A Silver State of Mind

 I do live in the Silver State actually.  But this isn't about that.

I'm in the market to update my style so I was laying out necklaces, trying to decide what length I liked and what style.  Before I knew it, I was possessed by a wild hare, grabbed those tarnished strands and ran downstairs to restore them to their silvery white sparkle.

Soon I was playing around with various methods of cleaning tarnished silver like a kid who needed a science fair project.  

I used baking soda, vinegar, salt and boiling water in an aluminum pie tin first.  Which worked. Then I grabbed my almost empty jar of Wright's Silver Creme.  That worked too.  Both required some scrubbing/polishing to fully shine the various bits I'd gathered though.

 Sparkly fresh and lovely silver now resides at our cottage.  Even it it is just plate, it's still pretty.

Chemistry was my least favorite class in high school.  I just never "got" it. But just like that science fair kid, I had to know why such a simple group of kitchen essentials worked so well.

I bravely googled "silver baking soda aluminum equation" though.  I do know about oxidation and reduction processes from years of firing pottery, so it made sense after a bit of reading.  I'm now smarter than I was when I woke up this morning.

I also now have a new way of cleaning my silverware--because I do use silverware because I like it so much more than stainless--that will be less tedious than polishing them individually.

My necklaces look lovely and fresh.  I decided I really like the twenty inch length.  

Coincidentally, I can report that metal around my neck gets REALLY cold when you are shoveling snow in a denim jacket instead of a winter coat!

Our sunny weather is causing the icicles come crashing off the roof onto the snow below.  In other random news, an icicle is hanging from a branch of the sugar maple.  I can't think of anytime I've never seen an icicle on a tree (other than our blown glass icicles on our Christmas tree). I can only speculate that a bit of snow on the branch gradually melted and the temps were just cold enough to refreeze it. Who knows?!

Hang in there.  Spring is almost almost almost here!

My Frustration With Pinterest

I forgot my password to my Pinterest account!  

I had a Pin It button on my old PC, so pinning was automatic and easy.  Then I upgraded to a new laptop and after automatically logging in for so many years, I'd forgotten my password and no possibility that I tried worked.

No big deal, right?  Just ask to reset my long-forgotten password and, voila, back in business.

I wish!  I've tried numerous times over several months to reset my account without success.  They email me an autolink to reset my password and instead it asks me to log in.  

Seriously, Pinterest?  

If I could log in, I wouldn't have asked to reset my password.  Duh.

Yeah, I've tried to contact them for help.  Pretty useless.  No reply.  (It makes me wonder if there are actual people working there.)  It's pretty frustrating, mostly because it seems like it should be simple. Heck, asking to reset a password is probably the one thing most of us have in common!

I've even been willing to give up the effort I've put into my pins over the years and sign up for a new account.  I'm willing to start over.   There are so many images that I'd love to save for future inspiration. Foxes, felt animals, watercolor cows, doll clothes, marble shower stalls, trellises, wood mantels, rock retaining walls... But, no-ooo, trying to initiate a new account just takes me back into the "log in" rabbit hole.

Without logging in, I not only can't access my boards, I also can't browse freely through the wonderful ideas that others have pinned.

Enough is enough.  I've officially given up on Pinterest and their horrendous customer service.  Or should I say, disservice?

I've discovered that there are other options that are similar.  I'm pretty sure I'll find something that makes me forget Pinterest ever existed. Maybe I'll even be able to recommend something new for others to try!

The internet hasn't beaten me yet.  At least I'm coming closer to a new photo editor (maybe even a way to keep using Picasa 3).  I can't wait until I can install a new Meadowsweet Cottage banner!

How to Easily Backup Your Blog at Blogger/Blogspot

The beginning of a new year is an ideal time to backup your blog.  

I was a good girl and just saved all my glorious pearls of wisdom from 2014.  I'm no computer whiz but it's easy!  Really truly pinky promise!  At least, it is on Blogger aka Blogspot.  

I can't speak to any other platform.  Sorry 'bout that.

