Friday, February 19, 2016

Five on Friday



This week's weather almost had us drawing up plans for an ark. Later in the week the weather dried up a little and I squelched out to the garden to see what was up. Tiny daffodils are beginning to emerge. In the background purple hyacinths show their colour.


Have you heard that Google is shutting down Picasa (online photo storage)? I'm leery about storing my photos in the cloud, but I've used Picasa (the downloaded version) to view and do simple edits of my photos for years. As of March it will no longer be supported. I have a few other photo-editing programs (free) that I'd like to check out. Do any of you have one you find useful?


The days are brightening noticeably, but the fire remains the focus indoors. My Valentine roses are holding up well and add a bit of elegance to the living room. 


Candlelight is still very welcoming, too. Winter may be losing his grip here on the west coast, but today the wind was chill, reminding me that spring is capricious and moody.


How do you handle having a long list of things to do and not enough time to do them? When I find myself getting overwhelmed, I tuck myself onto the couch and lose myself in a book for an hour. When I emerge from that fictional world I find myself much more equipped to cope with life as it is. And everything that really needs to get done, gets done. 

During a discussion in the staff room about reading as stress relief, the term "brain candy" was used. The above book falls into this category. Easy, pleasant reading. I'm hoping to consume a little more brain candy this weekend. 

Linking with Amy for Five on Friday

27 comments:

  1. Anonymous6:11 PM

    Looking at these photos are brain candy for me. It does a body and brain good to sit and read a spell for sure. Hope you have a restful weekend!

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  2. The free version of picMonkey.com is really good for online editing, Lorrie. I use it a lot at work. And if you want to upgrade to the full version it's only $33/yr. No account needed for free use. I highly recommend it. Love all your blooms popping up.

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  3. Ohh lovely photos. I'm so happy to see daffodils popping up - even the fields down in Skagit county are starting to bloom - early again this year. I have spend the last two days hand transferring my photo files to MS files. They were all in there before but Google has played a dirty trick on us and already has incapacitated some of the features of picasa - causing most of my files to be moved out of their original folders and into folders accessible only one by one. I am not happy with the computer terrorism that they are coming up with - hoping to force us to use Google photos - which is not nearly good as Picasa - which was also run by google. I've heard a lot of complaints about having to change - why don't they just leave it - it is much nicer than the new platform - which I will not use, simply in protest and because it is not a good program. And they give limited storage before you have to pay - that must be the reason for change. What programs are you looking at? I'd love some suggestions.

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  4. Wow, looks like Spring has sprung in your neighborhood. Such gorgeous flowers and ours are weeks and weeks away. We still have to suffer wind, snow, freezing, and did I mention wind? I had not heard about Picasa. I have relied on it for my mosaics, but I do have an app on the iPad. Or I may go ahead and pay for PicMonkey. Generally I can get the same results with iPhoto, though Picasa does have some editing features. For photos that I want to print and store safely, I upload them Shutterfly. I backup my photos (not frequently enough) to an external drive, so I won't mourn the lost of Picasa too much. Thanks for the heads-up. And thanks, really, for sharing a bit of spring. I loved them.

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  5. That rain sure made everything lush and beautiful. I hate all the online updates, upgrades, changes, etc. If all my blog photos have been stored automatically in Picasa all these years because that's what Google/Blogspot used at the time, then does that mean all those photos will be lost? There was a change in storage space a couple of years ago, so was everything transferred there? I don't understand any of it at all. I only use PicMonkey for collages and never edit photos so don't care about that aspect. Just about what happens to all the photos that are there right now. Do they need to be moved so blog isn't affected? I still have a book started in November that I need to finish. I never get done what needs to be done around here. Mostly just doing whatever, whenever. :) Have a good weekend.

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  6. I noticed this afternoon that the blossoms have just burst out all over downtown. They are intoxicating!
    I am alarmed to hear that Picassa will no longer be available. I will have to explore some options. I have used Pic Monkey in the past but found Picassa quicker and more user-friendly.
    When I feel overwhelmed I find that a walk is the best thing to help me get my energy back. I love to read, but on a heavy day a book might send me off to sleep.

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  7. Always love roses and books. Your daffodils are about a week behind me. I am loving them. I just had some work done on my computer and found out about Picasa going away. The computer guy already took it off my computer and put on a free program called digiKam. It is a bit tricky, so my opinion is still out on it. So frustrated as Picasa was so easy and then they started messy with it and it got worse. My computer guy says it is better not to depend on the cloud. He didn't recommend the new Google program because it is a cloud.

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  8. Just seeing flowers in bloom cheers me up. Here in S/west France our daffodils have been in bloom for a few weeks. I've also cut a few stems of Forsythia and forced them to flower indoors , so now I have an early spring.
    Oh dear ! what will I do without Picasa. I do store my photos on my computer and also a hard-drive but I use Picasa for collages ,frames and effects which I like, I did try to use Picmonkey but didn't find it easy, I'll have to try again.. Thanks for the info. Enjoy your weekend and profit if you can, with reading your book.

