There are over 1500 'unofficial' National Holidays throughout the year that
enjoy recognition for one reason or another. This one for February 15 ~
National Gumdrop Day ~ was begun to recognize this colorful, chewy, fruity or
spicy, gelatin candy coated with sugar we call the Gumdrop.
Who Invented the Gumdrop?
The gumdrop was invented by a chemist and candy maker named Percy S.
Truesdell. In 1915 he changed the texture of this sugar
concoction. By adding starch in a formula he developed at Ohio State
University, he changed a hard candy into a smooth, chewy delight. He
later became known as the “Gumdrop King”.
Besides being a tasty candy, gumdrops are a popular addition to cookie
recipes and as decoration for cakes and cupcakes. No doubt the most
well-known way gumdrops are used as decorations is on Gingerbread
Houses. Savannah, Georgia holds an annual Gingerbread House Festival each year during the Christmas holiday celebrations where gumdrops on the gingerbread houses are plentiful.
Gumdrops are also often used in crafts, such as these adorable
gumdrop penguins
by Linda on her fun and fascinating crafty blog called
“Crafts a la mode”. The blog is filled with her sweet and simple delights in both
crafts and recipes.
You can also make gumdrops yourself. You'll need powdered fruit pectin and
fruit juice, along with vegetable oil, sugar, corn syrup and food
coloring. Several recipes can be found at a selection of sites
throughout the internet.
Click here.
A more modern offshoot of the original gumdrop are today's popular 'gummies' in the form of gummy bears
and gummy worms. Kids seem to love these gelatin-based chewable sweets.
Summary
So, enjoy a gumdrop, or two or three, on National Gumdrop Day,
February 15, or any day of the year this chewy treat appeals to
you.
(c) Gumdrop Holiday Review by Wednesday Elf written on 2/15/2019. Updated on
2/16/2024
Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article. “As an Amazon Associate, Ebay (EPN) and/or Esty (Awin) Affiliate, I (we) earn from qualifying purchases.”
I chose True Places as my Amazon First Reads pick a month or so ago. I had not previously heard of the author, Sonja Yoerg. I chose the novel because of the setting: the area on and around the Blue Ridge Parkway. I could relate with many parts of this story and with several of the characters. The story kept my attention and I wanted to find out what would become of the woman, her family, and the wild child she found along the road.
True Places by Sonja Yoerg
This is a tale of country life, suburban life, and what may happen when the two are combined. The country story begins with a child living alone in a remote cabin in the forest with her mother. Tragedy strikes. The suburban story begins with Suzanne Blakemore, an over-extended mom, wife, and fundraising organizer extraordinaire. Feeling the pressures of too many commitments and too little time, forty-two year old Suzanne impulsively drives her Navigator (full of the over-powering scent of the hyacinths she is transporting for the Boosters auction) away from it all. While driving at a break-neck speed on the Blue Ridge Parkway, she finds a sick and emaciated child. After hospitalization, that child - who turns out to be a very small 16 year old - joins the Blakemore family. We hold our breath at times as we watch Mr. Blakemore and his son, Reid, butt heads. And we watch as the Blakemore's daughter, Brynn, is guided by adolescent emotions, peer pressures, and social media. Social media - where mocking and bullying occurs by the minute and no one is immune - especially not the "wild child". Will this family be able to blend or will tragedy strike again? My prediction was that the author would portray one setting and it's inhabitants as better than the other. One group of people right. And the other group wrong. I would have put money on the story being about the civilized suburban folk saving the poor country bumpkins. I was pleasantly surprised that the author showed the good, the bad, and the ugly of both worlds. The moral of the story is about the difference between doing things because they are the expected things to do and doing the things that make us feel right. It was about finding our True Places and our true selves.
Amazon First Reads
Amazon First Reads is a program through Amazon in which each month a book from a selection of approximately 6 books are offered for free (for Prime members) or a reduced cost for First Reads subscribers. On the 1st of each month, I choose a book from those books are offered. I have found some new-to-me authors that I probably would not have read otherwise. I can't say that I've liked all of my First Reads picks, but I can say that I look forward to the 1st of each month and have found some authors that I will watch for in the future. First Reads is one of many reasons I continue to renew my Amazon Prime membership.
