The Butterfly on Siberian Squill

Butterfly on Siberian Squill
April 2, 2010

We visited the grandbabies over the Easter weekend. Oldest grandbaby and I took our cameras out to take a few pictures. Between their house and the neighbours house there was a huge patch of Siberian Squill so we stopped to enjoy their beauty. A small butterfly flitted around the flowers then landed just long enough for me to get this picture.

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

Wordless Wednesday - A Bit of Water Art

Water Art
February 19, 2010

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

Lazy Day

The Cabin
November 10, 2008

Today has been about as lazy as it gets and for good reason. Yesterday I woke with an ear ache so took the initial steps to get relief. By evening it was obvious that hadn't worked as the symptoms increased so went onto using hydrogen peroxide. This morning I realized it was getting worse instead of better so increased the hydrogen peroxide and my husband is picking up antibiotic ear drops on his way home. So I really haven't felt like doing much.

Much of the day has been spent analysing our energy usage on PowerSaverPlus and playing with Photoshop®. I do the energy analysis each fall just to see how well we have done in our goal to reduce our energy consumption over the past year. I'll be blogging about that late tonight on my homemaking blog but in the mean time I am very happy to report our energy usage (electricity, natural gas) is almost half that of the average home! In reality our energy usage is less than half but it's nice to know we are on the right track and I like being able to get a few more tips to add to our winter home improvement to do list.

I admit to being a computer multi-tasker. Just ask my husband! I was working in Photoshop® for this picture while dropping on Entrecard, reading email, doing the energy audit and doing several searches. I played with several filters on the original picture of the cabin using several layers. I like the overall effect. Photoshop® never ceases to amaze me!

Garden Gnome
©2006-2008

Photoshop® For Real Life

Oops!
November 26, 2008

Anyone who reads this blog or my other blogs have already seen a lot of Photoshop® in action. I use this program daily which I still find rather amazing considering up to a couple of years ago I used it solely for resizing photos. It all started with wanting to make a custom blinkie. You know those little blinking graphics on websites and blogs with cute little sayings? Since then I have come a long way with my latest Photoshop® achievement being creating a rather humourous photo at the request of my husband using three different photos and several techniques. Unfortunately I cannot post the actual picture here because it shows the three musketeer aka hunters with the deer behind them all put onto a different background. I must say I am rather pleased with myself! Next to that I'm rather pleased at how the new backgrounds and headers came out for my blogs. Since so many have asked how, I put the method I used on my homemaking blog. I still have to do a fully customized background for my cooking blog but the header is custom made. Making the backgrounds and headers were so easy to do that I will be using this method quite often in the future.

What I really need is Photoshop® For Real Life as you can see from the oops. With a few clicks this mess would have been cleaned up from the comforts of my desk. My desk would always be tidy and the house would always be in order. I could click away any physical imperfections and have perfect hair every day of the week. I could change the colour of our rooms at whim, add accessories as desire and quickly click away any problems. Those grey November days could be warmed up with a couple of clicks to add bright sunshine and a filter to warm the tones. I wouldn't have to buy new clothes or shoes because a click or two I could have a different outfit every day. A click or two would mean perfect food at least visually all the time. No more crooked muffins. Now think about all the possibilities. Yep, I'm convinced I need Photoshop® For Real Life so it's on my Christmas list this year.

Garden Gnome
©2006-2008

the wall

Wall Composition
May 9, 2008

I'm not going to disclose the meaning of this composition. All I'm going to say is I really love Photoshop! Those who know me well will likely be able to decipher it. My husband could tell you the meaning right off the bat as could likely my kids. Quiet reflection may reveal the meaning behind...not likely but maybe.

