View at Picasa 19-Dec-2010 16:54, Panasonic DMC-LX5, 2.0, 5.1mm, 0.05 sec, ISO 400

View at Picasa 19-Dec-2010 16:54, Panasonic DMC-LX5, 2.0, 5.1mm, 0.04 sec, ISO 400

View at Picasa 19-Dec-2010 16:53, Panasonic DMC-LX5, 2.0, 5.1mm, 0.04 sec, ISO 400

We are also tree-sitting for some friends that are traveling over the holidays. The tree came with lights and we added some popcorn. Stringing popcorn takes a really long time.

View at Picasa 23-Dec-2010 22:29, Panasonic DMC-LX5, 2.6, 10.0mm, 0.077 sec, ISO 400

View at Picasa 24-Dec-2010 19:05, Panasonic DMC-LX5, 2.3, 7.5mm, 0.2 sec, ISO 400

Our gifts this year are luxuriously wrapped in ultra fine 100% cotton imported from the far east.

Last night we went to a Lessons and Carols service at the cathedral. It was amazing. The cathedral was packed with people. There were several Bible readings intermixed with wonderful choral and organ music that reverberated all around the stone arches and old wooden pews. Worshiping in that space is an awe inspiring experience. There were some intermittent mini snow blizzards during our walk to and from the cathedral which added to the festive winter atmosphere.

Other recent Christmas events have included a Recycke y’Bike Christmas dinner at a local Lebanese resturant, and a day trip Andrea and I took to Newcastle to pick up Andrea’s new Brompton (now in the correct colors) and to visit a large city park. The Recyke y’Bike dinner included lots of volunteers and board members. It was nice to meet other people involved with the project that aren’t often around the shop. We all enjoyed a bunch of wine that Raleigh had given as a gift to Recyke y’Bike.

View at Picasa 14-Dec-2010 21:47, Panasonic DMC-LX5, 2.0, 5.1mm, 0.067 sec, ISO 400

View at Picasa 14-Dec-2010 21:47, Panasonic DMC-LX5, 2.0, 5.1mm, 0.1 sec, ISO 400

Our trip to Newcastle was supposed to be a fun day trip, but we grossly underestimated how cold it would be and became quickly frustrated when a multitude of small, windy, unnamed streets left of us lost and scrambling for warmth in a department store. We eventually found the city park and were grateful that a cafe there was still open with hot tea and fish and chips. One highlight of the day was riding over a pedestrian bridge (white bridge behind us in the picture below) that curved out parallel with the Tyne river, instead of just going straight across.

View at Picasa 17-Dec-2010 13:10, Panasonic DMC-LX5, 2.5, 8.5mm, 0.001 sec, ISO 80

Tonight is the midnight Christmas eve service at our church, St. Cuthbert’s. It’s going to take a lot of cookies to keep me up that late. Better get started now!

Merry Christmas!

…tucked in full aero position with legs pumping furiously, I whizzed past pedestrians on my 3-speed basket bike cursing myself for not leaving enough time to get back to the train station. Little did I know then that in addition to running late, my cell phone was gone and I would soon be stranded on the side of the trail with no way to contact the person taking me to the station!

suspenseful music… suspenseful music…

For now, enjoy these videos (they’ve been up on my Vimeo site for a while, so you may have already seen them) of walking up Silver Street in Durham to the open air market that takes place every Saturday. The videos are a little jerky, so if Blair Witch Project was difficult for you, just watch the donut one at the end.

It’s been this crowded every time we’ve gone. There are also lots of construction projects happening at the moment, which exasperate the congestion.

This guy makes awesome donuts. 7 for a quid. I accidentally pulled out the wrong coin to pay, oops!

Vegetable #1

View at Picasa 21-Oct-2010 20:11, Panasonic DMC-LX5, 3.3, 19.2mm, 0.04 sec, ISO 400

Vegetable #2

View at Picasa 21-Oct-2010 20:12, Panasonic DMC-LX5, 3.3, 19.2mm, 0.05 sec, ISO 400

Vegetable #3
Andrea is pretty sure this is kale.

View at Picasa 21-Oct-2010 20:13, Panasonic DMC-LX5, 3.3, 19.2mm, 0.125 sec, ISO 400

To help with this transition, my 200G purchase included a free 4G SDHC Eye-Fi card. When I use the card in my camera, it automatically uploads the photos I take to Picasa.

Here are two photos I took and auto-uploaded to Picasa of some granola I made this afternoon:

View at Picasa 31-Jan-2010 16:15, Canon Canon PowerShot S3 IS, 2.7, 6.0mm, 0.025 sec

View at Picasa 31-Jan-2010 16:14, Canon Canon PowerShot S3 IS, 2.7, 6.0mm, 0.017 sec

So far the card has worked. There are settings to automatically upload to one of many online picture sites (including Flikr, Photobucket, etc) and/or to a personal computer.  You can also turn of the auto-upload and manually control when pictures are uploaded.

I was disappointed to find out that you can’t just use any wi-fi spot to upload, you have to setup each wireless network through your online Eye-Fi account before it will work. However, I think as long as you have some way of connecting to your account on the network you want to use (and you can connect your eye-fi card to the device you’re using to access the network) you can upload via any network. I will try it out at my sister’s house this evening.