Smile, you're on camera!

I have been learning how to use my video camera more and found a very cool feature. The camera can take stills as well as video, so I don’t need the separate digital camera anymore (good thing, coz I think I wore it out). I was finding it a bother, though, to switch back and forth between stills and video. Then I discovered that I can take stills FROM the video. What I mean is, take video of everything. Later, at my leisure, play the video and snap stills at the points I like. That’s just the BEST!!! It’s the only way to get the shot I want from something that is moving. Like Art swinging the axe, or birds flitting around. The stills get plonked onto the memory stick (like a compact flash card), which I received the other day. What I didn’t know when I bought it was that it requires a special reader to get the pictures off the camera and onto the computer .... or a special USB cable. Neither of which came with the darned thing, of course. So now I’m waiting for a cable to arrive. Can't just whip over to the local computer store. Have to mail order everything.

The other thing I have finally figured out .... after a lot of trial, tribulations and swear words .... is how to get the video off the little tapes the camera uses onto my VCR. (I’m quite proud of myself, actually. I’m either a very good figure-outer or I’m really dumb. I vote for the former). I have been promising my Mom a tape of our new home for ages and I wanted to give it to her for Mother’s Day. It’ll be a little late now, but at least I can do it. Still pictures just don’t do some things justice and the only way to really show what this place looks like, and convey it’s size, is to put it on video. I doubt that Steven Speilberg needs to watch his back or anything, though .... yet.

Here's that kooky Chickie, using that rock pillow again. Only now she's just lazily watching birds out the window. In the old house, there used to be a great big rock that sat on the living room floor. It was her favourite. She would lay next to it and prop herself up on it. I don't know how that could have been comfortable, but she did it a lot.