Garden Gnome
©2007

paradyme shift

The Messenger
April 28, 2008

Last week was trouble with a capital T with a stress level high enough to make the most patient person turn the air blue. It all started quite innocently with me taking a walk about the gardens. As always my camera was safely tucked in my hand because you never know when a photo opportunity will arise. Spotting the beautiful blooms on this bush, I just had to take a picture. The bush sits in front of one of the lower level windows, the only one with a window well. The reason for the well is that is were they put a sewer clean-out. There is the window well sat a good portion of the red jello I had flushed down the toilet! Silly me put the cap back on the clean-out and ran a load of laundry resulting in a bit of a water blow-up in the upper level washroom and a window well full of soapy . Well it was all down hill from there. A flurry of phone calls got the plumber and backhoe operator out. More frantic phones were made to get line locates before digging. With the prospect of being with indoor toilets, laundry or bath facilities we had to make quick temporary arrangements. Adding to the stress was the prep work of two larger get togethers we were hosting Saturday. The first one was to great our newest grandbaby into our expanding family (54 expected), followed by a family dinner and finally my husband's poker games (30 - 35 expected). On top of that I was forced into a rather difficult decision that left me both hurt and saddened but in my heart I know it was the right decision. Just when I thought I was at my breaking point, something amazing happened. My sense of humour as warped as it can be kicked in. A sense of humour can be a huge blessing and so it was for me last week.

Every time I looked in the mirror I gave myself a quick smile. I made sure to get my daily 30 minutes of walking in even though I didn't feel like it. I went out of my way to find something, anything to make me smile or laugh. Instead of my normal HGTV or FoodNetwork watching I purposely turned to the comedy shows. I even decided to research a bit on an Apple product (iPod Touch) on of my kids recommended instead of a new PDA, not that I was seriously considering updating. Every time something negative happens I forced myself to take 10 deep breaths while chanting this too shall pass. By the time the kids with grandbabies in tow arrived I was in a right chipper mood.

My family brings me great deal joy. They are my most cherished blessing! Oldest grandbaby (16 months) is a true treasure much like one of her parents aka both (one biological, one through marriage) our pride and joys. Now oldest grandbaby discovered youngest grandbaby (1 month) who I think looks like the parent who married into the family but who is very much considered one of out kids but others think the baby looks like our kid. Little Miss Sunshine (oldest) is used to being the one and only so it was interesting when grandpa held the youngest and the oldest insisted on being up on his lap as well. She snuggled up to grandpa then every once in awhile would plant a soft kiss on the baby, something she has just learned. Talk about adorable! Grandma's camera was in high gear. Then when grandma held the baby all of a sudden grandma's lap was the place to be for the oldest. We ended up with a lot of precious, precious pictures! I couldn't help but being a bit saddened at the thought that this too shall pass and yet marvel at watching these two little ones, each their own personalities and blossoming surrounded by an abundance of love.

PS, the iPod Touch is now en route so I will be able to blog a bit while on vacation. I post about both shortly. Oh and the boat is down with this year's maiden journey enjoyed yesterday.

Garden Gnome
©2007

TGIF

Tulips
May 3, 2007

It's been one of those very stressful and expensive (dentist & dermatologist) week so I'm looking forward to the weekend. The boat is in the water ready for her maiden voyage of the 2007 season. The weather is promising to be warm and sunny so perhaps tomorrow we will take her out. Tonight we are going to a dinner theatre featuring a nice meal of salmon or roast beef with all the fixings including soup or salad and desert. After the meal we will be able to bust our sides laughing to the comedy this troupe puts out. We haven't missed one of their shows in quite a few years and it is always a treat to see the newest production. To all my readers I wish you wonderful, peaceful and relaxing weekend!

Turmoil

Clouds with Filters

This photo is actually one of the clouds posted earlier this week. Out of frustration to get some type of picture that actually portrayed more of how I feel today, I played with Photoshop. It was a way for me to calm down, collect my bearings and get back to life. I think it shows some of my turmoil and frustration in a rather interesting way.

Today would have been one of the best rants since I had the Examination for Discovery from the defense lawyer today. I bit my tongue so many times during the lovely, lLet's get to know you questioning for two and a half hours. I did not breakdown, curse or kill him so that's likely a very good thing especially since this is likely the first of at least one more if not two bonding opportunities with the balding, overweight, heart attack waiting to happen defense lawyer to whom I have to explain every detail of my life. My lawyer said I handled everything very professionally. What came out in this though is my lawyer is now launching a second lawsuit against the insurance company to run concurrent with the first lawsuit. All I could think about was "Oh goodie, like I'm not stressed enough!". I really need to get away from this.

