Many of you may be thinking about buying digital cameras this holiday season, so I thought I’d share some information about the cameras that I’ve owned, as well as some tips for purchasing cameras for yourself or someone else.
You know how scientists, thinkers, and inventors of old (and probably of new) had those notebooks where they would write all of their ideas, plans, formulas, etc? Well, my wife has a book just like that. I think it’s pretty cool, so I wanted to share some photos of it:
Instead of drawings of water screws or flying machines, Rebecca’s book contains drawings of craft and interior decorating ideas, lists and plans for parties, and other random musings. Lovingly hand-inscribed with pencil, Rebecca’s notebook is an inspiration to me. To be more thoughtful, plan better, and get all of my ideas down somewhere.
You can see [more pictures of the book](http://prwdot.org/gallery2/v/craftiness/rebeccas_book/).
There’s a small cemetery just down the road from [CBD](http://www.christianbook.com/). I’ve passed it often, and thought it would be interesting to shoot some photos there at some point. Today I decided to take a walk on my lunch break, and here’s what I came up with:
See more of [King-Hussey Cemetery](http://prwdot.org/gallery2/v/travels/2007/king-hussey_cemetery/).
I learned some good gardening lessons during my first growing season. Top of the list: Don’t plant your garden (almost) directly underneath the dryer vent. Duh.
I was able to enjoy a few handfuls of green beans and sweet peas over the course of the summer. And I got a couple bunches of cosmos that bloomed beautifully. The green peppers and spinach were totally strangled by the cosmos and the pumpkins and squash were nuked by the dryer exhaust.
The carrots didn’t do too badly. Since I’m an optimist I’ll say that we got a great harvest of “baby carrots”. Those are practically a delicacy, right? They are almost too cute to eat!
All in all, not too bad. Due to our travels the garden didn’t get planted until late in the season and I probably didn’t water and weed it as much as I should have. We’ll give it another try next year!
[edit] I cleaned up the carrots, steamed them, and we ate them whole with dinner. YUM!
Last week, we went for a walk down to the playground on our street. We all had fun playing around and taking pictures…
It’s getting colder, so I’m not sure how many more trips we’ll be making to the playground. But it was good to get this one in! More pics can be found [here](http://prwdot.org/gallery2/v/travels/2007/bradstreet_playground/).
Here it is November 5th and the Wood family has yet to fire up the furnace. I had set a goal not to use the heat until October was over, but now it is a game to see how long we can go without it (and without the high heating bill!) We know that eventually it will get too cold and we’ll be happy to turn the heat on. Until then, though, here are some things that we’ve been doing to keep warm as the temperature starts to dip.
* wearing socks and slippers
* wearing sweaters
* drinking hot tea and cocoa
* eating soup
* exercising
What are your favorite ways to keep warm?
Thanks to Jacoby Ellsbury of the [Red Sox](http://www.redsox.com/), on October 30 we scored three [free tacos at Taco Bell](http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/fan_forum/tacobell/)!
There was quite a lineup at the North Shore Mall’s Taco Bell location. See our Gallery for [more photos](http://prwdot.org/gallery2/v/events/2007/free_taco_day/)!
At work today, I proudly affixed Catherine’s first piece of artwork to my desk:
She made it mostly by herself (with a little help from momma for the stamping) earlier this week at the [North Shore Children’s Museum](http://www.northshoreymca.org/pages/11446_north_shore_children_s_museum.cfm). I’m looking forward to seeing more works of our from our girl. 🙂
Week Five is a short week!
Day 29: Appleton Farms Grass Rides, Hamilton, Ma
There are several old carriage paths that lead through the woods here. they are wide and green and quiet. Catherine and I had a nice hike passing by a stone pinnacle that once sat on Gore Hall (once the library at Harvard). Even though we spent just over an hour there we left plenty of trails unexplored for some other day.
Day 30: Warren-Weld Reservation, Essex, Ma
This was a cute little property tucked away down a quiet road. Catherine was particularly fascinated with the leaves today. She loved the way they crunched beneath her feet and she went shuffling through them at the trail head. Once up on my back she kept leaning out to grab leave off the branches of nearby trees.
Day 31: Halloween Surprise Reservation, Middleton, Ma
After trying on two occasions to find this trail (and failing) we decided to take our last hike of the month on a trail I spotted on the same road. There was only a sign with the usual message: carry in, carry out- watch for hunters- be respectful. With out a map we went in blind and quickly came upon a rude bridge and a wooden staircase going up the bank on the other side. We walked for a while through the woods and with no sign of a loop trail, we turned back towards the car. A pleasant hike, indeed.
I feel as if there should be some sort of wrap up now that the month is finished. I had a great time hiking my way through October. I was thrilled that I was able to find a distinct hike for each day of the month all so close to home. I now have an arsenal of great places to go for hiking, picnics and romps in the woods. I feel as if I had become jaded by the abundance of commercialism in this area, and this month I was reminded that there is more to the North Shore than malls and movie theaters. I spent some quiet time with my daughter showing her God’s handiwork and I had time to myself to ponder His plan for me.
Leanne suggested creating a GoogleMap of the locations that we hiked in. Thank you, Leanne, here it is!
This is the first year in, well almost ever, that I’ve lived in a place where there’s a chance of having trick or treaters. We’ve got a bowl of candy and a jack o lantern to welcome the little ghouls, goblins, fire fighters, princesses and whatever kind of kiddo that might grace our steps tonight.
live blogging Halloween
(updated periodically)
5:35- one bloody surgeon
6:23- paintballer, “cereal killer”, ‘the Scream’, vampire, ghost
6:26- punk rocker and ghost punk rocker
6:29- grim reaper (with dad to collect the candy because his creepy gloves inhibit his candy grabbing)
6:32- Pumpkin seeds start to toast
6:53- an onslaught- pirates, ghost pirates, edward scissorhands, a NE Patriot, 2 gals in pajamas, a vampire and many more!
6:59- two boys in black robes
7:00- Pumpkin seeds are out for the snacking!
7:06- Hannah Montana, geisha, “fearsome, gruesome, skull headed wizard”, grim reaper
7:19- Police officer, gypsy
7:23- two skeletons, a scarecrow, a soccer player
7:35- Piglet and an angel
8:00- That’s all folks!
