Not dead! Just busy!

Sorry for the blog silence lately. I'm working on three huge projects at the moment. Annnnd my family's visiting. So things are nuts.
Just wanted to say I'm still here, everything's good, and I will be back with exciting and good news soon.
'Til next time,

Claire (who is learning new camera tricks!)

Feathery winged JERKS

It's finally turning into fall over here, and
BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG
Uh...I've been enjoying these local-ish apples
BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG
Where was I? Oh, right, so I've been thinking about schedules and why
BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG

EXCUSE ME WHILE I GO YELL AT A BIRD.

Woodpeckers are here, and they're worse than ever. From sunup to sundown, they're here. Watching. Waiting. Pecking. All four sides of our house have hundreds of holes pecked into the siding. It's going to take thousands of dollars to replace the siding they've ruined. Most of them were there when we moved in. The little old lady we bought the house from only had 10% of her hearing left, so she didn't hear the constant jackhammer noise of her house being destroyed by birds.
But I do. It's LOUD. Crazy man with a hammer right next to you loud. These birds are devious. They'll fly away if you walk outside and yell at them. Not so much if you just slam the front door. And then. AND THEN. They fly to a nearby tree, and watch you walk back into the house. Sometimes they shriek indignantly as they fly. Two seconds later, it's
BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG
all over again.
I. Hate. Them.
Allegedly, they are endangered. This is the first species I can think of that I would actively try to make more endangered. And I'm an animal loving, simple living, long time vegetarian. Don't give me the "oh, poor things, their natural habitat has been ruined and they have no choice blah blah blah". There are literally thousands of trees as well as hundreds and hundreds of acres of untouched gorgeous wilderness within a two second flight of my little house. I live way out in the country, remember?
Here's the really curious part: they don't seem to be attacking any of our neighbors. They've got wood siding, too. And trees even closer for the hiding and laughing.
That's right. This is PERSONAL. It's not a flock of birds, it's two or three bad apples.
So help me birds, I am going to

BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG

!!!

Amazingly, this post was not written at 5 in the morning. It's just that bad.

So. I was up yesterday at 5 am, and I decided to write a blog post. I had just eaten a bowl of rice crispies*, and apparently one of the side effects is hearing a little voice in your head that says things like "I AM GOING TO BE SO PRODUCTIVE TODAY! You guys! It's only 5 in the MORNING! I'm going to write a blog post!" Except there are no guys, it's just you and the crispies. And the pugs.
Anyway, the blog post turned out to be a total wash. I was going to complain inform you of my camera woes. At 5 am, this takes a lot of words. Instead, here's the gist: My DSLR died. Claire sad. New camera?? DONE.
I did get a new camera. I've been wanting to try a Canon point and shoot for awhile, so I thought I'd just go for it. And it has taught me that the 'ol Nikon D50 actually was doing all the work, and I am not such a good photographer.
See?

Oooh, wait. Vivid mode!

Yeah. So I have some work to do. And a DSLR to buy.


*It was the new generic Trader Joe's rice crispies-like stuff. It is really good. Especially at 5 in the morning.