Every Picture Has A Story

The header on my blog has changed many times over the last couple of years and I finally think I have made one that can stay awhile. 

Each of these pictures really do hold a moment in time for me. And has the saying goes, every picture really does tell a story.

So, come and sit awhile and let me tell you some stories. 

I took this picture in the summer of 2007. While visiting my sister and brother-in-law in Nashville, we made a trip to the Carnton Plantation in Franklin, Tennessee. Not only is this a beautiful plantation but it is so rich in history. The battle that took place on the grounds of this plantation was one of the bloodiest of the Civil War. Nearly 10,000 soldiers were either killed, wounded or went missing. Four generals lost their lives here which were laid out upon the back porch. Carnton Plantation served as the largest field hospital in the area and within the rooms, you will still see blood stained floors from wounded and fallen soldiers. Following the war, a piece of the property was designated as a cemetery in which 1,500 Confederate soldiers were laid to rest. 

The book Widow of the South by Robert Hicks has forever immortalized the events that took place in just five hours on November 30, 1864.

gate leading to the garden

hydrangeas... my most favorite of all.

This picture was taken the summer of 2009 on our family vacation to Virginia. My parents had just made a recent move there, so not only did we have time with them, but it was a  chance to visit places we may never had thought of visiting before.  One day, we made the drive to Harper's Ferry and once we got off the bus that took us down into the town, this fence was one of the first things that caught my eye. Give me a door, gate, fence, or flower and I could take pictures all day long. 

This was such a fun day walking through the town and imagining what life would have been like so long ago. 

Isn't there also a saying about the longer you are married, the more you begin to look like your spouse? Funny thing is, I don't think we noticed that we were wearing the same colors until we saw the picture!

Last summer, we found ourselves back in Virginia again. This time it was a list of battlefields and the historic Mount Vernon we set out to see.

Walking through the gardens of Mount Vernon, we gazed upon the beautiful flowers, butterflies and once again, we were just enamored with the history that took place there.

There were many wrought iron benches in the garden and along the pathways and I suppose, it's just another one of those things my eye is drawn to.

Sam sitting on the back porch looking out onto the Potomac River. It was very easy to see why this was General Washington's favorite place to be. 

front view of Mt. Vernon

On that same vacation, we also visited the home that served as Stonewall Jackson's headquarters during the Civil War. I think this was one of Sam's (our history buff) most favorite stops. What makes it really neat is that it is even located in my parent's hometown of Winchester, Virginia.

We walked through the rooms of the house, each one telling a story of it's own. Personal keepsakes, photos, and furniture were all on display and again, we wrapped our minds around such a significant time in our country's history.

I suppose it's not only doors, gates, flowers, and anything wrought iron that I am drawn to but steps, and old ones at that.

Sam in the front yard of Stonewall Jackson's headquarters 

Remember what I said about taking pictures of flowers? We have a local flower shop that I love to visit and buy flowers from. This really is my go to place for anytime I need flowers for a special occasion or just to add a little bit of loveliness to our home. 

I came home with several bunches of flowers in my favorite color... white. I sat them out upon the picnic table and not only did I arrange and fill vases, but I took picture upon picture.

 So, there it is, a picture that really is worth so much because I have a story to tell behind each and every one.

The end.

How To Create A Header For Your Blog

I am going to try my best and walk you through step by step on how I created the header for my blog. Let me first begin by telling you that if I can do this, you CAN too! It took a little playing around for awhile, but once I got the hang of what I was doing, I had a whole lot of fun!

Are you ready? Let's begin...

Start by downloading Picasa (you can do this for free). Once you have the program downloaded, you can start uploading your pictures. I know when I downloaded the program, all of my pictures from my iphoto instantly were uploaded.

Now, you will want to choose the pictures you want for your header to create a collage. Do this by clicking on the pictures from the library and then clicking on the "COLLAGE" icon at the bottom of the screen. I put all my pictures in the "PICTURE PILE" so that I could place them where I wanted them to be.

I made sure my pictures were lined up at the top of the workspace. You will notice a lot of white space under the photos, but you are going to crop this later.

Once you have all your pictures, click on the "CREATE COLLAGE". At this point, you can then double click on your picture to enlarge it and move it around.

Once you have created the collage, you can now add "TEXT". You can place the text anywhere you like and choose from plenty of fonts, sizes and colors. This is the part where you play around and have FUN!

Once you have your design, it's time to crop your image. Go to the "CROP" icon and then take your cursor across your image and crop the white from underneath your image. Once your picture is cropped, click "APPLY."

Now, it's time to  upload your image. If you have the STRETCH MINIMA TEMPLATE (like mine), the size of your image needs to be 1024 pixels. If you have the MINIMA TEMPLATE, the size needs to be 640 pixels.  Once you have that finished, go to your "LAYOUT" on Blogger.

You will need to remove the image you previously had and replace it with the new image. Make sure to click on "INSTEAD OF TITLE AND DESCRIPTION" and you DON'T want it shrunk to size.

The only thing left to do now is remove the border around your header. Go to your "SETTINGS" page and click on "EDIT HTML".

You will see all kinds of letters and numbers here. What you are looking for is this...

#header-wrapper {
margin:0 2% 10px;
border:2px solid $bordercolor;
#header { margin: 5px; border: 2px solid $bordercolor; text-align: center; color:$pagetitlecolor;


Change the number I have highlighted in RED to 0. It is really, really important to only change the number because your blog needs all the other stuff to stay the way it is. 


Now, "SAVE TEMPLATE" and go check out your new look!


If you have any questions, leave them on my comments page and I will answer them (on my comments page) the best I can. 

Another Way To Make Your Pictures Larger and Some Other Fun Features

In this post, I shared how you can have your pictures go from my ADORABLE niece, Anna Claire, showing you what a big girl she is...

To showing you that she is a very BIG girl!

This is really easy and I promise you are going to LOVE this!

Go to your SETTINGS...

Now, scroll down until you come to GLOBAL SETTINGS...

You want to change it from OLD EDITOR to UPDATED EDITOR. Now, SAVE SETTINGS.

When you are creating new posts now, you have a fancy, updated setting!

Are you ready for the FUN features you can do here? It's this kind of stuff that makes me do a happy dance!

When uploading pictures, place your cursor where you want the image to go. Click the "photo" icon and  you will be able to add an image(s) exactly where you want it to be. No more dragging and moving your pictures around.

To ENLARGE your picture, put your cursor on the image and you will be able to choose the size. Remember, you can only use EXTRA LARGE if you have the Stretch Minima Template (like what I have).

And here is one more fun thing... look up in your toolbar. You now have a "strikethrough" icon (ABC).
How fun, exciting, thrilling is that!

Now go and do your own little happy dance!