Stormy Weather

[marthe]

I don't have much sun or aspiration inspiration....but i do own my own house....

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-12433168

Yes, California is having a hard time now and it's an expensive place to live. Our son, who is in his mid-twenties, has been living in San Francisco for two years trying to keep body and soul together. And he's a renter not a home owner! Still, there are advantages beyond the good weather and wonderful scenery. The state university system is excellent (UCLA, Berkeley), the arts thrive in SF, and food is very good, especially fresh produce. Wine country is close by as well.

@Salymap: We're having cottage pie tonight. This is wonderful comfort food to take the edge off a damp and chilly day.

[antongould]

We caught a whiff of Spring for 63 minutes yesterday now the steady grey drizzle has returned! Any other sightings?

[Richard Tarleton]

We caught a whiff of Spring for 63 minutes yesterday now the steady grey drizzle has returned! Any other sightings?

Goldcrests singing around the garden today. They (and grasshopper warblers in a couple of months' time) are my annual hearing test to see how my upper register is holding up.

[eighthobstruction]

Yes the leaves of wood anemone are showing, soon on the block the leaves of ransomes/wild garlic

[marthe]

Snow flakes are flying just now.

[Serial_Apologist]

Spring will come when Eudaimonia returns to this board...

[Eudaimonia]

Thanks SA! Oh jeez...Now you've done it!

You might say I've been feeling a little less than springy these days, so am sitting tight, holed up in my hibernaculum until I feel like being cheery again. My dirty little secret is I had another birthday, which I'm sure is part of it. Oh well! Happens to the best of us, and at least it's not glaringly obvious which one!

I'm getting my replacement computer fixed up this evening--and am sure having my music editing software and Adobe Creative Suite up and running will go a long way toward fixing me. Feeling a bit grey and forlorn at the moment, but hey-- it's halfway to March!

Here's a picture of grape hyacinths in the snow, which is as nice a metaphor as one could wish...cheers!

[MrGongGong]

whats your audio editor of choice ?
I've been using the mac beta of Audition which is mighty nostalgic for those of us who used cooledit
and am liking it very much indeed !

[Serial_Apologist]

Hi Euda!

Twenty-one, are you?

[Eudaimonia]

MG-G: I've tried some demos of expensive programs-- but would you believe I still use Audacity? Maybe because I got used to working with it, but it does the job. And it's free, so I don't have to feel guilty about using a pirate. Mainly, I record voice-over sound samples for electronic music composers, but I also do quite a bit of late-night noodling with combinations of sound textures...more experimental orchestration exercises than anything serious. It's satisfying to hear something you've made, though!

AUDACITY

http://download.cnet.com/Audacity/3000-2170_4-10058117.html

http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

S-A: Yeah, twenty-one like Dorian Gray.

Perhaps Wilde merely neglected to mention that his protagonist supplemented his debauched lifestyle with a daily dose of elderberry extract and vitamin B12. haha! Fun fact: did you know that Gray was supposed to look 18 years younger than his real age? Well, considering that someone recently asked me if I were playing for the Columbia tennis team...er, no comment.

[MrGongGong]

MG-G: I've tried some demos of expensive programs-- but would you believe I still use Audacity? Maybe because I got used to working with it, but it does the job. And it's free, so I don't have to feel guilty about using a pirate. Mainly, I record voice-over sound samples for electronic music composers, but I also do quite a bit of late-night noodling with combinations of sound textures...more experimental orchestration exercises than anything serious. It's satisfying to hear something you've made, though!
:

If that's your bag , have you used audiomulch ? it's not free but a tremendous tool very easy to learn and great for endless nooodling
:-)

[Eudaimonia]

Nope, haven't seen it, but I'll check it out now...thanks!

[marthe]

Halfway through February and today is sunny and windy as a March day. Temps well above freezing. Snow drops out but no Grape Hyacinths yet...next month.

[salymap]

Some washed out little crocus bulbs are popping up amongst the decaying Bramleys at the bottom of what was my garden. Also some bluebells, of one kind or another. Soon the shrubs will make everything look better when they come into leaf,then flower.Forsythia, Ribes [flowering current],dogwood, Wygelia. I hope they have survived this long winter.

[marthe]

Saly,what a lovely collection of flowering shrubs! I'm sure they've survived and will bring great joy when they're in bloom. The snow has melted in part of my garden and I'm anxiously looking for signs of life among the perennials! Today I pruned my two Japanese maples. They're looking quite "wick" as Dickon would say in the "Secret Garden". No signs of crocus yet but I'm pleased that my Hellebore seedlings (and the mother plants) survived the winter. Snow actually makes a very good mulch. Cold again tomorrow but warming up towards the end of the week. Spring is on its way!