First, you'll have to open your blog in Blogger (preferably in a separate window so you can read these instructions and toggle over to your blog to carry them out.)
 There on the left side, all the way down at the bottom, is a little wrench icon called SETTINGS.  You'll want to click that.

At the bottom of the menu you just opened is the completely uninformative word OTHER.  But that's the one you want. Click.

Near the top of your page you should see the title BLOG TOOLS and in blue it will say 

Import blog     Export blog     Delete blog

You want to select EXPORT BLOG.  Don't worry, your posts aren't going to disappear.  What you are doing is copying the whole shebang to a safe and secure location where Blogger can't accidentally lose every word you've ever published.  Your blog may not be Tolstoy (or maybe it is) but you've put time into selecting photos, writing and editing, reading comments and, as unlikely as it is, I've heard of bloggers whose posts that simply up and disappeared into the North Woods one day, never to be seen again.  

Big collective "ouch!" here.

A window will pop up to reassure you that you are doing the right thing and merely backing up your blog.

So select DOWNLOAD with a happy heart.

Yet another window will open asking you if you want to Open With (a default program) or

SAVE FILE.  So select SAVE FILE and push OK.

Great!  You've downloaded your blog, every comma, every paragraph, every comment.

You've essentially copied your blog from Blogger/Blogspot to your own hard drive.  But your hard drive is subject to various ills--viruses, malware, old age--so you need to find secure storage to park all the info. Here in the cottage, we have an external hard drive which is where I save my valuable photos, videos, blog data, etc.  You could choose to put yours on a DVD.  Or maybe up in the Cloud.  I share the external storage with my sweetie so I have my own section and a file I have brilliantly named Blog Backup.

Ahem...moving on.

You'll find your downloaded blog under My Documents (click),  Downloads.  I find My Documents when I push my Start button.  It's also under My Computer/Local Disc (C:)/your Documents.  There's always more than one way to access data. 

There, you'll find it listed alphabetically under "blog" along with the date you downloaded it.

i.e., blog-1-14-15

Right click on the icon or title and CUT (or COPY** if you're the nervous type), then PASTE in your chosen safe storage.

**If you selected COPY, you can now first check that you successfully exported your blog into your safe storage before you go back and hit CUT.

YOU'RE DONE!

See, told ya it was easy. 

I'll bet the hardest part was deciding where to save it.  Am I right?

One last trick.  Copy this post onto your blog, give it a catchy title like HOW TO BACKUP MY BLOG, and save it as a Draft rather than publishing it.  You've put it into an easily found and easily remembered place so next January you can do the same thing again. 

Stay shiny,


Parties to visit for more fun, inspiration and eye-candy and how-to's:

My Romantic Home: Show and Tell Friday 

French Country Cottage: Feathered Nest Friday 

Funky Junk Interiors: Party Junk 

Between Naps on the Porch: Met Mondays

Miss Mustard Seed:  Furniture Fridays

 

Chic Calfornia Be.YOU.Tiful Party

Making a Chalkboard Printable--Success!

Not bad for my first try at chalkboard art (digital rather than actual).  It was so easy and fun that I know this Valentine's Day quote won't be the only time I create a virtual blackboard. Ideas are churning around in my brain--so many holidays, so many fonts, so many quotes--I'm in heaven!

Yep, I'm chalking another successful craft up to Pinterest!  That's where I found the link to Angela at atypicalenglishhome.  She has a nice tutorial and a helpful selection of fonts--best of all, she had the blackboard image to download that made it possible.

  Be (INSPIRE)d,

 

Tricks for Using Word

I use Word all the time, but I cruised past useful functions for years that I couldn't live without now.

When I was writing my about making my U-Pick Sign, I thought maybe I should point out some of my favorites that you might not know about. Of course, I realize I might just be technologically clueless and you totally know all about this stuff, but at worst you'd just yawn and move on to another blog.

