Learning to Watermark Pics

Thank you to Alicia from Time Worn Style who blogged today about Watermarking Pictures to reduce the opportunities for others to take credit. I'm still learning but here's the blog post:

http://www.time-worn-style.com/blog/2012/07/watermarking-your-online-photos.html

And here's my first attempt:

I can't figure out how to centre the watermark but at least now, this pic is protected!

Happy Canada Day to all my Canadian Blogging Buddies. Raining & storming here, which has curtailed our plans today, which is ok, as I woke up with a raw throat & the beginnings of a cold. Bad timing as it's a busy week but have started overdosing on Vitamin C, so hopefully it will go away soon.

Enjoy your day. Hope it's sunny, whereever you are!

Dollhouse Update!

Last night, after a busy day of meetings, organizing, shopping, cleaning & helping, ending with yoga & meditation, I was wired & needed to calm down before bed.

So what did I do?

Took out a line of trees, pulled up the last of the grass, removed all the wooden shutters & ripped off a bit more wallpaper.

Pictures to follow.

But that was just what I needed to make me tired enough to have a really good sleep.

Ready to tackle the day. And in my spare time, in between projects today, I'm reading thru the websites I've found that show how to restore a dollhouse. Yeah for the internet!!

Our "secret" revealed!

At the beginning of the year, I alluded to a gift we had received after Christmas that was a dream for us. Here's the post: 

http://cottagebriarrose.blogspot.ca/2012/01/post-christmas-gift.html

Today, we started the process of renovating our gift. And now the secret is out!

Yes, I will admit, the Victorian we were gifted is not a real house but in fact, a full scale dollhouse. It's going to take a while to get to our real dream but for now, this one is just as exciting, as we pull off the old wallpaper, rip up the "grass", tear down the trees & put in new floors, doors & railings. It's been fun searching for websites to help us do the job well & to find the materials we need. We are currently waiting for a big order to come from Eastern Canada that will have lots of wallpaper, flooring & some furniture & accessories. Tons of hard work to do before that big packages arrives. So far, the wallpaper is proving to be a challenge to come off easily but the "grass" ripped up right away & all the furniture has been stored away until the house is ready for it's return. 

Hope you enjoy our new journey!

And now, the reveal of the before:

The upper level from the outside. 

Lower level. Don't you love the little pup waiting 

in the doorway for his family to come home?

View from the back. 

More pictures to follow as we dismantle 

& then put this house back together. 

Changing Plans

We just arrived home from our "new home" out on an island. 

As my husband declared to our family & I'm saying to my colleagues, we're here "on an extended visit" until we "go home again"!

Now the big work starts, trying to figure out how to change our plans to move there, instead of out to the country. It's a huge move, one that would involve a lot of planning around our current professions & one that would mean leaving some precious family & friends behind. We still might build in the country if that will net us more than selling our current house & then selling our land here to buy land there & build a new house there. Need to chat with a realtor to see which is the most efficient both in time & in dollars.

The chance to live out the next part of our lives in paradise is too tempting to not act on our gut feelings. 

A change in lifestyle would be in order. 

Actually, not a complete change, just a "getting back to the real us in a natural way".

Right now, we live a life that is orchestrated to adapt to all around us, to fit in, to measure up, to be "normal". 

Reality is, we're unique & really need to stop being who we are not & go back to being who we are!

And if that means moving to an island, wouldn't you? 

A couple of pictures to make my point!

Our sunset each night!

Wine to complement our daily activities!

Fairies & buddhas every where you look!

Sea shells by the sea shore!

Daily view from the hot tub!

Our yoga & meditation space each day!

We're pretty sensible people & realize that being on vacation is vastly different than becoming an islander. However, we've spent enough time on this coastal oasis to know how we would work our lives to be there & we know there will be stresses. We truly "live" there while we are there - we stay in a cottage, secluded in the woods, cook our own meals, do our laundry, stay connected to our work & shop as the locals do. 

We feel like islanders already! We know the lay of the land, how the system out there works & what is different. Having lived on the west coast already, we know the ups & downs of the rain & are not concerned at all. Seriously, I'll take 2 weeks of downpours over 2 weeks of -40 thanks!!

So very happy that the commitment we've made to live here will be a true commitment. 

Now we just have to figure out how to do it!

Scary!

I was not able to post on my blog for the last 2 weeks & it was driving me crazy. There was a message that kept coming up & it looked like someone had tried to connect Spam to my posts. After reading for hours thru the Help Center Forum, I changed my password, then connected thru Google Chrome. 

And for the 1st time in 2 weeks, this box came up. 

Posting now to see if it works. 

Happy to be back!!

Treasures!

I haven't been posting much with so many projects underway. But I miss having time to write & have decided to make this a priority to get the creative words flowing. Heading out to the coast for a 2 week "writing holiday". Can't wait to enjoy the sun & the sea.

Lots of treasure shopping has happened lately. Almost every Friday we end our week by taking some time to check out the charity shop & occasionally, the Antique Mall. Here's a few thing we've uncovered in our travels:

Vintage sewing needles. Marked down to $1.

Vintage basket for $1.

Small china saucer commemorating the birth of Prince William.

Vintage lamp for our upper hallway. Vintage light fixture for the new house. Vintage porcelain hanging doll for our armoire. Vintage silver frame. Wooden frame.

Good finds this week. Part of our "writing holiday" will also be a "treasure hunt". Looking forward to our time off!

I'm up! I'm up!!

I have such a hard time leaving my warm, cozy bed every morning.

Thankfully I work for an organization that lets me come in to work when I'm ready.

But I'm going to have to get up a bit earlier once we move out to the country.

My commute may only be an extra few minutes.

But I think I'll have a hard time leaving the peace & quiet, sights & sounds, to drive into the big city.

I think I'll be working from home a lot more than I do now!!

Building.

We are working towards choosing a house plan. It's been a long haul to get to this point & we're still not sure if it's the right choice to move out to the country. But when we think about it, we can't help but dream & then we get so excited.

Sometimes the reality sets in.

How do we take care of a septic system?

What happens if there is a snowstorm in the winter & the power goes out?

How we grow a garden with deer roaming the land?

Will our neighbors like us? Or leave us all on our own?

Aaaahhhhh!

But oh the room we'll have.

And if our plans work out, we'll be mortgage-free or have a very tiny one that would be paid off in a year or two.

Not a bad trade off!

Let the fun begin!!!!