Ta Da --

I've been looking for a new laptop for a while - my old behemoth (7.5 lb) has served me well for 3+ years, seeing hard use every day.  It was so heavy because I wanted extra graphics capability, and not too long ago the hard drive crashed and I wound up putting around $400 into it.  But it's still acting weird and a little glitchy so . . . 

Here it is!  An ASUS Zenbook Ultrabook Prime.  It only weighs a little over 3 lb., the display is absolutely gorgeous, and it runs Photoshop waaay faster than the older one.  Only problem:  the type on the menus, tools, etc. is very tiny.  Fortunately, I've done PS for long enough so that I don't have to get eyestrain from searching for things, and maybe this is the push I've needed to finally learn the darned keyboard shortcuts.  

I've spent the past two days getting things set up and moving necessary files over and getting the old laptop (Toshiba Satellite -- still recommended for someone who wants a full-size laptop) ready for presentation to the mister, who really wants it.

In the meantime, I've been processing more dahlias:

I like this one, because it's grungy but still pretty colorful.  It's another one for which the background was pretty cluttered and texturing it really saved it.  I also like this one:  

Linkup to Flower Art Friday

I think the green really sets the flower off, doesn't it?

I also want to give a big welcome to the new followers that have come over from A Rural Journal.  Though this is a smaller community than Nancy's, I love hearing from you and hope you find something interesting or enjoyable here.  And tomorrow the giveaway (on Nancy's site) closes!

Oh yes, I want to start a photography meme very soon, so stay tuned for that!