What I was missing all those years was that little "x" icon in the lower right corner.    So type something profound in Word ("Go, Niners!"  "Bob Marley Rules" "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star)

 

Highlight it and then click that little "x" and a whole new world opens up.  It's really little but the arrow is pointing at it.

 

Click--Oh look!

 

Effects like Emboss and Engrave and Outline and Shadow.  I use Outline for my sign-making--why waste printer ink when all you want is the outline anyway?  Outline and Shadow made my U-Pick sign lemon-squeezy easy.  Even though lemons weren't listed.

And did you know you can make your font any size, not just the options provided like 28, 36, 48, 72?  Try typing something wild like adding a 1 in front of the 72.  172 pts., please.  Hit Enter and...

 

Cool, huh?

The other incredibly useful feature for signs is the Character Spacing which is the other tab that appears when you click the little "x".  The default spacing is fine for most applications but it's helpful to spread your letters out to fill your horizontal space.  'Cause sometimes you have the perfect font size in height but it's waaaay too squishy side to side. 

 

So click on Expanded from the Spacing menu, then click the little up and down arrows to gradually get the right size.

I pumped this one up by 10 points.

 

It's a fairly subtle change.  But it makes signs easier to paint when all your letters aren't crowding up.  Just sayin'. 

Have fun with it.

Bring joy,
 

Picasa 3.9 goes Picnik

I just (somewhat inadvertently) upgraded from Picasa 3 to Picasa 3.9. And guess what? They've added two whole sections of image processing lifted right from Picnik. 

I have to admit that I've always taken a basic approach with Picasa and manipulated my images rather than using a canned approach so I've been a bit at a loss why everyone bemoaned the demise of Picnik. 

BUT!  (Yes, that's a big but.  Not to be confused with a big butt.  Very important.)

The new tools have some sweet effects like Neon, Polaroid, HDR-ish, Posterize, and Pencil Sketch.   

Pencil Sketch, people!  I've been smitten with other bloggers use of Pencil Sketch (or something similar) and it just landed in my lap.

And Posterize and I are destined to have a happy relationship too. 

I have a Netflix (Game of Thrones, Disk 5) waiting, but I just had to play a bit and show you why I'm tickled.

Straight out of the camera:

 

Pencil Sketch:

Pencil sketch with some color:

I love this soft pastel look.  Just imagine what I can do with this once the new grand-daughter arrives!

And Posterize:

Not the best photo to show Posterize perhaps but much better than if I'd shown you the somewhat zombie-ish look of the Neon action.  No bunny deserves that!

The one thing that blogger/users of Picasa 3 will immediately notice is a missing "Blog This" button.  I can help with that!

Go to the Tools tab at the top of Picasa.  Hit Configure Buttons.  Double click Blog This--and might as well add Collage while you're at it.  (Or single click and then Add. )

Presto!  You're in business!


I admit that it's fun to have some new options in photo-editing.

Enjoy!

Throwing Caution To The Winds

I finally brought myself into the new millenium and signed up for Facebook. Reluctantly and with reservations, but I did it.

Big scaredy cat risk taker, I know! 

 Now I have to figure out how to actually use Facebook.  I'd rather be buying more velvet and working on new curtains (two separate projects) than struggling with a new technology that doesn't look particularly user-friendly at first go.  Actually I'd vacuum, dust and mop the floors by hand than begin the navigation process.  Go ahead, tell me that it's easy and I'll love it.  I could use the reassurance.

Thinking positively,

Hitting the Easy Button

I'm in comment heaven!

Imagine that--after being frustrated for a month by my sporadic ability to comment--all I had to do was enable third-party cookies on Firefox. I can comment on blogs again, folks. Whoopie! I sure realized how important two-way communication was to me, big time. Not only was I frustrated by not being able to contribute my two cents, I felt like I was letting all you blog friends down with my inadvertent silence.

The How-To:  I Googled "enabling third-party cookies" and followed the easy-peasy lemon-squeezy directions.  Then I scrolled down through the cookies that were already on my computer and sure enough, blogs that I've been able to comment on were listed, blogs that have stymied me weren't.  I'll be experimenting with making my privacy settings just a tad pickier and see what I think; for now I'm living dangerously and accepting cookies from one and all.  Yum, yum.

