Fun with new camera

Hi Everyone!

I finally took the plunge and bought a new camera. I've been wanting one forever so I finally just did it. This is to replace my aging Olympus DSLR. The new camera is a Nikon 7100 DSLR and it does video as well, which is sort of a new feature for DSLRs.

I wasn't really all that interested in the video capabilities, but it actually does pretty well for video so I might use it more often.

Here's a goofy little montage I put together last night. It's pretty rough so don't judge me too harshly.



Evening fun with Claire from Jane on Vimeo.


It's Friday and I'm looking forward to the weekend!

Love,
Jane

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone!

I have been very lax about posting during the holidays.  I got so caught up in a frenzy of knitting gifts for everyone I just didn't have the time or energy to update the blog.

I did manage to get 4 hand-knits completed for the holidays, but it sure took some effort and dedication.  I basically had to set all other projects aside and focus solely on knitting.  I would knit in the evening, on lunch break at work, and throughout much of the weekends.  (And knitting and knitting and knitting!)  I did a basic striped hat for Grandpa Darrel, a pair of slippers for Grandma Darlene (I actually started these in 2012 for Christmas that year), mittens for Tami to match her scarf from last year, and finger-less mitts for Lisa.  I felt a lot of accomplishment and pride in my work when I got all this done. It's actually a lot of fun to knit gifts for Christmas.  I  had such momentum going with knitting that I've actually started this years gifts, but what they are will remain a secret until December!

Tami's cabled mittens and Lisa's fingerless mitts.

For Thanksgiving we went up to Washington to see Mom and Dad. It was a great time with lots of great food.  Mom and Dad had just gotten a new black lab puppy that they named Arrow.  We debated all weekend what would be the best name for this new little guy and it was actually Marsha's idea based on Oblio's dog in the movie The Point.  What a fantastic choice and just perfect for this little guy.  Dad better teach him how to play triangle toss!

Self portrait using remote and Dad's tripod.

Puppy kisses from Arrow.  (He was actually "No Name" dog when this snap was taken.)

Claire gets her first Thanksgiving Turkey.

Sitting with Grandpa.

In December we got some sub-zero temps and lots of snow.  I think -20F was the lowest I saw at our house.   It was so cold we stayed inside most of the time.  I did a few runs on the cold days and it was so hard on my sinuses and face that I had to take some time off.

Sunset on a -15F day.

About 6" of snow in the back yard.

Family portrait in the snow.

So what's going on now in January?  Well, Russell started a new job at the same place I work.  He's working night shift while I work days.  This is our second week doing this and it's going okay.  We still have a few scheduling issues to work out.  He's not getting a ton of sleep and neither am I, so we spent last weekend catching up on that.  I'm hopeful we can get in a routine.

I signed up for a 10 mile trail race in April.  I've been getting mileage in after work before I head home.  I skip my lunch break to have the time for this.  Ha!  That also means I haven't been knitting at work.

I also have started on a new sewing project to make a coat for Russell.  It's the Albion Coat from Colette patterns.  They are hosting a contest and the grand prize is a fantastic sewing machine.  I would love to win that so I've been working hard the past week or so getting materials and things going for this project.  I love Colette patterns and this is a great challenge for me.  In the coming weeks I'll post some things about how the project is going.

Claire is getting bigger and stronger everyday.  She'll be 10 months next week and she is so close to walking.  I'm pretty certain she'll be walking before a year.  My heart just swells with pride whenever I see her.  Children are so very special.

And that's pretty much the past few months in a nutshell.  I'm going to endeavour to get back in the habit of posting regularly.  I have much to say and I compose a lot of posts in my head that then never make it to the blog.  I need to make my thoughts  a reality.

What's going with you?  Let me know in the comments.  Thanks for reading!

Love, Jane

Bullets and Baby Jail

We did a bit more shopping for Claire this weekend.  We've been in need of a play-pen for a few weeks now.  Claire is getting more and more mobile and is also getting faster and faster on the floor.  She can crawl pretty efficiently now and before we know it, if we look away even for just a moment, she's getting in to something she shouldn't.  Shoes and electronics are her current favorites. In a matter of seconds she'll crawl her way over to the stereo and TV and immediately start putting cords in her mouth.  

So we went to Target and WalMart and in addition to the play pen we got a Baby Bullet.

