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I added this feature to my computer view in the sidebar.

The white background shows automatically if you are viewing my blog on a mobile device with a small screen.

If you are viewing my blog on a computer and find my gray background hard on your eyes you can change it to a white background. I have had my blog since 2008 and I like my original design to this day but have had a complaint about the gray background.😢

Now you have a choice.

GRAY background here with sidebar.

WHITE background here with no sidebar.

xo

The Moon Last Night with My Cottage Lights On

GOODNIGHT MOON

The moon was still low behind the bare trees in the woods when I went outside Monday night to try once again to capture it. I was shocked to see my red barn lit up and then I remembered I had just put the basement to bed and I must have turned on my outside light by mistake. Anyway, I like it! 

I turned on all of my inside lights before going outside. The inside light on the far right is my pantry that has two windows, one looking out on the front and one looking outside to the back. Next time, I will turn off the lamp at the back window. I had no luck with my camera phone on night mode. Then I turned on LIVE PHOTO and discovered this is the way to go for moon shots. I deleted all but the best shot because they take up so much photo storage. There doesn't seem to be a way to delete the 2 views that were not used. In the old days you could click to keep best photo and automatically delete the others. I have looked and looked and you can't do that now. BUT I found a work around. You can go to Snapseed and save a copy (will be saved as one still photo) or you can email the live photo to yourself and save it to your photos. These copies will be one still photo. Then you can delete the three-in-one live photo. If you are nervous, don't be. Deleted photos are saved for 30 days and you can put it back if you want. There was no reason to save this as a live photo because there was no movement. If you were photographing something cute like a baby talking on a play phone, you might want to save it as a live photo with action. I mention this because a friend send me such a photo of her baby granddaughter having a wonderful conversation on her toy cell phone😂 and most of her words were pure baby talk.

Have a great Tuesday. I hope this isn't too much information you don't understand about iPhones. A live photo magically takes three photos; one before you clicked the shutter, one exactly when you clicked the shutter, and one after you clicked, each one second apart. Then the phone decides which is the best photo. SO an iPhone can time travel and go back in time! This is the only way I can describe what I was talking about above. Hope this helps. xo

Adventures with My New Printer

Three agonizing weeks ago I got a new printer and yesterday I finally got it to work properly without really knowing what I did! As you know, I am technically oriented but it wasn't at all easy because the printer is wireless and I had a very hard time getting it to work with my laptop and I haven't even tried it with my phone yet. Yesterday I tried printing the alphabet photo in my living room from my laptop and it magically printed upstairs in my office where my desktop computer and printer reside. I liked the print so much I hung it on a cabinet wall in my pantry office off my kitchen. I still don't trust the printer completely and need to practice more so I will be a confident operator when I really need it. I loved my old wired printer but it decided to stop working quite abruptly and I couldn't fix it and you know I tried! I think I'm going to end up loving the new one, fingers crossed.🤞 Wish me luck.☘️ NOTE: The alphabet I printed is on regular computer paper. The angle of the picture makes it look much larger.

HP DeskJet 4155e -- a photo of the box above

If you sign up for an HP+ INSTANT INK plan within 7 days of installing your printer, you get 6 months of free ink and one more year on the warranty which brings it up to 2 years. I decided to bite the bullet and sign up before I mastered THE MACHINE. I can do unlimited printing (up to 700 pages) the first 6 months and they sent replacement inks right away and the cartridges are twice the size of the ones that came with the printer. I signed up for 100 pages per month after the first 6 months is over and that is when the first billing begins. I think that will be fine and if I go over it doesn't cost very much. You have to sign up with a credit card and my plan is $4.95 per month. I can cancel at any time too. So it sounds like a win win to me. I think all of the newest HP wireless printers come with this plan. Click to enlarge the photo to see the box. 

I watched countless YouTube videos and each one had a helpful hint assisting me with the installation. The most interesting hint that the setup never mentioned was a little slider you have to push up against the left side of the paper to hold it in place!!!! You have to change it when using smaller sizes of paper for note cards or photos. I NEVER would have found that by myself and there was no mention in the instructions.

