Murphy trip

Scott and I have come out to Murphy, NC to visit with my Mom and Ray.  This is the same house we rented last year, so the pictures may see familiar.

We had a good trip out here.  We had to pull over for Scott to make a conference call, but it didn’t really take too much time.

Scott wiped my netbook while here because my Verizon wireless access thingy wouldn’t work any more.  He did a system restore and then had to reinstall all my programs.  It took about 8 hours for him to get it all done.  Fortunately, the usb thingy recognized that it was installed and now works.  I was a very happy camper, to say the least. 

I bought the new lens for our Nikon D5000.  Scott and I have had a blast with it.  It handles distance photos very well.  We took over 430 pictures, so it was challenging to weed them down to 15 for everyone to see. 

Scott has a couple of conference calls tomorrow morning and then we will go ahead and head home.  It is so nice to be able to have such great scenery.

Next weekend, we are going back to Dad’s place.  I am looking forward to getting some great pictures with our new lens.  The ocean is my favorite place in the world! 

http://picasaweb.google.com/elmcneill/September262010#

September9.2010

I’m down here in Florida with Mom and Ray.  Mom was supposed to have knee surgery on Wednesday morning, but Tuesday 40 minutes before her pre-op appointment they called to cancel the surgery because of a personal emergency with the surgeon.  They are also sending her to another surgeon, so who knows when the surgery will end up being.  She has an appointment with the other surgeon next Tuesday, so she will be hopefully told then when her surgery will be.

I am taking the train home tomorrow night and will arrive in Raleigh on Saturday morning.  I only have taken a few pictures while here this time.  I had a couple from home that I’ve gone ahead and included in this posting. I snuck out this morning to try to get some ducks that were sleeping under the weeping willow tree, but they noticed me and went running to the pond and were gone before I could get the shot.  When you see these awesome pictures of birds in flight, etc.  it was a miracle that the picture was taken! 

I’m pretty sure I have figured out everything that I’m allergic to.  The dermatologist gave me a cream to clear up my eczema and now my skin is healed up.  It tends to turn purple here and there, but it is amazing to see my skin not totally raw.  I’ve been able to keep away from all the offending foods while here, which is nice. 

I’m not one to speak out on much, but the pastor burning the Koran is not right.  Burning anyone’s holy book is just wrong! 

 

 

 

 

http://picasaweb.google.com/elmcneill/September92010#

Pantliner assembly

After Scott was laid off from Nortel Networks, he got hired by another company and took a $35,000 cut in pay.  This kind of hurt our budget, to say the least.  I started looking for ways to save money and I came across the idea of making cloth pantiliners.  I got a pattern from some lady who was making them.  I didn’t like the way she put them together, so I took her pattern and made it do what I wanted it to do.  I took pictures of each step and have the link posted at the bottom of this blog.  Taking the pictures made this one take a little longer than the 20 minutes it usually takes to put them together.  I’ve made a bunch for myself and have started making them for my girls.  I also started making cotton hankies, but they aren’t interesting enough to take pictures of each step, so I won’t bore you with that.

I’m doing better with the thyroid medicine.  I quit caffeine a little over a week ago and that has been another adjustment in my life.  I am used to feeling all this pressure to get things done and now I don’t have that.  I am going to have to learn how to keep myself going without a drug!  It is nice not feeling stressed and jittery, so I tell myself that every time I want a caffeinated drink.

I’ll be heading to Florida on Monday.  My mom is having knee surgery and I’m going down to be a help for that.  It will be nice to see her and Ray again. 

A hurricane (Earl) is heading to North Carolina but it seems like it is going to keep to the coast, so we should be okay here in Raleigh.  We could use some rain from the outskirts of it though. 

My eczema is doing better.  Last week it about tripled in size, so I got fed up with it and called the dermatologist.  She gave me a prescription cream that wasn’t as strong because the other bothered me so badly.  It is working nicely.  I no longer have raw skin everywhere, but it is all purple now and hopefully that will go away soon.  If you’ve never had severe itching, you don’t know what you are missing.  I don’t recommend trying it though!

http://picasaweb.google.com/elmcneill/PantlinerAssembly#

September1.2010

I tried to write a blog the other day and it sounded like I was complaining, so I deleted it.  I’ve got two pictures for you, from my little canon.  One is from a ladies luncheon we had at the end of our summer bible study.  Elijah was being held by a friend, Lorrie Taylor, so his babysitter (Coreen Gray) could eat some of her food.  He was very tired and he gets giggly when he’s tired.  Mine would usually just get cranky!  I pulled out my camera which I now take everywhere with me.  You never know when a Kodak moment will occur!

