Pictures..... have I got pictures!

I'm sure I'm not the only one who had oodles of pictures! I spent some time several years ago going through the boxes and stacks of loose pictures. Pictures from my childhood, family photos going back to when my parents married, relatives (some not labeled so I have no clue who they are). Then there were the pictures that spanned our marriage including several trips we took. (The trips were mostly post cards.) And while there are a lot of pictures, they are limited to the times someone had a camera or wanted to memorialize an event. The pictures (family and ours) span over 60 years. Around 2000 we moved to some digital pictures and the cameras expanded to better quality and memory cards dropped in price and we had home computers that had storage space. So taking a picture was no longer an event. You grabbed your camera to not only memorialize an event, but to just take a picture of the lovely sun set or mess around with your camera. And gradually, we stopped printing pictures because not only were there so many, but we could carry them around with us on the camera's memory card, plug them into the TV or a slide show, send them in an email. And THEN, there was Facebook, the iPhone and all the other phones, the iPad and all the other tablets. And not only could you take pictures, you could post them on FB or send them off to your friends or family. Most pictures were of better quality (unless you jiggled you phone) than you could take with the cameras of the 90's. And I rose to the occasion, took pictures and I have over 7,000 digital pictures!!

I'm trying to organize things......

The digital pictures were at one time located on Picasa, a Google program that stored pictures in what became "the Cloud". From there I moved to purchasing programs and first settled on Photoshop Elements 9 as well as Photoshop Lightroom. With that program I could label pictures and organize them by date and event. I also ended up with several computers as I tend to purchase a new one but keep the old one. So the digital pictures were scattered. And I've tried off and on since I've been retired, to organize things with some success. The actual pictures are better organized with storage in boxes labeled by event. I have a few photo albums. I also made two picture books - one of the first two years at the Lake house and one for B's birthday a few years ago (a this is your life type of book). And this winter, my goal has been to better organize things. And I'm getting there.

I now use two Mac computers, a desk top that's several years old and a MacBook that is new. I purchased Photoshop Elements 14 and am in the process of organizing everything into that. I spent the past several days moving/exporting my pictures from flash drives, memory cards and Photos, the picture program for the Mac. The sense of urgency is due to this blog.... right now I edit the picture and it ends up on my desk top. I started with folders from 2000 to current and all pictures are now in one of those folders. I also have folders for scanned pictures by location (where we lived). It's been interesting seeing all the projects we have done around the Lake house and here at the Park house.

 My mom and me. Back yard of our house in S. Jersey.

Mom made our dresses

Me in the 50s in the living room of our house. Again, the skirt made by my mom.

Here I am in the kitchen of our first house.

Loved the wall oven!

Our second house!

We had the house built and it came with just the trees - no landscaping.

We bought sod from Tuckahoe Turf and laid it ourselves. What a job!

B built the fence. It was inspired by the model home and he made the entire thing. 

Snow at the Voorhees house.

We had a small snow blower and it did the job. 

We had a 32 ft. Carver boat outside of Annapolis. This is B with our first Honey and a friend who was boating with us.

It was a very nice boat - and here I am relaxing in the cabin reading a book.

Our Lake house the third house we owned. Due to the deer and other wild life, I did most of my plants on the deck in containers.

Christmas at B's mom's house. I'm Santa.

Honey in her chair - a favorite spot.

YES, that's a bear walking up the street. The Lake house is in the wilds. Thankfully I had my camera handy and grabbed it as the bear walked past our house and up the road to our neighbor's.

The Lake. I tend to take pictures of clouds...lots of them. It really is lovely.

The Lake house

Honey and I at the Park house

Last year I took part in a CSA. This was one weeks share. We did a half share 'cause there is only so much two people can eat!

Snow at the Lake

More snow at the Lake

As well as taking snow pictures, I also take food pictures. 

A pear and orange salad.

Our house near the Park

Spring weather!

Spring has finally arrived.  Yesterday was lovely out with blue skies and warm temperatures. We did some yard work - put more lime on the grass and B put liquid feed on most of the shrubs. Last night we went to a party to celebrate Bernie's nephew's marriage. Great time, tasty food and it was good to see so many of the family.