Image credit: photo courtesy of Fotojet
Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article. “As an Amazon Associate, Ebay (EPN) and/or Esty (Awin) Affiliate, I (we) earn from qualifying purchases.”
It is New Year’s Eve. The last day of the year. Tomorrow turns the page into the brand new year. Beginning tomorrow, I will have to remember to write 2019 instead of 2018 on checks and paperwork. I will wonder where the years have gone and say, “Wow, time flies” at least once. Those are a part of my traditions during this time of year.
Each person, family, region, and country have New Year’s Eve traditions. A search on the internet will show those traditions; some familiar and some that seem very strange (red underwear). Some involve food (12 grapes). Some involve drink (champagne). Most traditions involve how to celebrate and who to celebrate with.
As a younger person I attended New Year’s Eve parties at someone’s home. We drank, ate, talked, listened to music, and kissed everyone in the vicinity when the clock struck midnight.
Later, I sometimes attended public firework displays. In the US, many people go into the cities to see the fireworks. The dropping of the ball in Times Square draws many celebrants waiting to welcome the new year. It seems to be one of the most well-known celebrations worldwide but such a large gathering culminating in fireworks is not a uniquely US thing. I’d venture to guess that this is the most popular (worldwide) New Year’s Eve tradition.
More recently, I go to The Shack for New Year’s Eve. And by the time you read this, I hope to be there. One of my superstitions is that whatever you are focused on as the New Year rings in is the focus of the new year. Therefore, my intention is to be at The Shack as 2018 ends and 2019 begins. I like to spend the evening close to nature and in the “home” I plan to live in soon. I also prefer to be off the roads and away from potential drunk drivers.
We have a wide audience at Review This! and it makes me wonder how our readers around the world welcome in the new year. On behalf of the Review This! team:
We wish you a happy and safe New Year’s Eve.
We wish you the kind of celebration that leaves you with wonderful memories and continues welcomed traditions.
Happy New Year's Eve!
Photo courtesy of Pixabay and Fotojet
Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article. “As an Amazon Associate, Ebay (EPN) and/or Esty (Awin) Affiliate, I (we) earn from qualifying purchases.”
I have been using a flip phone since the 1990's. I only bought it because I traveled on business and needed a way to communicate on the road. There weren't any smartphones then. The little phone fit easily in my purse or pocket and I used my landline whenever I was home. I only gave family members and very close friends my cell number -- and, of course, services that insisted I get two-step verification by text message. I don't really text anyone myself -- yet.
Almost everyone I know seems to have a smartphone and many seem addicted to them. But I didn't want one. I hate typing on tiny keyboards with my arthritic fingers. I like to work on a desktop where I have it all. So I happily blogged on and resisted the smartphone. I processed my photos nicely without one and took a digital camera on my photo walks. Then came Instagram and I couldn't join the party. Unless I got a smartphone. So five days ago I finally got one.
My Galaxy Note 9 with Accessories
Why I Bought a Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Instead of an iPhone
My brother and many of my friends have iPhones and love them. My husband has a Galaxy S7. I've seen people do amazing things with smartphones and I thought they were using iPhones. One day I was at a winery with a friend and had forgotten to bring my phone. I borrowed hers and it took fantastic photos. I had seen my nephew scan a document by taking a photo with what I thought was an iPhone. I was all set to get an iPhone. But when I double checked with my nephew and my friend, I discovered they both had Galaxy phones. The camera I had borrowed was on a Galaxy Note 8 or 9
I wanted to buy the phone with the best camera. My plan was to start making more videos where I could just talk to people, so I needed a front-facing camera. I also wanted to get great nature and product photos and videos for my blogs and for making Zazzle products. And, of course, I wanted to be able to post to my Instagram account with my own phone -- not Hubby's. I was using my PC to like and comment on posts from my friends, and I wanted to join the fun and post more. Now I can. If you like nature, books, gardening, or a simple lifestyle, you can follow me on Instagram and see the quality of what I've posted so far from my new phone. I'm barbradis on Instagram.
