RedHen Review: Picnik

This is the first in a sometime feature of this site: RedHen Review. And since it's late for me, this will be a quick, "I really like this site"-type of review.

Picnik

Here's a easy, fast, fun, and -- most importantly -- free way to edit your photos. You can touch up, crop, resize, and add fancy frames to your pics in a flash. There's a lot more to Picnik, but you'll have to mosey over and check it out yourself.

For example, here's a picture I started with. Let me introduce Francine, a gen-u-ine red hen. My friend Nancy Zeller of Longridge Farm graciously sent me this picture of the lovely Francine to play with. Since I've dubbed myself RedHen (you know, because I do it all), I really wanted an image of, well, a red hen.

Call me a suburban girl, but I just can't get over the idea of carrying a chicken around.


OK, so I've just logged on to Picnik, and there's the start menu. The last photo I worked on is shown (no peeking), and Picnik gives me the option to continue working on that picture, close the picture, or upload photos. Since I want to show you the finished product, I'll click Continue editing ...






What I wanted to do with Francine's picture was to zoom in on her lovely face and feathers, frame her, and add some text. Here's the finished product (courtesy of Vista's snipping tool) -- and it took me all of 5 minutes to do.

I may still play around with Francine's picture -- heck, that's pretty much guaranteed. But Picnik makes it easy, fun, and addictive. Give it a whirl and see what you think.

Sharing Sadness

Here's my wonderful Tucker. I miss him.

I've just sent notes of sympathy to two special people. The first is one of the nurses who comes to our house to play footsie with SpecialEd. Well, maybe not footsie, but she does help keep his footsies is the best shape she can. Nurse Rose had to say goodbye to her dog, Casey, today, after a brief illness.

Our other friend, Nancy (Longridge Farm), had to say goodbye to her dog, Shelley, today, too. Shelley's health was declining, but she did rally for a last hurrah before quietly dying while with Nancy.

Having to say goodbye to our friends and companions is one of the prices we have to pay for loving them. Each farewell is heart- and gut-wrenching, and I'm crying right now while I'm sitting here, typing this. Sure, the pain fades, but the ache in your heart is there, hidden away until something pulls aside that curtain. Ta-daaah! Here you go: how 'bout another taste of that sadness, hmm? Ugh.

OK, I'm getting it together, because this this isn't about me, it's about two special friends. Rose and Nancy: please know that you're in my heart. I've alerted Tucker to keep his eyes open for two new friends to play with.

Pleasant Surprises

Sometimes surprises can be way too much fun. In this picture, for example, we see what was to have been a caramel-brown product of Weatherby, EarthHues(TM) natural dyes and colors, and my expertise. The end result was a wonderful surprise, because one of my all-time favorite colors is peach. Ta-daah! (Please note that I take full responsibility for the end result. I also want to point readers to the ever-gracious Nancy Zeller of Long Ridge Farms if they want top-notch personalized service: she knows her products and knows the craft.)

Now that vacation time is over and the Say-This boys will soon be up to their eyeballs in homework I hope to have another go with another EarthHues experiment and see what comes out of the pot next.

Another happy surprise is what that wool is posing on: a volunteer tulip poplar that's growing right next to our deck railing. According to Say-This kid #1, "Tulip poplars are among the tallest trees." If the leaves on the sapling are any indication of future size (like the paws on a puppy), then this tree is going to be a whopper. Those leaves are bigger then one of my hands, and that baby is only about 3 ft tall. I have many fond memories of climbing a neighbor's tulip poplar and sitting in branches that were way, way above the house's roof. Ah, good times! So I have the motivation to transplant that baby -- the challenge will be digging it up without killing either it or my back.

And yet another happy surprise is the "yarn thing" that my sister-in-law bought for me at a yard sale for $2. She assured me that I could use it however I liked -- including for firewood -- or not at all. So, I went to pick it up, and this is what I found...

Yes, it's leaning; however, what you're looking at is an old yarn-winding "thing." I have no idea what to call it, but even though it's a wobbly wreck, I love it. It's obviously been used and loved for a long, long time. Once I got over my surprise (I was expecting one of those umbrella-type yarn winders), I started poking and prodding and cleaning. I haven't figured out exactly how I'll use this little baby, but it's one of the happier surprises I've had lately.

Last, but not least, here is a pic I took of Say-This boy #2 this morning to mark the first day of school. Something funky is going on with my camera, and I almost deleted this picture. However, I thought about it and realized that here was an actual picture I could use to experiment with retouching. Brilliant!

I'm in Love with Wetherby

I’ve been busy washing, carding, and generally playing with a half-fleece from the ever-gracious Nancy Zeller (visit her Web page here). Wetherby, as you can see, is a most-handsome CVM/Romeldale. If you’ve never worked with CVM/Romeldale wool, you’re in for a treat.

When it arrived, Wetherby’s fleece looked like angel-food cake: brown “crust” (sorry for the comparison if you're eating) on the outside and spongy, creamy white inside. It washed up beautifully, is carding like a dream, and is very easy to spin -- even for a novice spinner like myself.

I have have no idea what I’m going to make with Wetherby's wool, but I’m sure that the finished product will be fiberlicious!

As an added treat, my husband and boys gave me an Earthhues(TM) dye kit for Mother’s Day. (Nancy offers the full line at her site.) This just gives me an excuse to visit all our local Goodwill stores to find some pots and other paraphernalia for my big dyeing adventure.

Now if I could only figure out a way to keep the whole “job thing” from interfering with my fun. Hmm. Looking at all those wonderful Wetherby puffballs makes me wonder what the PowerBall jackpot is up to ...