Recently, while editing photos in Picasa (Google's free photo-editing software), I noticed they offered a newer version. After hitting the update button… I tried out a tool called "effet lomo" (lomo effect?). The result is seen above (I snapped the photo while driving to the dermatos the other day). Which photo editing software do you use? Thanks for sharing your answers here, in the comments box.
Come see our family vineyard! Visits are by appointment only… but don't let that formality scare you away! We would love to see you for one of our convivial wine tastings! If you plan to be in Provence, leave us a message here, in today's comments box, and we'll add you to one of our upcoming April, May, June, (…) get-togethers. Jean-Marc and I hope to see you one of these days!
contrarier (see sound file, below…)
1: to annoy
2. to frustrate, to thwart
3. to alternate
4. to force to write with one's right hand
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Audio File: listen to Jean-Marc read these French words: Download MP3 or Wav file
Quand j'ai vu que les chiens avaient creusé des trous dans le jardin, j'étais bien contrariée!
When I saw that the dogs had dug holes in the garden, I was very annoyed!
A Day in a French Life… by Kristin Espinasse
Everything's Coming Up Choses!
I think it was one of the plantes grasses–you know, those low-maintenance types, the kind you see on every mémé's window sill?–yes, I believe it was one of those that flowered first, sending out little yellow blossoms, fine as baby's breath, sassy as firecrackers!
Next, I discovered periwinkle-color coureurs beside the garden steps. The vinca had bloomed! and for the first time in the two years since Malou passed me the cuttings!
I knelt down beside the small scattering of flowers (there were one… two… trois!), appreciating the exact shade of blue, and giggling "Pervenche! Now I have pervenche, too!"
Buoyed by success, I waltzed over to one of the messy, unmade flower beds, where I discovered that Doreen's what's-her-names had flowered too! It now seemed safe to give that plant a name…. Madame Quelque Chose! Not only had Madame flowered, she had become fertile–in time to send out offspring! One of the "little springs" must have landed in the tiny crack beside the cellar door, where the seedling was now blossoming!
High on hope, feeling as invincible as the irises which were budding right alongside the rest, I might have floated blindly past the first bêtise… bêtise, to say the least–for the dogs had dug up 'The Eye's Feast'! (well, that's what we might have called them, those curly-leafed blossoming things for which the Latin name escapes me).
Speaking of escaping… there go the guilty ones! Smokey and Braise are now running like blazes to hide behind the Whaddayacallits (just what is the name of that bush? Oh, never mind. I've got work to do in the garden, beginning with a couple of very big holes to fill!). Quelle bêtise!
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Post note: (or "turning trous into treasures"") I didn't stay ruffled for very long… but soon had an inspiration! One of those holes was the perfect size in which to plant the grand courge plant… it had been such a little courge plant when my friend Caroline carefully uprooted the seedling from her flower pot and gave it to me. And now a bright yellow flower has appeared! Beneath the blossom an olive-size pumpkin is growing! Off to tuck that one into the newly-dug you-know-what.
To respond to anything in this post, click here. Hint: the comments corner is a great place to ask questions about French and life/travel in France. Your collective knowledge and helpful answers to each others' questions are appreciated!
French Vocabulary
la plante grasse = succulent
la mémé = grandmother
le coureur = runner
trois = three
la pervenche = periwinkle
la bêtise = bit of mischief
le trou = hole
la courge = squash
Smokey in the window…
In case you're feeling inspired to add a caption to this photo… please share it with us here, in the comments corner!
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LES PORTES TORDUES (The Twisted Doors): The Scariest Way in the World to Learn & Hear French! Mystery, vocab, grammar, Audio!
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At Corkscrew in Portland- Nancy, left, and Kelly on the right
David Wolff, JoAnn Calfee, Jean-Marc and Cindylee Giammona. Cindylee writes:
Here at the wine bar, Corkscrew, miles from our home in Hawaii, my dose of France converged over clinking glasses of wine, tabled with two other women readers of your blog. We enjoyed the wine and atmosphere immensely. My disappointment to lose out on a bottle of the, sold out Lunatique, was replaced by my prize bottle of Mistral, as you can see by the smile on my face. Aloha and all the best, Cindylee
Do you have a photo from Chief Grape's wine tour? Or maybe you have a photo from your visit here at the family vineyard? Send it to me with a "permission to post" and I will share it here. Merci!
