A Haven for Vee

Saturday, July 2, 2016

Looks Can Be Deceiving

First scheduled for May 24, 2016

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Recently, I showed a lake scene where John and I had enjoyed a fast food lunch. My friend Mrs. T suggested that the lake could be Sebago Lake. Now Sebago is a fairly large lake in my corner, not as large as Rangeley or Moosehead, but large for these parts. What I actually showed was a pond. Mrs. T suggested that I must be laughing at her expense. Oh, no, not at all. I know that looks can be deceiving

~the pond~
You may remember my mentioning that my mother found this blog terribly amusing, and not for all the right reasons. She found it amusing because she thought my photographs made my home look far more pleasant than it actually was/is. Guilty as charged. There are precious few times when I  show you things as they are. I prefer to put a bit of a shine on it.


~the azaleas bloomed again after their serious pruning last year~


See? I cut the whole house nearly out of it! ☺ If I could have figured out a way to grow green grass in the brown patches, I would have. By the way, is it not lovely how I make my entire neighbor's lawn look like my own? I suppose that there are eight or ten feet beyond the daffodil that are mine, but that's all.



Here's another. You don't suppose that there's really a stream of gold in the ravine, do you? Oh that there were!

Lastly, I'd like to offer my new profile picture as an example. I am simply loving the picture that Donna took of the two of us. I knew that I couldn't do any better, so I cropped her out of it and used it for my own devious purposes. (Another case of begging forgiveness rather than requesting permission.) 


~former profile picture~

My former profile picture just looked so...so... well, so danged old.  I don't know what Donna did, but she must have run us through every filter known to man three times over. Of my new profile photo, my mother might have said, "Accckkk...who's that?!" On the other hand, John rather likes it. At least, I've stopped being a tea cup or a chipmunk or a six-year-old for a while. Oh, Ellen, do we need to chat? 

What do you think of facelifts, real or otherwise? 

36 comments:

  1. Guilty as charged here-I am a sweet looking five year old still!
    I'm afraid we all put the best foot forward in our blog photos, Vee.
    It's A-OK with me. Take care-Kim

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  2. Vee, I would have a bit of a face lift if I could trust the drs. :):) I pluck my brows. use night cream, wear make-up try to take care of my hair.I will never get younger, but I will be the best I can be now. I like your new profile photo. Don't be afraid of some change honey. Blessings to you always, xoxo, Susie

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  3. I was once asked why i didn't put up wider shots of our backyard. Are you kidding? The pond garden is pretty. But who wants to see the LP tank? I also show views from the porch, not views of the briar patch. I think it's a sign of the hope that is within us. We want to see, and long for, creation as God originally made it. No LP tanks, no briar patches. God will one day return and set this world to rights. Until then, I'll keep trying to fight the LP tank, the briar patch, and anything else that gets in the way of God's glorious creation. xo

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  4. {{giggling}} and guilty as charged...and you know, we have had this conversation before, but my profile picture is 19 years old and I was holding our infant son. So, yes, looks can be deceiving...and I digress that all is not well...I wish, friend, I could be there...sending much love.

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  5. I think we all "edit" our photos :-). You mean your house does not sit on 20 acres? As for face lifts...I have to confess, my profile pick is 8 years old. I have not changed it out in years!!

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  6. Oops - this profile pick is not 8 years old....my facebook one is I think. This one is 5 years old....

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  7. I think we all show the beauty we see around us, in our homes, or where we are. There can be beauty even when not everything is how we'd like it to look. If I showed you my cluttery counter every time, who'd come to my blog?

    I love your profile photo! Your other photos are selfies, and those are so hard to take!

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  8. Ah, my dear, you are not alone with your cropping of photos to make the story better. We all want to see beauty more than reality (and most especially in these hard days). I do those things, too. The photo I post of The Brown Bungalow is majorly cropped and even flipped in reverse of how the house really is. The front of my home is mostly garage doors -- who wants to see THAT?! And I trim pounds off people by making photos narrower if they happen to be on the edge, stuff like that. I really like your new profile picture and I KNOW it looks just like you! Hugs!

