Sunday Serenade 11 07 30

This one goes way back to when I, yes, I was a teenager. Barely a teenager but I was. The squeaky voices sound so funny now but it is and was a different sound, plus there was a lot of 'lip' in this song which of course appealed to us. Enjoy!

Popcorn Time

With my dh away fishing, it's been popcorn and movies for me round here. I am finishing up my summer marathon of the Harry Potter series. Last one seen was -

 

 A bit earlier in the week, I went 'to the movies' via Redbox and saw -

 

This one turned out to be a much better movie than I anticipated. I think trailers are designed to appeal to the bottom-feeders and I wonder if that really helps or hinders a movie's profits. Far be it from me to question the almighty $ seeking strategies of Hollywood however. Presumably they know what works for them.

Next, I thought I had the penultimate Harry Potter movie, #7 part 1, at the top of my Netflix queue.

Alas, I did not, tho I still think I did. In any case, there was one I had actually planned to delete from the queue that came up. Another surprise. "The Rag Nymph."

That photo has no bearing on the actual movie, but does give you an idea that 'love' in all its aspects is a feature. I have never read a Catherine Cookson book, and wondered why I had picked this movie at some point to add to my queue. Once I started watching it, I thought the young Millie had a strong resemblance  to an actress I had seen somewhere but I didn't remember who she was. As the movie is broken into the three parts of the original mini-series,  I left part 2 and 3 til the next day. Once I started to watch Part 2 I had my aha! moment. Honeysuckle Weeks, the beloved Sam in "Foyle's War". The young Millie was played by her sister Perdita Weeks and the two look quite a bit alike. I didn't make the connection when I saw that name.  In the end, I enjoyed the movie quite a bit even if it was dismaying to realize how human trafficking and child prostitution is nothing new.  

Finally tonight, I snagged this one as soon as I got the email from Redbox that it was available. As I had watched two movies in one 24hr period in July, I used my free bonus movie for this one. LOVED it! and it is one of the unusual movies to clock in under 2hrs. Exciting and fast fast moving.

Finally, after  my HP Deadly Hollow movie arrives, it will be time for me to actually go and spend the money in a movie theater. The Harry Potter summer series will be over, and I will be cancelling my Netflix most likely. But for the month of August, I'm going to do a lot more streaming and see if I want to continue just that. But the dvds? No, not with the availability of locations and films on Redbox.  I may even read more books when the weather turns colder and the fireplace is a part of my evenings. We'll see.

Have you seen any good movies lately?

Flashback Friday 11 07 29 - 1930's Wedding

Here is an old photo of people who must have been friends of my mother. I date this photo to the late 30s. I always find it poignant that my mother had so many photos of high school friends with wedding dresses and apparently 'proper' weddings. I don't doubt that she too dreamed of this kind of wedding.

However, when my parents married there was no money for that kind of thing, and my mother had a pale blue suit. Even the church was an issue because my mother was a Lithuanian Catholic, and my father was an Irish Catholic. I'm told that it was like two different religions and the mixture was not one that was easily approved. I'm sure my parents are not in different sections of heaven right now. At least there, such things don't matter.

Wordless Wednesday 11 07 27 - 4 years ago

hopefully we'll have a repeat this year

Tuesday Tutorial 11 07 26

One thing that gets people confused when they are starting out in PSE is the whole concept of brushes - those tricky little .abr files. They often come with .png files that give you a preview but the brushes are mush more versatile. I don't use them as often as I could because of basic laziness. That is not to say that you shouldn't have a go. This is what your default brush set looks like in PSE8. I have the large preview selected.My old eyes need that for each brush! ETA: I really should finally install PSE9 on my iMac. That background screen is a lot more eyeball friendly.

This is not a post with a video but with a link to a very good post from The Texas Chicks blog. Click that link and get yourself started. They also have some wonderful actions to buy and also have the best instructions I have even seen on how to install actions in the many many versions of PSE, both Windows and Mac. The Texas Chicks.

Remember that name, and do sign up for their newsletter. You'll become wiser than you thought you could be!

Sunday Serenade 11 07 24

One of my old favorites. I hope all your Sundays are easy. Lionel will help you get into that mood I think.


For the original recording (1977?) click here

Flashback Friday 11 07 22

Ok, we are back to some old timey photographs. There are so many to find these day being uploaded to Pinterest. What a great resource!

SMOOCH!

Some Days...

Some days, I  say...

"You can't wear that shirt; it has a stain on it."

"Where?"

"Right here." I say as I put my finger on it.

