Author: Aynaria

Relearning Final Cut Pro

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A little over a month ago, I purchased a bird feeder. I have a lot on our property; however, the one I bought also has video, and since then, I’ve been able to view their livestream daily from the comfort of my home. I liked that bird feeder so much that I purchased another feeder, and about two weeks ago, I bought another.

I’ve found myself uploading videos daily to a YouTube channel dedicated to my bird feeders, and because of that, I’ve had to brush up on video editing. Now granted, my video editing skills weren’t the greatest; however, it got me by enough to create videos that I’d send to family; however, since I have not actively posted any video content since my daughter was about five years old, I’ve found that I have a whole lot to learn. I must say that I’m enjoying the experience. Initially, I used iMovie; however, I still felt limited, so I opened up FinalCut Studio. I purchased that software at the end of last year to relearn it, but then I encountered some unexpected obstacles, and my “downtime” became non-existent. However, since things are slowly starting to settle down and I desperately need to have a way that I can decompress daily, I thought video editing would be the perfect outlet for me.

I typically post a video at 6:00 a.m. daily and schedule the footage a day ahead. This weekend, I’m hoping to schedule videos for at least one week ahead. If I get two weeks knocked out, that would be even better; however, that might be too lofty a goal. Regardless, I’m enjoying relearning Final Cut Pro and sharing my love of bird-watching with others.

Spay Day

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Yoki, my working-line German Shepherd, had her spay surgery today. I dropped her off at 7:00 a.m., and the vet called me at 11:30 a.m. to inform me that the surgery had gone well. When I picked Yoki up around 4:45, she was delighted to see me. Of course, she has to wear the cone of shame.

She’s still feeling the effects of the medication. She was subdued today. I hung out with her for several hours. She ate a small meal, is now wearing her cone, and is placed in her large kennel. I have the Impact dog crates; they are pricey but worth the investment and very roomy for sleeping and hanging out.

I wasn’t planning on spaying Yoki

I had no intention of spaying her. I read the pros and cons and was leaning towards not getting it done; however, she was a tad aggressive to our other dog when she went through her first heat cycle—something we’d never seen before. After that, we monitored their interactions, and I waited to see how she would react. During her next heat cycle, she still acted similarly, and so once she turned two years old, I scheduled her surgery.

Outdoor Yardwork

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The past few weeks have been extremely busy as I’ve been tending to my gardens. I held off on a lot of planting because last month we got a lot of rain; fast-forward to the end of May and into June, and we are on the other end and not getting enough rain. Sigh… I’m hoping that we get decent rain very soon.

In addition to planting, I’ve also added a few more outdoor bird feeders with videos. I’ve been enjoying watching the birds immensely. I have always enjoyed watching birds, and I find it to be extremely relaxing. We also added bird baths, which brings more birds to the yard than the actual bird food. I’ll be sure to post pictures soon.

I chopped off my hair

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A few Friday’s ago, I cut off most of my hair. It was very long, past my kneecaps, and now, it might be one-half an inch. My head feels so much lighter now. I knew that my long hair had a lot of weight; however, I did not know how much that was until it was gone. What a difference. My hair grows fast, so I’m relishing the TWA (teeny weeny afro) while I can.

Happy Mother’s Day 2024!

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Two years ago, my mother passed away on Mother’s Day.

The anniversary of her death was May 8. It’s been a time of reflection and self-care; however, I enjoy life but miss my parents daily. We lost both of them in 20022, three months and nine days apart from each other. My mom passed away first, and my father died in August.

My parents would be happy with what my brother and I did. The gardens she loved still live on through me. I enjoy gardening, too. My flower garden now surpasses the one she had. Yesterday was a busy day outside doing yard work, and today, I’m taking it easy—resting up since I have a busy work week ahead.

I’m looking forward to a few packages arriving today: Chiagoo Twist Red Lace Interchangeable 5″ (13cm) knitting needles and the ChiaoGoo Twist Stainless Steel Interchangeable Set, 4-inch (10cm) Mini (mainly used for knitting delicate lace and sock needles). I’ve been a Hiya Hiya fan for many years; back then, I was looking at Hiya Hiya, ChiaGoo, and Signature knitting needles. I ultimately decided on Hiya Hiya based on a knitting blogger I followed; however, I’ve heard many good things about ChiaGoo and decided to try them. We’ll see which one I like the best. I wish all the mothers a wonderful day.

 

Edited to add…

I forgot to add that for Mother’s Day, my lovely daughter presented me with laminated flowers. She’d selected them from a few of my flower gardens and used the flower pressing kit she purchased a little while ago.

 

Another Donabe and Saturday Meal Prep

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Like many others, this past week has been extremely busy. However, I still made meals on some of those days and wisely prepped meals; it’s been a week of donabe cooking. Also myTagine-style (it’s like a skillet) Donabe Fukkura-san, which I purchased from Toiro Kitchen, arrived on Monday. It was handmade in Iga, Japan. I love its shape and have made three clay pot meals in my newest donabe. I’ll prepare meals in at least one of my clay pots this weekend. Recently, because of how busy I have been with work, the weekends have become my time to catch up and knock out a lot of meal prep.

Since I’m home for the rest of the day, I plan to take it easy… besides doing some meal prep. In a few hours, I plan to make lasagna and flautas.

Early this morning, I ordered more meal prep glass containers, which arrived a few hours later. Of course, I ordered them from Amazon.

My brother and nephew will be here tomorrow. I hope to have plenty of food prepped by that time, and of course, I’ll be sure to send them home with some home-cooked meals.

Over the weekend, I’ll be sure to find some time to take it easy.

Donabe Cooking

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For the past few weeks, I’ve been craving clay pot meals, and although I have a clay pot, I’m unsure where it could be. When my lovely daughter and I rearranged our entire home over months, it most likely got placed in a new location unless I accidentally gave it away.

 

Yokkaichi Banko-yaki Donabe Clay Pot – Elegant Autumn Leaf Earthenware Pot

It arrived this past Sunday. It’s a donabe handmade in Japan.

Since it arrived, I’ve already made two meals in my clay pot. I’ve always loved clay pot cooking.

Tagine-style Donabe Fukkura-san

I also have another donabe coming on Saturday. This type of donabe is mainly used for stir-frying and is handmade in Iga, Japan. I believe my first meal will be a Brussels sprout stir-fry.