A family of mourning doves has taken up residence in one of the bushes by our front door.
Thankfully, Mama Dove is a scaredy bird, and isn’t at all aggressive like the family of robins that nested on the front light fixture several years back.
Baxter’s going to be sad and confused when we take down the Christmas tree later this week. Either that, or he’ll be glad to see his world go back to normal again.
His favorite thing to do during the holidays is to hide behind the tree and launch a surprise attack on whichever unsuspecting family member enters the living room.
Merry Christmas from the Schnuth family!
Last week, The YouTube Algorithm thought I’d like to watch a video about making linocut prints.
After going down a fascinating rabbit hole of learning about carving techniques, Picasso’s reduction printing process, and a few other topics, I realized that this could be a great alternative to sewing custom tags into garments and other sewing projects I make.
I ordered up a box of pink erasers, designed a “2024” stamp, and set about finding my Speedball carving tool.
(That last step took a few days… I stored my rarely-used carving tool someplace clever so I’d remember where I put it.)
This morning, I carved my stamp, and I am pleased. It’s not perfect, but it’s what I wanted, and I’m not going to let perfect be the enemy of good.
The last time I loaded up a film camera to take out on a day trip was Spring Break of 2023, and it didn’t go well. My beloved HolgaMod had been idle for so long that the shutter seized up, and I had to try my hand at disassembling it and lubricating the moving parts to get it working again.
Today, we’re preparing to head out on a very similar day trip, and I’m contemplating which camera to bring (and whether to bring one at all). Film is a lot more expensive than it used to be, as is developing, but photography is still a hobby I enjoy.
Even if I kind of forgot that I enjoy photography.
Having my most recent irreplaceable parcel of undeveloped film get lost in the U.S. Postal System en route to California for processing really put a damper on my desire to keep shooting film. As I’ve been looking through my old blog posts of test rolls and film photography in general, though, I’m reminded of how much I do enjoy film photography.
I’m also reminded that I never did finish my analysis of which cameras in my collection need work, are good for selfies, are best for low light, et cetera. I may work on that, so that I can choose a proper axe more easily the next time we head out on a photo-worthy day trip.