Monday, August 31, 2026

Me on Monday

So! I have just had my second experience with Chat GPT. The first you might recall was this:

⭐ Camp Aunt Barb Highlights

  • 🏊 Plenty of pool time
  • πŸ›΄ Daily scooter adventures
  • 🎬 Three movie nights with different kid hosts
  • πŸ• Poolside pizza party
  • 🐠 Aquarium excursion
  • 🎯 Bingo with Uncle Butch
  • 😱 Fear Factor challenges
  • πŸͺ🍿🍦 Special treats every night
Mission: Make memories, laugh a lot, and have the best Camp Aunt Barb ever! πŸ’•

I was thrilled with the results! I just put a list of the activities and it generated this cute thing with emojis.

Recently, I found out via a blog I follow about having Chat GPT clean up pictures. OMGosh! It's amazing! Take a look at these:

These are my grandpa and grandma. What a fabulous result!

So I continued on with some photos that I'm going to be using in my scrapbooking soon. I wanted to use this picture with grandpa in it too. I don't really have that many old photos, so I use them more than once based on the story I'm telling. 

This one isn't too bad, but I decided to see what CGPT could do with it.

This was the first result. It made it in color! I actually like the coordination of it all. But, I went back and asked to have it in black and white.

It turned out so good! I ended up printing them both!

Now, I'm headed down the rabbit hole. I just couldn't stop!!

I think I might just use it on ALL of my old photos--as I need them.

And then there's this! I was at the beach last week with my friends. We took a picture on the balcony. It's not bad, but it seems a little "off." So I called on my new best friend, "Chat."

It's definitely "cleaned up!"

Like I said, the rabbit hole. I decided to see what it could do with this one! This is what happens when you ask a stranger to take your picture!

All I can say is "she" tried.

This is the best one yet!
It's just awful!

Then, voila!!
The best one yet! You can bet I'll be using it regularly!!

Okay, I'll stop now!






Sunday, August 30, 2026

Something for Sunday

The rest of my beach obversations:

*One of us surprised the rest of us with a beach bag full of goodies!

*All of us loved them!

*One of us was up all night preparing and checking on the monkey bread. Five of us were not.

*One of us spilled the entire bottle of Cremora in her coffee making a huge mess! One of us must have unscrewed the lid!

*One person seems to lose her stuff—a lot! She has to be watched. All of us take turns—it’s a full time job!

*One person disappeared; once we realized it we found her asleep—at 8 p.m.!! Didn't even say "good night!"

*One of us has designated herself the custodian. She’s reset a circuit breaker, swept up some nasty debris on the floors and WD40’d all the door hinges!!

*One of us who lost her Ray Bans called the store she thought she lost them in. They weren't there. Bummer!

*One of us found them in the car! She was very happy!

*All of us were saddened by the news of Dolly Parton’s death.

*One of us shakes in her sleep—guess who sleeps with her?

*One of us discovered two leaky cups and threw one away.

*Three of us do puzzles. Three of us do not.

*One of us watches videos on their phone while the rest of us are trying to watch a movie!

*Six women use a lot of toilet paper. A. Lot!

*One of us thinks it’s too much.

*One of us thinks we should count squares.

*One of us had to go to the store to get more.

*One of us makes daiquiris without sugar. Are they really daiquiris without sugar?

*One of us who toots a lot has adopted a new motto: “With every step I take---a little toot I’ll make.” But sometimes it’s not so little.

*One of us has sand on her Kindle even though she has never been to the beach. In fact, her Kindle has never been to the beach! Still sand. She rests her case!

*One of us needs 2 of us to remind her to take her medicine. 3 of us did.

*One of us is selling this place.

*One of us agreed to a showing while six of us were here.

*Some of us became a “spring” cleaning crew. One of us was on vacation.

*One of us was responsible for getting the rest of us up at 4 a.m. for our flight home. She did.

*Three of us were already up.

*One of us drove over a median and although it sounded like we bottomed out the car, it was fine!

*All of us had a great time.




Saturday, August 29, 2026

Scrapbook Saturday

Today, I am sharing some of my layouts.

