Chez Larsson

See you Tuesday

Sorry Im not able to use the iPhone to blog from New York. Im back on Tuesday and will let you know all about our trip then.

/Benita through Martin

And now to something completely different

Wille and I are doing an internet Photoshop class in the evenings. It's taught In Swedish) by Mikaela of Whoopsie Daisy. We are taught the basics of photoshopping our photos and it's so much fun.

Actually I'm the one doing the course but Wille was so eager to learn too and as he has Photoshop CS, the complete software on his computer while I only have PS elements on my laptop, we sit next to each other in his room and practice on photos we've taken. Hope you don't mind Mikaela...

So far we've learned how to adjust levels, brightness, contrast, colors and today we're sharpening.

   

We are only at the beginning learning the basics but already I can see changes. I don't want to dramatically change my photos just enhance them a little bit and be able to use shots that were too dark originally or where the colors went wrong due to poor lighting. Its getting darker over here every day now which makes it more difficult to get the right light and hopefully I can use some of my new tricks to adjust the photos afterwards.

I did the top two photos and Wille the third. Hmmm. Wille is already much better at it than I am. Have to practice more!

Well, Wille and I are off to New York in the morning but we'll stay in touch over his iPhone. Promise!

A bit more color

I added a bit more color in my sewing nook. Nothing wild but because I'm having a visitor there tomorrow it just looked too hospital-y. Tell you more about the visitor later.

I told you before that our basement isn't a dungeon (although it was in a pretty bad when we moved in). There is a little mini-dungeon down there though. It's where our water pipes meet the city's. When we moved in it was covered in a rusty lid and topped with a pile of damp carpets. We cleaned it up and left it open ever since as it was hidden under a basket on wheels. This way it was still open and aired but not visible. As I changed things around there it suddenly became visible again and very much so.

Here's our solution to the problem. A simple piece of MDF drilled with lots of holes.  Martin measured and drew a grid, drilled at each intersection and then I sanded, primed and painted.

Dungeon disappeared!   

Washing line how-to

As I was dismantling my washing line in my new sewing space downstairs I thought I'd show you how I made it in the first place. I really liked it and was a little sad so see it go but it had to make room for even better things. The construction was really simple. Just a loooooong washing line running back and forth into drilled holes in double wooden planks attached with screws drilled through the two layers at both sides of the room.

I have to say I'm pretty handy with our power tools but routing is not my forte as you can see here... It looks like wood worm! Doesn't matter though as you never saw this part as it was sandwiched in the middle. The idea of routing a matching plank on either end though was that the washing line can run fairly smoothly through the holes instead of catching as it would if it were running against the wall when attached. That way, if the washing line needed tightening I just pulled at the end bit which was in a knot. Am I making any sense at all?

Anyway, it served me well for ten years and now it's gone. 

Hiding cables

Like I said yesterday I like finishing things off and mentioned the hiding of the cables. They don't really disappear, I'm no magician, but I try to make them as invisible as I can.

I used to use cable clips a lot. A lot meaning I didn't just use a couple on a cable but would hammer one in every 10 cm (4") or so to make sure there was no drooping. I recently discovered this cable tape. It comes with a nifty tool which you use to press the cable onto the tape after you've pre taped where you want the cable to run. By the way, I'm not left handed, it's just I have to hold the camera with my right hand :)

I discovered the tape while working on the boat and rewiring everything. The cables in the boat used to be white against the oak and drooping and now they are oak colored (did you know there are oak colored cables?!) and you can hardly see them. Oh, for some reason in the photo above the cable looks crooked. I assure you it's perfectly straight irl!

I usually anchor the top of the cable with a clip, especially if there is a heavy plug that needs to unplugged sometimes like on the vacuum cleaner. And please! Can somebody explain to me why the wire on it is black??? I hate that kind of inconsistency! If there are any appliance designers out there, if you take the trouble to produce a silvery white gadget, pleeeeeeeaaaaase match the cable. Thank you! The fat white cable was attached by our electrician. Hmmm. I would have done it differently...

Ooooh! I just realised a couple of minutes ago that the blog break I was about to take while Wille and I are in NYC Friday through Monday will not happen :) We can use his Iphone! The posts will be short and sweet, but we'll keep in touch and let you know what we're up too!