Everyday Chatting & Waffling {2022} Let's get to know each other!

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Are any of you playing with Deep Dream Generator? Someone posted a message about it on the site a while back and I decided to give it a try this week. You do have to register but there is a free level which I am playing in. You get 20 credits and for that you can create four images, after a little while, your credits start again and you can create another image as soon as they build up to 5...I find myself checking back all the time to see if I have enough to play again, and what a bonus to get up in the morning and be back to the whole 20!!. You submit a photo, choose a "style" (filter) to overlay and the computer does amazing, surreal, abstracty things with them to create some interesting/ exciting/scary/ revolting/wonderful/fun/gorgeous effects according to what photos and overlays you have chosen to pair. It is my fun thing to do at the moment, a new toy...what fun!!
 
Alta2014 said:
Hello everyone! It's been to long since I stopped in to say Hi! You all have been busy... I see.
Shana- No way could I make that climb, those days are gone for me. But glad you made it, and made it safely down. Hope that was a great photo you took, after going through all that...
Lynnie- I know it's been forever since I have stopped in here, thank you for wondering about me, and for the nice comments on my layouts. I seen you have been a very busy girl... hope your daughter is feeling better.
So sorry to hear about the the Queen, she was an amazing Lady. I always loved seeing what she would wear next, she was always well dressed and loved her hats. She will be missed by many.
I have been staying home most of the time. My sister made it here for a visit. Her husband and daughter also came. They were here for two weeks. We played a lot of cards and board games, as we always do when we all get together. My daughter also came up while they were here, and both of my sons, and all my grand children, so we had a full house. 3 dogs and 2 cats also, so never a dull moment... LOL We had a lot of laughs and a few tears. Ate to much { my niece is a great baker) But it was a great visit. Now that everyone is gone it is so quiet around here. The weather is getting cooler, I like the fall, but that means winter is not to far behind. Not looking forward to freezing temps and to much snow. I hope fall last a little longer... My body can't take the cold like it use tooooo... Well you all have a great week, and I will try and get back in here again soon.
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Alta, How lovely to see you here :) What a nice surprise. It sounds like life is going well for you.

KatherineWoodin said:
Just thought I would let you know that we did get Hospice involved with my husband's care. It is good to have someone to help him each week. He could still live a year or two but no one knows for sure. I just take it a day at a time and enjoy each moment with him.
I know most of you are struggling and hope the best for each of you
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Love and prayers to you and your husband. Hospice is a hard decision, but such a good one for the home car and the concern for pain control. Please stop in for all the support you need.

Jill said:
Are any of you playing with Deep Dream Generator? Someone posted a message about it on the site a while back and I decided to give it a try this week. You do have to register but there is a free level which I am playing in. You get 20 credits and for that you can create four images, after a little while, your credits start again and you can create another image as soon as they build up to 5...I find myself checking back all the time to see if I have enough to play again, and what a bonus to get up in the morning and be back to the whole 20!!. You submit a photo, choose a "style" (filter) to overlay and the computer does amazing, surreal, abstracty things with them to create some interesting/ exciting/scary/ revolting/wonderful/fun/gorgeous effects according to what photos and overlays you have chosen to pair. It is my fun thing to do at the moment, a new toy...what fun!!
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I have not, but I have used Pencil Pixels, which is NOT free and which I just love :)
 
Jill and Lynnie... thank you for the heads up about new programs to play with. I will have to look into both Pencil Pixels and the Deep Dream Generator!

Lynnie, thank you for your comments on my page layout about climbing to the top of our capitol building. GULP! If anyone else wants to see that layout, you can view it here.

This week, we have had some nice, cool mornings (in the 40s) and warm afternoons (in the 80s), so it's been really nice out. Last weekend, we went to a fun art fair in Kansas City and then to the Renaissance Festival. There were a lot of people there dressed in amazing costumes.

Hope everyone has an amazing day!
 
Shana, amazing photo of the stairs and I love that photo of you, would never know that you terrified. Good going for you to do the photos for the children.

