Tuesday, July 22, 2008

A Little Tatting, Lunar Photos, and a New Love of My Life

I haven't done much tatting since my last post. I got my package from Gina recently, but I will need a few days to scan and photograph everything I got from her. I finished the tatting for my Christmas in July partner. I found out today that my partner got her package already. I'm impressed. That lady at Canada Post told me it will take 6-8 business days. It only took 3 business days. Here is a preview of what I tatted for my partner.

For this motif I used DMC Cordonnet size 50 thread paired with Oren Bayan Metallic thread. I'm not sure what size equivalent this combination works out to, probably between a size 10 to 20. That is only a guess. I will have to make a sample one of these days. I have not touched my final motif since I last posted. I may try to complete another petal or two tonight. Of course, this is weather permitting. We could get a thunderstorm, which could knock out the power. I love the forecast that Forecastfox is displaying for today: Not as warm with a t-storm, 27 C. Can't say I have ever seen a rhyming forecast before.

It has been really hot here the last few days; the temperature has been in the 27-29 degrees C range lately. And, if thats not hot enough, my house seems to get a few degrees hotter than it is outside. I don't have air conditioning, but I do have several fans that kinda help. To be a complete geek, I have the fans connected to X-10 home automation controllers that react to an X-10 compatible temperature sensor. All of which interact with my PC. Depending on the reading the sensor sends to the computer, the fans turn on or off in response to the inside temperature. It works quite well. It's even better when the computer announces that the fans (or plant or aquarium lights) are going on or off, and plays sound effects from the computer of Star Trek Voyager.

Now, last night, I took some picture of the moon with my new camera. I'm actually quite impressed with the images I got.

It's a little blurry around the edges, but I assume that is because of the digital zoom. This photo was taken with out a telescope of any kind. I used all available zoom settings that my camera has. That is, 6x optical zoom multiplied by 4x digital zoom for a total of 24x zoom. I'll have to play around with the settings some more to see if I can eliminate some of the blurriness. Ironically, I was trying to photograph the moon during an eclipse this past February that made me want a new camera. Here is a photo from that attempt:

Quite a difference, isn't it? This was as close as I could get. My old camera has only 2x digital zoom.

Finally, I have a new love of my life. I don't know how I lived without her. I can't decide what I like more. Her sleek, feminine, disk-shaped body or her awesome cleaning abilities. May I introduce you all to................




iRobot Roomba 400!

I don't know how I lived without Roomba. It is a pretty good vacuum. I have wanted one, ever since iRobot first released them . I was at Wal*Mart one day and as soon as I saw Roomba, I knew I had to have one. The particular model I have, Roomba 400, is an entry level model, but it can be upgraded to have scheduling capabilities and a base station Roomba will seek out when it is done cleaning. I know what you all are thinking. I promise to leave home more often and have more human contact.

11 comments:

  1. I understand your love for Roomba... I owned the original one until it gave up the ghost last year. I loved that Roomba cleaned while I made dinner! I'd like to get another, but I've been too busy buying tatting supplies...

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  2. They're pretty awesome, aren't they? I love that Roomba cleans while I can do more important things. Plus, with Roomba, vacuuming is getting dome more often. I love just watching Roomba clean. Speaking of buying tatting supplies .....

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  3. Oh man! That's so funny that you posted about the roomba. My parents have one they have never used so I just asked them to mail it to me here in Korea. All we have are wood floors and they are a bear to keep up. I can't wait for mine to arrive.

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  4. I have a friend in another state who got one of these a few years ago but hadn't seen one in action until last month when I was with my son as he visited a friend who had one. So of course,the guys had to put it in action and make jokes and play with it. It's entertaining as well as productive!

    Nice pic of the moon too. I saw a beautiful full moon driving home last week and wished I had a camera with me to snap a photo. There are so many trees around my house I have to trot w-a-a-a-a-y down the lane to find a clear shot and by that time, I'm out of the notion.
    :-) Gina

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  5. Don't use the digital zoom on your camera. It's a useless feature as it pixelates the photo and makes it blurry. I always disable mine.

    Patricia

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  6. Okay, you've convinced me! I'm getting a roomba! I've had my eye on those and hadn't heard from anyone else about them. I see you got it at Walmart...good to know! I have issues with my back and it's hard to bend over to sweep something into the dustpan and it's an ordeal to drag out the vacuum. I think this would solve a lot of problems for me. Thanks for the consumer report! LOL!
    Your new cameral sounds cool. That is a pretty nice pic of the moon. It's nice to have good resolution for pics of tatting so when it's enlarged the DS are still clear and easy to count and see. Looking forward to seeing what you got from Gina and what you sent to your partner.

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  7. I must admit to having feelings for the love of your life. A vacuum that works all by itself is not an amazing invention it is a necessity of life.

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  8. Sherry, you will love Roomba! I have had mine for about 2 weeks now and I don't think I could live without it.

    Smith, my camera is a Canon Powershot A720 IS.

    Thanks for stopping by Gina. I never have my camera with me either when I want to photograph something I really like.

    Patricia, no arguments hear. The manual for my camera does say that some of the lower resolution settings won't blur if used with digital zoom. I'll have to try it.

    Again, TattingChic, you will love Roomba. Since you're in the US, you should have a much larger selection of Roomba resellers. I was absolutely surprised to see Walmart selling Roombas. I should mention that the Walmarts hear (I checked 3 of them) only had 2 different models of Roomba.

    Well said Clyde! I'm never going back to the "old way". Now all I need is iRobot's floor washing robot, Scooba!

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  9. Oh man, I've wanted a Roomba so bad for a long time. I saw one (a pretty nice one too) at Costco in Saskatoon last year but hubby felt the traditional vac was better. I suppose, but the Roomba would be a more frequent visitor to my floors. Oh Roomba, can't you come to my house?

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  10. Thanks for stopping by Gardenista. I didn't know that the Costco here sold Roomba. I wonder what model(s) they have. More frequent vacuuming was my excuse, er, reason for getting one.

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  11. Looking forward to see what you tatted for the exchange, this peek looks interesting.
    Roomba looks lovely (and what a clever invention). I hope she'll do some good work and if you one day are getting her sister Scooba that they will work well together.

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