Change Is Hard

…but change is certain.

Tag Archives: fun stuff


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WordPress Photo Challenge: Muse

This week’s photo challenge is to show something you photograph regularly, something that inspires you to take more photos.  To show us muse.

Pretty clouds...and a sheltie.

Pretty clouds…and a sheltie.

For me it’s often the sky.  Prior to retirement I had a window at work on the top floor and regularly posted ‘window weather’ photos taken on my phone of the clouds, rain, and sun streaming by.

Now that I’m not working I have to go a bit further to find that wide open sky.  But it’s still one of my favorite things to photograph; it changes frequently, it can be beautiful or dramatic; sometimes both.  I’m always watching the sky, early morning, midday, and late into the evening.  You never know what you’ll see.

Oh.  Yes there’s also the sheltie-girl Katie in this shot, another muse.  I have a few thousand photos of her in her many different moods.  Today, as you can see, she’s a very happy girl.  Because she loves to run, and because she knows I have treats.

You can see other interpretations of ‘muse’ at the original post.  Or if you like, check out a few of my favorites, here, here and here.

And don’t miss this one.

 

What’s your photographic muse?  You have time to show us, just post a photo on your blog and link to the original post.  I can’t wait to see!

Katie-girl.

Katie-girl.

 

 


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WordPress Photo Challenge: ROY G. BIV

Do you know what Roy G Biv is?  I didn’t.   It stands for red, orange,yellow,green, blue, indigo, and violet, the colors of the rainbow.  Yesterday I went over to my local nursery to find examples of those colors.  You can see other interpretations at the original post, or see a few of my favorite shots here, here and here.   And don’t miss this one, it’s wonderful!

 


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My turn

Katie here.

I’ve been bugging and bugging mama.  Every single day I ask her if I can tell all of you about my adventure visiting my friends Ricky and his sister Callie, but mama said I had to wait my turn.  Obviously she has forgotten that I am a princess.  Though I don’t know how cause I remind her daily.

Anyway, mama and I were taking Callie my teeter and some weave poles cause Callie is an awesome agility dog and I don’t really like to play on the teeter, so we took daddy’s truck.  That meant mama couldn’t put me in my crate in the back of the car.  So guess what?  I got to sit up front with her!

This is my daddy's truck!

This is my daddy’s truck!

My boyfriend Reilly sent my mama a seat belt and she got me a harness and I was her copilot!  I’m not so good at reading maps, so she used Garmin to find our way, but it was awesome being up front.  Mama says, though, that when we’re in the car I’m still going to be in the back seat cause it’s safer back there.  Whatever mama.

I was a good girl and didn’t bother my mama at all except when I wanted to get out and do my business.  Then I just stood up and stared at her.  She’s pretty good at reading my mind so we’d stop at the next rest stop and I’d get to sniff around a bit before we moved on our way.

Resting at a rest stop.

Resting at a rest stop.

After a long time (OK, 5 hours) we got to Ricky and Callie’s house!  Ricky and I are old friends so we weren’t that excited to see each other, but Callie was very excited to see me!  I guess she’s never seen a real life princess before.

Beautiful Callie

Beautiful Callie

I tried to be very regal, but it was totally hot that day.  Mostly I sniffed around the yard and hung out in the shade with my mom and Ricky and Callie’s mom.  I wasn’t interested in playing on the teeter or running weaves but it was fun to watch them do that!

Tandem teeter!

Tandem teeter!

And guess what else?  I figured I’d have to come clean and show my mama that I can do stairs after all.  Outside I had no problem going up and down the deck stairs, but inside I would only go down the stairs, and only if my mama was going down.  Then I’d race down so as not to be left behind, which startled mama the first time.

Handsome Ricky!

Handsome Ricky!

The next day we went for a walk in the park.  It was still so HOT that I was pretty slow, always lagging behind. My mama decided we better not go too far so we cut the walk short.  We’ve decided we will visit again sometime when the weather is cooler!

Going to the park!

Going to the park!

I had a really good time.  I think if I was around other shelties every day I’d learn to play with them.  Poor Callie really wanted me to play but I just wanted to sit near my mama.  She even offered me one of her favorite toys and I wasn’t interested.   Ricky says he understands and we just hung out together.

 

Me and Ricky near the pool.

Me and Ricky near the pool.

