Three Beautiful Things 12/18/12: Forearm Tripod, Sonie Arrived!, Everything but the Kitchen Sink

1.  So last Friday I was out at Delta Ponds taking pictures with my Sigma 18-200 mm lens and I was struggling, even with my left hand placed properly under my camera and lens, with keeping my camera still.  I didn't have my tripod and I didn't always have a solid object like a bridge rail to rest my camera on.  Suddenly I thought, "Hmmm.  How about my forearm."  I hoped it worked as I shot picture after picture using my forearm to stabilize my camera.  Today I looked at the nearly 400 pictures I took that day and I could see that using my forearm made a difference...as did resting my camera on a bridge railing and other solid things.  This is a great relief to me.  I think the clarity of my pictures taken of objects at a great distance will improve.

2.  Sonie arrived!  Her plane was a little late.  Her flight was not listed on the airport monitor.  A plane from San Francisco did come in at 2:30, her flight's ETA, and I thought she would be on it and she wasn't.  But I stayed calm.  I waited around.   I talked to a United agent about flights and arrivals and it all worked out and Sonie and I had a very good visit as I drove her to her mother's apartment.

3.  Okay.  I got the chicken out that I crock potted on Sunday.  On Monday I chopped up the meat and today I strained the broth.  I got rid of the bones, put some water in the broth in the crock pot, added the meat, brown rice, red pepper, celery, and green beans.  My hope was for a kind of chicken rice stew, not so much a soup, and I'll be darned:  it worked.  The Deke liked it, so did I, and we have enough of this thrown together concoction (is that redundant?) for more meals to come.