So, even though it is not Sunday, I'm going to blog my blessings from today. All in all, my conduct and answers were professional without getting emotional, snotty, sarcastic or my temper in an uproar. Every time I felt I was going to explode, I just looked out the window and counted to ten. I saw the birds flitting through the rain, the rain beading on the window panes and the vivid green behind the green. All the signs of spring gave me the strength to do what I had to do today. For that I am truly blessed!

April's Moon

Moon
April 9, 2007

The skies have been so cloudy lately so I just had to take the opportunity to take a photo of the moon again. The first picture came out so the background was almost black but the the moon was fuzzy. The second was similar but a bit better. Finally I got this shot and because I'm playing with new brushes for Photoshop by Obsidian Dawn I did a little embellishing. I need to play with these brushes a bit more.

New Blog Your Blessings Sunday Banner

I was playing in Photoshop this morning and decided to make my own "Blog Your Blessings Sunday" sign. I hope you like it. The past week has been eventful with a few serious decisions to be made. Still we found time for love and laughter. For that I'm grateful.

Last Week's Blessings

1. family support - emotionally
2. close family relationship
3. new life in the garden - lemon balm, chives, thyme, rhubarb
4. beautiful skies
5. chatting with an elderly couple in a retirement home
6. being able to donate clothes to charity
7. compliments from new visitors to our home
8. finding a good real estate agent
9. digital camera
10. only 2 hrs 20 minutes in dentist chair
    

Photoshop Shimmering Water Art

Shimmering Water II

I've been using the same picture of the water to see what different effects I can get using Adobe Photoshop. This latest effect is called slats. It is a perfect effect for certain images that will be scrapbooked. The technique presented a few problems but finally I got it to work. When the slats were finished I pulled a colour from the picture. It looked fine but I thought it would look better with a couple of filters and beveled edges. Looking at it this morning it could use framing as well.

Scrapbooking is a natural extension of genealogy. Most genealogy conventions have a booth section where you can buy genealogy resources. There is usually at least one scrapbooking booth. Needless to say, I got into scrapbooking as well using the traditional method. Then I started using fonts in Microsoft Word to create custom titles. Somewhere along the line I discovered I could make custom designed paper and then started into using digital with traditional scrapbooking methods. From there I picked up up scrapbooking software not realizing everything Adobe Photoshop could do. Silly me had been using it for resizing my photos only. I started discovering what I could do with this program when I wanted to learn animation. I have to say I'm amazed. Once I get a couple more techniques figured out and become more comfortable working with it, I'll move onto my first digital scrapbook layout using Photoshop. I will also be able to tweak all the photos being used for genealogy. Who said and old dog couldn't learn new tricks?

Stormy Skies

Stormy Sky

This photo was taken during a stormy spell last fall. I thought the sky looked magnificent! It shows the anger of what could be yet the promise of the peace to come.

Golden Glow

The sunset was gorgeous a couple of nights ago so I took several pictures. I took several pictures throughout the day. The sun was so bright giving beautiful contrast between the water and ice. This was the same day that Shimmering Water was taken. We are so very fortune to be able to enjoy such beauty!

Garden Gnome
© 2007

Old Dog New Tricks?

I love blinkies but wanted to design my own except the most I've used Photoshop for was a bit of tinkering with pictures mainly resizing and I had no idea I had Image Ready! So last night I went online and found three tutorials then proceeded to try working my way through them. I managed to get the gif to flash between two colours but no text or anything else. That brought a whole new meaning to pulling out my hair so about 3 am I headed off to bed. This morning it dawned on me that I might not be linking the layers correctly so set about trying again. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you my very first, custom made blinkie! It's nothing fancy but it is a start. Now I've taught myself the basics, I'll be able to fine tune for sizing and blinking style. And who said you couldn't teach an old dog new tricks?