I too am so afraid on heights but I am determined to do the Eiffel Tower when I go to Paris next spring. I am practicing already...LOL!
 
I have always been terrified of heights. My problem is that I keep thinking I can be brave, climb UP somewhere, and then I can't get down.

I once climbed to the top of my in-law's roof to watch the Disneyland fireworks. It took a long time to get me down. I was not afraid as much as I thought the chimney needed my help holding it up for a while.

Or the time I was expecting David (1974!) and I fancied a mango, so I climbed a neighbour's tree to pick one. I was very pregnant, but could not climb down. To this day, I claim that my belly was just stuck.

There may have been a few other occasions where it may have looked like I was afraid of heights, but there were plenty of other reasons I could not get back down!
 
Hey ladies...popping in to say hi. It's been almost 6 mths since we uprooted our lives, lost our granddaughter, quit our jobs, moved out of the city and started a new life here in the BC interior. It was the best thing for us. We are healing, loving the quiet life, the scenery makes us happy, driving around, viewing the wide open expanses of hills and sky are so peaceful. There is almost no rain here (semi-desert area) and having sunshine 99% of the time is so wonderful. The dogs love it, it is so dog friendly here with many dog parks and pretty much everywhere they are allowed off leash if well behaved which our dogs are so there is a multitude of hikes and lakes for them to experience.

Health-wise, things have been crazy, no doctors available out here so have to use a tele-medicine call or go to Emergency at the hospital. I've had covid twice, the last time was terrible, in bed for 2 wks, sicker than I've ever been in my life. But I'm mostly recovered. I developed swollen neck nodes about 3 mths ago that are getting worse and my dentist referred me to an ENT specialist (didn't know a dentist could do that!). He immediately did a biopsy and I get a scan tonight at the hospital. So hopefully we'll know soon what is going on. I feel ok except for a bit of tiredness/brain fog and neck is sore but not extreme. Regardless of the cause, the ENT guy says they will need to book surgery soon to remove it.

It's starting to look like fall around here. I'm excited about landscape photos. I got a wide angle lens for that purpose.

I'm enjoying retirement, the days fly by but I'm content and no stress. It's funny how I never knew how much stress I felt when I was in the big city, working, trying to juggle everything.

So, that's my update. I'm going to try to check in more often.

Lynnie & Karen - me too, terrified of heights so have to be careful on some of my hikes, my heart races and I get lightheaded. I have improved though but I don't think it will ever go away completely.
 
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How did I miss this thread?!! I think I might have to shift from my Twitter obsession to something much healthier...

This summer hasn't been very exciting for us. There's so much to do here, but because my son is at extremely high risk re COVID and nobody is concerned about others any more, we're essentially shut-ins. I'm planning to take him to the kangaroo farm on Monday; it shouldn't be crowded because school's back in and their season is almost finished for the year. If all goes well, we might stop at one of the pumpkin patches on our way back and pick out a big one for Hallowe'en. Poor guy, he's so bored by Mom and Dad. Thankfully it hasn't been too smoky this year, and we've gotten him out on the patio a few times. He has a motorized bubble blower that the dogs just love - they chase the bubbles all over the yard.

One good thing that happened is I had a chance to have lunch with Lori (teamkobza) in real life when she was in town for work. We met in the Night Owl chat room here at GS about 9 years ago. We had a great 3 hour visit and then she deserted me for a wine tasting. Lori, you never did tell me if you bought anything..............

We have a new grand-puppy. She's a gray-blue French bulldog named Frankie and she's HILARIOUS! She has her own Instagram and TikTok channels. Daughter and son-in-law have decided COVID is over and have been entertaining out-of-town guests as well as travelling a lot, so we don't see them much.

I think the worst part right now about being stuck at home is that there are TEN new houses being built right across the street from us. The noise and the dust never end!! On the plus side, we'll have a bunch of new neighbours. One of the dogs finds watching the crews work to be highly entertaining. She lays on Adam's bed and looks out the window all day.