Obviously, the peace and quiet is over--pogonip is back with plenty to say!

*******

Forgive me for scaring you with my chicken escape episode (she said with a grin), but I knew I told a better story that way. Admit it--if I'd started out telling you it was a false alarm, it wouldn't have been nearly as interesting!  Plus a bit of adrenaline coursing through the system burns five times as many calories for up to an hour afterwards!  (I just made that little scientific factoid up.  Wishful thinking.)  Too bad, it would've been helpful given the amount of chocolate floating around post-Valentines Day!
 
Au revoir from les poulets and moi,

Speechless

I just wanted to say that I'm reading your blogs. I really am.

My ability to have my comments actually post on your blogs is another thing entirely.

Gee, there's nothing I enjoy more than to compose a comment on how I love your _____ or I think that _____ or to thank you for _____ and then have it inexplicably disappear into The Land of Lost Comments (she growled sarcastically).

It's driving me into frustrated silence.

I'm finding time to write my posts; I'm finding time to read yours; I'm finding time to write comments (or at least try); now I have to find time to troubleshoot!   Is it our firewall? The old hard drive?  The new hard drive? Google or Blogger? Is anybody else out there having this trouble?  Ack!

You ladies are my friends and I love staying in contact with you.


Not quite having a tantrum (yet),

Kindled

I'm a reader.  I love books.  I often read three at a time.  Close one unexpectedly on me and I'll have it back at the right page within seconds.  I'll re-read my favorites until they've lost their covers and spines and have to be replaced. I love the discoloration of old hardcovers and fancy endpapers.  I'm not picky and I'll read anything:  classics, biographies, romance novels, mysteries, science fiction, fantasy, young adult, suspense.  As a kid, I thought books were the best gifts of all.

But as much as I enjoy books, a Kindle was never on my radar. My family of techie guys thought otherwise and I've been dragged kicking and screaming into the twenty-first century.  I'm ashamed to report that my reaction to my birthday present was something less than gracious.  A Kindle was way too expensive. (And if they were going to spend that much why couldn't they have gifted me a compound sliding miter saw?)  It doesn't even come with pre-loaded books.  And I couldn't exactly go to my favorite secondhand book store to buy ebooks.  There are no pages to turn and, worst of all, falling asleep while reading in the tub would be disastrous.

Oh, and did I forget to mention that the Kindle color scheme is about as exciting as the one Henry Ford thought up for his Model T?  I could get a skin for the Kindle itself,

but the design would mostly be wasted on the back even if my guys hadn't got me a sturdy cover for mine (I think they know how hard I am on books).  My crafy genes are busily figuring out a way to Zha-zha my leather cover with something bright and cheery.

At least they got the size right.  It's just a tad larger than a paperback.

It's easy to figure out how to use and very Green on energy use.

And I like seeing the various screen-savers like this flock of winged wonders.

I'm happy to admit that I was wrong.  I'm loving my Kindle--mostly due to Project Gutenberg.  

It's true the ebooks there are free downloads, but the true attraction is having access to some books that are extremely hard to find.  How can you quarrel with Lucy Maud Montgomery, Charles Dickens, Jack London and Stewart Edward White? It's like being turned loose to roam the stacks in a mammoth library without needing a library card or having to return them on a due date.

And I will be delighted to return the favor to Project Gutenberg by proofreading their in-progress titles for them (and I even have a book or two that aren't in their library yet that I hope to shepherd through their process so that others can enjoy them as much as I have).


I'm still wondering if perhaps someone would issue me bathtub insurance for my Kindle?

Bloggity Tweaks

A new point of view is always welcome, especially when it's for free (cheap, cheap) from an expert. I've gathered a few new blogger photo tips recently, thanks to Donna at Funky Junk Interiors and have been trying to put them into practice.

