I’ve been a member since August 2006, not that this means anything to Yahoo. Le sigh.
Please let me know if you have a photo site you like or even love! I could easily run Gallery, but I like the social aspect of Flickr.
After a long stream of socks, I did a quick series of colors. I missed some days. I didn’t beat myself up about it. I’ll probably revisit colors again later, but for now, I’m moving on to something else.
I have been a little blocked on Monster Cat lately. Long time fans will realize my creativity is always inversely proportional to the frequency of sleeping cat photos. So the project for May is “Feline Mysteries.” The inner lives of the creatures with tails are always mysterious, right? I’ll be curious to see if I can get some good story lines out of this month’s project. I’m hoping that at least some of the daily shots will be sneak previews of comics.
Daily photos of Winter are still going strong, but they take little effort: she’s cute, she’s enthusiastically in front of the camera, and it’s difficult not to take photos of her regularly. Saturday will be a test, though, because I’ll be away most of the day and there’s a real possibility she won’t be awake while I’m around. Just in case you’ve not been keeping score, this hasn’t happened before. It will be interesting. It’s not that I’m planning to get home late… I’m just not counting on getting home early. We shall see… we shall see.
Many blossoms, much fun!
Categories: Philadelphia, Photography, spring, WeatherToday was Sakura Sunday, the Cherry Blossom Festival’s fun day in the park here in Philly. The weather was gorgeous, beautiful blue sky with nary a cloud, comfortable temperatures and some breeze. The timing of today’s event was perfect and trees were in full bloom or just barely past peak. And the light? The light was fabulous.
Winter had a great time people-watching, trying Japanese sweets (oh, the yum – red bean paste is good for her, right?) and just taking it all in, including the awesomeness of taiko drumming. Next year she might be old enough to try some of the children’s activities!
We actually got to Fairmount Park before they opened the event this morning. Amazing, right? It was worth it. There was a short line already queued up at 10:10 for the 10:30 opening, but when we left early afternoon? The line was 3-4 times as long. This also happens to be the most crowded Sakura Sunday I’ve been to.
It’s become more popular, hurray! And I enjoy seeing the cosplayers come out in high numbers now. The first year we went (2004 I think), there were about 4 cosplayers, 3 of whom were doing Sailor Moon. This year there was an adorable tea circle that happened in the middle of things with 20 or so well-appointed Lolitas. There were some really impressive costumes wandering around in general. There were some unfortunate ones as well, but the great ones outnumbered the cringe-worthy ones. But the cosplayers alone don’t account for the attendance growth.
I think it’s wonderful that the event is successful, don’t get me wrong… but wow… too many people. Too many stupid people. Too many people not paying attention. I’m getting quite good at driving through crowds as if the front wheel of the stroller is the prow of a boat cutting through rough water, but that doesn’t mean I enjoy it. The event was still wonderful and we still enjoyed it a lot. If it hadn’t been quite so crowded, we would likely have stayed until the end. Next time, perhaps we’ll get more organized and stake out a bit of grass as a home base away from the crowds.
So, my brain has been pondering this, because that’s what my brain does… it tries to solve problems. Here’s what I’d recommend to the organizers for next year:
– Move the vendors off the main drag, even if it’s 6 more feet from the sidewalks. The volume of people attending are likely to destroy the grass a bit anyway, I’m sorry, so own that and make it easier to keep them destroying it one place.
– Also, move the vendors farther away from the stages so that the stages are less crowded.
– Make the stages bigger. Both stages seemed smaller this year and the primary stage felt particularly cramped. Sure, it was spectacular with all the white cherry trees around it, but it wasn’t great for actually watching the performances.
– Redesign the food vending area a bit. The traffic flow was terrible – long lines at food vendors, people trying to get to the horticultural building (with all its amazing plants!), people cutting through to the porties, people trying to find tables or just get from point A to point B… it was a mess. I’m not sure what would really fix it, but there are people good at this who could come up with something.
