It was warm and sunny this whole weekend in DC, and my family took full advantage of it. Sailor Boy threw himself into yard work, doing several hours of it on Saturday and Sunday. I did… decidedly fewer hours. I clipped the hedges, raked up the bare patches to prepare them for re-seeding (we have a very, very shady lawn, and grass is sometimes a pipe dream), and tended to my garden.
The garden is going reasonably well. The radishes have sprouted (yay) and the tomato seedlings haven’t died yet. I’ve yet to see any sign of the herbs I planted or the marigolds, but… baby steps. (Also, Rio steps, as she trampled the garden the other day. Darn dog.)
I really need a new camera so I can properly document this.
Sailor Boy mowed the lawn, edged, removed stumps, trimmed all the hedges, and did some landscape design. Rio followed us around like — well, like a puppy, and looked baffled by all the changes we were making to her lawn. If we threw a stick into the compost pile, she helpfully dragged it out and began composting it herself. If we clipped the hedges, she made sure the pile of clippings were as evenly distributed across the lawn as possible.
Oh, and she discovered the hose. That was fun.
Like I said, I really need a new camera so as to document some of these discoveries.
We also started a compost pile. Then, exhausted and warm, we left for a sushi dinner and a jaunt to the American FIlm Institute’s Silver Theater to see THE STING. I love THE STING. What a great flick.
On Sunday, I was all set to have a lazy day, and then Sailor Boy climbed out the window onto the roof to clean out gutters. Which is when I discovered we pretty much already had a compost pile and didn’t even know it.
Sunday afternoon, we hied ourselves over to some friends’ and had a barbecue. Real hamburgers, baked potatoes, grilled zucchini and strawberries. Yum!
It was super hot by last night, and even Rio was feeling the heat. Since she spent the first eight weeks of her life in an air-conditioned kennel, and probably barely remembers August, she’s never really experienced heat like this. I didn’t know she could drink so much water. BUt she has been sitting on the vents of the air conditioner (which isn’t actually on right now), most likely becuase she remembers sitting on them as a puppy and how pleasant that was. Also, when I went down into the basement to retrieve our upright fan last night, she plopped herself down ont e basement floor and demurred moving. I almost left her there. It’s about 65 degrees down there and I’m sure much more pleasant for my furry little monster.
It’s supposed to get up to 90 today. I hate to turn on the AC in April, though.
I’ve got a busy week ahead of me. A short story due, some work on my website, a big mailing, and an exciting new announcement, all to come.
By the way, if you have any camera suggestions — inexpensive, does movies as well as pictures, compact preferred to full body or SLR — leave ‘em here in comments.
April 27th, 2009 at 7:47 am
Everything I learned about cameras, I learned here.
http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/recommended-cameras.htm
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April 27th, 2009 at 8:16 am
It was 60 last night on the shore, It was a huge shock to get out of the car to 80 degree weather at midnight in VA
We ended up getting last years model of this camera and there are no bad pictures. The video is also great.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001OMI29Y/sr=1-14/qid=1240837942/ref=noref?ie=UTF8&s=photo&qid=1240837942&sr=1-14
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April 27th, 2009 at 9:44 am
Patrick, that website is awesome.
I also have high praise for the Nikon D40. I’ve tested it and everything, I just don’t have the money for it at the moment. But yeah, if you want a good SLR, I think that’s a great choice.
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April 27th, 2009 at 10:01 am
Canon Powershot. I’m on my second. My son took another all over Europe for 4 months and then recently to Japan. (Yes, ERF has a brother.) They fit into pockets. They take great pix. They last well.
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April 27th, 2009 at 10:16 am
I second the Nikon D40! I have the D40x and it’s compact, yet a great DSLR that takes AMAZING pics.
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April 27th, 2009 at 10:19 am
I 2nd or 3rd the Connon Powershot suggestion. I have the SD880 that is recommended on the site Partick linked. It is a great camera. Small enough for your pocket, with a huge LCD screen.
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April 27th, 2009 at 10:29 am
My last camera before this stupid Fujiefilm Finepix F30 that broke was an early gen Canon POwershot, A-series — the one with the 3.2 pixels. I really loved it. Took it all over Australia. Floods, cliffs, rough use — nothing broke that sucker.
There are A LOT of different types of powershots, though, and I don’t know which one to get.
The nice thing about the Fujifilm one (the only nice thing, pretty much) was that it was plug in rechargeable and hardly ever ran out of batteries. Also had great sport shot mode (Rio’s a fast little bugger).
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April 27th, 2009 at 11:26 am
Yeah, I have the D40x with the 18-200mm zoom lens. Freeakin’ AWESOME. I want to upgrade to the D90 though. I really like the Nikon DSLRs.
I don’t know much about point and shoots. Mine is annoyingly slow. I might get a new one. There are times when carrying the DSLR is inconvenient. I’d probably go with the SD880 since that’s what Ken recommends. Yes, that’s an awesome site.
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April 27th, 2009 at 11:57 am
FWIW, my Canon is the SD880 IS.
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April 27th, 2009 at 12:00 pm
Oops, I mean the 800. (Can’t see anymore, apparently.) This makes sense because it’s at least couple of years old.
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April 27th, 2009 at 12:42 pm
By the way, Diana, have you seen this?
http://www.quillandquire.com/google/article.cfm?article_id=10639
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April 27th, 2009 at 3:03 pm
I have to agree with anyone who recommends a Canon Powershot. It’s definitely the best compact in the market, and in my opinion, more than capable of performing at SLR standard in the right hands. Awesome colors and picture quality. Plus, it’s easy to use, and has really good features for child/pet photography/video making (you need a fast shutter for those constant movements)!
Good luck picking a camera!
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April 27th, 2009 at 3:06 pm
Mya, which Powershot? They get the huge range of reviews….
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