Cyclist in Riverbed of Salinas River in Paso Robles Taken with Galaxy Note 9
I decided on the Galaxy Note 9 because it had great cameras. Yes, the iPhone camera is also a good one, but for my purposes, the Galaxy Note 9 tops it. There is also a lesser reason. I have both a Windows PC and an iMac. Both have been sick. While my PC was really sick, I used the Apple almost exclusively, even though it was really slow. I couldn't find anything. I called our local guru to come fix it and he confirmed that Apple just hides things and you have to know the tricks to get around that. I like a clear file path. I think in Windows, not Apple. I understand Google better than Apple. I thought over the long haul I'd be happier with Android.
The Learning Curve
If I had already been a smartphone user just trading up or getting a different brand, I don't think the learning curve would have been as steep for me as it's been these last five days. I'm used to the space and options I have with a desktop. I work with forty tabs open in Chrome, four notepads to cut and paste from, and several Windows Explorer windows open at once. Although the Galaxy Note has a larger screen than many phones, it doesn't come close to the 21 inches my computer monitor has.
The Note 9 lets me open several apps at once and flip between them, but I had some trouble getting an email with a pin I needed to put in a registration form for Verizon or Samsung -- I forget which. Once the email came in through the GMail app, I couldn't get back to the form where I was supposed to enter it. I think that would have happened on any smartphone. So most of my learning curve is just learning to use a smartphone instead of a PC -- not something unique to the Galaxy smartphone. It's a totally different way of working. It will take time to really get good at this.
The thing that bothered me most was that tiny keyboard. It's hard for me to hit only one key at once -- even though the Galaxy Note 9's keyboard is larger than most. I have two work-arounds for that. First, I use that little microphone on the keyboard and talk instead of type when I can. I also have a small wireless keyboard I bought to use with another device. It plays nicely with my Galaxy Note 9, as would just about any portable Bluetooth keyboard. So if I'm free to talk without disturbing anyone, I make my Instagram captions and hashtags with my voice and correct most of my mistakes using the keyboard. The speech recognition does confuse to with too or two. I have to speak slowly. It mistook my friend Celia's name for silly. But I can live with that as it learns to better understand my voice.
What Happens if You Hold the Volume Button Down Too Long While Taking a Photo
What I love about the Galaxy Note 9
The large 6.4" screen
The ability to type with my voice instead of my fingers
The quality of the front and back cameras
The way the phone camera handles lighting differences -- what's in the shade shows better than it does in my Canon PowerShot photos if the photo subject is partially shaded.
When I shoot videos while walking, they are less shaky than the ones I shoot with my Canon PowerShot SX410 IS. I'll show you one of my photo walks below.
Easy updates for software
Ease of installing the apps I want
Easy flipping between apps
The ability to take multiple photos in quick succession by holding down the volume button. I learned this accidentally.
Clear voice reception on calls. I called my landline and my husband just to make sure.
Easy contact management, but I confess that I used my little bluetooth keyboard to help enter the names and numbers.
Fast charging and long battery life.
Flaps that cover the ports for the charger and headphones to help keep them safe from water and dust during everyday use.
The S-Pen with its many amazing features, only some of which I've tried so far. I can't do it all in five days. So far I've found it very handy when I have to use the keyboard since I can better control what I click. A video I watched showed many more pen features I have yet to try. The S-Pen can even control some phone features remotely.
The ability to make a monitor act like a PC if you have the right cable, monitor, and the S-pen. It will work with your monitor if it has an HDMI port and you have an HDMI to USB Type C cable
I can use the Do Not Disturb setting to keep away all notification sounds during the hours I sleep. While I'm trying to fall asleep I can play relaxing music for as long as I set the timer for -- all while my phone is charging.
A Video of a Photo Walk I Made Yesterday
I made this video with the Galaxy Note 9 in the morning during a lull between rainstorms.
Here's the Camera and Accessories I Use With It
This is my phone color. I also bought the case and screen protector to keep my investment safe. I already had a portable keyboard to use.
Much as I love my new phone, there are some things I don't love as much.
The phone is somewhat heavy because of its size.
