Embracing silver, the theme for this week's #bow got me thinking about embracing learning something new, despite my lack of skills in the area. As we get up in years we tend to get set in our ways.
I'm a guy that likes routine and doing things as I have done in the past, but I knew I had to step up my game. What I needed to embrace, regardless of my apprehension, was inspired by this guideline set forth by @riverflows, the founder of #natural #medicine.
"No more than 10 photos - I can't scroll forever! If you're a newbie, using this code will put your images side by side:"
For me, the CODE was unbreakable and after a short time, I realized that codes are made just for that reason, otherwise why would they use a dam code anyway. This stuff had my head spinning,<>/~:'^+= ^()"";;,'{[}]./.<,]]}},>,>^/**":';<>, but I wanted to be able to participate in the Garden Journal Challenge Early June. Only being able to include ten photos was my dilemma. I had way more than ten pictures that I wanted to use to document our garden. I knew there had to be an easier way to put a picture side by side, or even better than that, make a collage, but the code thing was off of the table!
Just recently, I read a post that had several collages included in the article. I'd like to be able to recall who's post it was, but sometimes more often than not, this #silverblogger tends to forget stuff. I guess this comes with the territory. When I replied to the mystery person, he/she was kind enough to get back to me. He/she told me about https://www.picmonkey.com/.
After spending a considerable amount of time learning the program, I was able to create the following. Who says you can't teach an old dog with silver hair on his chin, a few new tricks.
Embracing learning something new was extremely satisfying, and now I will be able to follow the guidelines for entering the #garden #journal.
Look at that, four different pictures all in the same picture. This was my first attempt at making a collage and I must admit it took me several hours to kind of get it down.
For my next attempt, I decided to make a collage with pictures from last year's harvest. This one I completed in about half of the time. The layout was different from the first one, but it was rather easy to change the # of pictures that would make up the collage.
Here is a #feathered #friends collage for all of you bird lovers out there. At this point in learning the picmonkey program, putting the collages together was rather easy, but finding the collage after I pushed the download button was still giving me more problems than I'd like to admit.
When I finally was able to locate them, they were in a zipped folder. No problem, I would just unzip the zipper. In the past, whenever I have unzipped a zipper, I found what I was looking for.😀
Well, as soon as I unzipped the collage that was tucked away safely in a folder and protected by the zipper, the dam collage decided to hide somewhere in the depths of my computer.
As the sun was setting on this learning experience, I was finally able to locate where the collages ended up after I had released them from their captor, the ZIPPER
When I had finally scouted out where the doggies were hiding, I had about 20 zipped folders of the collage. Every time I downloaded it, the doggies decided to play, I hide you seek, and because the seeking didn't go too good I just pushed the download button again, again, again, and again.
Learning something so new can be painstaking when you're in your silver years, but embracing the experience makes it fun!
I wonder when I will use my new skills, maybe for this month's #gardenjournal.
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BEER.I always enjoy a cold one. Maybe one day we can clang our mugs together.
I am speechless. I leave you alone for 2 days and your beautiful brain goes into overdrive. Well done partner. You know I have wanted to learn that skill of collage making for some time now and hope you won't charge me an arm and a leg for your teaching services. I need to know, I am a hardcore FOMO. 😍
Thanks. Whenever you're ready, just let me know, and I'll show you what I know. You may have to stop sitting around eating BonBons and watching TV all day though.😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁. I know, for #silvebloggers like us, those emojis are a little small to make out, so I just want to make sure you don't think those BALD-headed emojis are wearing a frown.
I couldn't ask for a better partner by my side, Heck you even spread hay around the trees with me today. Here are a couple more smiling faces for that one. 😁😁
By the way, you're a funny gal. Today, while shaking the shit out of that hay, you said that you didn't realize that hobbitizing involved sweating, that was the line of the day, so far, it's early yet!
😍
Hi @thebigsweed, please add #bow to make your entry a valid one😉
Good morning, my bad! I included #bow in the first sentence, and I thought that would cover it. Thank you very much for the heads up. I've added #bow.
Have a wonderful day everyone, I know @farm-mom and I are. Our son is up for the weekend with his family. 😁😁😁
Ah enjoy the weekend with your family! Thank you for adding #bow;)
You're a regular frikkin computerized developmental guy or whatever they call those people. Danget, I can't remember what else I was gonna say.
Not really any of those words, just stubborn. A, whatever you called that guy, would have it figured out in an hour, it took me all day.
I was having the same problem: how to manipulate those photographs!