This morning we were again working outside. B finished up the plants and I washed the inside of the car windows as B did the outside. After a trip to Penney's for a great sale and a stop at Sam's for some stuff for dinner, we headed home. Sam's was offering tastes of various items so we filled up there! Right now I'm upstairs in my office. I just finished a craft project and am now finally posting.

As I get back into blogging, I'm thinking about layout.... some blogs post pictures with the explanation about them below the pictures. This seems awkward to me as you scroll down in a blog and see the picture before the text. I'm going to explain first and then show the picture - that way you know about what you are going to see.

This past Thursday, while Honey and I were out and about, B took a picture of us. I'm really appreciating how the pruning of the trees has made walking out in the area easier. No more walking into a branch. B had placed motion lights on several of the trees so when I'm out at night it's easier to see. Even with a flashlight it's dark out there. The grass is greening up and the second application of lime should help.

We are fortunate that many of the trees and shrubs are doing well. This lovely weeping  tree (think it's a cherry type tree) is starting to bloom. Several rather large bumble bees were buzzing in and out of the tree so I didn't venture too close when I was taking pictures this morning. At this point, it's the only tree starting to bloom. 

Trees and MORE SNOW

What a crazy week! The tree guy contacted us saying he would drop off the bucket truck Tuesday and deal with our trees Wednesday. I had planned to visit the Lake house that day so off I went at 8 AM. B had the camera and would take pictures as they worked. I got home a bit before noon and they were well into the job.

We have two groupings of trees they would deal with - one large, one small. By the time I got back to the house, they were working on the larger group of trees. One guy was up a tree with a safety rope and was removing several large branches that were hanging over our neighbor's fence. As well as removing very large branches and trimming off small branches, several trees had been cut close to the ground.  The pictures tell the story quite well!

I took this picture Tuesday. The ground was covered with debris from the trees as it was very windy over the weekend!

One of the many branches that had blown down. There were more branches caught in the trees.

This was the truck that they had brought the day before. It was driven up our driveway and onto the grass at the top of the hill. Since the bucket was on a very long arm the truck could stay at the top of the hill. 

There was a crew of 5 guys working much of the time.

Honey felt it was her responsibility to supervise. She really enjoyed watching (supervising) them. Notice the snow on the deck from the weekend.

 

The group of trees on the right needed some serious trimming as well as several trees removed. 

This tree, to the far right, had branches that hung over the fence. The guy had on a safety line as he needed to climb out the branches to get to where the trimming was needed. Before he cut the branch, he attached a line to some of the very large branches to make sure they "fell" where he wanted them to go rather than into our neighbor's fence!

And then someone on the ground removed them.

And the branches and debris were then taken over the the large shredder where sone additional workers put them into the very large shredder that was parked in our neighbor's driveway. This is just some of the pile that needed to be removed.

And when they were done, they did a great job of cleaning up!

The area is much cleaner and I don't have to duck when I'm out walking Honey.With the wind we get here having the trees trimmed was a real safety need!

And today, it's again cold and snowing! Right now the temperature is 35 and the snow that has fallen (and is falling) is melting as the ground is wet from the heavy rain we had overnight.  So glad we haven't yet put any bushes or bulbs in the ground. Sure hope it warms up soon so we can enjoy our back yard.

And then it SNOWED!

Last week was warm - kinda like what you would expect for Spring...we did some yard work, talked about planting some bushes and flowers, and then, after being lulled into spring vibes, got rudely awakened with a strong gusty cold front that dropped temperatures and snow!! YIKES!

The wind had picked up as we entered the weekend. Saturday night it was again howling and when I looked out in the middle of the night it appeared that there was snow on the ground as well as  a foggy, hazy look.  And the wind kept howling! Sunday morning's light showed that the snow was in fact a reality - and because of the wind, the depth varied from wind swept grass to 4 inches piled up against the side of the house. And the trees (you know, the ones we wanted to get trimmed because they were dropping branches) were bending in the wind and dropping more branches. Thankfully, no trees came down.....  By Sunday afternoon the sun came out and the winds died and the sun melted much of the snow. Temperatures did drop overnight but are expected to get into the 40's today. We are SO ready for warmer weather!