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My husband, son, and I will be in Provence May 7-10. We’re staying near Vaison. We would enjoy meeting you via a wine-tasting!
Dear Kristin, We ‘re leaving for Gordes tomorrow, where we are going to spend some days. Is that far away from your place? And do you have a wine”chose”:) now, I mean the first week of April?
Thanks a lot for your blog, I’m a rather “new” reader and happy about having discovered your texts. I’m teaching both French and English at a school in Germany, I really enjoy your language mixture.
By the way , my mother tongue is Dutch (I’m Belgian and married a German…)so I’m mixing up four languages every day! I wish you and your family a wonderful Easter-break.
Mia
hi – I plan to be in Provence June 17 – 23 and would love to visit if you are having a tasting.
I use, and love, Picasa. The new features come courtesy of Picnik, which is closing in April. I guess this is due to Google buying it?
Bonjour Kristin, My husband, son, and I are in Roussillon now through April 5th. Is there a wine tasting or vineyard tour we can attend? Please let me know as soon as possible. We are talking about doing one soon. Look forward to hearing from you.
BTW, love your blog too!
I am trying to learn to read and speak French (at the age of 48!), and I sure appreciate the time and effort you put into this.
One of my favorite things to do is to translate Le Monde, using Google Translate. Hope some of it sticks!
Kathy, my Dad will be in town that week. I’ll see if we can set something up for Tuesday (May 8th). Maybe Dad and his lovely wife, Marsha, can be honorary guests 🙂 I’ll be in touch.
Mia, yes, Tuesday, April 3rd and 11:30. Let me know if this works and Ill add you to our party! Anyone else free then?
Anita, That should be possible for June 19th. I’ll post details, soon!
Cynthia, yes, April 3rd (see info, just above). Would love to see you. Confirm here and I’ll send along the info.
Thanks for your interest. I look forward to seeing some of you soon (and those who cannot make it this time… there will hopefully be another time!)
I love your gardening posts as I am attempting as a woman of a certain age to grow herbs and flowers in our back yard for the first time in 36 years. Remembering the names is really a challenge for me, but even pulling weeds has become a pleasure. Wish I had started much earlier!
Wish I could join all of you to see Kristin’s garden and sip a little wine, too.
Caption for your dog picture “Enjoying the best of both my worlds!”
Cheers,
Corinne (my mother is French and I’ve lived in the states since I was 5, many years ago!)
Hi Kristin,
I use Picasa and love the new features. Although I already use it for resizing and changing the resolution, next week I will start a 4 week class on learning more about Adobe Photoshop. My favorite however is ‘Picture It 7’ on Windows XP, but, of course, discontinued. Because it offers so much and is simple I still use it on an another older computer. Kristin you have an artist’s eye and take wonderful pictures. Bon Journée!
Please add us to your list for a wine tasting too. Thanks. Amanda Frost
Salut Kristin,
Happy Friday and happy Spring! Just checking out the post for today before I leave for school. I noticed an error with the imparfait. “Quand j’ai vu que les chiens avaient…” The plural form of the verb avoir in the imperfect is needed.
Thanks for the beautiful pictures and updates. I hope your family had a wonderful time celebrating Jean-Marc’s return home and birthday!
Happy weekend to everyone!
Julie
Caption…’Mama, I’m stuck…won’t you let me in…pleeeeeaaassssee.’
Caption for the second picture of Smokey: ” I almost made my curfew!”
Like DL, I used Picnik which is sadly closing on April 19th – however until then, you can use all the premium features free of charge. I love the panography-ish feature, and puzzle, and vignette . . .
Still enjoying unseasonably glorious weather here in Scotland.
Possible caption for the sweet Smokey photo: “Okay, I definitely start that diet next week.”
Just joking, of course. Smokey is perfect!
“Me? I’ve been inside the whole time!”
J’adore vos chiens!!!
The only photo editing I have is I Photo with the Mac. I recently heard the name Picassa, but today (in your post) was the first time I knew what it was. Bonus, it’s FREE. Will give it a try.
Don’t think (know) my skills are up to a real photoshop program.
Cher Kristin,
We are such big fans!!! We would love to come ourselves in May …to stock up!! We would love to come back at end of June and July to show off the domaine and YOU TWO to our visiting American friends!!!