I've just signed up to canva, I guess it's a similar thing?
Lovely photographs and great to be able to present them for the delectation of your readers.
It does take some patience at the beginning and some practice, but the final product is pretty cool.
I'm sure picmonkey and canva are very similar programs.
Delectation, I had to look up that one. Thanks, @shanibeer, nice word to let me know you enjoyed my blog.
Thanks for stopping by.
😁 😍
Yes, it's the practice, I agree. My trouble is I try to learn the programme as I'm also trying to write the post! I did manage to cobble together a collage for my last post, but I hadn't learned how to download in the right format, so ended taking a screenshot, editing it and uploading that. It worked as a fix, but I'm sure an hour spent learning the programme will have better results.
Thank you for the motivation 🙂
!ENGAGE 20
I'm still having some trouble finding the collage once it's downloaded, one time it appears in one place, the next time it's hiding somewhere else.
I never thought of taking a screenshot of the collage, probably because that's something else I have yet to learn.
In another year or so, I may have it all figured out. 😁
Thank you for your generosity.
ENGAGEtokens.Look at you showing off your new skills haha! I just love it!
I know, showing off ain't cool, but what's a guy supposed to do when he feels like he just slew a fire-breathing dragon with nothing but his bare hands, while standing on one leg, sipping on a glass of wine, brag a little. 😁
😄 too funny!!!!
Thank you for sharing this trick/website with us Silvers @thebigsweed, I'm certainly going to give it a bash, looks way more professional than my MS Publisher collages! Never too late to teach an old silver a trick or two. Appreciate your awesome participation in #bow🤗
Have you thought about what Sassy Silver name you'd like to use here?
The trick now will be remembering how I did it all, practice, practice, practice I guess. You may be seeing a lot of collages in the very near future. 😁
All kidding aside, it was fun learning and it does add another dimension to your blog. Thanks for your kind words of support, always appreciated @hive-106316
Sassy silver name, yes,farm-mom and I have had a few laughs with this idea already. We're both in, just want to make sure it's an extra sassy name.
Oh, this did make me laugh! Because I empathise - on so many levels! Good on you, learning a new thing. I'm busy learning my way around Canva. I also admit that I'm much better learning by osmosis. Sometimes, though, the learning just does not penetrate!
You come up with some of the coolest gifs.
With @farm-mom back in Jersey for the weekend, I was able to take the time I needed to do it over and over again. After some considerable amount of time, I knew how to do just some of what the program offered.
They even have an advanced version, I've got a feeling that's way above my pay grade.
@shanibeer mentioned the same program, Canva.
Good luck my friend, if this old timmer figured it all out, it should be a breeze for you.
I think that I made a collage once a long time ago and it was very easy.
Now don't get spooked that I find these programs that are mentioned in the post and the comments easy. I have no idea about them and I think that I am allergic to technical programs. Especialy allergic to that spanglish IT language that they use to explain things.
I made the collage Boere (Farmer) style. Inserted 4 photos on a blank page in Office. Two at the top side by side and two below.
Then I printed the page and took a shot of it with my camera.
Voila, I had a collage photo 🤣🤣🤣
Now I know that this is the simple way, but I love simplicity, as it is the cousin of logic 😉
Glad that you got this one figured bro and I wonder how many of those magical naps you took to deliver such great examples?
Cheers and !BEER
So that was my problem, the code was written in Spanish. I kind of thought that. In the code, I didn't recognize any of the Spanish words that I know, like uno doss traaaas quatroow.
Keep it simple stupid, has always been a favorite phrase of mine, I don't know what the heck I was thinking, I guess I just enjoyed the challenge. It did take several naps and lots of patience to work through it all.
Thanks for the beer, I needed every drop of the beer you had already sent me to get in the right frame of mind to monkey around with picmonkey.
I hope all is well with you guys, thanks for the beer and the laughs, my friend.
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BEER.Hey @thebigsweed, here is a little bit of
BEERfrom @papilloncharity for you. Enjoy it!Learn how to earn FREE BEER each day by staking your
BEER.Greetings and I am not ignoring you, but we have a hectic time here with the power cuts and we will again be switched off now at 4pm. So in 15 minutes they will cut us off and I will reply when we are back on again.
Sorry for the late reply and likewise with the, I am not ignoring you part, I've just been busy as ever. For the past week or so, hobbitizing has been kicked into overdrive. By the time I park my but in the recliner, I'm worn out and within the hour I'm fast asleep.
Those power cuts can't be any fun at all. We will lose our power on occasion and it gets a little nerve-wracking if it's off for an extended period, time. I guess it's like most things, you learn to deal with it.