– Build a viewing stage for the Japan House. The Japan House is the crown jewel. We all want to see it. Give us a platform outside the wall to take photos just for the day, please!
– There was a 10 minute wait for a portajohn midday… this isn’t terrible, especially since they were in fairly good condition (at least the one I ended up in – thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone for that), but more might be better. There might have been more… but I didn’t see signs for any facilities including the ones I found, so I just don’t know.
Oh look… Spring!
Categories: Family, Gardening, PhotographySpring is definitely here. The weeping cherry in the back yard has started to show some serious plumage. This tree is what finally made me make time to take photos of stuff other than a toddler, socks and cats. It’s rather worthy of some effort on my part, don’t you think? There are cheery photos of daffodils and such over on flickr should you be so inclined.
The weather this week has been insane – warm-but-comfortable then stupidly hot now actually lovely and chilly. It’s going to rain tonight and tomorrow, which is good for everything as we’re currently under a burning ban due to dry conditions. Of course, the rain is just going to make the weeds grow faster… I swear the shepherd’s purse grew 6 inches just from the tiny bit of rain we got last night. I did a little weeding today. And I thought I was making progress. Then I looked at the rest of the garden, uphill. Yeah, not so much with the feeling accomplished. There’s a huge pile of weeded shepherd’s purse at least, but I fear I’m not going to get it all out before it goes to seed. Hey, I’m vitamin D deficient anyway… might as well keep at it.
There will likely be more fabulous cherry blossom photos later – we’re planning to go to Sakura Sunday in Philly this weekend. How many photos will depend heavily on how much attention I can peel off from the toddler of doom. We’re planning to get there around when (or before) it starts (10:30 am) so if you’re going too, look for us!
Winter is her usual awesome self. Everything is hilarious. Everything is hers. Everything is a potential hat. (She appears to have moved out of her scarf phase for the moment, but I’m sure another accessory will rise to fill its place.) We’re done with sippy cups. They’re annoying to clean, prone to leak and all the fiddly pieces present too many points of failure. Instead, she’s moved on to a camelbak bottle. Well, her kid-sized camelbak bottle and my big sized bottle and Violet’s too for that matter. No straw is safe!
Sock photography project complete!
Categories: knitting, Photography
Let’s just start with …
HOLY CRAP I HAVE 69 PAIRS OF HAND KNIT SOCKS.
68 were knit by my mother, who is an extraordinary fiber artist.
1 was knit by me, and I am an extraordinary … something.
I’ve often wanted to do a bunch of photos of my socks because they are, as you can see, pretty awesome. I started this little project in February thinking, “Hey, it’s the shortest month, that’ll work out for what I have for socks.”
Uh. Huh.
So February rolled into March and I still had socks. I was also still sick, so I decided to just go to the end of my sock stash rather than think about what to do next.
My mom brought me today’s socks when she came to visit in mid-March and I was so excited by them that I immediately declared them my Grand Finale socks.
While she was here, she knit the Penultimate Socks. Somehow I managed to convince her that I needed them. I have no idea how I succeeded because we estimated at that time that I had 50 pairs of hand knit socks.
Shortly after she left, I came upon 3 more pairs in the bag I’d taken to Maine in October. Then I checked a suitcase I’d used to move my clothes to this house almost 2 years ago. I found 12 more pairs.
So yeah.
Sixty. Nine. Pairs. Of. Hand. Knit. Socks.
I’m a little spoiled. A lot spoiled. And really quite giddy about the whole thing. And, for 69 straight days, I wore unique hand knit socks. Okay, yesterday it was hot and I only wore them in the morning.
And today? I put them on just long enough to take the photo and then stripped them off again.
Today’s high was 88 degrees F, which is completely unacceptable for April, even in SE Pennsylvania. Thankfully, now the wind has picked up and all that thunder everyone else has been getting will hopefully arrive here. Ah, the rain is starting now!
You can browse the whole set of socks on Flickr!