Travel Tuesday

So today, I am on my Queen Mary II TransAtlantic Crossing. I had planned to blog along the way. But, we're so buy, I don't have the time right now! This morning I left my cabin at 8 a.m. and didn't get back until 5:30 to change and get ready for happy hour and dinner. It's now 10:00 and I just got back. I'm tired, but thought I would pop on to say--I might have to wait until next week to give you a full report!!

Oh, and good news! I won $80 playing British Bingo today. I did it in only 6 numbers!!! The guy was surprised said it was a record. Even I thought it could have been a mistake. I'll explain all about it later!!

Last thing! Happy Birthday to our darling Elizabeth!!! She's finally legal!!! 21 is a "biggie!"

Something for Sunday

Today I'm sharing the results of a project I've been working on for over a month. 

I decided I wanted all of my scrapbooks in one place rather than scattered all over the house. After all, these books are my legacy to my family! I am under no illusion that the books might wind up in some dusty antique store somewhere, but I just don't want them to wind up in the trash! I think even Good Will would throw them away. 

I was re-locating them to the library (what better place for books). Which meant I had to get rid of over 100 books. That was a little sad, but the truth is, I do not read actual books anymore (well, once in a while when someone hands me a book and says I have to read it!). I love my Kindle! 

I cleaned out and Butch hauled it all away. Something as simple as carrying the scrapbooks from around the house was a pretty slow process as I can only carry two at a time. They are pretty heavy. Butch did a lot of the heavy lifting too. I had to adjust all the shelves, but when it came to the higher ones, Butch had to do it. I will not get up on a step stool—taking no chances!

Here's a rundown of the albums I have. 

AYM—A Year of Memories—2009—18 albums

I’ve had this group going for 18 years now. The numbers have dwindled from 39 in 3 locations to just 6 now. Considering these last few are family and friends, they do want to keep going. I’m glad. 

I came up with this idea after teaching photo organization at the scrapbook stores and retreats. I wanted to prove to the “attendees” that if they followed my system, they would be able to put their hands on ANY photo within a minute! I also was a story-based scrapbooker and emphasized the journaling. 

The premise: Every month, I gave the girls a topic and a kit of supplies. Luckily, the scrapbook stores gave me a good discount. Then, the next month, we’d get together and share our layouts and stories. My proudest moment of these 18 years is that everyone has become a better writer and storyteller.

Barbara—26

These albums are all about me—from childhood to now!

Christmas—9

Zimmermann’s—6 plus 2 on loan which I don’t expect to get back.

Family—14 plus my three girls and 5 grandchildren each have several albums of their own.

Travel—13--either family trips or trips that Butch and I took together. Any trips we do on our own go into our own albums.

Butch—6

9/11—1—I did this one right after 9/11. I’m hoping that it will wind up in a school library somewhere.

Memories by the Year—4—I did these before I started Memories by the Month. They were made of individual events throughout a particular year.

Memories by the Month—2--just a quick double-page spread for each month of the year, hitting the highlights.

The Pandemic—2—Like the 9/11 album, I just had to devote the time to such catastrophic events! These are not necessarily historical recounts--but rather what we did during the Pandemic.

Home and Garden—6—I love flowers, gardens, nature and home. These albums are a mix of all.

Total:  109

I had plans to index each album by listing the titles of each page like my sister, Jeanne did. But then, I thought, "Do I really need to take the time to do that?" I do have most of the albums labeled on the spine. And, if I was trying to find a particular layout, it will take me forever. I made a "table of contents" in the majority of these albums, but not all. Plus, I'd have to remember what the title referred to. I have a lot of quirky titles in my books. So, I didn't do it. 

Okay, let's get to it.

Voila'!

So now that I've shared the pictures, I realize I should have waited until I actually "re-styled" the upper shelves. It's going to be hard with me standing below Butch on the ladder with me telling him what to do--not to mention that he loves that!!

You can see my Christmas wrapping paper in the corner. What you don't see is all of the rest of the wrapping material, ribbon, bows and bags for Christmas. I've left it back there for years now--just so I didn't have to haul it up and down the stairs. This year, I'm going to get it cleaned up and out of there. 

Okay, I guess that's about it from here. As you are reading this, I am on my trip with 3 friends--Queen Mary II Crossing. We started from New York on Saturday. This next Saturday we'll arrive in Southampton, England.

Oh and another thing. The Queen Mary has the largest library at sea--8,000 hard back books, 500 paperbacks and 200 audiobooks. I need to remember to take some pictures.

