Cheddar loves his new cat tower!
I have a new camera! I’ve had this camera on my vision board and have been watching eBay for about 5 years for this particular one in the hopes of getting a deal that we could afford. I have been missing my 35mm (too expensive to process the film when it takes me several shots to get one decent image) and my last near-pro camera became unusable about 15 years ago. I’ve been thankful for the camera I did have, but the desire for another near-pro camera just wouldn’t leave…
The patience has paid off! I now have a refurbished Canon Rebel T7 DSLR with two lens (18-55mm and 75-300mm)! I told Bob that this is officially the most advanced camera I’ve ever owned! With it, I hope to get a few nice pictures of my Dad’s place from the air this year (it became too windy every time we tried to fly last year).
Speaking of flying… Bob went flying last weekend. I was supposed to go too, but wasn’t feeling up to it. He didn’t leave me out though… he texted when he’d fly overhead so that I could go out to see him.
I couldn’t see him on my phone screen, but I recorded a video any way. I think I did pretty well for not being able to see anything!
Jun 1
I saw an ad for a lovely house on 15 acres only half an hour from my Dad. Yes, please! The problem: Bob’s company would not approve a move with an hour plus commute.
Wishes and dream though! Wishes and dreams…
Jun 9
I’m sick. Again. Ugh!
I’m trying not to allow it to hold me down though… so, I decided to finish up a certification I’ve been working on. “Energy Healing Meditations for Raising Your Vibration, Quieting the Inner Noise + Accessing Strength, Clarity + Purpose” I have to say, I don’t particularly enjoy the high pitch of the crystal bowls. I mean, I would not choose to listen for recreation, but it was quite relaxing (I kept falling asleep during the meditations)!
Jun 10
I am starting to feel better. Bob’s turn… sigh.
The good news is that this was really quick for me. Only two days of coughing this time!
Another bit of good news is that Galaxy moved closer to me yesterday without prompting. This process would move far quicker with treats and/or a small pen, but I’ve not been in a hurry. He’s been showing interest in us and what we are doing, but really hesitant about coming near. So, this was a wonderful win to me… of course, he may have been concerned about this wheezing woman needing to pause from a coughing fit (between being sick and the lingering smoke in the air from Canadian wildfires), but… I’m counting it!
Jun 14
I went looking for a dress that I saw on Facebook. Of course, I could not find it, but I found this beauty from Vchics Shop on Google shopping. I thought it was an US store, but I must have gotten my shops mixed up so was surprised when the tracking was from China. I’m not against ordering from China, but I do like to know before hand.
Here I was waiting and waiting for the dress to clear customs when my anti-virus blocked the website, suggesting it was a fake! Bob confirmed that the news had just had a segment on fakeshops with valid security certificates sprouting up. Then, I saw a bunch of nasty reviews and was afraid that I ordered a dress I wouldn’t get. Thankfully, that was not the case! It is here and, actually, slightly big for me (typically sizes from China are a bit small)!
The dress is not quite as lovely as the one in the picture. The picture indicates the pattern is raised, but it is an illusion. Still… it is a beautiful dress that I’ll be wearing for my next profile image… which is now waiting for the weather and everyone to be feeling well!
My thought about the experience is this, though… running a small business is very hard. And having fake shopping sites come up makes it even harder! I’m thankful for the companies (like Amazon, eBay, Etsy, and Walmart) that allow small businesses to setup shops with them to give them some credibility with refund support while getting the following they need. I had taken our Etsy shop down since setting up a store on our website that gets listed on Google shopping, but now I’m thinking it may be good to have the backup! I know that a lot of people don’t like the bigger businesses, but the world is a scary place, full of hurdles and I am grateful for the help they provide.
Jun 15
Jun 20
I just need a 60x60ft building with central heat and air to play with horses.
Jun 23
I was able to spend a productive hour in the barn this morning — and it’s clean again!
While I was out there, I realized I haven’t shared our little barn window project with you all.
For the past two years, we’ve had greenhouse plastic covering the windows after the horses managed to break nearly all of the glass. Neither of us wanted to replace the windows with more breakable glass (and risk the horses getting hurt again). Bob suggested boarding them up, but I really love the natural light — and I think the horses do too.
With winter coming and no budget for skylight panels, we first stapled up greenhouse plastic sheeting. The first winter, the wind shredded it. The next year, I reinforced the edges with duct tape and sandwiched them between boards. That held up a bit better… but the wind still tore holes in it. We knew we needed a sturdier, affordable solution.
Then I found these clear polycarbonate panels on Temu — much cheaper than the ones I had seen at the hardware store. At first, we thought we’d just screw them onto the window frames. But Bob had a better idea: he cut the panels to size and set them right into the window frames, replacing the glass entirely.
He hasn’t gotten all of them done yet (we’re still missing a few frame pieces), but the ones that are finished look fantastic! He is so creative!
Now we’ll see if they can stand up to the winter winds this year… I really hope so!
Jun 24