If there is a hinge on the scanner for thick items like books, I have yet to find it. 

You have to download the HP SMART App too. I have it on my laptop, my desktop computer and my phone as well. I am still learning about this.

The printer was $99 at BestBuy. This is not a recommendation or a paid ad in any way. It's just a review of the one I bought. You can spend more or you can spend less. This seemed just right for me.

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Have a great weekend.

It rained most of Friday night.

Today is nice and cool.

 xo

Watching PLUTO TV on my iPhone

This still photo above is actually a video I posted on Instagram. It shows my iPhone tuned in to a news channel on Pluto TV. It's a free app and I love it for watching live TV in rooms where I don't have a television set. This scene is in my home office in the pantry. You can also watch live movies or movies on demand. There are 24 Movie channels. 14 News channels, 13 Sports channels, and so much more. There are 100 channels in all. 

You can watch my video on Instagram here. You can download Pluto TV from the Apple App Store for iPhone or iPad or Google Play for an android device. Enjoy! You're welcome.

You don't need an app to watch it on your laptop or desktop computer. Here's the link. https://pluto.tv/ Click on the On Demand bar in the center to see the movies you can watch.

Napping Dog: Webster's Watercolor

Doesn't he look like the most contented dog ever? It's been way too long since I used the Waterlogue App on my iPhone to convert a photo into a watercolor. Now I want to do more. Don't have it yet? Get it here. xo

Cone of Shame for Humans

This made me laugh. We all probably know someone we can send this to, don't we? 

Click here for 27 Funny But Thought-Provoking Images Of How Smartphones Have Taken Over Our Lives

Fun Free App to Download this Weekend

This fun app is FREE this weekend. It's fast, easy and fun. Watch the video below and download it from the App Store HERE. For iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch. Hey, a dollar saved is a dollar earned, right?

Ha Ha -- Fake Snow

I just signed up for Google+ and downloaded the iPhone App so I could upload photos to my blog directly from my phone. I had something called "Auto Awesome" checked and this is what I got. Hey, who knows what else auto awesome does? We'll soon find out. I took this photo just a few minutes ago when the Wonder Dog and I trudged thru the deep snow to get to the way back. The sun was going down and it was nice. I've polenta bubbling on the stove for my dinner. Love it creamy style with tomato sauce and grated cheese on top. Yum. I love being able to post photos directly from my phone. 

Webster's Watercolors

I remember this day well. It was a nice summer day 2-1/2 years ago when I had a cottage in town under contract. I had to go over to wait for a home inspector and I took my mother and Webster with me. We sat on the front stoop to wait for the man and watched the locals walk up and down the street, with and without dogs. Webster was an angel. He never left the yard and was so happy as you can see from the expression on his face.

I should have doctored up the original a little bit to decrease the contrast so his eyes would show. I just wanted to show you some of the available choices. He looks so happy in all of them. I had an office meeting this morning and all of the agents were so excited when I showed them the watercolors of my listing. I had to make a few for the manager so he could post them on one of his listings too. Nobody could believe how easy it was! Love that Waterlogue app.

Stay warm. Looks as if we are all cold together on the east coast! I heard about the ice and snow in Birmingham, Alabama....I used to live there when I was young. Very tough for those of you not used to driving in it. Stay home and be warm. xo

New Snow on My Balcony

The snow on the decking is new because I shoveled the deep snow a few days ago. The accumulation on the top of the railing has already melted away and I hope the sun will do the floor too. I only shovel out there when it's unusually deep. Enjoy this lazy Sunday morning and let me know when you are tired of my Waterlogue watercolors. See this morning's photo here.

Interior Design Watercolor using an App

I had a request for an interior watercolor from a photo using the Waterlogue App for iPhone. This is the front hall of my real estate listing. I used the "technical" setting because it looks like the graph paper architects use. I like it, don't you? Request granted. Someone from Pinterest wanted this.