Hobbitizing is always a good thing my friend as it keeps you active and that translates into fitness.
Good thing that you fall fast asleep, as then you will not be galvanized to do more by your famous naps 🤣
Yes, we've had them now for the past years and one learns how to cope, but lately it's become more requent and at times it can cut 6+ hours of productivity out of a day.
The sad thing is that the drinking water pumps also start packing up and the water pipes don't like the contineous drop in pressures, with the result that there are more main feeder line pipes bursting and today we sit again with no water.
Appliances and computers pack up because of the power cuts and water pipes become clogged due to the drops in constant pressure.
Such is life here.
A !BEER and a !PIZZA for you.
@thebigsweed! I sent you a slice of $PIZZA on behalf of @papilloncharity.
Learn more about $PIZZA Token at hive.pizza (3/10)
It seems that you are constantly dealing with situations that are out of your control. Not having electricity for as long as 6 hours is a long time and no water coupled with no electricity I'm sure is a nightmare.
I guess all that can be done is to roll with the punches, and it seems that a flurry of them are always headed your way. it's a good thing that you don't have a glass jaw!
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BEER.Hey @thebigsweed, here is a little bit of
BEERfrom @papilloncharity for you. Enjoy it!Learn how to earn FREE BEER each day by staking your
BEER.Hahaha, I have learned the hard way to always look for opportunities in problems when they arise my friend and they always do.
So, I am now in the process of beating the powercuts by slowlly working our way off the grid.
Already installed a gas geyser and now searching for an affordable inverter battery system to contol the lights and the power sockets in the cottage.
Regarding the water cuts, the answer is a tank and an osmosis filtration system. So yes,in time both problems will become things of the past.
I boxed for 12 years, so yes, I know how to roll with the punches lol.
Cheers and !BEER
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BEER.Hey @thebigsweed, here is a little bit of
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BEERKING.Right, I am back.
Nope, Spanish is not going to help, as spanglish is a cat of a different color. It's a mix of about 50 languages that only the computer geeks understand, as they found some old manuscripts on a space ship. A language that us "normal" beings will never understand and that's why they call it coding, so that nobody can understand it.
KISS and the naps, that's your secret mate and keep it up, as not too long and you will start to develop your own Apps. Riches await when you develop and App to communicate with the trees 🤣
I think someone wrote a song that goes, I talk to the trees, but they don't listen to me
Well maybe soon you will be able to open a tavern on the farm :)
Cheers and another !BEER
It's good to know that I'm not the only one that finds this coding stuff to be above their pay grade.
The only Apps that I will possibly develop are the ones you put in your pie hole before the main meal.
We already have a tavern on the farm, but it's a very exclusive joint with the only patrons being the wife and me.
I really don't like sharing! 😁
Have yourself a splendid weekend.
I am toying with the idea of joining the first coding class when we start it for the children in the school holidays. So as a cover I could take an "oversight" role you know 😉
Sort of like to keep an eye on the teacher's performance 🤣
Hahaha, that tavern sounds like a closed corporation, or should I say a closed co-operation? 🤣
Cheers and !BEER
Good luck with that coding stuff. I'm sure the children will be able to teach you everything you need to learn. 😁
Thanks for the beer and the tavern would be closed to most people, but if you were to stop over, the tavern would be delighted to pour @pappilloncharity a nice cold one.
Hahaha, one is never too old to learn my friend.
You are too kind to invite me to your tavern and who knows what the future holds?
I see you have posted a "Hobbitising" number and will go and look what you are up to now.
!BEER goes well with !PIZZA
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BEER.Hey @thebigsweed, here is a little bit of
BEERfrom @papilloncharity for you. Enjoy it!Learn how to earn FREE BEER each day by staking your
BEER.View or trade
BEER.Hey @thebigsweed, here is a little bit of
BEERfrom @papilloncharity for you. Enjoy it!Do you want to win SOME BEER together with your friends and draw the
BEERKING.Hahaha, you outdid yourself in those collages!
I suppose will see them in your future post!
Congratulations!
Lots of them! 😁
Very funny story! I want to learn how to do this too. If I could put a bunch of pictures into the thumbnail shot, I'd be all set to stay within the 10 pics limit. But I do agree with river - I hate scrolling for days, and it's hard to get the idea if you have to do that. Thanks for the info, I'll also spend half a day trying to figure it out, and another two days trying to locate what I have done.
The time spent learning how to make a collage is well worth the effort.