"I still don't see anything!"

"Here!" turning him to face the mirror.

"I don't know what you're talking about..." grumble grumble

But now, through the magic of iPhone technology, I can take a photo and say, "Look.", and the shirt gets changed even though the grumbling may continue.

man trying to deny he got food on his shirt

Wordless Wednesday 11 07 20 -Imagine

think January

Tuesday Tutorial

Many blogs have tutorials written by the blog owners on Tuesday. I don't think there is anything I have learned that hasn't been done by someone else, and done well.  Once in a while I'll share one I've found. Hope you enjoy this!

Creating a Photo Collage in Adobe PSE9.

Sunday Serenade 11 07 17

One from my past and one that still makes me smile.

More Still Scrappin'

Pages from our recent trip to the Pacific North West. Leaving Port Townsend and driving up to Vancouver. GORGEOUS.

Now for a change of pace. A layout made from some older photos, Boulder CO in May 2010 at Radda,a favorite restaurant of ours. A view to love!

Flashback Friday 11 07 08 15

This little chick is now 12 years old and a tall young lady. Beautiful inside and out. 

Fortunately, I didn't have to go to Orlando with the family. Seeing the photos is more than enough for me! I hope to go to my grave without the Disney experience if I can. But I'm glad the family had a good time there. Have a great weekend!

Still Scrappin'

Wordless Wednesday 11 07 13

seen in Vancouver 2011

Peace and Laughter

I had a wonderful weekend away at a retreat in Southern Maryland. Going down there took a good deal longer than it could have because we had torrential rains.  My dh had warned me that there could be an inch or two of rain PER hour in mid afternoon but I really didn't want to leave too early. As it was, I had a chance to stop in both A.C. Moore AND Michaels to use those wonderful 50% off coupons. I knew what I wanted so that didn't take much time but even so I got hit with the rain. Fortunately, the bit of storm I went through only lasted about 10 minutes but those were long minutes, let me tell you. I never liked driving in rain that heavy - who does? - but at least it wasn't at night. I have no idea what I would have done then.


When I got to the retreat center, it was hot and humid and raindrops started coming down again, but lightly. Fortunately, I did listen to my dh and took my raincoat so getting to the front door of the center from my car wasn't a problem. I did leave my pillow in the car til later! All evening long the rain came and went, and those of us already there had some good laughs when some poor woman arrived during a downpour and came in looking like the proverbial drowned rat! This was a spirtual retreat and most of the other women knew each other so the teasing and the laughs were taken in stride. If that's the worst thing we face that day, we all know how fortunate we are!

Potomac River Sunset

Flashback Friday 11 07 08

Not an ancient flashback, but one that now seems far far away.  It's me and my dh out in Washington State. I finally get to see those big rocks along the Pacific Beaches. We had more hair or hair with more color, fewer wrinkles and fewer pounds.  Sigh. But since then, we have married and have had many another great journey. It's all good.  btw, this was one of my first uploads to Flickr, over 8K photos ago.

us in 2000

My Test Montage

I found this tutorial at Texas Chicks and decided to test it out. I hadn't thought about using a montage anywhere but hey, if it seems simple enough, why not learn how! The beauty of the tutorial is that it's for PSE. That program just keeps getting better and better.

So here's my montage. No, the food photos on top have no bear on the base photo of the bridge but it was a test, ok? I haven't thought of where I might use it but it was worth walking through it so that I could get their settings for the drop shadow and the stroke. I also wanted to see how a canvas texture on the bridge shot would look. Eh...

Now I just have to find some photos that would look good with this technique. Anyone have any suggestions?

Wordless Wednesday 11 07 06 - Totally My Husband

original

Happy Grid

I recently took a collage design class with Claudine Hellmuth and the grid was part of our homework one week. I was making all my collages digitially and had this template from Ali Edwards on hand. I had also just purchased a starfish element and this thought came to mind. I hope the birthday girl likes it!

July 4th Freedom

Our freedom comes at a price.

Sunday Serenade 11 07 03

Perfect music for our American holiday weekend.  As a child, I spent many a summer evening in Washington DC listening to the free concerts given by the various military bands. Sousa's "Stars and Stripes Forever' has always been one of my favorites and I can recall marching around with other children as the adults stood and clapped to the music. 

Flashback Friday 11 07 01

 

Found some fascinating old photos on line. This one is of Plymouth England during WWII or perhaps post WWII. Amazing to think how life has to go on amidst the bombings and destruction of war. Not so much different than today, is it? Just in other countries, other locations...