Hi Kristin, We will be near Provence the first week of May and would love to visit you.
We used to use Picassa but albums started disappearing. Transitioned to Photoshop Elements and have been very happy with it.
Kristin,
My husband and I will be in Sablet from May 26 through June 16. We would absolutely love to come to a wine tasting (hopefully early enough in our stay that we can buy some wine and drink it chez nous before we must leave for home–can’t take it on the plane). Many thanks,
Jeri Famighetti
Kristin, could you please comment on the stone building in the first photo? I have seen other photos of such buildings in Provence, and am wondering what their historical background is–no windows, stone roof–where they some sort of storage building????
thank you!
I use Photoshop CS5 with various plugins, the most useful of which is OnOne’s Resize 7 (used to be called Genuine Fractals). I’ve used Photoshop for almost 20 years.
Photoshop is the absolute best but it’s expensive ($700 without any of the plugins) and the learning curve is very steep. The “light” alternative is Adobe Photoshop Elements, which has a lot of the functionality of the big program and even a couple of features the big program doesn’t have and costs under $200.
Photoshop also has an online product called Photoshop Express that I think is free. It’s on the http://www.photoshop.com site. I’ve not used it, but given the Photoshop brand, I am sure it is superior to the other online freebies.
Kristin,
Caption for Braise photo:
1. Home at last!
2. I lay down and I didn’t want to get up!
The flowers are coming up in my yard also but why did they have to bring the weeds with them? So glad it’s Spring! Enjoy a wonderful day.
Kathy
Kristin, we will be in the South of France this July…do you know approximately how far a drive it is from Valbonne to the vineyard incroyable of Rouge-Bleu? Love the Blog!
Hi Kristin,
I must agree with Passante’s comments above about Photoshop. We use Photoshop Elements – it has more than enough features and we were able to buy it years ago for $99 – on both our web sites about France. It has so many features that I am still learning new ones as I go along. It’s amazing software!
Bonjour Chere Kristin,
I do so enjoy your photos, and stories! It was you who inspired me to start posting my photos on a blog 592 blog entries ago!
It’s helped me grow both as photographer, and a writer. Although, I ask myself very often, “What were you thinking starting a blog!?!”
Now, to answer your question re: which Photo editing software do I use?
I use Picasa as my Picture viewer rarely use it as an editing tool though. My main tools are Photoshop CS5,Lightroom 4, and Adobe Camera Raw.
I’m just getting into using my iphone’s camera and went a bit overboard uploading 6 apps recently. Each does something a little bit different.
Thank you for your stories, sharing your life, and your inspiration.
HugsX
Deborah
I found Picnik from the Blogging Your Way course a year ago. But, of course, it is closing. The FB group for the course is very active, and through them, I have found and used both BeFunky and PIcMonkey. PicMonkey is almost like Picnik! I love it. I do use Photoshop and have for many many years, but as another reader wrote above, it is expensive and a very sharp learning curve…not worth it nowadays as there are so many good alternatives. Definitely try PicMonkey everyone!
Bonjour Kristin! I would love to schedule a visit to taste your wine. I am renting a gite with some friends in Sablet from July 14-July 25. Judging from your posts, I am guessing you are not too far away. How do we make an appointment? It would be so much better than just picking a random winery that we know nothing about!
“Please be careful not to step on my tongue while I am napping.”
Smokey is the best!
Bonjour Kristin,
I use Photoshop CS5 at the moment but will upgrade to CS6 as soon as it is available beyound the free beta verion. For plug ins – I use Phototools 2.6 and Photomatix. I believe that Phototools and Picasa have similar features. Regardless of the processing tools used, it is most important to get a good image off the camera in the first place. It is still all about compostion, lighting and moment. Then don’t go overboard with the manipulations.
Courage,
Dennis
I would love set an appointment to meet you or visit for a wine tasting. My trip will be sometime in Sept-Oct. I am also looking for volunteer work for 1 or 2 weeks in Sept-Oct and my schedule is flexible at this time. I am wondering, “When is your harvest time?” Last year I volunteered at La Sabranenque in Saint Victor La Coste.
“Please, Mom. Can I come in? Je suis desolée I dug up your whatchamacallit.”
I’ve used iPhoto all along but am painfully aware of its limitations. Perhaps I’ll try Photoshop Elements. There’s just not enough time in the day to wrestle with the full-blown Photoshop. I don’t think I’ll try Picasa because I’m mad at google for always messing with the google features I already use.
