Back Where I Started

I suppose y'all are wundrin what the Ole AC is up to ... or not.

Well ... when I closed down the original The AC is On, I couldn't seem to get Dear Ole Blogger to import those posts. I didn't want to lose them, so at the time I made a new The AC is On hosted by Wordpress. But I always thought that I might come back to Blogger, and I mentioned it at the time. Now, we have a third The AC is On site — right here. I could change it in future, but I wanted to maintain a tiny amount of continuity through these migrations.

In addition to having a generalized yen to return to Blogger, I also really like the way that the new Blogger templates present photos. Just click on one in the body of the post, and you can see it larger without leaving the page. You can also click or scroll to any other photos in that post. I don't know if you have tried this handy dandy, lil feature when hopping around from post to post, but I think it's bloomin neato, especially for a guy who likes to feature numerous photos.

BTW this is the also old Raindrops site; I simply changed the name as well as the appearance. All of the old Raindrops posts are here; it's just the year+ posts while I was experimenting elsewhere that aren't present. I could have started a brand new Blogger blog rather than revive Raindrops but decided it was unnecessary.

While I have y'all here, I just might as well show you a photo or two. Eh?

Thesha and Nikki Dee at a recent baby shower

Cuppa on porch at Wheelers a few weeks ago on a nice day despite the snow. Since then we've had more snow and some cold weather, but the past few days have been milder, and the snow is disappearing.

Antique Thresher at Wheelers

Chainsaw Museum at Wheelers. This is fewer than half the total number of chainsaws on display.

Skis on the roof at Wheelers form some poor soul who had an errant ski jump

Her Turn

... and His Again Too

Although I took the camera over to get some new pics of him the other day, I did get some of her while he was sleeping and after he was up too: sorry, can't resist.

She was actually engaging with the camera a bit. Here ↓↓ she tries to make a sad face: which turned out to be funny.



And lookee here ↓↓ two pictures looking right at the camera and me not having to rush too very much before the millisecond became history.




Even outside, she condescended to glance my way. Maybe it's because she loves looking at herself in pictures, and she's beginning to connect cause and effect better. ↓↓




Two more of the blond, curly guy. ↓↓

Absorption

The kids seem to prefer watching videos on Buppa's old laptop more than the tv. Mind you, the upstairs tv isn't too much bigger than the laptop. They can get closer to the computer and seem to enjoy the experience. My laptop is old but it's a big screen (for a laptop), and it has decent speakers.

As Zach enjoyed his lengthy, midday slumber the girl enjoyed some video time. ↓↓



Really enjoyed it. ↓↓



Once they were both up and few, both kids watched clips of themselves for awhile. I had wandered into the other room to check email etc on Thesha's computer and was a little concerned to see them both sprawled on the table in an effort to get at or close to my laptop. Officially, "We were not amused," but unofficially, in our heart of hearts, we were. ↓↓



This is a representative clip of what they were viewing at the time. Nikki Dee was requesting singing videos. It took old Buppa awhile to figure out that she wanted to see a series of Thanksgiving videos like the one below. She was being a little manic at the time: really enjoying the attention, and she loves to watch herself, which I guess is typical of us all. ↓↓

Checking In

Still not in the mood to write or post much, it's at least time to check in with family members. On Saturday, we went on a little studio tour. Aside from two failed indoor attempts, this is the only picture that I have to offer from that day. Across the road from our first stop, the scene looked nice enough for a photo, and then the milk tanker came up the road to add a little interest. So I quickly snapped the photo while the truck was still in the frame.



Cuppa took this next picture of Nikki Dee playing in the rain last week.



Now, for quite a few more NIkke Dee photos. I took them just an hour or two ago after an unexpected sleepover. She always wants to sleepover; sometimes, as tired as we might me, we feel compelled to give in.

She decided she wanted to call Mommy and also talk to baby brother while she was at it.




Then she played with Mommy's old doll, Saranella, for awhile ...



... before stopping to pick her ever sore lip. Perhaps if she stopped picking, it would heal.



Then Cuppa had the bright idea to pose her in dresses that my mother had smocked for Thesha. Both our girls wore them at some point, but as Cuppa observed, Thesha was much more cooperative about posing. In Nikki Dee's defense, the dresses were a bit snug, but she really would have made the session difficult regardless.




I know; all of the recent grandkid photos are of her and not him. I will attempt to rectify that in the near future, but it is she who is more of an age to spend time with Amma and Buppa. It's just the way it is.

In Passing

I seem to have hit a bit of a dry spell with regards to blogging. It happens. As Thanksgiving weekend is upon us, and I'm not sure what we'll be doing or where we'll be going, I can't say that new posts are likely to rain down anytime soon. You never know though.

I have two pics to leave with you, however. Nobody around here seems very healthy lately, so when we dropped by the other day, Nikki Dee required a cuddling. It wasn't long before she was snoring on my shoulder. I wasn't quite able to join her in Slumberland, but I was giving it my all.

I Want to be in the Frame Too

All week long, I've been posting pictures of our Saturday walk through Mill of Kintail. Now, I wants me some attention too. So, just to prove I was there, here is a sequence of Nikki Dee attempting to climb a tree stump. She has had this climbing business on the brain more about a year and a half now, ever since she saw Jungle Book. There's a part where Mowgli and Bagheera climb a tree to supposedly sleep safely, and she has wanted to do this ever since. Some of you longtimers (notice that I didn't call you oldtimers) may recall me posting her attempts way back when.

Here's a stump that looks climb-able, Buppa.

But I guess I need a little help.

I'm up, but I want to stand.

That's really nice, but now ...

... I want to sit ...

... and just feel smug.

Just Her

I am continuing with pictures of our ramble through the Mill of Kintail last Saturday: these of just Nikki Dee. I presume you can tell that the girl is an active and fun sort.

Two Loves

I love me five women, or make that four women and one girl child. At the Mill of Kintail the other day, I was able to take lots of pics of two of these great loves: the oldest and the youngest. These two adore each other almost as much as I adore them. Separated my almost exactly sixty years, they share a joy of life. The older of the two is especially to be raised on a pedestal just now — for making me three apple pies! I'll present the photos without further comment except to say the the last is my fave; sometimes (and not often in my opinion) black and white conversion is just the ticket.

Windows and Doors

It had been quite awhile since we had Nikki Dee for a sleepover, so Friday night was it. We took her out for breakfast on Saturday morning and then for a walk at Mill of Kintail before taking her back home. Cuppa and I both took loads of pictures, so you can expect a few photo blogs this week. The theme of this post is Windows and Doors.

There is a little cabin along the path to the museum. Nikki thought it was pretty exciting to get hoisted up and see me below with the camera.

A window in the museum (or the former Tait house). I have desaturated the brickwork to almost black and white.

This side door must go down into a kitchen of sorts because the ladies auxiliary serves tea and goodies from out of here on Saturdays during summer.

Behold we stand at the door and knock. I also converted the stonework to black and white. I love this one.