Mama and I left that afternoon, heading home to daddy.  It was a long drive home because weather wasn’t very good and we stopped a lot along the way.  I pretty much rested my eyes the whole way, no sleeping, but a lot of head nodding.  Toward the end I put my head down and with a big sigh fell asleep.  My mama laughed at me, but I think a princess is allowed a little nap, don’t you?

I really want to thank Ricky and Callie and their mom and dad for letting me and my mama visit them!  We had a lot of fun and we’re looking forward to another visit sometime!

Posing for the camera.

Posing for the camera.

 


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Retirement Reflections

Reflections

Reflections

It’s Monday morning, sometime before 7:00 a.m., and I’m up and out the door.  Only as I’m backing down the driveway do I remember all the past Monday mornings when I’ve headed out about this same time on my way to work.

Early morning.

Early morning.

But this morning I’m not going to work.

I’m headed out to a hillside I’ve noticed over the years.  Yesterday on our way to somewhere else I noticed the grass was a beautiful golden brown and I knew I had to get back with the camera soon before the farmer turned it all into hay.

As I park on the side of the road, pausing to let commuters zoom by, I begin to smile.  I smile because it’s a beautiful day, the sun just topping the trees, small puffy clouds in a blue sky, a cool breeze gently tossing the grass.

Field of grass.

Field of grass.

And I smile because I’m not on my way to work.

Driving leisurely back toward home after capturing the field I stop at a local park to enjoy the glassy pond.

Swimming hole.

Swimming hole.

Sigh.

I’ve got to say that even weeding is looking pretty good to me right now.

Summer arrives

Summer arrives

 


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Epic, windy, wet adventure

Our beautiful campsite!

Our beautiful campsite!

Katie here.  Mama says I’m monopolizing her blog but what’s she got to talk about anyway now that she’s retired?  Right?  Of course I’m right.  I’m a princess.

So anyway, last January mama reserved a campsite for this weekend right on the shore of Lake Michigan! It’s about five hours from home and I have to say I was an excellent traveler.  I didn’t bark at her once the whole way up there!

But I’m getting ahead of myself.

First there was the planning and the packing and the loading of the car.  I was afraid she might forget to take me so I stuck really close to her.

Don't forget me mama!

Don’t forget me mama!

She didn’t forget me but she did forget my bed!  GEEZE mama!  She must be getting old.  That’s OK…I figured I’d just sleep on hers.

This is for me - - right?

This is for me – – right?

Our campsite was really beautiful, right on the shore.  Friday afternoon mama took me for a walk along the sand by the waves.  I did not like it.  Not one bit.

Not getting any closer than this mama!

Not getting any closer than this mama!

The only water I want anything to do with is the water in my bowl and it doesn’t make scarey noises like those waves did!

Since all mama’s romantic notions of walking me on the beach were dashed we went into town.  This was more like it!  I went up and down the steps of the marina no problem.  (Mama is beginning to realize I’m scamming her about not doing steps at home.)

Buy me one of these mama!

Buy me one of these mama!

I even went out on the floating docks at the marina, and the boats were rocking and squeaking and the docks were moving and I was OK with it.  Mostly.

I guess I’m more of a city kid than a beach bum.  But I did like my tent!  Every night my mama made a campfire and settled in to read her book next to it and every night I went over and pawed at the tent door.  Cause I wanted to go to bed already.  Mama just sighed and we went to bed.

Mama made me a bed out of her pillows.

Mama made me a bed out of her pillows.

Because a princess always gets what she wants.  Don’t you know.  And every morning I got my mama up around 5:00, because even though we were on vacation I didn’t shirk my responsibilities.

Time to get up mama!

Time to get up mama!

Do you know that people in campgrounds don’t get up that early?  That was cool, we had the whole place to ourselves.  We tiptoed down the road and I did my jobs and then we tiptoed back and went back to bed.  It worked out great

We had two evenings of beautiful sunsets.  Mama made me go back out on the beach to see those.  It was OK, I was sort of getting used to the waves.

Friday night

Friday night

And in the end whatever makes mama happy makes me happy.

We were supposed to be there three nights, but there were thunderstorms coming.  The clouds were low and heavy on Sunday morning.  Mama began to worry.

Mama used the 'dramatic' button on the camera to show you the clouds.

Mama used the ‘dramatic’ button on the camera to show you the clouds better.

She talked to dad on the phone and decided we’d leave early.  Of course we had to go into town to use the phone and by the time we got back it was raining.  Mama packed up the car as fast as she could.

Hurry up mama!

Hurry up mama!

