Oh boy, another picture of a cat. But wait! It's a picture of a cat taken with a different camera. Yes -- that's right!

I've been pretty happy with my Nikon D70 for the past five years -- at least as far as taking pictures goes. What I've been less pleased about is the way it started (a couple of years ago) telling me 'CHA' or 'FMT' or '-E-' when there was definitely a formatted, perfectly fine CF card in the camera. Usually I could just eject the card and put it back in (once or twice or three times), but it was definitely not ideal for those occasion when I was trying to capture something fleeting.

Oh, and also? It liked to corrupt files on a whim. I'm pretty sure I've lost thousands of high-res images from cards that were suddenly unreadable or garbled (even with regular backing-up -- I take a lot of photos). Reformatting would fix the problem, but it was always a bit Russian-roulette-y as far as when the camera was going to snap. I tried a new CF card; I tried updating the firmware -- no luck.

So, today Rob and I went to National Camera Exchange (oh, Rob's in town, did I mention?), and he bought me a refurbished D200 body. It's an amazing gift. A slightly embarrassingly generous gift, in fact. I'm not really sure how to properly say thanks enough, but maybe if I tell the internet about what a thoughtful, super guy he is, that might be a start.

I told Rob that having a new camera body was a bit like having new (under)pants: I'm really excited about it, but odds are that nobody else will be able to tell (since the lenses make the biggest difference). So I'm surprised by the extent to which I CAN tell. It definitely is a much different experience as far as photo-taking goes; things just look better through this camera. And I feel like I can see a difference in the photos as well, although it might be all in my head.

Anyway, I'm determined to actually sit down and read the manual to this one. I tend to learn things as I need them, but I have a feeling this camera does a lot that I don't yet even realize I need. Plus, it always annoys Rob when he asks me what something does on one of my gadgets and I don't know. I figure I owe it to him to make an effort this time!

So, lets see... 'Taking a Photo'... oh, removing the lens cap makes a difference?

Salutations! Is it summer where you are? It seems like most people I hear from are saying, 'Er, not really,' but Minnesota has turned summer up to eleven this week! Yesterday was our fifth 90F+ day in a row, and I assume today was our sixth. Considering we only have an average of thirteen of those per year, we're a bit ahead of schedule.

I haven't been minding it, because at least we're getting rain on a more regular basis. Do you see how green my grass is? Just a few weeks ago I was starting to worry it would never recover from the lack of rain. Lovely green -- I'd been feeling as though all my hard work in the garden was a bit wasted, when all I noticed when I looked out at the yard was the crispy grass.

I harvested my first broccoli this week (Tuesday), with more on the way. And I found the chair in the photo above on Wednesday. It was at a thrift store in Hinckley, for only $3.75! It's not even broken. It's supposedly a beach chair, and it leans backwards and forwards, so one can find the most comfortable position in which to laze. AND it's yellow and looks so good with my giant, yellow marigolds and less-giant, yellow house.

My only complaint about the hot weather is that it seems to have driven some insect life up from the basement. I can't even bring myself to say their name, lest it summon another. Let it suffice to say that they have roughly one hundred legs. Shudder. Booty, who I thought was caught up in his own thoughts, suddenly spotted one along the baseboards a few minutes ago and sprang into action. He flushed it out from behind the guitars, and I slapped a magazine down on top of it. We're a good team!

Rob is getting into town on Sunday for a three-week visit (!), so I'm hoping we'll have many adventures I can share. Life's been good lately, but there's not much to report beyond, 'Yup. Did some work, then sat outside with the cats.'

Hi, internet pals. I'm currently sitting in my living room with the curtains drawn (avoiding the Day Star and its hot heat), with this fan (or one a lot like it) aimed at the sofa. How does it manage to be so effective AND so quiet? My mom gave it to me after having had it for a summer or two, but now I see it's meant to have a remote control. You mean I could be turning it on and off without getting off my bottom? Where is this remote control?!

Anyway, we're finally getting some summer weather, although the current sunshine came after a morning rain shower, and there are more storms forecasted for the evening. That suits me just fine -- I'd like to live in a land where it rains every night and is sunny during the day. Also, there would be only three months of winter. I bet there is such a place, but it's probably somewhere I'm not interested in living (ie, not here).

The garden has been loving the weather! I added several new garden photos to my Garden 2009 flickr set, if you'd like to take a look. Find the one of the veggie beds and report back to me on whether you think it looks like it's actually a miniature garden. I would love to have a miniature garden, by the way -- but then, I'm kind of crazy for miniatures in general (Re-ment, anyone?).

The raspberries have had a tough spring. The canes were transplanted from my mom's garden, and then the extremely dry spell we had made the going tough. But the plants that have clung on are doing very well now, and they're even flowering and setting berries! This is apparently the first year they've EVER fruited, so I'm pretty pleased about that. You want sun, plants? I've got sun.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the spinach and lettuce seedlings that sprouted a week or so ago will thrive despite the more summer-y weather. The older spinach and rocket plants I have are already bolting, even though they (the spinach in particular) aren't very big. My beets have also FINALLY sprouted, as have -- yay! -- the parsnips.

In other news, I haven't managed to snap any great photos of the crafty things I've been working on. This is the only one I have of the dress I made from the Japanese pattern book, and really that'll only give you an idea of how pretty the fabric I found is (from Mill Ends -- super cheap!) and how nice the gathering is.