Shana, isn't it liberating to do something you never believed you could do? When I was in Ireland in 2018, I climbed to the top of one of the towers of Ferns Castle and posed for photos right by the battlement. It was exhilarating!

Rae, I hope your node thing turns out to be something simple and benign. There's some evidence linking persistently swollen nodes with COVID infection. One of their jobs is to filter out pathogens, so it's not surprising. My long COVID issues are more along the lines of "inappropriate" sinus tachycardia, hypertension, exercise intolerance, post-exertional exhaustion and gut troubles.

Time to start thinking about supper, I guess. Any ideas?
 
Thanks for the heads up I will have to look into both Pencil Pixels and the Deep Dream Generator, I love playing with apps.

i hope everyone affected by hurricane ian is ok, it looked terrifying watching on tv.

been quiet here.
 
Good morning. Happy 30th of September.

I am extremely far behind on reading this thread, even coming into this thread to try to post. Thank you Lynnie for the invitation back.

It's has been quite a hectic many months for me. Lots of things from many different directions.

Cliff notes: Staying busy with family, the g'kiddo's- and their activities. Keeping up with scrapbooking duties. Some traveling and a bunch of medical.
Let me just say turning 70 - has not been kind. But I'm determined to rise to the occasion.
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ps- We fared far better than expected with Hurricane Ian.
 
Good morning ladies.

Janny - yes, I'm hoping its an immune system thing, possibly from covid, and will just need to be removed. I too am still having symptoms of brain fog, fatigue and exercise fatigue but it is improving so am hopeful that I will continue to improve. Hope you do too. What did you end up having for dinner?

We went to the casino yesterday and had a few drinks. it was just what we needed to get us out of our heads and distract us for a few hours. Yesterday would have been Bailey's 25th birthday and we were all feeling very depressed and sad, Jen especially. Then we came home for a late take-out dinner and then off to the hospital for my scan. Should have results in about a week.

This wkend is a fun time scrap-wise with DSD. I've got a few photo walks but will also spend time scrapping. Hope you all enjoy it.
 
Jenny, welcome! I think you will enjoy being here. We have a lovely group of people and the more the merrier. I am babysitting grandson and on phone, so I won’t answer in detail, but it does sound as though you belong.

Rae, it sounds as though you have a lot to deal with right now. Did Jen move with you? How are the dogs coping with the move?

Michi, welcome back. I have missed your posts. Glad you fared well with Ian. My friend’s sister lives in Naples. She was away with Ian hit. Her daughter lives there, too, and has two properties, which both survived. We don’t know how the sister’s house did. Of all things, they had gone to Charlotte, NC, for a holiday, so will have been caught in Ian anyway from the look of the map.

Sherri, I think Pencil Pixels only works in photoshop. I am not sure if it works on a tablet. I se to emended you do most of your work on a tablet, although I might be mistake . Waterlogue had some fun effects on a tablet, though. Hope all is well with you and the kiddos and Alexis does not have any current medical challenges beyond the usual.

I am babysitting Bruce today. He is precious, but definitely a produce of COVID isolation. His speech is very underdeveloped, and does not play well with others. It is exciting to see some developments in his speech, but I know his parents are longing for him to speak more.
 
Hi everyone! Happy Friday!

Janny- Welcome to the thread, glad to have you here! :)

Rae- Welcome back! Good to see you! It sounds like you're living your best life, and that's awesome. :) I hope the thing with your nodes is something simple and easily cured.

Michi- Welcome back to you too! It's nice to see you back here. I'm glad you made it through the hurricane OK.

Lynnie- Busy as ever, I see! You know, I think my granddaughter is a product of Covid isolation too. She is talking, but not in words I can understand well. I'm sure her parents understand her a lot better.

Me, I am doing all right. Managing to stay busy. We canned applesauce this week and will probably can apple pie filling next week. We picked a lot of apples last week, lol. We don't have a whole lot of plans for the weekend, other than the usual shopping. :)
 
Rae, yesterday must have been a difficult day for all of you. Birthdays, anniversaries and other significant dates are like losing them all over again.

