July 03, 2008

Americana

I love a parade and I’ll miss this year’s family gathering in Corona for the Main Street Parade. However, I hear the weather is pretty hot there, so I’ll just look at my pictures and enjoy my cool mountain air.

We took the June birthday kids, Laura and Steve, out for dinner to the Blue Canyon in Missoula. We enjoyed a good dinner and relaxing conversation. Laura and I were anxious to dress up in our new clothes.

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We have spent more time shopping together this summer than any other time in our lives! Today was another spree to CJ Banks. I had a 30% off coupon so how could I resist. But now I’m done. I think I’ve spent my years clothing allowance but feel I’ve got a very nice summer wardrobe. And since we live in summer temps all year…it is well worth it J

Today is Zachary’s birthday so we send him 17 good birthday wishes and hope he has had a wonderful day!

July 02, 2008

The Carousel

I took another video especially for Evan but thought I’d post it here, too, because I’m trying these different ways to show good video clips. This one is made with Windows Movie Maker and then uploaded to YouTube. Let’s see how it works. (NOTE: After watching this one I think there is too much motion...that's why it is pretty blurry. I was panning while the carousel was moving!)

One thing that cracked us up is that everyone on the Carousel has to wear a seat belt!! Give me a break!! There is even a sign posted " Buckle up For Safety!" In Montana there's a movement to require booster seats for kids until they are 4'9"!! Jeez, I know some adults who are not much taller than this :) Anyway, This is taken at Caras Park on the Clark Fork River. It’s a nice, relaxing park with a covered pavillion where local events are held….festivals, fairs and food events.

We got home from the park just before the first big raindrops fell. The temperature dropped and it rained, off and on, all evening. So that was a nice change of pace. Today it’s partly clouder and in the mid 80’s, very pleasant.

Today’s Cleaning Tip: Wow! I found a way to clean the pleated day / night shades! Ours are getting a little spotted so first I vacuumed, then thought I’d try good old FOLEX! Spray a little, wait a few seconds and sponge with a microfiber cloth. I wound up cleaning one whole shade this way. IF YOU TRY IT…try a small spot first. See if it works for you.

July 01, 2008

On the Clark Fork River

Today we went down to the old part of Missoula along the Clark Fork River to see the carousel. I made a video there for Evan and then we strolled along the walkway. We spotted a kayaker getting ready to run a small rapid and I managed to catch a little video of him. Click the play button, turn up the sound and wait a few secs for it to load.

This video is different than YouTube. It's called MyDeo and I think you have to pay after a month. SO..this video may disappear if I decide not to pay :) But wow....I think the quality is great. I made this video with Windows Movie Maker...quick and easy. So I'm still learning and you get to particpate! Whatcha think?

June 29, 2008

Movies, Food and TV

I used to hate Saturday because it always meant cleaning. Wasn't it the only day available for that chore when you worked 10 hour days? Now the joy of Saturday is that you might not even know what day it is :) So yesterday, after the long morning coffee hour, I sat outside with a good book and read until time for dinner. I'm into reading a huge John Jakes book, Homeland. It's about the Crown family of Chicago. I've read another in the series and really enjoy the character development and detail of Jake's stories. I picked this book up off the swap shelf here in the laundry. It's a paperback about 3 inches thick and it's very hard to hold open. I have to keep cracking the spine!

Last night's dinner was grilled veggies and teriyaki chicken. Lots of veggies...onion, peppers, mushrooms, zuchini, broccoli all marinated in an oil/balsalmic vinegar dressing then grilled outside for 15-20 minutes. Really very good. Dessert was a bowl of mixed fresh fruits. Jim found a new Safeway store here that is huge, clean and lovely. He did a big shopping there while I was relaxing :) Lucky me!

We had a new movie to watch that Jim got from a birthday gift certificate (thanks Renee and Tom). I can highly recommend this one--The Crossing starring Jeff Daniels. It's about General Washington and the Continental Army crossing the Delaware to fight the Battle of Trenton. It is very well done and strangely, very moving. I got teary eyed when the Hessians (British mercenaries) surrendered to Washington. It was a turning point! If they'd lost the battle we would have been Canadian ;)

Laura hasn't been feeling well all week so she called and asked if we'd shop at Good Foods for them on our way down to visit. We had birthday cards that I'd made for her and Stevo. I love making cards for the family. Laura loves iris so I used Photoshop to "cut" an iris from a picture of her garden and then paste it into a lovely background and soften it a little. It's kinda artsy fartsy! Of course, I added text and verse :)

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For Steve I found a picture of him standing by the Kootenai Creek taken a few years ago. I gave it canvas painting effect and added some words of love. They enjoyed the cards and we hope to take them out for a birthday dinner later this week. I think Laura was feeling better when we left. Maybe she just needed a hug from her Mommy!

Tonight we were delighted to find that Masterpiece Theater on PBS is running the Inspector Lewis series. If you ever saw Inspector Morse you'll know that Lewis was his sergeant. The new series is pretty good, not quite as unique as Morse but maybe it will improve. Still, there's nothing like a good English mystery!

Today's Soothing Music: Sunday Morning Coffee, an old Chip Davis collection, "neo-classical", and just right for a lazy Sunday morning.

June 28, 2008

Another Photo Experiment

One of my favorite blogs is Geeks On Tour by Chris and Jim Guld. There is an amazing amount of "geeky" learning material on their site. Chris posted an entry with an embedded slide show and then a tutorial on how to put the show in a blog. So I followed along and here are the results. I did this in about 5 minutes. VERRRY simple!

This album of pix is from winter 2007-08 but it's a nice grouping of shots. Hope the family enjoys this. Lucky Evan gets to see himself on the Internet all the time!

Even though I use the Photoshop Suite a lot, I really like the Picasa photo manager. It picks up every picture and organizes them nicely. Both programs just look for pictures on the computer, wherever you designate, and then create thumbnails that you can organize in many ways and easily upload.

Today's favorite blog: Geeks on Tour
Today's good breakfast: Scrambled eggs, bacon, cantelope slices and strawberries
Today's music: Ricky Nelson Greatest Hits (Went to the Garden Party!)

Joan & Jim
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