Morning

"Every morning is a fresh beginning. Every day is the world made new. Today is a new day. Today is my world made new. I have lived all my life up to this moment, to come to this day. This moment--this day--is as good as any moment in all eternity. I shall make of this day--each moment of this day--a heaven on earth. This is my day of opportunity."

Dan Custer

I need a few more days off to give my achy fingers a rest. No blogging till Sunday night.

Seriously.

Yeah, let's see how long that lasts. lol

Have a great weekend, dear bloggers. I hope to see you on Sunday night after 8:30pm when Mr. Linky will be up for Mosaic Monday. :)

Greetings from Wildwood

I've been having a lot of fun processing my photos from the beach. A little Photoshop magic and they end up looking like vintage postcards. :)

But I may have been overdoing it just a little -- my right hand is really achy and I wonder if I'm getting a touch of arthritis in it. Yikes! I think I'll take the day off, and hope that it feels better on Thursday.

Catch you later, alligators!

Cape May Victorian

At the very southernmost tip of New Jersey is the beautiful town of Cape May. Filled with Victorian houses, the town is a feast for the eyes.

A fire destroyed much of the town in 1878, resulting in a great flowering of Victorian architecture.

Many of the houses sport very elaborate gingerbread trim and bright, cheerful colors.

The porches are amazing.

Isn't this pink one (above) beautiful?

Some are private homes, but many are businesses or bed & breakfasts.

Even the most unprepossessing has it's share of gingerbread. :)

We didn't have a lot of time to tour the town, and we will definitely be going back to visit again. There are so many great Victorians that I didn't get a chance to photograph. lol

Mosaic Monday: At the Beach

We spent last week at the beach or "down the shore" as we say in New Jersey.

It was heavenly. We were very lucky with the weather -- only one rainy day -- and the water temperature was in the 70's which is very warm for July. I got up early every morning and walked a few miles, then came home and relaxed until the rest of my family woke and we started the day. I took my camera everywhere.

Here are a few of my favorite images. I love dunes and beach grass and salt marshes and wide open skies. We visited Cape May, where there are so many beautiful Victorian houses that there is a photo opportunity every few steps. We walked the beach and searched for shells. We had a wonderful time. :)

Now let's have some mosaic fun! Here are the instructions:

1. Publish your Mosaic Monday post.
2. Once it is published, click on the title of the post. This will lead you to the static link for your post. The static link is the page with only that post on it. Copy the url from your browser at the top of the page.
3. Paste the url into the appropriate Mr. Linky box in this post.
4. Type your name in the appropriate Mr. Linky box in this post.
5. Click on "Enter."
6. Please link back to this Mosaic Monday post so that your readers can find other wonderful mosaics.

That's all there is to it! It's always a good idea to then check and see if your link is working. If you have any questions, feel free to email me: mrcarroll(at)optonline.net. I can't wait to see your mosaics! Here is Mr. Linky:

Making Photo Mosaics: A Tutorial

No, it is not Monday. lol

I have had several requests for instructions on making photo collages or mosaics, so I thought I would post a little tutorial here. For the past several weeks, I have been hosting a meme called Mosaic Monday. Each week, about 50 wonderful bloggers join the party. So far, subjects have included flowers, food, decorating, travel, scenery, butterflies, family and pets. Really, any subject that you enjoy photographing can make a great mosaic.

There are lots of options for making photo collages. You can do a Google search for "photo collage" and find a bunch. But here is what I do: I upload my photos to flickr, the photo-sharing website. Then I use a site called Big Huge Labs to create mosaics.

I strongly suggest that you sign up for an account at flickr, the photo-sharing website. I believe that the first 200 photos that you upload can be stored for free. After that, it costs $24.99 a year.

Once you have your photos on flickr, go to Big Huge Labs and find the Mosaic Maker. Then let the fun begin. ;)

Here are some directions to make the layout that I use most often in my mosaics -- a large central picture, with smaller pictures surrounding it.

At the top of the page, you will see the command "Choose Layout." Click on the drop down menu and choose the last option -- 4X4 with large center.

You can choose the colors for your frame by clicking on the white boxes that say background color and border color. A color wheel will appear, and you may scroll over it and click on any color you like.

For "Space between Images" I usually choose 2 pixels which gives a rather narrow border, but this one is totally subjective -- use whatever you like.

You will be asked to choose 13 photos to fill this layout. Note that the large center photo is No. 1, and then they go across from the top row, second row, etc.

Once you have chosen your photos, click "Create." If you wish to edit it, click on "Edit" at the top of the mosaic. Then you can go back and delete or change any photos, background colors, etc. When you are satisfied, click on "Save" at the top of the page.

I hope this helps all of you who want to learn how to make a mosaic, and I also hope to see you all at Mosaic Monday. :)

*****

I will be taking a few days off to recharge my batteries. I hope to be posting again on the 26th, when I will have Mr. Linky up for Mosaic Monday.

Enjoy your week, dear bloggers! :)

Tablescape Thursday: Too Busy for Breakfast

OK, so I'm cheating a little. This is a poor excuse for a tabletop. But life has been crazy busy recently, and believe it or not this is the best I could do today.

Breakfast on the deck includes orange juice in a crystal glass, which I've popped inside my father's silver glass holder. When I was growing up, this always sat next to the kitchen sink, with my father's glass inside.

And yes, I haven't polished it. I could tell you that I left it this way on purpose, because I like the tarnished patina, but honestly, I just didn't have time. ;)

But I do like the patina.

A linen napkin from the thrift store, with beautiful lace edging, is held by a mother of pearl napkin ring from Target.

We tend to live on the deck in the summer, and this has been a really nice one so far -- not too hot and humid. My tabletop is a Chinese garden bench, purchased a few years ago at Michael's.

I like to think of this plate as a "poor woman's Flora Danica." I love anything with a botanical theme, and this is one of a set of four, each with a unique design.

I know several of you have these same dishes. I love them, and have even hung them on the wall in my bedroom in the past.

I love container gardening, because the deer eat almost everything I try to grow in my regular garden.

Many thanks to our beautiful Tablescape Thursday hostess, Susan. Please visit her wonderful blog, Between Naps on the Porch, for more summer tablescapes.

Flowers for Mary

Yesterday I gathered the tiniest of flowers.

Germander and daisy, lobelia and catmint, and some pretty pink wildflowers.

All in a tiny hobnail milk glass fan vase.

Flowers for Mary, Mother of God, whose statue has watched over the kitchen sink at our Little Red House since my mother began washing dishes here in 1959.

I can never hope to be the wonderful and generous person that my mother was, but I guess I can carry on a few of her traditions. :)