PS I have no idea when this post will publish due to the time change.

 

Scrapbook Saturday

This is my 3rd year of doing a "Memories by the Month" album. Basically, it's a re-cap of the month with photos of the highlights. It's fun to make.

Friday Funnies

Ten Things Thursday

As you are reading this, I will be leaving on my Queen Mary II Crossing from New York to Southampton, England on the Cunard Line. It's a throwback to the Titanic--very fancy! You have to get dressed up for dinner. Not sure I'm going to like that. Plus, I'm pretty sure that I won't want to do a 2 hour dinner every night. Especially when I have tea at 3:30--I'll probably just skip dinner. Anyway, that's my plan. 

Queen Mary fun facts:

*There are 150 chefs and 112 galley workers! 

*They serve 16,000 meals a day!! 

*There are 9 bars/lounges and 8 restaurants.

*It has the largest library at sea with 8,000 hardback books, 500 paperbacks and 200 audiobooks.

*The ship’s deep bass horn can be heard for 10 miles.

*The Queen Mary is considered a floating museum. We need to find the 8ft. portrait of founder, Samuel Cunard made out of hundreds of tiny photos of vintage Cunard ships. The Carpathia was a Cunard ship that came to the rescue of the Titanic. 

*There are 600 original pieces of art.

Once we arrive in Southampton, we'll have a transfer to London. We're excited to spend a couple days there. 

I love this picture so much. 

Now for some other interesting pictures. This is Nashville at night!

Here are some things to do in Nashville.

I don't know where this is, but it sure is beautiful.

Clever!

I would love to see this--the Longaberger headquarters in Newark, Ohio.

So true!

This looks so scary!

Seriously??

Words of Wisdom Wednesday

I decided to post this today in honor of Butch's upcoming trip on Friday to the Galápagos Islands. There's a pretty good chance that he may see some of these species. Okay, probably not those African animals, but the birds and insects--maybe. I want him to memorize this list and refer to it went telling me what he's seen.

Monday Mystery

So, I had what might be my last pool party last Wednesday. It all depends on how the weather is when I get back from my Queen Mary II crossing. We'll see about that. But for today, I have a mystery.

Last Wednesday when I went to open up the pool bath door, I couldn't get it open. I asked Butch to do it. He told me to go outside and try pushing while he pulled. That door has been sticking for awhile now. Anyway, it wouldn't budge. That made me think that the deadbolt might be locked--there should have been some give as the door did open and close. 

I went in to the bathroom drawers to look for the key which I haven't seen in years. I finally found it in the back of one drawer. I put it in and turned the deadbolt. It opened. What the ??? How is that possible? We haven't locked that door---EVER--since we moved in here in 1995! 31 years! So how could it possibly be locked? We are the only two here and neither of us did it. 

In fact, the only person who has been here since my last pool party is Margarita. Considering this is Labor Day, I won't see her until the week after I get back from my trip--9/28! 

Then I thought about the key in the family room door and decided to see if that fits this lock. It did. But, why would Margarita decide to take that key and lock the door--then return it to the family room when she has never done that in the 23 years she's worked for us?  

It makes no sense. It's a mystery for sure!

Friday Funnies

This week, we're going to look at bedrooms.

1. Love the shiplap. I'm a big fan of shiplap. And, of course, the white. 

2. I love the soft colors in this room. And, the shiplap on the ceiling.

3. I like the looks of this room, but, there's a lot here for a twin bed.

4. I like the white ceiling and the color on the walls. A whole room of shiplap. I don't think I've ever seen the whole room done in it.

5. Wait a minute, this looks like room #3. They've added the tree and substituted the shape stool. Still, it looks good.

6. Love this. It almost feels like a treehouse. Love all the books too. There's so much here. Love all the books.

7. Love this reading nook and the books surround.

8. Love the window--baskets?? Greenery above the bed and the floral on the frame above. 

9. This one seems so cozy. Love the wooden ceiling.

10. Love this bed. 

So, I think I choose #9 as my favorite. 

Words of Wisdom Wednesday

Tuesday Thoughts...

and fun facts!

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
• 🛴 Daily scooter adventures
• 🎬 Three movie nights with different kid hosts
• 🍕 Poolside pizza party
• 🐠 Aquarium excursion
• 🎯 Bingo with Uncle Butch
• 😱 Fear Factor challenges
• 🍪🍿🍦 Special treats every night

Mission: Make memories, laugh a lot, and have the best Camp Aunt Barb ever! 💕

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!