While the winds of March are blowing, it's comforting to know that we'll be opening the pool in about eight weeks. I'm not much of a pool person, but the Hobbitt is a regular water sprite. Last year, I bought her a wet suit so she could begin using the pool while the water was still a bit nippy.

Here's a picture of the Hobbitt in the pool. I was experimenting with a process that looks like a collage, with bits of colored paper pasted on a white background. Doing this on the computer is a lot easier than fiddling around with scissors, paper, and paste. It's less messy, and you can keep working at it without worrying about the paste drying or cutting yourself with the scissors. In addition, it's easy to produce lots of variations.

I was also testing a new digital camera that has a 12x zoom lens and an image stabilizer that helps to eliminate camera shake -- two features that you won't find on the fancy digital reflexes with interchangeable lenses. I'd mention the make and model of my camera, but it's already been replaced by a newer version.