You may be relieved to know that I only have one photo today. My laptop was tweaked by the computer person who solves all of my technological difficulties and alas Picasa is gone. I used Picasa, free photo-editing software, to reduce the image size as I seem to remember that Blogger only lets you have a certain amount of free space.
It turns out that Picasa is no more. Does anyone have any free software they can recommend? I will probably end up with Photoshop on here, as the biggest boy uses it for his photography, but to be honest I want something incredibly simple that I can just reduce the image size with and maybe do the odd crop. I don't spend long messing about with my pictures, so the easier the better.
There was a hairy moment when I got my laptop back and all of my stored passwords (naughty, naughty, I know) had gone and I had no idea how to get back into my blog. It made me realise how attached I am to it, my little record of days with the urchins. Anyway, I am back, so that's good. I'm probably still locked out of a few things, but I'm trying not to over-tech myself all in one go.
The urchins have been all about the woods this week. The littlest boy dressed up as a Ranger's Apprentice for World Book Day. He and the middle boy have been loving all of the John Flanagan books. He wore his cloak out to the woods as well, although it all went horribly wrong on the rope swing when the dog tried to jump and catch it in his teeth and then it got tangled up under his feet and half-strangled him, so he took it off in the end.
He somehow got a speck of woodland in his eye and ended up at the Eye Hospital the next day. They were absolutely brilliant and got it out in a trice, I honestly can't praise them enough.
The middle boy has been racing about on bike trails and the biggest boy has spent the week on a nature reserve in the woods which was pretty amazing by all accounts. He saw wild boar piglets, dormice nests, hawfinches and a woodcock, all new stuff, so he was happy. Going back to school next week is going to be very tame. I rather fell in love with the woodland as well, driving through it every day to take him there. We'll definitely be back.
It was quite a long drive each day though, and rather ate into the work day, so I'm a bit frantic now and looking forward to a peaceful week to get my head down next week. Although I am probably tempting fate by saying that. Hope all is well with you. I shall be back with photos if I find some easy software.
I hope the next few days are peaceful and calm for you. Although realistically any household with three boys and a dog isn't really going to merit that title, but I suppose its all relative.
ReplyDeleteI'm useless at computer stuff, but manage to reduce size, crop etc with Pixlr https://pixlr.com
Dear CJ, really disappointed we didn't get a photo shot of the "cloak's demise", especially one with Bertie hanging on tightly to the cloak as it swung above him.
ReplyDeleteHope the Picasa issue is resolved soon.
Potential eye injuries can be so awful and I am relieved to know that it was dealt with so well by the eye hospital.
Having had a daughter and a son, I can't believe the differences in our children's experiences. Having a daughter brings a lot of feminine experiences into the household as well as the "boy stuff" and so I expect people deal with whatever they are presented with. I'm rather glad I had "girl stuff" in my life. We did enjoy school holidays on our bikes getting around our suburb.
Regards, Robyn
CJ, you need Photoscape for your photo editing. You can rescale and edit your photos in seconds and even people who are virtually computer illiterate manage to use it. I know, because I've installed it on a gazillion friends' computers over the years. Two further advantages is that it's a free app with no advertising or strings attached, and that it has a very small download size. Although I use Photoshop when I do sophisticated stuff, Photoscape is the app I use every day for blog photos.
ReplyDeleteI had 3 darling daughters, all grown up now. We did woods as well as shops when they were growing up but I love reading about your boys. Glad eye sorted. Yes hope the next week is quieter for you. Best wishes.
ReplyDeleteCJ, I also was disappointed when I lost Picasa two years ago - it was simple and effective and free! I now use the photo editing software in Google Photos that comes with my Gmail account.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like you had a bit of a roller-coaster week where thankfully all was okay in the end. The only pictures I take are for the blog so I use the Windows programme to save then crop them. xx
ReplyDeleteI didn't know that Blogger only allows limited free space. I don't seem to have exhausted mine. I've clung on to iPhoto because I don't understand/ like how Photos organises files but I think it will decay and disappear because it's not supported.
ReplyDeleteI have some tech help from son when in the country and husband when willing but make no forays into anything new unless forced to. The password issue has been very sticky. I have come up with a formula that I can remember now and so don't need to write them down anywhere. Mind you I thought I knew my credit card PIN but had a blank moment at the checkout the other day and had to abandon my trolley.
I am glad you are getting those computer issues sorted. I am still using Picassa and sending the photos to my blog so I am not sure what is happening on this end. A few days in the woods is so great when you are young, well unless your dog tries to strangle you with your cape. Have a good week.
ReplyDeleteI love to hear about children in the woods...it gives me hope.
ReplyDeleteAnother suggestion for free photo editing software is PicMonkey....it used to be very simple but they've gone and 'improved' it and now it's not nearly as straightforward so it may be more than you're wanting if you don't do a lot of editing.
But yes, children of the forest. A very good thing indeed. Mangled capes notwithstanding. xo
I didn't know there was a storage limit for blogger... I guess when I run out I'll just have to start a new blog. I am so lazy, I upload the photos as they are from my iPhotos application. I can't remember any of my passwords and would be completely lost without the nifty keychain that stores them for me somewhere. I have no idea how it works but somehow it does. I hope you'll be able to reset those passwords that you need. It sounds like your boys had a great time last week. Was it half term? We used to visit a woodlands nearby where you could build dens and stuff but we haven't been for a while. Your post reminded me of how much we love proper woodlands. Glad that both dog and boy are ok after the cape incident. I hope his eye is not too sore. I am such a wuss, I am am feeling slightly queasy just thinking about him having a speck of wood in his eye. Have a good week, hopefully a peaceful one xx
ReplyDeleteI’m so glad the woodland week went well- those are fabulous things to see, lucky him. Xx
ReplyDeleteThe woods sound like great fun! I see Dawn has recommended Pixlr.com which I've also found very good.
ReplyDeleteThe woodland adventures all sound great fun but glad the eye got sorted out. I haven’t a clue about photos... I used to have software with my camera but usually just use the iPad editor these days
ReplyDeleteBefunky is a good free photo editing website, you could try that. I tend to use the low budget but effective photo editing tool that's built into my ancient, decrepit laptop.
ReplyDelete