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  9. Giggling away over here at the moment. Most likely because I am guilty of all of these things too. The crop feature is one of my best friends when it comes to blogging. Thinking back to my blogging beginnings, I was drawn like a magnet to the scene somebody shared of their kitchen island lit by candlelight on a fall evening. Very pretty and so simple. I liked the way it gave a new appreciation to an ordinary moment. I guess we see the messy part day in and day out, but careful editing allows us to find the beauty that is there also.
    As for profile pics, I did away with mine awhile ago. I really should work on getting something up there. Maybe I'll become a bird or a flower.

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  10. PicMonkey for the win - photo editing is alive and well EVERYWHERE so you need not be apologetic in any way - just need to learn how easy it is to use! (Yeah, so easy even a monkey could do it.) I would start by editing out brown patches on grass. : - )

    Kidding. But REALLY EASY to do. Call and I will give you a tutorial - or even easier, use the tutorials on PM or just play with it - that's how I learned it, it is so easy to do.

    Cropping, lightening, darkening, taking yellow out, adding color (which I seldom do because it looks too weird) taking light spots out, smoothing wrinkles (I don't take of people very often but always have wrinkles in napkins showing or shadows - always have shadows and spots I want to get rid of - and the "Remove Wrinkles" feature I honestly use in nearly every single pic I post, seriously.) It's all good.

    Hugs.

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    1. Say, PicMonkey has not been working for me for nearly a week. I know they have been redesigning, but this is ridiculous.

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  11. Vee, is your mom a no-make-up kinda girl? Because I think we all seek to only see the beauty and to cover up the not so pretty. I bet even she does that in some way. Who cares? Our memories tend to smooth over the rough spots, too. So what? Let's continue to find the beauty and show it, is my thinking! Much love.

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    1. My mom was a no make-up kind of girl except for a bit of lipstick. She was so pretty that she could get away with it. These days, she makes her home in Heaven so I know that she is beautiful in every sense of the word.

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    2. I'm sorry, Vee. I didn't realize she had passed on. May she rest in peace.

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  12. Oh Vee...you crack me up. Do you really think that everyone's home photos or profile pics haven't been tweaked a bit? No apologies needed! If it wasn't for Picmonkey or Picasa, you probably wouldn't want to any of my pics! You can fill in brown spots on your lawn, smooth out a few wrinkles here and there, melt off a few pounds even! And even remove unwanted items (or people) completely! In regard to your question, I say if you have the extra money, hey go for it! I personally wouldn't do anything drastic, simply because it would give so many folks something to talk about, plus haven't we all seen some of these folks come out looking like someone else?? But, to each their own and who am I to judge? (but sadly I do sometimes) I think I will stick to my Picmonkey kind :)

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  13. The beauty of blogging is that we are capable of showing only our best side (home or body) and to project a positive happy place to visit. I don't do selfies with my phone because the coordination is off with my hands that shake sometimes and my facial wrinkles appear magnified. lol I need to update my blogger photo as it's a couple of years old and wouldn't hesitate to cut someone else out if I find something I like. It was clever of you to do this for yours.
    Enjoy the gathering for your July 4th celebration, should be interesting.

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  14. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder or be-cropper. We can see loveliness in many ways .We just like seeing pieces of life.

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  15. I agree with Barbara and that you're not alone when it comes to cropping the picture to make things "look" better. I am guilt of doing that as well. You see, my husband is a hunter and yes, we eat all of the food he hunts {elk and mountain sheep are my favorite} and being the wonderful man that he is he has added some of the animals to our walls such as the mountain lion he got a few years ago {and yes, we ate that too...I would NOT recommend it thought -haha}. Anyway, I have often cropped ol' Tom the tiger out of my photos because I don't think some of the ladies that follow my blog would appreciate seeing him, if you know what I mean.

    Anywho, it was a joy to visit you, dear one. Love you!