The shape of the phone, though similar in shape to most other smartphones, is harder for my arthritic hands to hold while trying to take a photo than a camera is.
If I want to take a horizontal photo, it's really easy to press the button that will make the phone take multiple shots in a row as long as the button is held down. I'm learning to be careful how I hold the phone.
Selfies
I have never yet found a camera that made selfies I liked. I'm afraid the problem is not the camera but the subject. Nevertheless, I made a selfie so I could photograph the screen for you. The weird colors are the result of the artificial lighting in the room that my Canon couldn't handle well. Flashes leave light bursts I didn't want. You do see the editing icons here. I don't normally edit photos except to crop them or add text, but I think I'll learn to use some of those available apps that remove wrinkles, etc.
Since I haven't learned to use those apps yet, I'm hiding behind the camera. The editing icons are above the circle-shaped camera icons. The bottom row of icons are for the whole phone. The quality of this photo has nothing to do with the smartphone camera, since I didn't know how to use the Note 9 to take a photo of itself. It probably would have done a better job with the lighting. I think I did use one filter and kept it because it changed my hair from gray to the blond I was born with.
Apps
Once I got my Note 9 smartphone, I started adding more apps. It's almost impossible not to when you see all that's available to play with. The thing that's hard is organizing those apps so you can find them again. The Note 9 gives me the Apps Edge. Most of the time it sits almost invisibly on the right edge of my screen, but I can slide it out whenever I need it. I can choose ten apps to put there, so I included what I use most. I guess they are also put in files. If I click the files icon (far left under open apps screen below) it will show me every app that's currently open and I can go back to working in it. Handy! I love both these features. Perhaps other smartphones also have them, but I only have experience on this phone.
So far my favorite free app besides Instagram is Relaxio. It gives me a choice of sixteen kinds of white noise I can listen to alone or combine with other sounds. I can choose from city traffic noises, falling rain, ocean waves, birds, crackling fire, wind, a flowing brook, night nature sounds, coffee shop, and a few other white noise sounds I haven't figured out. I love this app for falling asleep, since I can set a timer for how long it will play. I let it play beside my bed while the phone charges at night.
Comparing Photos
This morning I decided to photograph some books in a bookcase in my office. The only light source was across the room and partially blocked with my iMac monitor. I made the shots as identical as I could except I used a flash for the shot from my Canon PowerShot SX410 IS. The phone, of course, needed no flash. I didn't guess accurately the number of books included in each shot, but I think it's close enough for you to get the idea. Except to crop and size these for Instagram and add a background color in PicMonkey, I did no photo editing to change tone, lighting or anything else. I added no effects. Here are the shots, as I will post them to Instagram later.
As you can see, I didn't edit as much extraneous stuff out of the phone shot as I did the Canon shot. I'd never tried putting backgrounds on before in PicMonkey and I wound up using FotoJet to crop the photos when I hadn't gotten the images the right size for the background. I've never used layers before and PicMonkey just added them to their app. In the end I put the wrong photo in the shot above, not the one that trimmed the lower shelf out. I think you still have a fair comparison between the Canon and the Note 9 cameras.
My Recommendation
If you need a phone with an outstanding camera, I can't think of a better one than the Samsung Galaxy Note 9. I bought it for the camera, but also love the pen and the ability to use it to turn my phone into something very much like a PC should I ever need to. Just tonight I downloaded the Amazon Music app and discovered I also get great sound quality for the songs I love when I play them on the Note 9.
Now if my Note 9 could only take a selfie! There's probably an app for that, but I still need to find it. My advice? Get yourself or someone you love a Galaxy Note 9.
Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article. “As an Amazon Associate, Ebay (EPN) and/or Esty (Awin) Affiliate, I (we) earn from qualifying purchases.”
DesignCap is the free online poster maker offered by PearlMountain to make all your poster and flyer graphics easy to make and easy to design. The variety of templates, colors, text and background options are endless and will whet your appetite to make free posters in a few minutes for all your events.
WYSIWYG What You See Is What You Get
The DesignCap software is WYSIWYG which is very helpful for all levels of poster designers.
Beginner designers will enjoy the ability to change a template with the click of a mouse and the visual changes are immediate. Graphic designers with more advanced skills will find the templates easy to adjust with the text, color and image options.
