Why I love Picnik!

Picnik is a photo editing program that is easy and fun to use. You can use it for free if you like or you can pay for it, like I do. I pay for it because I like the fun creative features and they are not all available if you use it for free.
So, anyway...
I found the pictures of the two little froggies that insisted on showering with Becky when we were at the ocean. It was difficult to take good pictures of them inside because the bathroom walls were very bright yellow! That is why I only took two pictures of them together.

Here are the original photos and with them are the edited versions that I edited through Picnik. So much fun!

Mothra

I seriously wanted a picture of this moth when he had his wings open. He doesn't look like much here with his wings closed. He is just a plain brown moth. I don't know what kind of moth he is, but when he opens his wings he has a lovely orange color.


On the screen.


When I finally got him to open his wings by waving a napkin near him, he was too fast for my skills, and all I could get was pictures like this with his wings upright.



He would open up, but always up in the corner of the window where I couldn't get a picture. Dang moth!

Baseball

I'm not a big fan of sports and seldom, if ever, watch them on television, but I used to enjoy going to the Kingdome to watch a game of baseball. I used to also enjoy playing softball. My ex-husband and I were on a team together when we worked at the post office. It was a lot of fun.
I saw this softball sitting on our sidewalk while playing with my camera so I took a shot of it and then played with it on the computer. It's interesting what you can do with photo programs these days.

Now it is raining again...

I guess we only get one day of sunshine every other week this year. So tired of waiting and waiting to have a few nice days in a row. When I was younger I didn't let the rain stop me from doing things. I just put on my boots and went out and got the things done that I could do. Now that I am older it just doesn't seem inviting anymore. I remember when I used to walk five miles a day, six days a week. It didn't matter what the weather was like. The only weather that could make me skip my walks was snow on the ground, because it was too hard to get any traction.
I have been editing and organizing photos. I have been cleaning up things inside. I have been wasting time on the computer playing games. All this is fun and good, but what I really want to do is get started on my outdoor stuff. We did get the straw bales set last night. They are a little angled across the spot they are sitting, but they are there. The rain helps me with this project because I am supposed to soak them for about a week before planting them. I will go buy my plants later this week so that I can plant them next weekend.
I ordered a new camera today. It is not a DSLR. I really want one of those, but decided to upgrade my Fujifilm first. I love my Fuji camera and now I'm getting one with even better features. It actually has a "smile detector" and waits to shoot until the smile is detected. This should be great for the Logan and Daelin, who both try to thwart my attempts at pictures of smiling children and babies! I'm so excited. It should be here in a week. That means I can give my current camera to Keri. I can get a new door for the camera I already gave her and fix it. I can then give that one to David and Nikki. Jeren is disappointed because he wanted my camera, but I want Keri and David to be able to take pics of their kids. I told Jeren I would look for one for him. I think I can pick one up from ebay at a reasonable price and that can be his birthday present.
I was going through pictures and forgot about these ones of Logan at last year's BBQ. Maybe one of these days summer will come and we can have another BBQ.


This one is not at the BBQ, but I thought it was funny. He was wearing my plastic bowls as a hat.



Trying to start the tractor.



Chasing the kitty!



Smart kitty ran behind the fence.



Caging the marshmallow.

Now, it's time for more macros.

Rhody, closed, but about to open.



Rhody open, showing the stamens and pistil.



Fern's new growth.



Buttercup. Is it turning white as it ages, or is it a mutant? I will have to study them to see.



Columbine, all spent out.



Columbine buds getting closer to opening.



My little miniature irises blooming, even though I dug them up and can't get them replanted in this wet soggy yard.



Rhody, just about to open, showing the fuzzy coverings.



Columbine flower.



Columbine bud starting to open.


Baby fern frond.



The marble that hangs at the bottom of my wind chime.

For those of you who have missed me...(Roni)

Photos taken while sitting in the lawn swing.


Under the trampoline.



Dandelions under the trampoline.



Dandelions under the trampoline after playing with features in my photo program.



Too far away to get the detail.



Dandelion going to seed.



My trees. Well, some of them.



This is sitting on the trampoline.



Baseball on the sidewalk.

Emergency room, take 2.

Apparently my family's new hobby is to visit the emergency rooms on or around the nearest holiday. Thanksgiving night my sister phoned me from work to take her to the hospital for a suspected broken wrist. You can read about that in this blog
.