The other is of Bear and Chloe sitting with me on the deck.  If they aren’t off chasing squirrels, they are laying down somewhere near me.  I was hoping a bird would land at the feeder right next to me so I could get a good picture, but that didn’t happen so I took a picture of the dogs!

 

http://picasaweb.google.com/elmcneill/September12010#

August 20.2010

I just got a DVD on how to operate Scott’s Nikon camera.  It was a blast to watch and to figure out all the features.  I’m sure I’ll need to watch it again because some of it is a blur.  I took a few pictures of my favorite subjects.  Duncan became very irritated with me till I figured out how to keep the flash off.  Bear came over and sat in front of me waiting for me to take his picture.  Chloe was a little irritated with me, but I did get a pretty good picture of her.  I was hoping on figuring out which lens I would want next.  The photographer used the 18 – 55 mm one which we have and he also used the 55 – 200 one which I will start looking for.  There was a longer one but I think I’ll be able to live without that one.

I haven’t gotten much accomplished this week because of my thyroid adjusting.  I am getting tired of being tired! 

Playing with a camera pictures below!

http://picasaweb.google.com/elmcneill/August202010#

August 17.2010 - Elaine - Picasa Web Albums

Scott and I went to Murrells Inlet, SC again this last weekend.  It was Scott’s birthday while we were there.  We were so grateful for the time away.  Scott didn’t have too much work to do so it was more relaxing this time.

There were thunderstorms on Saturday but we were still able to get to the beach.  I got some awesome pictures of the ocean and the dark skies.

I was also so excited when I noticed a flock of pelicans coming from the distance.  I was able to get quite a few good pictures of them. 

I took 200 pictures while we were gone, so I pared them down to 18 so I didn’t bore you too bad with the usual ocean wave and moon pictures.  We didn’t see any crabs at all this time.  We did see about five dolphins, but my camera wasn’t ready so I didn’t get any of them. 

It was cooler here this morning than in Florida.  It has been warmer here most of the summer.  It was still a very humid walk.  Bear had a little trouble with the heat.  Chloe was unaffected as usual.

Chloe caught and ate a baby rabbit yesterday morning.  I didn’t see that she had it fast enough.  When I noticed, the poor thing was already dead.  She still can’t figure out why I wasn’t happy with her prize.  I’m usually thrilled when she catches a mole, or a mouse.  Bear was afraid of it, so he didn’t make Chloe share.

Hope you enjoy the pictures, I had a blast taking them.  I’m thinking of borrowing Scott’s good camera and try my hand at the more expensive camera. Scott has two guitars that he is almost done with.  He’s been working on them for quite awhile but work has been stressful and that keeps him from doing the intricate work that is necessary for guitar building. 

I’ve been reading about couponing and how you can save money doing that.  I am finding some coupons I can use, but not many.  With all my food allergies, I don’t use processed food items so that is limiting me.  I also have to make my own body products or buy organic unscented products.  I have discovered getting my meats when it is on clearance.  I’ve been able to fill up the freezer with good meat at a good price.  I started getting the Sunday paper for the coupons and then watching for the grocery papers during the week to see what items are on sale.  I also have gotten my food inventory sheet more up to date so that I know what we have in the house.  It would be more helpful if I remembered to take that with me when I am shopping!

Well, I guess that is it for this posting.  I can’t remember anything else that is new or exciting.

 

http://picasaweb.google.com/elmcneill/August172010#

July 26 - Elaine - Picasa Web Albums

Scott and I just returned from a weekend away.  We had a great time.  I’ll call this the trip of the moon because I had so many pictures of the moon.  The last trip was the trip of the crabs.  We didn’t see many of them this time.  The moon was something else.  I had 92 pictures on my camera, but I only picked a couple to show you.

It is nice to be alone, just the two of us.  We have two adult children in the home, so we still enjoy our time away. 

We were greeted lavishly by Bear and Chloe. 

We got a new toy before we left, so now we can have internet away from the house.  It was great to be able to check e-mail and the weather as well.  The weather was HOT!  It was 80 degrees this morning at 5:30!  I think we will have a few days of the low 90’s instead of the 100 degree stuff we’ve had this last week.  It’s bad when your daughter says, it’ll only be 90!

Well, I’m running slow this morning, so I’d better get to my work!  Enjoy the pictures!

 

http://picasaweb.google.com/elmcneill/July26#