DesignCap is an online program which is a bonus as software is not required to download to your computer; design the poster and simply save the poster as a download for its' future use.
I used the cover of my cookbook to test DesignCap and loved the ability to upload an image and change the background in a few seconds.
Background Options DesignCap
DesignCap offers a large variety of background colors and one can get lost (in a good way!) browsing through the options and making changes.
This is the DesignCap template I used for my cookbook.
This is the same template with a different border using the background menu.
The border was changed with a quick of the mouse when browsing the background menu. It was very helpful to have different colors and designs available to change the colors of the background.
Intuitive Design
Overall I found the menus easy to use and intuitive. The text menu to change the font size was less intuitive; however this is more than likely dependent upon the skills the designer has prior to using DesignCap. Two options exist to change the font size: the A+ or A- or the font size can be changed manually. I like the ability to choose the font size manually; however, a first glance it appears the font size is limited to the drop down menu sizes when in fact any size font can be chosen by typing in the size. DesignCap offers tutorials for assistance and step by step guidance through its' menu options.
Image Size
The design can be saved in either jpg or png format. Remember this is a poster therefore the size is large. The image can then be scaled down if necessary or optimized prior to using on a website.
PearlMountain
DesignCap is the latest online design program from PearlMountain along with the established Fotojet and DesignEvo, the free online logo maker. The mission of PearlMountain, "We aim to make professional photo editing and graphic design capability accessible to everyone."
Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article. “As an Amazon Associate, Ebay (EPN) and/or Esty (Awin) Affiliate, I (we) earn from qualifying purchases.”
Need a logo in minutes? DesignEvo is a free online logo maker which gives users the ability to make a logo in minutes; whether a novice or graphics professional DesignEvo provides the online software to make, create and design a logo quickly and easily.
Easy As 1-2-3
DesignEvo promises that a logo can be made in minutes and what is promised is delivered. I actually timed the making of this logo with a DesignEvo template. I used my lifestyle website and tagline to explore designing a new logo.
How To Use DesignEvo
I launched the free logo maker, scrolled down to my chosen category (Letter), scrolled through the options, entered the website name (or Company Name), tagline and voila! Total creation time including download and social share = 2.5 minutes.
After creating the logo I quickly modified a few parts of the design. I tweeked the size, modified the dot icons, changed the background color and then proceeded to download the logo and the required social share.
The requirement for a FREE logo to download for your use is very simple; a social share is required prior to downloading and credit on your website or blog. After downloading you will find a zip file with the logo as a jpg, png and a readme file with the share requirements.
What You See Is What You Get
The design interface is very user friendly and intuitive. Once the logo is created a Preview is available to see your logo on business cards, letterhead or media products.
This is a very nice program for novices to instantly create a logo by using the provided templates; for those with more advanced graphic skills the online software has the features to further customize the logo.
Customize Your Free Logo
Your logo can be easily customized with the color, font and transparency options. If you have the HEX colors for your company then the color of your logo can be changed with a few clicks of the mouse. The interface is clean, self explanatory and easy to navigate; if help is needed video tutorials and FAQ's are available under Support.
Who Is DesignEvo?
The About page of DesignEvo gives insight into the evolution of DesignEvo. Pearl Mountain developed Fotojet, a free online collage maker and is also the creator of DesignEvo. The logo maker is free or users have the option to purchase advanced features for a one time annual fee. Logo features such as resolution, copyright, vector files are restricted to the paid version.
Recommendation
I enjoyed the ease of using DesignEvo, the user friendly interface and the instantaneous results of a ready to use logo within minutes. Colors, fonts, icons and graphics are just a click away to personalize your logo to your brand or create a brand new logo with a customizable template.
Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article. “As an Amazon Associate, Ebay (EPN) and/or Esty (Awin) Affiliate, I (we) earn from qualifying purchases.”
Robots have fascinated people for many years and are especially popular with
children. No doubt the favorite robot in recent years is R2D2 from Star
Wars! The robots, androids and artificial intelligence we have seen are
machines made of metal or some other hard material which are fascinating to
watch and fun to look at, but not to hold. How about if we made playtime toy robots out of something soft, such as
yarn? If you were to crochet a yarn robot, it might be called a
CROBOT.