We had souvlaki for supper last night. It was so good!! I found these heftier pocket breads at Superstore that make eating souvlaki a lot less messy; they remind me of the ones I used to get from the Happy Camel in Edmonton. Too bad they were a limited-time Insider's Report thing.

The construction crews were especially noisy today. I've had a headache threatening for most of the day. We're also under a boil-water advisory... I didn't realize just how much tap water I drink in a day! The water purification system for our area had some scheduled maintenance on Tuesday, which meant the water wasn't being treated with UV for about 24 hours. Two nasty, diarrhea-causing bugs (cryptosporidia and giardia) aren't killed by chlorine alone and we can't risk Adam ingesting either of them. It could take until October 5 for the system to clear the water to where it's safe for him. Fun times.

Is everybody ready for DSD? I'm going to need to shift some stuff from my laptop to my 6TB EHD so I have room for the new stuff I won't be able to resist.
 
Such lovely news today!!

My youngest and his wife announced they are expecting baby number 2! I am over the moon. I babysit their little boy every Friday and Saturday (sweetest little grandson ever!). He will have his nose put out of joint by the new little one. He is rather spoiled and quite strong-headed.

Lots more pictures to scrap. Baby is due in April.
 
So exciting Lynnie..nothing more lovely than a brand new little person to love and cuddle
 
Congrats, Lynnie!

Yesterday, we attended a wedding couples shower. Close friends and family of both the bride and groom were invited for a brunch and to play fun games about the couple. The sisters of the bride really outdid themselves with making the event special. It was a lovely way for both sides of the soon to be wed to meet and mingle. I was especially delighted to find that they had rented a mobile coffee "food truck"... and I was able to sip on lattes! Happy happy! LOL!
 
That's awesome Lynnie... Congratulations, nothing better than lots of grand-children to spoil!

I have been busy scrapping for DSD challenges. Not sure I will get them all done... But sure going to try. I had soup and a sandwich tonight. Nothing like making soups when the weather gets cooler. Well just wanted to pop in and say hello. Hope you all have a wonderful week!
 
We've had such gorgeous weather. It seems like in the Midwest, we get two great weeks of Spring and two great weeks of Fall, and then its either super hot or super cold. LOL! I'm hoping for good weather tonight as I have two back-to-back soccer games to attend tonight. Three of the nephews are playing, and two of them are seniors in High School. I just hope for good light long enough to get some good pictures! Then I'll have a three-hour drive back home. It's going to be a late night, but it's worth it to see the boys.
 
Happy Friday everyone!

Lynnie- Congratulations on the good news of your expanding family.

Since the hurricane blew through, our weather has been much cooler than our usual early October. We've even been able to open the windows some.

Turning 70 for me in July, has been a bumpy road for sure. Overall it has not been kind, but the body parts are improving as are other medial tests I've had done. Here's hoping they continue to improve. I will take it a day at a time.

The grandkids are doing well. School has started and both are enjoying tremendously. David is back into his baseball and Sarah into her gymnastics and dance. She took a respite for a few weeks as in a cast.

I've been working more on genealogy. Oh, what a ride that has been! I'm ok on the discovery of new and unexpected 'things' that pop in, as long as they are accurate. I cannot change the past. I did locate a dna match- who has been very helpful on my paternal grandfather's side. Oh- what surprises there are there! Nothing like what daddy had said.

Other than my various craftings- that is all that is new with me.
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Congratulations on the new expecating new one Lynnie. Has bruce done voice therapy, speech therapy? the earlier the better. It took Austin so long to talk. I enjoyed our chat so much the other day, as did alexis, you really cheered her up, me too.
 
Michi, I'm interested in hearing more about your genealogy research. I'm working on a very small project... my youngest nephew (age 14) has been asking about our family history. So I'm making him a scrapbook with some of the heritage photos and stories that other family members have collected over the years. I found an essay written by my great-grandfather about his father, and another one written about my grandfather about my great-grandfather. So I've asked my dad to write a similar essay about my grandfather, and I asked my brother to write one about our dad. Those will all go in the book, as well.
 
