New Photo Software

Icy's exquisite art looks intriguing.

I liked the results so much I wanted to try my hand at using the photo editing tools. She has done some very creative things with her photos and I tried to download one of the software programs she suggested but it held my computer hostage for the entire evening. At about 7:00 pm I downloaded the program and only uploaded one picture to play with. I asked it to crop the photo.

The following morning the same picture was still sitting there and the changes had not taken place. Every time I tried to close the program I received error messages warning that if I preceded with closing I may lose my picture. I finally took a chance and closed it and have not attempted to use the program since. It's not Icy's fault that I am just computer illiterate. :-) She makes noble attempts to educate me, but to really educate me would probably be a full time job!! :-)
Walmarts prints approximately 250 pictures to one disc along with an index card showing you which prints are on the disc. It is a Kodak disc and comes with Kodak EasyShare software so I decided to try it. First of all it saved all my pictures in quadruplicate so I have lots to play with. Here are my changes to the same photo.
The first is the original, and bear in mind this is before I discovered the macro feature.

The second is using color balance. I used the "forest" feature. It brightens the colors. The third is called "spotlight." Notice how it calls attention or "spotlights" the center of the picture?

The fourth picture is simply cropped.
Unfortunately, this program does not have a feature to embed your photos with your name. My camera has a program to do that. But once I have moved the photos I cannot put them back into the program to use the feature. It is simply an inexpensive Olympus FE 210 with 7.l mega pixels.

The subject of this photo is Queen Annes Lace, and the humble flower is showing it's resilience by growing in an abandoned asphault parking lot. The same resilience it demonstrates here, it demonstrates in it's ability to help us preserve our health. For more on the history of the flower and it's health benefits you can read here, if you would like.

Take care & God bless. Life is good when we partake of God's gifts to us and He is truly generous with His gifts.

God has a sense of humor!

You say week ends. I say week begins.

Why do we call them week ends? Why not week "begins"? Saturday ends the week. Sunday begins the next. Kind of like a glass being half full or half empty. Both is right, but half full is better! The two days between the work weeks end and begin our weeks.

But where do they go?

Whether they end or begin our week, they certainly go by quickly. I had four of my grandchildren all day on Saturday, and took three of them home, keeping Makii overnight to attend church with me Sunday. He is a delightful five year old with a mischievous twinkle in his hazel colored eyes and a fun spirit.

Grandchildren are always an adventure.

I finally settled him in to bed the night before, after reading three stories and tucking him in repeatedly. Then I decided to vacuum and I caused the lights to go out. A terrified little guy was determined not to rest then but to follow me through the dark house as I lit a candle and found my way through the dark to my circuit breaker box in the basement. Once the lights were safely back on, we went through the night time ritual again, then the prayers, the kiss and hug and finally off to sleep. As far as I know he did not stir the entire night.

We are all dressed up and ready to go.

In the morning after breakfast and washing up he donned his big boy suit, and with smiling face eagerly jumped in the back seat of grandma's car to attend Sunday services. He carried with him a brightly colored green and turquoise colored gift bag I had placed crayons and a coloring book in to help occupy him during the sermon. He quietly colored as I followed the scripture reading in my Bible. Soon I heard a few stifled snickers. Our pastor had a grin kind of tugging on his face, and some of the church ladies were looking some where near me.

What are they laughing at?

I turned to follow their eyes and saw my grandson wearing his little buttoned up shirt and tie with vest and a very serious look on his innocent little face, but he had turned the gift bag upside down over his head like a hat. The handles loosely drooped below his ears. I shrugged my shoulders at the pastor and the ladies. I shot a serious look at Makii and gestured for him to remove the bag. It was so hard not to laugh. He was/is a precious sight.

They shook his hand and congratulated him on good behavior.

You know God has a sense of humor, after all he has instilled it within His children, large and small. Church members pumped his hand as we left after the service and told him what a "good" little boy he was and thanked him for coming with me. Of course, Grandma had a gentle talk with Makii while driving him home about the way we should behave in church.

This was the beginning of my week. How about yours?

The above pictured church is found here. My friend, Chan Lee Peng has published two articles showing some of the most beautiful churches in the world. You can view them by clicking here or here. He has captured some of the most amazing architecture found anywhere. Here are just two of them. Enjoy!

Wordless Wednesday - Vivid Yellow

Funnies

There's a new site "in town" (internet town). Is there such a thing? Well, anyway one can subscribe to humorous cartoons and get them sent directly to their email.

I don't have the time to subscribe to one more thing, :-) but fortunately for me I have a friend who does so he sent me a handful of funnies. If you want to subscribe here is the link
Click and register. If not, join me and get a chuckle. Laughter really is good medicine.

Wordless Wednesday - Curb Appeal

I'm a Bargain Junkie!

O-k, I'll admit it. I'm a bargain junkie!

I'm trying to work my way through it. I even researched it for an article. I share some of the things I learned in Bargain Junkies, but I'm not cured.

I've learned to be more careful, and generally do not buy anything unless it serves a purpose, even if it is buy one get one free. There are some products you don't need one of let alone two.

My youngest is now 23. He left home just a few years ago, and I frequently am lucky enough to have a grandchild spending the night. I've been busy turning his old bedroom into a spare room. We've given the queen bed away to our daughter and now have a twin bed sitting in it's place.

This room has become the catch all for a pile of books and my exercise equipment. How can I make it neater and more organized? This has been on my mind while making my bargain hunting expeditions, and I happened upon this beautiful hand made head board for $5.00. It took me a few days to get it delivered, but, as you can see, here it is. I'm quite happy with my bargain. I have placed the twin bed on those funny looking triangular shaped platforms so I can stash my trampoline under the bed. The grand kids love jumping on it too. (better that than the bed!)

I found this flower marked down to $1.00 at Home Depot. Pretty, huh? Maybe this wasn't a must have, but I'm enjoying it. My kids laugh about my bargain hunting expeditions, but they have enjoyed quite a few of my finds too.

Take care and God bless.

Wordless Wednesday - Gnomeland