I made this one about Mitchell and Emily's engagement months ago.
They are super busy with work and Mitchell going to school. So, they didn't have time to send me the story behind this. All I know was that they were in Ireland--Emily's parents own a home there.

This was one of my AYM layouts.


I love this layout and had so much fun making it. I cut the car, road trip title and the vintage car with my Cricut. This trip started the Thursday before Memorial weekend. We started at Morgan and Olly's in Bloomington, Illinois. 
The trip was 8 days long, so I divided the pages in to 8 sections--one for each day. Day one was Bloomington, Day two & three were St. Louis. After that, the rest of the days were Route 66. The insert with Cruisin' Route 66 added 2--6x12 pages.

I used my sewing machine to divide the last page in to 4--6" squares to represent 4 days. 
This page shows the other side of the insert which contains a pocket that holds our trip journal and extra photos. I used my labelmaker to add the states to the pages. We covered 6 states on this trip: Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas and New Mexico. We covered a lot of ground--it was so much fun.

I did this layout about our pool renovation for my AYM album. 
I included a picture of the stack of Ben & Jerries ice cream that my friends gave to Butch for getting the pool cleaned up and ready every week for us.
I also add the sweet "thank you" note that Susan included with the gift.

This layout is about the amazing thermal springs in Costa Rica at our fancy resort.
It was so lush and beautiful--truly "heaven on earth!" I would love to go back there.
















Thursday, August 27, 2026

Ten Things Thursday

Have I ever mentioned that setting the table is my favorite thing? Today, let's look at some beautiful--BLUE--table settings. 

1. I love this outdoor setting, but never do it myself. I do not want to deal with bugs and flies! 
At one point, I had planned to collect these blue vintage dishes. I have a few things, but never really bought much. I do love it--especially paired with yellow. Love the blue wine glasses, placemats and even how the napkin is folded. The hydrangeas are the perfect subtle floral.

2. OMGosh! This beauty table--so darn cute! I have some pretty peachy plates at the beach, but not all of the accompanying accessories. I'd love to set a beautiful table like this--but probably won't. It's usually just us when we go down and it's more about quick and easy!
Love the centerpiece down to the detail of the plump seagull sitting on the arm. Love the napkin holders. I could see putting a little votive candle on the chairs at the top of the plate.

3. OMGosh! Love, love, love the turquoise! It reminds me of having tea at Fortnum and Mason in London!
Love the pearls--such an elegant touch. But the ones in the wine goblets look to be loose. What a pain--what do you do with them while serving wine or water? Love the tablecloth--so much! The centerpiece--teapot dripping in pearls is exquisite!

4. This one is fun.
Love the "joyful" as part of the centerpiece. Love the houses and the flowers.

5. Such a pretty table setting.
Love the mixture of the green and blue with the yellow accents.

6. I think what drew me to this one was the blue liquid in the crystal glasses.
Don't know what it is, but it sure sets off this table.

7. This one isa beautiful everyday setting.
Love that tablecloth--always a fan of blue and green!

8. Another turquoise. Pretty in the outdoors.
These plates look like they can be melamine. Love the bird plates--and those cute milk bottle with the straws. I've never seen those before.

9. Another beachy scene for the east coast.
Love the table runner, simple centerpiece and candleholders. But my favorite here is the pearl handled silverware. Reminds me of seashells.

10. Another beauty scene with an anchor theme.
It's so much fun to me to take a decorative plate and use it as a jumping off point for the entire table! Who would have thought? Love it all.

Okay, now for my favorite--drum roll--number---
ONE with #FOUR as a runner-up. I might not love bugs or flies, but I do love outdoor tables!!

In fact, one of my most favorite activities when we were in Africa was the elegant outdoor lunch upon our arrival to our final resort. A scene from "Out of Africa!"
There was a chill in the air, so they had African blankets for us at every place.


So beautiful! And the food was delicious too! This was a great way to arrive!

And, in honor of Dolly Parton--one last table setting featuring dinnerware designed by her!
I love this so much--dedicated to her Imagination Library! I'll miss Dolly for sure! She's one I never got to see in concert. Butch has placed a cache at the Dolly Parton Truck Stop in June. As it turns out, when she made a surprise appearance at the grand opening, that was her last public appearance. 

Rest in peace, Dolly!