My New Camera

My Canon camera died, though I must say it has given faithful service for several years despite the abuse it suffered at my hand.  I ordered a new one with my Birthday money and it came yesterday.  It has a lot of features my other one didn't have.  I love it.  The top picture is an experiment with making a panorama.  Obviously I didn't quite get the directions and overlapped the middle.  Still, I like this picture of my dining room.  The other pictures are my latest painting effort........I am way behind on my obligation to give Phil two paintings a month.  These are fairly small, to accommodate the limitations of my right shoulder.  I'm very happy with them, and of course I don't want to give them away.  The last one is a copy of a commission I did a couple of years ago.  I am in love with the scene and have painted it a number of times in various mediums.  This is the only time I have done it in watercolor and it took some detail work I normally don't like to do.......I had to paint around the lights, which are details that took a careful steady hand. I'm proud of myself for doing it.

January has been cold, but though I dreaded the winter, I now remember that the cold doesn't bother me all that much after all.  I forget each fall how I adjust to my 55 degree house quickly.  It becomes the norm.  I dress accordingly with long underwear, sweaters, hats and gloves.  I have to say that my hands get cold when I have to use them for anything that requires much dexterity.  Using this keyboard is the most uncomfortable thing I do, but when I'm done I hold them under the hot water faucet in the kitchen for a minute or so.  That makes them tingle and then warm up............a sensual experience that I enjoy.  My studio upstairs is the warmest room in the house for some reason, so when I paint I bask in the warmth of a temperature that might be as high as 60, though I haven't checked it.  Ah, winter in Maine...