Friday night I did something I’ve been meaning to do for a long time. I took a 3-hour photography class. Well, not really about photography, but more about how to use my camera to better advantage. The class was called “Canon EOS Discovery Days” and was all about Canon cameras and the buttons and settings.

The class was held at Unique Photo in Fairfield, NJ, about 45 minutes from my house. So, not a really local in-town event.

Imagine my utter surprise then to walk into the classroom and see my neighbor at the end of the street, Larry (remember? Larry gifted me the fig tree). We stared at each other in equal astonishment! I didn’t even know he liked photography. He on the other hand, has seen me with the camera slung around my neck walking by his house numerous times. Life can be amazing sometimes. We sat next to each other.

They gave us a gorgeous full color, slick-paged spiral-bound workbook to follow the instructor with. I have to tell you that I coveted that workbook the minute I set eyes on it at Unique’s open house a month or so ago. The book includes everything we covered complete with little workshops at the end of each chapter.

Some of the information was repetitive for me, but I did learn several things I didn’t know before that are going to be useful. It always helps to understand your camera and how it reacts to different settings and modes.

He did talk about one thing that hit home with me. In this digital age we tend to take photos and stick them on the computer or a disk somewhere and hardly ever print them out. He encouraged us all to start printing out our favorite photos and putting them in an album: one (album) for each year and fill it as we go through the year. Or print them out and frame them on the wall.

Maybe he was just trying to sell us a Canon printer (which we already purchased a month ago) but I think he just felt strongly about it. It is true though. At least for me. Although, we did print out some photos I took in San Miguel, Mexico a few years ago and hung them in the guest bath. So I guess that’s a start.

Unique also has a four course class that I plan to take as soon as they offer it again. Learning more about the hobby I love can’t be a bad thing now can it?

Sunflowers at the Warwick Farmer’s Market on Sunday.

My sister left on Saturday. We had a good visit and I think we did everything she was hoping to do. Time went by so quickly that her visit was over before we knew it!

Cirque in the city was wonderful! Such skilled performers. Death-defying acts! Lightning fast set changes! Non-stop entertainment! If you’ve never seen Cirque perform I highly recommend them to anyone. This is the third one I have seen. On Las Vegas trips I’ve seen Mystere and LOVE (the Beatle one). All of them well worth the price of a seat.

On Saturday after dropping my sister at the train station we took the dogs for a walk before it got too hot. Poor things have been inside with no exercise because of the heat. We did a little grocery shopping, then took Mia for a short drive around Greenwood Lake. We ate lunch at the Emerald Point restaurant (which I always refer to as the biker place because all the motorcycle folks hang out here). We sat outside in the shade with a view of the lake and had a cool beer and a sandwich. It was nice.

When we got home we pooled it for a few hours. And then again after dinner. I did about 30 laps or so of the side-stroke and it felt good to get the exercise.

Outside house lights reflecting in the pool.

We are having a marvelous pool year this year with very consistent temperatures in the low 80’s and clear sparkling water. Sheer heaven with all the hot weather and humidity we’ve been having.

The cicadas are slowly starting up. I hope they reach symphonic heights this year as I love to hear them singing away. We have a few fireflies left but I think they are a different species than the ones earlier in the summer. These fly high amongst the tree tops with a different light pattern. The other day there was a bug inside on the sliding glass door. I grabbed it, opened the door and tossed it outside and as it flew off it lit up! It didn’t look like a firefly to me, jut another beetle. And we’ve had some strange beetles around this year.

The bee balm is nearly spent. The hummingbirds enjoy it now (must be the concentration of nectar?) but it’s not as pretty.

I got a surprise when I looked closer at the garden. The bee balm that I got when I traded with Maggie was blooming! Last year it did not come up, but this year even with the lack of rain it’s making a strong showing. I LOVE the color!! Maggie, did mine bloom in your garden??

On Sunday we made a new recipe: Tomatillo Gazpacho. It was perfect on a hot and humid day.
Tomatillos, cucumbers, green pepper, jalapeños, and avocado all blended, then topped with a cucumber/avocado/shrimp/green olive salsa. It was delicious!

Hopefully I am back into the swing of blogging again instead of the hit (and mostly miss) of the past week!

Just in case you were wondering! With my sister visiting this week my time for blogging and taking photos has been pretty much nil. But that’s okay. That’s the way it should be.

Tonight we are going in to the city to see Cirque du Soleil’s Zarkana at Radio City Music Hall. Should be fun! It’s always so hard to find a place to eat in the city when you don’t know the area well, so we’ll take the stress out of finding a place to eat and stop at Bobby Flay’s Burger Palace in Paramus.

We finally got a little rain last night when we least expected it. It was not predicted by our fair weather people. It poured and when it was over it had dropped 1/4 inch. Not bad considering we haven’t seen any rain at all for a couple of weeks. A welcome sight and sound indeed!

I’ve got some thoughts running around in my head and when I get the time to sit down and sort through them I’ll be sharing them here.

In the meantime, have a great week!

What a strange 4th of July! Coming mid-week without a weekend attached was very strange. Almost like a non-holiday. Rick managed to take the day before off so he had two days off in a row. But that just managed to make it feel like a weekend, and now it feels like Monday!

The weather cooperated quite nicely with sunny skies and not-too-hot temperatures with not-too-cloying humidity. We were hoping for the predicted thunderstorms but they never materialized. Too bad. We could really use the rain!

We took a drive in Mia to the town of Newton. I had been here for the first time back in January when I was Oscar Dress shopping and fell in love with the quaint little downtown area.

I love the architecture!

Too bad you can never get away from utility lines in New Jersey! I guess it adds to the charm.

Betty Boop posing in a restaurant window.

We were back by noon and the rest of the day was spent in or around the pool. Our little backyard oasis!

I had to finish this book! It was driving me crazy!

Such a lazy afternoon. But who could resist the perfect pool temperature of 83 degrees!? It did get hotter and more humid as the day wore on but once in a while a nice breeze would kick in so it wasn’t quite as stuffy.

For dinner we grilled fajitas and ate on the deck. All in all, a nice way to spend a mid-week holiday! Now we can look forward to the “real” weekend—my sister arrives!

Tonight is our local fireworks display. We have yet to attend in the six years we’ve lived here. I have to say, right now, it sounds just like the thunderstorm that passed through around 4:00 a.m. this morning. The dogs don’t like it.

Thunder for the reverberation off the mountains and Highlands for where we live. (The high school band/sports teams, etc. are called the Highlanders.)

Previous to the start of the fireworks we were taking advantage of the pool. As you’ve already read here on the blog, we do it au naturel at night.

These were handheld on Program mode because I like the blur.

Maybe it’s because I am getting older and I don’t mind blurriness!

Or maybe it’s because I just like trying to be creative.

(Do you like any of these, and if so, why?)

P. S. DUH! I forgot to add that just before it got dark we were sitting in the cabana and Bella was out with us. Bella started barking and I thought at first she was barking at the dog that I thought I heard barking down the street. Then we heard it. That distinctive snort of a bear. I ran over to where Bella was and could see a bear just over the perimeter of our fence. We called Bella and got her inside so we could access the situation. For sure, a large bear, making protective noises just outside our fence. Momma again? Rick saw her pawing at the tree and when we looked up we could just make out the little Mickey Mouse ears of a cub in the crux of the tree. Probably the same bear, but we backed off and let her be. I guess she likes it around here!

How could I have forgotten about momma bear? Swimming makes me sleepy and forgetful I guess.

Or maybe it has to do with the “getting older” thing I mentioned before????