Watercolor of The Cottage

Here's another iPhone photo of my cottage converted to a watercolor. It was a gray day with a sky much like we have today as we wait for another dusting of snow. I saved many different versions, the app is very addictive that way. Have you downloaded Waterlogue yet? I love that it shows Tabitha's little body so well on the front walk. I keep repeating John Lennon's quote as I play. Have a great weekend!

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A Watercolor for My Real Estate Listing

One of today's comments suggested that I make watercolor portraits of the houses I sell as gifts and I will. The photo above is Piggy's house and it's for sale. I posted this watercolor portrait on the MLS as the primary listing photo yesterday. I have the regular photo there too. I can't wait to see if it generates any appointments. I feel like a broken record because I've talked about nothing else lately. Anyway, I wanted you to see this.

I also sent two watercolors to my buyers of their new house and they loved having them on their phones so they could show it off. I plan to make notecards for myself of my own cottage and I will print and frame one too. Now if I just had a robot to vacuum my house while I am playing on the computer, my life would be perfect!!!! 

xo - see you later.

More Watercolors for You

A watercolor of my cottage. I took the photo on the very first day I got an iPhone back in October 2011. Click here to see the photograph.

American Robin ~ Click here to see the photograph I took in back in April 2011. Did you download the Waterlogue app yet? I love it and can't stop playing with it!

I took an iPhone photo of my Wolfhound doorstop today and made two watercolors using the Waterlogue App. It was $2.99 and I love it. Believe me when I say it's as easy as pie to use. Really. It gives you 15 preset choices and you can click on each one until you find one you like. Then you can add a border and if you don't like it, you can remove it. You can also make watercolor darker. It's very simple. Click on the link above to see some beautiful examples. I love that you can do everything directly on your iPhone. I haven't tried it on my iPad yet but I'm sure that will be fabulous too.

Plain

Watercolor #1

Watercolor #2

Photo from an old blog post.

It's still snowing like crazy and it looks like about 12" so far. It's light and fluffy and easy to shovel. I had to go out in it today but my customer picked me up. I had to open a house so we could do a walk thru before a closing tomorrow. I hope I can dig myself out in time to pick up my commission check. It's in the afternoon, so I'm not too worried. Be safe and warm. xo

Watercoloring with My iPhone

This "watercolor" was done with an iPhone App called Waterlogue.

This is the photo I used for the watercolor transformation. It's fun to play around while it's snowing outside today.

I am Sherlocked. Are you?

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Busy Weekend

I propped my feet up for about 5 seconds all weekend. The past two days have been spent outside clipping all the boxwood, spraying the driveway for weeds, cleaning the garage, and all sorts of outdoor activities involving home maintenance. The weather was nice and it felt good to work. I have had a really lame data plan with my iphone ever since I got it almost 2 years ago. I had only 200 MB of data and who knows how much that is? Not me. I am usually on wifi and that doesn't count. I upgraded to 3GB for only $15.00 more per month last week at the AT&T store at the mall. I listened to podcasts while doing all of my chores and it was so much fun. I enjoyed "Here's the Thing with Alec Baldwin" on NPR. He interviews some of the most interesting people and I love his voice, so I was thoroughly entertained. You can listen on your computer too. The most recent one is with Danny Bennett, Tony Bennett's son. He's the real reason his father has been able to stay so active in the music business and remain so very busy even though he's 88 years old. It is a wonderful family story too. I loved it. I'm looking forward to the final episode of SILK on PBS tonight on Masterpiece Mystery. See you tomorrow. Good night.

My First iPhone Photo

I took this photo in the parking lot of the mall when leaving the Apple Store almost two years ago in October 2011. I still love my 4S but am anxious for the release of the 5S any day now so I can learn about the new features. I will be eligible for an upgrade if it's awesome. I've come a long way since purchasing my first "smart" phone and can't imagine not having one. I am honestly still learning new things about the one I have. 

Clothespins and Pinecones

Just playing around with overlays on PicMonkey having fun. After the hurricane I had to cut down the other tree holding up my clothes line. When spring comes I will put in a post because I miss it very much.