January!

I guess you could say I've been on a long break from my blog.   I'm still waiting for life to settle back into a post-holiday season, no construction, normal temperatures mode of daily life.   Did that sentence make sense?   It's early here and I haven't had much coffee.   Anyway....where was I?   

Erik was home for the entire two weeks and the entire time, the temperatures were really cold!   Well, cold for us anyway.   Frost overnight, temperatures in the low 50's during the day.   For us, that's below normal.   I have a chicken who wasn't doing so well and was staying in the house overnight in a dog crate.   The donkeys had frost on their backs in the morning and their water was iced over a few nights.   Yes, we survived.   And we can laugh about our "winter" weather compared to others around the world.   It's just an inconvenience of sorts.   *insert laughing out loud*

I haven't been taking many photos but have instead sorted through my Lightroom files and deleted approximately 2500.   Yes I did!   And I'm organizing them by keyword so I can go back through and make more deletions.   I started the process because a friend suggested I put some photos on a site called Pixoto.   After a couple of weeks I am already over it because it's not really working as it's intended.   As with so many, people come onto the site and turn it into something silly for themselves, people get frustrated and leave in droves.   I'd really like to find an online photo sharing site that makes sense to me, but I haven't so far.   

With the photos, I am also having fun going through many many new presets in Lightroom.   I purchased a package of presets and videos that was offered in October, as well as a new small set from Trey Ratcliffe.   It's terrific to go back through my photos and try different looks.   I ordered a canvas of one of my photos and I'm going to purchase a few more once I settle on the chosen few.   

The kitchen?   Well, the backsplash tile and floor tiles were installed over the past few days.   They are in the process of hanging the hood and finishing other details like baseboards, etc.   Almost finished!   For real!

So you see, nothing too exciting to write about here.   The weather has warmed up this week and I hope to be outside more, enjoying the sunshine and focusing back on normal.   

This is one of the photos I've been playing with.   I don't have anything new to share so this oak in a field of Lupines will fill the space.   

Wishing you the best in this new year.   Thanks for stopping by.