My sister's visit to the emergency room took place in room 3B as you can see by the following picture.



My mother, not wishing to be left out, decided she had to have a turn, too, so on the morning of Christmas Eve I got a phone call at 7am. Jeren answered the phone and then came to my room to tell me I had to take my mom out to the emergency room because she had fallen and gashed her head. I didn't look forward to having to drive her car and was a little cranky about it so Jeren offered to come along. Her hospital is on the military base, so it was easier to drive her car than have to wait while I got a visitor pass on mine. The back of Mom's shirt was covered in blood and she was a little shaky but otherwise seemed ok so we got in her car and headed out to the hospital.

On the way she told me what happened. She had decided to replace a light bulb in the kitchen while her dough was mixing in the bread maker. Rather than get a stool or step ladder she had decided to use an office style chair with a cloth seat. (More of a waiting room chair than an actual desk chair.) The seat was unstable since it was unsupported fabric so she was trying to balance on the edges where the wood frame is.

Hey Mom...here's a reality check for you. You are 80 years old. LOL.

Well, it's not really funny but we were laughing about it. She, herself, admits she was being an idiot, which is what she told the doctors and nurses when they asked her what happened. ("I was being an idiot!")

So apparently she lost her balance and fell backwards off the chair. She isn't really very clear about that. She doesn't remember the actual fall, but she does remember laying on the floor thinking about that commercial in which the lady says, "Help!!! I've fallen and I can't get up." She said all kinds of crazy thoughts kept running through her mind (I'm thinking the life passing before your eyes scenario, but she doesn't say that) and she kept thinking, "I need to get Sheila."

My step-dad appeared at some point and she asked him to come across the street and get me, but he couldn't figure things out. He said, "I'm in my pajamas. I'm wearing my slippers. I'd have to change clothes." in that rambling way he does when he has no idea what to do. (He has mild altzheimers.) So somehow he helped her up or brought her the phone. I'm not sure which. Maybe both. That part is a little fuzzy.

At any rate, we made it to the hospital. I was surprised the way they question you if you are "elderly". The questions they asked mom were so different than the questions they asked Krys. I think she had to tell the story of what happened approximately ten times. I lost count. They asked about her heart, did she lose consciousness, was she light-headed before she fell and more. Finally they were satisfied that she actually just fell and sent us to wait. Bleeding from head wounds is priority over flu and such, so we were quickly called back to a room and she was instructed to remove her top and put on one of those lovely hospital gowns. She climbed on the bed and we waited. I had forgotten my camera, but I did have my phone, so I proceeded to look around.
Can you guess what room we were in?


Yup! You got it! Room 3B. What are the chances?

So here is mom's lovely Christmas outfit after her visit.


It turns out she didn't need stitches but they wanted the gash protected while it healed. I told her she had her holidays mixed up...the mummy costume only works for halloween. Laughing was quite painful for her, however. Seems that her main injury seemed to be her ribs. They x-rayed, but it was inconclusive whether or not she had cracked, fractured or just bruised her ribs. They sent her home with pain medication and we were out of there at 9:4U. Yes, you read that right. Here it is on the clock.


In all fairness I felt I had to snap some photos and write a blog since Mom went to such great lengths to be included in this new family pastime. So enjoy the somewhat cheesy photos from Emergency Room 3B, Version 2.

Getting her holiday cap on.


Yellow plate covers in the wire maze behind her bed.


Her shoes.


Red, white and blue.


Jeren.


Mom always asks for a blanket FIRST thing.


If anyone is anywhere near a hospital over New Year's Eve it had better be Nikki having her baby. I already told them I don't intend on partaking in this particular family hobby.

Photo editing software.

I took these photos of my daughter's family last year and decided I wanted to take the background out of them. I tried a couple of different features on my photo program. The first one was to "erase" the background.

Here is the original:


Here is my "erased" copy. Obviously, I need a lot more work and finesse to use this feature. Or maybe less things to erase. I'm not steady enough, I think.


The second method was to use the cloning tool, in which you "clone" different parts of the original to fill over the background you didn't want. The original picture had a bookcase, boxes, the birdcages, and stuff sitting by the door. I need more practice at this one, too, but it was fun playing with it.


The twin on the left doesn't really have curly hair, but I cloned her hair from either Rhyan or Isaac, I can't remember. I used the edge of the table to make the floor trim between the wall and the rug. I used a "cutout" plant to put on the table. It's not bad for a first try.