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    1. Sounds as if the wonderful man that he is deserves a den or a man cave for his trophies. =D

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  16. I think most of us post the best of our pictures.
    About face lifts. I think you get a certain age and I'm that now, that you just don't care all that much anymore about a few wrinkles. I just want to be healthy and thin! : )
    If I don't put on my glasses when I look in the mirror I don't look so bad anyway. : )

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  17. I love this post, Vee. You always hit the nail on the head. Your thoughts are mine on this topic. There are many things I will never show on my blog. ♥

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  18. Vee, I love your current profile picture!! I prefer to think of your previous profile as "scholarly" rather than "dang old"! ;)

    Of course, all of us bloggers show the "pretty" on our blogs. For the same reason that I put on makeup and do my hair before I go out. For the same reason that I use pretty dishes for company. For the same reason that we mow our lawns and paint our houses. Because "pretty" is pleasant and inspiring. That said, it is fun to show some behind-the-scenes every so often...keeping it real!

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  19. You look lovely in any pic sweet Vee! Hey, we all fudge a bit now and then with the power of photo editing at our finger tips. Think what I'm going to need to do after this recent surgery - nobody wants to see me like this! Thankfully I can start wearing scarves now that my surgeon 'unglued' me yesterday. Only thing is, it's 90+ degrees here!

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  20. Oh, Vee, I think you gave everyone who read your blog a good smile today. We are all human! Who would share a photo that is really unattractive? Well, my garden is not really weeded these days of arthritis and sometimes that is all too clear when I share a photo of things blooming in the garden! But I focus on the beautiful. Perhaps that is why pictures of my grandchildren are more to be seen these days on my blog.

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  21. Well it certainly made me smile. We are all guilty of been selective. Take care.

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  22. Vee, you look 18 in the new Avi. I need work done, but I am afraid to go under the knife or use botox. Too scary. There are alternatives out there

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  23. Vee you are such a delight! Isn't that the truth - looks can be deceiving! Don't we all put our best foot/photo forward!? I always crop and straighten etc. my photos before sharing too - and if only I knew how to filter and refilter pictures of myself - ugh! I think your "haven" pictures are always wonderful and warm - and your words are a delight! Often thinking of you!

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  24. Okay Vee... what was your old profile photo? I always thought it was a hedgehog too. As for tweaking photos.. I'm all for it but then worry when I will actually meet someone for the first time that they'll be shocked by how much older I am. I mostly, just keep changing the lighting and lifting my chin and try and try until I have a natural one I can live with.

    I rarely show anyone what is behind the barn during cleanout. Who wants to see that anyways? I did however spend a bit of time recently tidying my kitchen cabinets for my upcoming Saturday post on MGCC. Now only if they would stay that way.

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    1. I'm just laughing here... OK. Can I claim extreme exhaustion after baking up a storm in my wee trailer at a family reunion this weekend? Ellen is the one that looks like a hedgehog and when I saw the picture of her... I just thought.. oh yes.. that has always looked like a hedgehog.

      I should likely rest one night before commenting on blogs. LOL!

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  25. check out my latest post Vee where I describe trying to remove wrinkles from my knuckles using PicMonkey!! It was an epic fail. Yes, I definitely major in closeups when taking pictures at my house. There's usually some clutter a few inches away from the lovely teacup and roses!! Love your honesty and humor. xo Deborah

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  26. Such is life and yes....the camera never lies is a myth. Of course we all know you are beautiful in your profile pic and you better not argue with us! lol Take care of yourself. Lots of hugs, Diane

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  27. I cut all kinds of things out of my pictures and see nothing wrong in that at all!

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  28. Oh man am I way behind in not seeing this about me being a hedgehog?? Sheesh. We do need to talk. My Wordpress avatar is of me enjoying a brew in the Lake District close to where Beatrix Potter had her farm. My Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle figurine reminds me of my mother for some reason. Anyhoo, I chose her for my blogger avatar long long ago. About facelifts...I'm not into stretching my skin. I do crop photos to take away some unsightly things...

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  29. You didn't look old at all - very studious!

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  30. I admit I try to keep my blog on the sunny side of home and family and travels in my state. I feel there are enough complaints and bad news in the world without adding to it. I loved your new profile photo from the moment I first saw it. You are positively glowing in it! My blog profile photo is about 5 years old. I have been too lazy to change it...lol!

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  31. Haha, I'm glad you liked your picture and I'm very complimented that you wanted to use it for your sidebar! It was simply a snapshot using an iPhone, but I did some negative contrast and added some glow in the post-processing to give our skin a more youthful look. We look like mere children, don't we?

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