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  9. Beautiful
    Happy weekend x

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  10. Daffodils are such a tonic on these miserably wet days.

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  11. I wish WE had some spring flowers peeking through, Lorrie! I'm always so amazed at how mild your weather is, compared to mine.
    Lovely photos, too. I must tell my book club about your "brain candy" LOL

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  12. Hey thanks for the heads up on google. I don't use it often but it grabs up all my photos, permission or not. So there are pics there that I have long forgotten but might be happy to find again. That's why I don't trust much about the internet, wondering how long things will be working. Lovely candlelight picture!

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  13. I think that I could do with some brain candy at the moment to read, I seem to be struggling with everything I read at the moment, perhaps I need a change of scene. I didn't know that about the photos, I just upload mine on my blog - after fiddling about with them on my computer to resize them - I hope that I can still upload them to my blog! We will have to wait and see I guess. Thank you so much for joining in the anniversary of Five On Friday, I really do appreciate it so much! Have a good weekend! xx

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  14. Your sightings of Spring are most welcome. But, like you, I'm still enjoying the cozy of twinkle lights or candles; they certainly fit the bill when it doesn't feel or look like Spring out there.

    Your book looks entertaining and a delightful escape for an hour or two. I remember Alexandra Stoddard telling her readers years ago that if you can do something that gives you pleasure first, then doing the chores will be all the more doable and enjoyable (my paraphrase) afterwards. I find it so too. Your taking time to read first is a perfect way to begin the 'to do' list, I agree.

    Wishing you a beautiful weekend, Lori!
    Hugs,
    Brenda
    xox

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  15. I agree an hour with my head in a book is wonderful therapy. Your photos are lovely. The weather is very capricious here too. One minute gorgeous sunshine, the next howling gales. Enjoy the rest of your weekend. Barbara

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  16. Lovely photos. I have no advice for you about online storage for your photos.

    I love to read and I like the idea of brain candy.

    Deanna

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  17. I may not be correct, but doesn't Blogger use Picasa for the storage of photos? Not sure. I use picmonkey for free on-line photo editing. You can pay for it if you want to get more options, but I just use the free stuff. Your spring garden is looking cheery. Nothing showing here yet, although today we jumped up to +12C ... from -18C on Thursday!! We didn't even need coats today! I'm reading less and less, but I'm missing that feeling of living in another world for a short time. If I'm stressed, I tend to clean the house because I want things calm and tidy around me :)
    Wendy

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  18. After reading Wendy's query about Blogger using Picasa I Googled this and - apparently they use Picasa web albums so not sure how this will affect us all.
    I do most of my editing in Photos on my Mac but utilize the free PicMonkey for mosaics.
    Your new shared phrase of 'brain candy' has me smiling, I like it.

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  19. Your flowers, both indoors and out, are looking quite lovely, Lorrie, and I'm inclined to believe it has more to do with their natural beauty than Picasa's! I use PicMonkey or iPiccy, both free versions, and am quite satisfied with both.

    Most of my reading these days is done on the streetcar ride to and from work. It's usually a magazine article that is able to grasp my 5pm attention span, and before I know it, my stop is announced, and the pressures of the day have also made their exit!

    Hope you get to indulge in more helpings of brain candy this weekend!

    Hugs,
    Poppy

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  20. Thanks for the heads up on Picasa. I will have to move quite a few photos from there before they are lost, wouldn't that mean that photos on blogger will come out of our posts? I use PicMonkey for my editing which has never let me down.

    Have a wonderful Sunday Lorrie xx

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  21. When I feel a sense of overwhelm I tend to write it all out and work through everything. Loving your photos as always. Good luck finding something you enjoy using as an alternative to Picasa.

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  22. Walking in the rain can have its advantages when you see beautiful rainbows and the sweet bird serenading his mate!
    Your hydrangeas are sprouting so that's a sign of Spring waiting in the wings.
    I agree with you Lorrie and I take time out with a book too - the perfect way to re-energise!
    I can't help you about Picasa, sorry but I'm interested in the discussion.
    Shane

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  23. Yes, I always have lots to do. As women, don't we all? Last week, I sat down and watched my 50 cent VHS tape, found at a thrift store, of Howard's End. What a story. I highly recommend this movie.

    Shirley

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  24. Thank you Lorrie for letting us know about Picasa. I wonder what a person should do knowing this. I would like to keep my collages I have made . It's certainly something to investigate. I think your rain has ended but it does hurry along spring the season of green and blossoms and my favourite daffodils.

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  25. Your roses and candles and everything is so beautiful ...
    but you got me with the Picasa news. Really? I really like my Picasa program and
    how it organizes my photos and how I can edit them. I can't imagine my life without it. =)
    I wonder how that will work.

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  26. I found this and wondered if it was any use to you.

    http://www.simplescrapper.com/2016/02/how-to-get-your-photos-out-of-picasa/

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  27. All pictures are beautiful and all perfectly photographed
    ____________
    iphone 6 Gold HD Wallpaper

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