There was a bit of confusion on our part regarding the Baby Bullet.  We actually thought it would be small enough to make single servings in the little containers.  It turns out it's not.  It's almost exactly the same size as the Magic Bullet we already have.  It's about 2 mm smaller in diameter making the parts not interchangeable.  I kind of feel like we got a bit ripped off here.  The major difference is in the blade.  It sticks out a bit farther on the Baby Bullet enabling it to puree more completely.  Once we realized it's actually just a repainted Magic Bullet we considered returning it.  In the end we decided to keep it.  I  did put it to good use this weekend and made several purees for Claire.

Mmmm.  ground pork!

Mom and Dad grew the most delicious looking winter squash this year so I baked it and pureed it for Claire.  I also made some spinach, sweet potato and pork.  I really like the idea of just grinding up what we are already eating to feed Claire.  She seems to like it better too.

Butternut and delicata courtesy of the Walner garden.

Baby bullet in action.  The faces are really rather cute.

In other food related news, my coworker picked a bunch of fresh chantrell mushrooms the other day.  I cleaned and dried them and then Russell and I put them in with some New York steaks that we got last weekend at a really good buy.  It was a feast fit for kings.  Absolutely delicious!

Fresh picked Oregon Chantrelles

Claire got to test out her new play-pen, which we jokingly call "Baby Jail."  She seems to like it.  She doesn't fuss too much while inside.  It's going to be perfect for travelling as well since it folds up nicely and has casters for rolling it around.  

Look how well Claire is sitting up now.  I just can't believe how quickly she's developing!

Doing time.

Looking at Daddy.

Sitting up!  Amazing!

We we lucky enough to have some absolutely fabulous sunny and warm weather this weekend so we put the play-pen outside to enjoy some fresh air.  It was so nice.  Too bad I know it's not going to last.

I hope everyone had an equally fantastic weekend.

Jane

Apple Eater

Ok, I'll admit it.  This photo below is completely staged.  Russell was eating an apple and Claire was very interested in it.  I had him put it up to her mouth where she immediately opened her mouth to take a bite.  It looked so cute I just had to capture this shot.

She's a long way from eating whole apples!

Apple eater

Fred Meyer was having a huge anniversary sale a few weeks ago so we took advantage of the fabulous prices and bought a few more sleepers for Claire.  The weather has turned colder, especially in the mornings, and even though Claire is a most committed nudist, a girl has to wear clothes sometimes!

Gotta wear clothes sometimes!

The shot below I took Thursday morning from our driveway.  I love sunrises and sunsets.  Our house has the most spectacular views of both.  I honestly believe Central Oregon has most beautiful sunrises and sunsets of anywhere I've ever lived.  Just amazing.

In case anyone is wondering, I'm almost done with the cardigan I've been feverishly working away on since before Claire was born.  The knitting and seaming is done, ends are woven in, and all that remains is hand sewing the petersham stabilizer and buttons.  I'm kind of scared of the buttonholes to be honest. I'm finally so happy with this sweater I just don't want to ruin it!

Excuse the blurry bathroom selfie.  I'm so happy it fits!

I hope everyone is well!

Love, Jane

What I like to eat!

Now that Claire is starting to have more trunk stability and sitting up straighter, her doctor recommended starting solid foods.  We've been sort of attempting this for weeks now, but Claire seems to be a picky eater.  She's not really fond of the jarred baby foods and she doesn't really like the rice cereal.  Russell made her some pureed peaches and she wasn't really in to that either.  

*Sigh.*

The bulk of her diet at this point is still breast milk that I pump while at work and formula to supplement.  

We have had some success with a lot of the food we eat for dinner.  We set her on the table in her Bumbo seat and then feed her very small portions of whatever we're having for dinner.  She really likes cheese, pancakes, and pizza.  

Here's Claire in her Bumbo seat with a small smile while I try and feed her some solid food.

Also (because I know you are thinking it!) it's true, Claire is naked 80 percent of the time.  It just turns out to be a lot easier due to (1) blowouts and (2) up until recently it's been rather warm.  Russell doesn't like to hassle with all the outfits and I'm ok with that.

 In other news, I'm still soldiering on with my knitted cable cardigan that I've been working on since March.  I'm finally almost done with all the knitting and moving on to seaming the sides and under the sleeves.  This project has been a beast and my emotions have run the gamut while I've been knitting it.  So far, I'm very pleased with how it's turning out, but at times I get depressed thinking it'll never be done or if I do finally finish it, it won't fit well and I won't wear it.

Progress so far!

Hope everyone is doing well!

Love,
Jane