Brad and I might make it south this summer. I’ll send a note when we have a better sense of when we might head in your direction for a couple of days.
Kristin, We will be in Alleins from the 11th to the 24th, and in other areas from the7th to the 28th. We still are hoping you can join us for “The Feast” on the 18th, but we would love to visit you also for a wine tasting. Karen
Caption:
Perhaps I had a bit too much of the Lunatique?
I use Picasa to organize photos, make albums. This lomo effect is new to me, so I just did a mini research on it. One source said
The features which distinguish a lomo photo is the colors which are a bit unbalanced with a blue tint and also quite heavy vignetting.
It makes the effect of Lomo cameras made in St Petersburg a few decades ago, using film. Not true to color, and sometimes not focussed over the whole rectangular image (vignetting).
Now I am curious as to how your original photo looks — côte à côte avec l’effet lomo.
If I did that effect, maybe use it on one of a person, taken outdoors with a blue sky?
Where did you plant the bloom the dogs dug up? I am amazed you have squash blossoms already. Seasons in Provence, so different from seasons where I live.
Too early to plant here, even with our stunningly warm spring — July in March, as to temperatures, for nearly two weeks. Still we have last frost (gelée) de 15 mai. Fruit trees have bloomed early, same for all the bulb plants (daffodils, tuplips, crocus, etc)
Bonjour,
I love the photos of your adorable Smokey!
I will be in France Oct 1 to 15 — will you have any wine tasting during that time frame?
Be well & enjoy Spring!
Smoky- MOM!Help I’m stuck!
Bonjour, Kristin! We have a big “galumphy” yellow lab. His sire & brother live next door & visit every day. Your photos of your two dogs are SO heartwarming!! Dogs are the same in any language! 2 friends & myself will be staying a week near Uzes June 23-29. We all adore your blog & are starting to feel like we know you. We would love to visit you that week if possible.
A bientot!
Hi
We have been following your page for some time now (and have both of your books ;-)) and would love the chance to visit your vineyard if possible, we will be in provence for a few days in early June.
Photo caption (j’aime bien les histoires de vos chiens!):
Ma tete a l’interieure. Ma queue au dehors. Comme ca, on peut en avoir la meilleure de tous les deux endroits! La vie est bonne!
Kristin
Would be enchanted to visit your vineyard.
We hope to be in Paris in late April, but only for a short time. Usually our late August through early September visit is quite a bit longer.
How might I change to my new email address?
Sincerely,
Ronni
Like others, I love Adobe Photoshops Elements — does all kinds of fun stuff, lending itself beautifully to creative play. These days, I mostly I use it for simple editing. I think you’d fall in love with its versatility! And there are online courses, many free, in how to make the most of it, if you so wish.
Smokey: “Hey, this is PERFECT puppy paradise — my nose in the kitchen (handy to have a tongue that catches everything), and my derriere in the sunny breeze!”
Kristin,
My husband and I are coming from San Juan Island in Washington and will be visiting Sauve (where I lived for 7 months) and then over to Provence visiting friends outside of Vaison. We would love to come and buy some wine the first week in May. Any events then?
Bizous, Susie
Hi Kristin,
David and I and another couple will arrive in Provence Sept.27 and leave Oct.2. I’ll be in touch again when the time is closer. Just want to give you a very early heads up as I know it’s a busy time for you.
Thanks,
Edie in Brunswick, Maine
Kristin,
We will be in Provence the week of 21-26 May. Would love to have a degustation de vin at your vineyard.
A bientot (j’espere)
Kristin – the photos of Smokey are over the top precious. I cant stop looking back at them.
“Best of Both Worlds” is my quote!
“In” so I can hear whats happening and smell if somethings cooking and “out” so I dont miss a beat in the yard!
I also thought of the caption, “The Best of Both Worlds”. Our dog loves to lie inside with his head out the door.
Wow, looks like you are going to have lots of fun visitors this Summer! How I would like to be one of them.
I love the way that you welcome the first blossoms of Spring and that Smokey dug the hole for the bush which you plan to move to your garden. Maybe he is thinking, “I only wanted to help”.
Thanks for today’s FWAD. It always adds a lot of interest to my day while teaching me new words. Bon weekend to all, Cynthia