Happy Monday! Happy Thanksgiving to Canadian friends!

Lynnie- I'm hopeful your family members in Naples fared well through Hurricane Ian. Our son in law's brother/wife live in Cape Coral and just got electricity back yesterday [10/09]. Some damage at their home and her mother's where they evacuated more inland. But everyone is safe.

Shana- Ohhh on the genealogy project. As my husband says: "Don't look for a golf ball you don't want to find".... that said, I can 'handle' anything factual. Just document the real facts, as I cannot change history anyway.

As far as in my family heritage searches- so so so so much... is incorrect from what I was told. I 'get' hearing a tale from relative 1, 2, or 3 might different from the recollection of relative 4, 5, 6. just like - grandpa likes apple pie better than blueberry and finding out- no he doesn't. Something like that doesn't really matter in the long run.

Mama had her side telling me adult to adult, which for the most part was fairly factual, although missed a few names and the years of when who arrived in the USA - but she sure avoided a major part, [which I understand] only to discover in part years later [1991- she thought she was dying but didn't] probably later didn't recollect what she said. However, via ancestry and DNA what she mumbled that day turned out to be quite true. In 2016, I discovered I have a half sister.

On Daddy's side- almost ALL of what he said of his genealogy is rather misleading, undocumented by him or just a plain out lie. He even wrote a long journal of his life for me as he wanted a book of his memories, which I created for him.
Not sure if it was on Daddy's doing- or relatives to protect him as a child. Daddy 'claimed' his father was born in Germany- came to the USA with his father leaving mother and sister behind and they were 100% German. His father had a mysterious high government job with the military and his mother traveled with him and why he lived with relatives. [not true].
On his mother's side; a mix of German and Dutch. He neglected the Native American part and a lot of Native history-that the Ramapo/Lenape were quite a mixed tribe. Again I 'get' why, if he knew because of how the Indigenous People were treated back when. I have a lot of DNA matches on that side of the family.

I have the Ancestry all inclusive; Genealogy Bank- both of which I pay for. Also Family Search [from the Church of the Later Day Saints] which is free.


My first real outing this weekend was to baseball. It tired me out, but I enjoyed going to the game.
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I am still trying to document. Many census forms have errors on them. I recently located a DNA match on my paternal grandfather's - father's side. She has been very helpful and is a genealogist.
 
Happy Thanksgiving to the Canadians!

How did everyone's weekends go? Mine was relatively quiet, as we went shopping and canned apple pie filling Saturday. Sunday was just church and nap, as well as choir practice for a big Christmas concert. Today hubby is working from home, doing some training for a test he's going to take next month (certification).

On Thursday we fly out to NJ for parent's weekend at Seton Hall. I have a feeling Eren will be glad to see us, as their roommates are local and take off every weekend, and they haven't made many friends yet. None to ask for a hug when they need it.

Michi, isn't genealogy fascinating? It's a rabbit hole I could easily sucked into if I wasn't stuck on something currently. I plan to ask a genealogist friend for some advice soon.

Oh, I have again been nominated for LOTW. :) I'd love your vote, but if you find one prettier than mine, vote for it! Mine's entitled "Faith." You can vote here.
 
Michi... wow... that sounds like you've uncovered quite the stories on both sides of your family. One thing about DNA testing... there will no longer be any family secrets. That's so interesting about your father's side... whether he made it up or whether he believed what he was told. As I tell my brothers, "she who makes the scrapbooks records the official family history"... usually told to them when my version of the story is different from their recollections. Ha.

Ane, congrats on being nominated for LOTW. And safe travels!
 
Ane- yes quite fascinating! If your friend offers advice, please share.

Shana- oh yes on some stories! I will say, I feel very blessed to have met my half sister in person. What a delightful woman she is and we talk a lot. She is so much like Mama!!!! More than any of the rest of us- seriously.
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