One of our greatest talents is the ability to articulate joy. We all have this talent – it is not rare thankfully. Though fleeting in some lives. But just because it is a common talent, recognising joy, does not mean that it is of lesser value. I find that lift of the heart so frequent and usually, it is in the smallest of things. Three calves surging like young racehorses across the field. Molly the sow grizzling because Sheila stole her bed. Selling two hogs instead of the usual one meaning there is no hog left alone in the cold. And even luckier for me I am able and willing to capture some of my joyous moments in an image and share them with you. This doubles the joy factor.
I was feeling quite grim there for a while – in fact, I was feeling a little like a dartboard in a noisy pub full of strangers. Unable to join in and getting sharp objects thrown at me at regular intervals. But the workload is lifting, people are settling into independence again and I have my new camera and a trip home to my own family just around the corner.
A new camera would be like getting a new tool to many people but I feel as though I have been given a new eye. yesterday I was SEEING again. A new and rich and eminently achievable challenge. The richness I have discovered in my new Christmas Camera is delicious.
Mr X, my Fujifilm X30, has a knack for capturing rich colour where I only saw ordinary. With the correct settings it gives me a great depth of field (the area that is in focus) even up on the porch in the darkish corner where the cats and dogs have their beds I found a quilt of colours and textures. 
BooBoo again. Where Ton will race out to get into the background of photographs, Boo will be in the foreground.
The lens is sharp.
We had entered the very low light of dusk when Sheila came to the husk tangled gate to say hullo and gloat a little as Molly cried in the background too afraid to go into either of the beds. They will settle down. Though Sheila is still feeling towey. And dare I say it: a bit bitchy. She will relent soon and once Molly relaxes they will sleep together and keep each other warm for the winter.
I had been warned that this camera does not perform well in low light but the settings are easy to change and it captured all the information I needed.
Look at that sunset. (above) A perfect fade of colour into the sky.
Beautiful contrast, and I am only just beginning to work out what this camera can do.
Yesterday was below freezing all day. Cold. Cold. Everything frozen – I carried many buckets of warm water to the pigs and bales of straw to their beds.
I hope you have a lovely day.
Love celi
WEATHER: We get above freezing in the afternoon. That is good. I will run the hoses and milk the cow during that period. Maybe even a little snow overnight.
Friday 12/08 0% / 0 in
Plentiful sunshine. High 36F. Winds SW at 10 to 20 mph.
Friday Night 12/08 60% / < 1 in
Cloudy with periods of snow after midnight. Low 24F. Winds WSW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of snow 60%. Snow accumulations less than one inch.
Sun
7:05 am 4:24 pm
Moon
Waning Gibbous, 70% visible 10:20 pm 11:25 am
The Kitchen's Garden 
50 responses to “RICH”
This was a wonderful, heart-warming way to start my day and just what I needed. Thank you.
You are so very welcome – i hope your day continues to be a good one
I imagine Sheila and Molly will sleep happily together when Molly accepts who’s boss!
She was literally doing her high pitched complaining whiny whine at Sheila – hopefully she gives up soon: it is getting cold
Ha ha – I’m sure the cold will get the better of both of them!
The Fuji’s low light sensitivity may not be as good as new top of the range Nikons and Canons (which are extraordinary), but it does look like the chip is better than that of the D80.
I am so cheered that you are more cheerful with lovely adventures to anticipate, and John & the Matriarch gave the perfect Christmas gift to bring you joy. The photos Are truly amazing, the colors so very rich – indeed!
yes i think so – not washed out anymore
So glad you are feeling better. I love your blog and it gives joy to my day. God bless and stay warm.
Oh thank you – the gift of giving joy is very special indeed
Oooo, nice photos! Great to see you finding such joy in your new camera. Thanks for sharing!
Hope your winter is settling in – we must make some bangles soon!
Oh my! The colors are amazing. What fabulous photos.
I love the ones of Sheila
The new camera does capture colours and just a little bit more of something in the pictures. I LOVE the picture of booboo, such a handsome boy!
Boo sitting still for a change too!!
Wow! Not knowing too much about photography, it is amazing to see the clarity of the pictures with the new camera! So crisp and clear! And the fading sunset is gorgeous! 🙂
Yes – I love how the sunset is fading – often with other digital images you get a infinitesimal line between the shades – it has always annoyed me.
The photo of the cat asleep in her bed is amazing, colour and textures! Black and white leaves me cold, both photos and movies ( which I refuse to watch). This is a self criticism and absolutely not directed at you at all. I am so pleased to see joy creeping around the edges of your stress at last. Laura
I adore Black and White – it takes all the clamour out of a shot for me – JOhn not so much – he is with you.
WOW! First – Hi Boo! Love that face. That camera captures great color and texture! Sheila’s nose – I can almost feel the moist warm breath from it and hear that low grunt of hers! It even captured that small glint in her eye on the 1st image. I just love playing with different camera equipment. In my B&W darkroom class (I took that class 4 times because it was non-credit stuff) we all made pin hole cameras in old cigar boxes. THAT was exciting….. I miss the smell of developer and toner. 😦
Oh YES!! I LOVE that smell. I miss it too –
The photographs are lovely!
Brenda – hullo! and thank you.. c
glorious photos and joyful happy words…..you will be with your family soon!
Yes – I have finally got the suitcase out –
Crisp and vivid and full of depth. Amazing how different the same image can look from two different cameras. Shows you how much I know or not… so pleased that you are feeling better, the gift, the growing excitement of an upcoming trip. Emerging out of the gloam. We had a welcome sight last night outside, two inches of snow! It was so pretty coming down. All the conditions came together to produce a very unusual event. The sun is out now and it will be gone by end of day, but a very nice memory to store away.
Two inches is a lot! Must have been so pretty.
That camera takes fab photos! I’m glad your feeling more like your old self. 👍 Is that grey hair I see on boo boo’s face? 😳
He is a gold and silver dog – it is the blue heeler side.
Holy Mackerel! The difference between a charcoal sketch and a full-on painting! Both are beautiful in their on rights. Way to go, Miss C!