I possess a simple point-and-shoot Sony Cyber-shot which I love to pieces. I wouldn't trade it for the highest end film SLR and a lifetime supply of film (does film still exist?) with free processing. Digital photography has changed how I view the world. How did we function before we could take 100 photos to get just three keepers when rolls of 36 exposures were the biggies? Or preview our photos to see if we needed to shoot more before we left the family reunion?  I now take photos of little metal plaques showing the name of the rose...

before shooting the actual rose like this one at Portland's International Rose Garden, for example.  What a great memory and organizing tool that's been on so many trips and vacations.

I admit that my old Olympus SLR was better at freezing the action (which would have come in handy with the world's most active puppy four years ago)...

but that's only because I hadn't read the owner's manual thoroughly enough to realize I could take videos.  (That's one of my life's biggest regrets--owning the world's cutest puppy and not knowing how to video Criminal!) And yes, I'd love to own a digital SLR but that's not in the budgetary cards until our major breadwinner is winning some serious bread again.  Even if I did get so lucky, I know I'd still be packing my lightweight Sony instead of hauling a bulky SLR most of the time.  So improving what comes out of my point-and-shoot is a necessity.


So I downloaded Picasa as instructed and am experimenting with various effects to improve (or at least change) my photos. I'm no whiz. In fact, I'm pretty pathetic--among other things I have no idea even how to save the photo I've improved yet. But I'm having fun playing and that's a great way to learn. (Oh my gosh, does that sound like a kindergarten teacher's philosophy or not?!)

I am very good at playing with their little slide-y buttons (note to self: find out what the little slide-y buttons are actually called to minimize your dweebiness) to increase or diminish an effect. I  admire everything about Notes From A Cottage Industry including Tracey's photos which always have a wonderful dreamy mist around her carefully planned vignettes. Then it occurred to me that Picasa has an effect called Soft Focus which, although mistier than I'd use, was similar to Tracey's photos. 

 

What if it had a button thing-y that could widen the area in focus and leave the edges soft and misty?  Picasa actually had two button thingies and I like the result:

Isn't this so much more evocative of the fragrance and romance of the rose than the original photo below?  (Ummm, I might have changed the Color Temperature a mite too before I moved on to Soft Focus. I told you I was having fun.)

The experts were right: Picasa does make a difference in photo quality and that improves Meadowsweet Cottage.  Because only my best is good enough for my readers!  Thanks, Donna, for the encouragement.

Could It Be? Finally? Yes!!!

I think I may have set a record for fumbled attempts at adding LinkWithin to my blog. I don't even want to admit how many times I've tried and fail. This time it took Firefox open in three different windows as I toggled between instructions at Blogger Buster, my html code at LinkWithin and scrolling through the template in Blogger Dashboard.  When I finally saw those magic words "You might also like" appear in Preview mode, I did the happy dance. Thank you, Blogger Buster, you're my hero!

Alas!  Although the words appeared, the thumbnails didn't.  I waited an hour (recommended), I checked back at odd times during the weekend, I double-checked my HTML.  Still no thumbnails.  I pondered the meaning of the universe and wondered what the LinkWithin techs would say when they saw my email begging for helpAGAIN!  I decided patience was a virtue and I should check my coding a third time.  Then life intervened and I got thoroughly sidetracked by a three-day weekend, Valentines Day, chocolate and a thawed-out garden filled with sunshine and fruit trees needed a good pruning.

What did I see today?  Oh frabjous day!  Callooh! Callay!  Thumbnails have begun to appear at last.  Was it my patient waiting?  Was it the chocolate truffles?  Did the stars suddenly align over my PC?  I don't know and I don't care.  Right now I'm doing the happy dance! I may be doing the happy dance all week long!

Not every post is showing the links (yet??).  But I'm still dancing around.


I suspect that my blog statistics will show a sudden spike.  That will be me checking out which posts LinkWithin recommends to my real readers.   And doing the happy dance.  Just be glad you aren't being subjected to actually watching me dance like the doggities.  They don't know what to think.

Happy dance.  Happy dance.  Happy dance.