In this crochet pattern book called Crobots by Nelly Pailloux, there are instructions to create 20 tiny creatures which are cute and
cuddly and adorable. Each Crobot pattern includes a color photo of the finished 'robot', an
ingredients list showing you everything you need to match the photos in each
section, along with instructions for creating them. Each Crobot is
crocheted in sections, then joined together. The instructions also include a
Blueprint page showing you how the sections fit together.
Many of these crobot creatures are decorated with beads, sequins, buttons,
jewelry fasteners, and even nails & wire springs.
Big Bot Created for an Anime Shop
This is Big Bot made using sequins for eyes and a spring nose.This version of
a Crobot looks really cute if you are making it for an adult Sci-Fi, Steampunk
or Anime Fan to perhaps decorate a work space or give as a unique
gift.
Thinker I call Snow Bot
But I crochet primarily for children, so my version of these crobots are
finished with simple embroidery to keep them soft & safe all over.
Whichever version you choose, these tiny Crobot robots are fun to make in
crochet. They include a Space Mouse, a Cosmic Bear, a Dogbot, a Catbot, a
Zombiebot, a Geisha Girl, a Ninjabot, an Alienbot and a dozen more. They
each take very small amount of yarn and are fun to make.
A Few Examples of Crobots I Created from this Book
The Thinker
This quiet little doll is called
THINKER
in the Crobot crochet book. I decided he looked like a Snow Bot and
crocheted him in white acrylic yarn filled with soft polyfil toy stuffing. He
has burgundy ears on his large Amigurumi head, and embroidered features. His
spindly embroidered arms and sweet wistful face show off the fact that he is a
thinker who likes to sit quietly and figure things out. He's the perfect
companion for a quiet child. He'd also sit quietly on someone's desk at work
to help them concentrate. Sammy the stuffed snow bot robot doll
measures just 5 inches tall. He's soft and sweet and
ready-to-ship.
Matryoshka the Housekeeping Crobot
Burgundy Babushka Robot Doll
In the Crobot pattern book, Matryoshka is described as having a babushka
mother and a robot for a father, making her quite technical at heart with the
rivets, dials and switches shown in the pattern. I decided she'd make
just a sweet babushka doll, so her features are embroidered. My version
is round and soft and comfortable for little hands to hold. My cute little Babuska doll is hand-crocheted in burgundy acrylic yarn with a
white face with embroidered features. She is softly stuffed with polyfil toy
stuffing and measures just 4 inches tall. Burgundy Babuska
dollwill fit nicely in a pocket for a child to carry around to play with. She is
very squeezable in her round shape and would fit perfectly on someone's desk
at work as a cheerful presence. She could also make an excellent stress ball
and wouldn't mind at all if you squeeze her. :) Burgundy Babuska would also make a cute Valentine's Gift, stocking stuffer,
or a cute gift for little girls for a birthday or anytime gift.
Geisha
Geisha Girl Amigurumi Doll
This is a
Geisha Girl Amigurumi Doll
who is a sweet and shy little doll dressed in Geisha Girl style. She measures 6 inches tall and has a sweet hand-embroidered face. Her elaborate hairstyle has red ties and she is wearing little sandals on her
feet. Geisha Girl Doll is hand-crocheted in acrylic yarn in black and white with a
Sunshine print Kimono. She is filled with new polyfil and is ready-to-ship to a toybox near you or
be a friendly companion on your desktop.
Past Examples
A few other examples of Crobots (a Baby Bot and a Sumo Robot Doll) I have
made from this book are shown above. These have sold, but can be
recreated by a request through my Etsy Shop,
Coastal Crochet Crafts.
This is a unique and interesting little crochet pattern book for crafters who
like to make little dolls, especially with a Sci-Fi or Steampunk theme to
them.
(c) 2018 by Wednesday Elf
Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article. “As an Amazon Associate, Ebay (EPN) and/or Esty (Awin) Affiliate, I (we) earn from qualifying purchases.”
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