Everything was soggy.  Even me!

Can't we stay mama?

Can’t we stay mama?

We were sad to leave a day early, but we are very happy that we got to go at all!

On the way home we stopped at a little park and I got to walk on a bridge over the Au Sable River.

Still raining.

Still raining.

Mama says she used to canoe on this river when she was a little girl.  It made her smile.  And I found her a beautiful flower along the river too!  Cause I love my mama.

Along the river.

Along the river.

We had a wonderful time, but I’m glad to be home.  I missed my dad a lot.  Plus it was cold, and I don’t like cold so much.  And then there were those waves.  And the sand.  And the mud.  I got wet.  I wasn’t that thrilled about the campfire either.  Hmmmm…..maybe camping in the back yard isn’t all that bad!

Anyway…I guess that’s all for now from your friend Katie – camper extraordinaire.

Kind of.

Don't like sand in my fur mama!

Don’t like sand in my fur mama!

 

 

 


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Retirement practice day

Suddenly the number of days in my countdown to retirement is one; tomorrow is my last day of work.  It has been forever and just an instant all at the same time.

People ask me how I feel about retiring.  Isn’t it exciting?  What will I do with all that time?  I understand.  They’ve all been dreaming, just like me, maybe just like you, about that day when they too will walk away.  Maybe they’ve imagined the moment for years and yet it seems unimaginable.  Far away.  Unattainable.  I know how that feels, and I have to say I don’t really know how to respond.  It hasn’t sunk in yet.  Perhaps it will next Monday morning, but if today is any indication, probably not.

You see, I have today off.  I know, it’s weird, but I do.

So last night I could have stayed up as late as I wanted to but I fell asleep shortly after 8.  I could have slept the dreamless sleep of a newborn, but I tossed and turned and got up with Katie at 2 a.m. unable to sleep.  I worked on the blog, trying to fix the Goodreads widget that broke several months ago.  I spent an hour, long after Katie had gone back to bed, tinkering and only managed to get it back on the blog sort of twice with a bunch of HTML showing.  It looks like it’s in the admin sidebar twice and I can’t figure out how to delete the wrong one.  I hate this stuff.  I went back to bed at 3 a.m. defeated.

Which would mean Katie and I slept in.  Right?  Of course not right.  She was up at 5:30 exactly like any other day.  So we got up.  I did some dishes, put away some stuff from last night, read some blogs, took a shower.  Watched the news.  Noticed it was only 6:30 a.m.  Hmmm.  Puttered around a bit more then went up to the mall to walk.  I figured I could walk awhile, then look for some shorts that I can fit into when the stores open.  Buying new shorts sounds oh so much more sensible than losing the weight in order to fit into last years shorts.

I got to the mall at 8, thinking that it opened for shopping at 9 and I’d walk for an hour, find some shorts, then go to the post office to buy stamps as I knew that didn’t open until 10, and then on to the library to return a book, because the library doesn’t open till 10 either.  And guess what?  The mall stores don’t open at 9.  They open at 10 too!  What is with this retirement world?  Every work day for years and years I was at my desk between 7:30 and 8 working on the next big problem.  But the rest of the world dilly dallies around until 10?

Huh.  I’m going to have to get a new sheltie alarm, one that doesn’t go off till 8 or 9 in the morning!

I walked for awhile, around and around the mall, then got bored and went out to the car to sit and read.  By the time I went back inside the mall, shortly after 10 I was no longer motivated to find anything, so of course I didn’t.  Mostly I was tired and hot.

I gave up, went home to the local post office which turns out opens at 9.  Great.  This retired lady needs to get her facts straight.  Then on to the library which was quiet without kids, so different than being there on Saturday morning.  Lovely.  And now home to consider what to make for dinner.  And it’s barely noon.

On the whole what I’ve learned after one half day of practicing being retired is that everything is more relaxed when you don’t have to fit it into the two (or less) precious days you have free each week.  I feel less worried about wasting time, more prepared to sit and do nothing.  Sure there are huge gardens overrun with thistle, and laundry piling up, a kitchen that could use a bit of elbow grease, a dog that apparently needs entertaining, plans to make for travel, closets to sort, basement and garage to organize.

But I have time.

And that, essentially, is what I’m going to do with myself after tomorrow.  I’m going to enjoy having time.  I’ll try not to make those of you still working too jealous.

But I can’t promise.  Cause it’s going to be good!

Wanna play Mama?

Wanna play Mama?