Speaking of flickr, though, it's hard to believe, but I have fewer than 45 days left of my 365 project! The rest of June, all of July, and then I'm done! Incredible. I remember thinking last August, when I started, that I would get to this point and feel as though the year just flew by, and I have to say that I was right. Thanks, Mo, for getting me started, even though you dropped out, like a big dropper outer.

I DID have an annoying moment where I realized I was two days off in my numbering, even though I could see that each month had the appropriate number of photos. I had to go back to March, which was when the numbering went screwy, and redo them all up through the middle of June. THAT is how dedicated I am! I think I'll get a poster printed up with all 365 thumbnails when I've finished. An entire year on a piece of A2!

-- Ah, Sunday evening! I've had a very nice weekend, albeit slightly low key. I did go for a nice, long walk yesterday, with a friend. There wasn't a single cloud in the sky; it was a much more summery weekend than the last one.

-- The morning after my last post, I woke up and was greeted by Booty as usual. It was as though he'd never been 'off'. Thank goodness! And I've always felt that Booty is so much less personality-y than Beany, but having seen him so dull and 'expressionless' made me realize that he's actually a pretty funny guy. Good old Booty.

-- I had my first mini-harvest from the garden. I made a salad out of chard, rocket/arugula, radishes, and herbs. I tossed it with a homemade balsamic vinaigrette, and it was amazing. I swear, I haven't had rocket like that in aaaages. I had a few seeds come up after I planted them quite a while ago, but the rest have only just sprouted. I'm glad they have, though. I could get used to nice salads like that.

-- I really thought I'd gone off sewing and all that business, but I've been revisiting my old ways lately. There was the Japanese dress, and I've also been working on a quilt. Friday evening, I realized I NEEDED a drawstring backpack so that I could comfortably carry my camera when I go for walks, so I whipped one of those out. And yesterday afternoon, I made a quick camisole, since I'd bought the fabric a while back. I should really take some pictures...

Hello, you. We've just had a sunny day in Minnesota, after almost a week of overcast skies and rain. Not once did I wish it were warmer and more summery, though, because we NEEDED the damp weather. And it's nice to have an excuse to stay in and light a candle every now and then.

I have a feeling my garden is going to explode after a couple more sunny days, now that it's nicely hydrated. I uploaded several current garden photos to my flickr account, if you'd like to see how things are going. The brassicas are looking particularly cheerful, and it seems like my lettuce and spinach seeds, which I'd all but given up on, took advantage of the cooler temperatures last week and finally sprouted.

There's just about enough in the garden now for a small salad -- some chard, some rocket, a couple of radishes, and nice, fresh herbs. If only I had a chicken to lay an egg. Why do I not have chickens yet?

My own little chicken-cat, of the Booty variety, isn't doing so well at the moment. He's been full of it recently, running around with Beany, nagging me when his one toy* gets trapped under a piece of furniture, wanting lots of affection. But most of today, he's been very lackluster and keeps retreating to the bathroom to lie on the rug. It's cool and dim in there; nice if you're a slightly distressed cat.

He IS sixteen now, so it's hard to know if it's a passing germ or something a bit more final. He's just not quite himself. So keep him in your thoughts.

The other chicken-cat, commonly known as Beany, is trying to make up for Booty, I suspect. I'm working on a quilt, and having already pieced together the rows, I laid them all out on my bed to get the arrangement just right before I sewed them together. I brought the first two strips into the other room, to the sewing machine, and I hadn't been sat down for more than twenty seconds before I heard the headboard rattle in the other room.

When I went in, I saw a frenzied Beany in the middle of the bed, surrounded by patchwork strips which were no longer carefully laid out -- at least, I don't remember having purposefully tangled most of them together, while throwing others on the floor. It was done with such intent (BAD intent) that I kind of had to laugh. Why, Beany, why?

* The cats actually have a couple dozen toys scattered around the house, but Booty is interested in only one of them. Beany's happy to have all the others.

-- I made some banana bread yesterday, so as to not waste a few bananas that had gone brown and to use some of the maple syrup that my grandma supposedly tapped herself. I don't NOT believe that she really did such a thing, but it seems a slightly out-of-character and random activity. Anyway, it's amazing maple syrup. What's a tree doing making something that good? I used this recipe, but I subbed the cup of sugar with 1/2 a cup sugar + 1/3 cup maple syrup. And I used one egg+one egg white. And I put it all in one regular-sized loaf pan (it was done in about 45 minutes).

-- Thank you all for the tips for using Japanese patterns. I wound up using tissue paper, since that's what I had to hand, and it was fine. But mostly, I'm grateful you guys mentioned adding on the seam allowances. Once a read that, I did remember having heard it before, and it made the diagrams make more sense. I started with a pretty basic pattern and then made it a second time, with a few tweaks, and I think it was actually less confusing than most of the English-language patterns I've used! I'll show you the finished product soon.

-- The bulk of the hard labour in the garden is finished now, thank goodness. It's been a very dry spring for these parts, though, and my lawn has reached its late-summer crispiness distressingly early. Even when I do try to water the grass, the ground is so dry and hard that the water just pools above ground. Arg. I uploaded a few photos to flickr last night, though, including this one, which has labels to show what's currently planted where in the veggie beds.

-- Speaking of flickr, I went through my 'food' set and turned it into a collection with themed sets inside. Here. I also tried to sort previously uncategorized photos into those sets (although I haven't got through everything yet). One of those satisfying-only-to-me type of projects.

-- I have to go read an exciting werewolf sequel now. Ugh, work, right?