Winter Retreat

Winter Retreat

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/winter-retreat-by-m-donna/

Christmas is over and every one can start making their New Years Revolutions! I guess lots of people make them and lots of people break them. I made one last year and broke it the 2nd day of January. 

Sounds like most of the US is having winter weather. It has snowed here for several days but just a bit on the ground now and supposed to warm up and probably start raining soon.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas holiday. I feel so lucky and almost guilty about it at times. Christmas eve day was very busy. Our oldest grandson and family came with Christmas cookies and a gift for us. I have always wanted to have the DNA tests done at Ancestry but just didn't feel like we should put the money out. But they gave us each one and we are sending them off today. Am very anxious to get the results. I have worked for years on our family trees and gotten way back to the 1600's so will find out if everything is accurate.

In the afternoon our daughter came out with a bunch of food to munch on while we watched the Seahawks game. We were so afraid they would lose because we have lost so many of the players with injuries. The game the week before was just horrible. Worst game we have ever watched! But this was a totally different team! Anyway it seemed like. Our daughter and I have very loud voices and my poor husband's ears were burning! I think he will get his shooters muffs for Sunday's game! 

Not long after the game was over another grandson and family showed up and we got to visit with them for awhile. They had to leave so the boys would get home and to bed before Santa came.

Christmas day all of our kids came and we had tons of munchies. Everyone brings snack type stuff and then I let Papa Murphy do all the prep work for our dinner and I bake it! We started doing that several years ago and that makes the holiday a lot more fun (for me anyway) than preparing a huge Christmas dinner. We had such a nice time and I know I am lucky to be able to spend time with our family. Now we are eating left overs! 

How are you liking the new Firefox Quantum? I am very happy with it now. I did have to get used to a few things though. I am using an extension called Tab Close Button that I really like. It put a big X on the address bar and will close the tab that you have open. I usually have lots of tabs open and would sometimes close the wrong tab with the new Firefox so I got this extension and works like a charm. 

I am finally using the Pocket also. With the older FF I used the new page to have the sites I used most saved but it isn't as easy to put them and keep them on the New Page now. So I broke down and started using the Pocket. I can't say I am thrilled with it and I could adds a few "ticks" to it if it was my extension but had to break down and learn how to use it. I used to have my tabs on the bottom and liked them that way but the extension that trick was on doesn't work with the new FF. I am hoping someone will figure out an extension so we can do that again. 

We got the pictures back of our surprise 60th wedding anniversary and am going to post a picture of our cake. I think I wrote about it a couple blogs ago so now you can see it. I am sure it is one of a kind. They asked for mountains, flowers and Seahawks! And we got it all.

 I want to thank all of you that have become fans and use my wallpapers and themes. So many of you have posted such nice reviews and I really appreciate those. I try very hard to reply to each one. I want to wish you all a wonderful 2018! Don't know how prosperous we will be with the new Trump tax. I know the corporations and businesses will do very well. I just hope they pass it on to their employees but am not so sure about that. I would love to have a more tranquil 2018 than 2017 has been. I am very tired of the drama and hate that has ramped up this past year. 

Bucks at Sunrise

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/bucks-at-sunrise-by-m-donna/

Mid December

Country Home Winter

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/country-home-winter-by-m-donna/

Christmas is less than two weeks away. Are you ready? We don't buy gifts anymore but I do write checks to the great grand kids which isn't very Christmasy but they get so many toys and clothes I figure they can put the money in a savings account and use it later. They won't get much interest now but hopefully someday that will go up. I am giving them each an old Christmas ornament from the trees we have had on our trees for many years. 

I think we (I) finally got our new internet modem and phone working all right. That was a huge challenge. I did find out that when you fill out a survey for a company they actually read them. When we got our Sleep Number mattress I filled out a survey they sent me and was very truthful on it and several days later they called me and actually sent us out some extra foam to use at no charge. So I filled out the Comcast survey. I actually gave them 4 stars which wasn't bad but they still called to find out why I only gave 4 stars. So I told him about the whole episode and how it took me 3 days on the phone, a tech guy coming out, etc. He was very honest and said it sounded like they needed to have their tech people have more training. What irritated me about the whole thing was I actually knew that Comcast would have to send their firmware to our modem, since it wasn't a Comcast modem that you rent. But I never thought about asking the tech support on the phone if they had done that! I figured that would be the first thing they did.  But it took the tech guy that came out go get to the 4th tier of support (which I found out was the engineering dept.) to actually push the firmware into my modem to get it to work. I had done a lot of research on line before I ever ordered the modem from Amazon so things would go smoothly. But as I have said, they didn't. But we cut the phone line and that will save us a lot of money over a years time. Plus we didn't even have long distance service because that cost $10 a month more!

My husband will be 82 on Sunday and we are going to our daughter's house to celebrate and watch the Seahawk game.  Her kids will be up so it will be good to see them since it has been a few months.

Our weather has been beautiful this week but sounds like it could start to get rainy tonight. Yuk! 

I don't know if I will get back to the blog before Christmas so if I don't I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season.

Snowman Lights the Way

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/snowman-lights-the-way/

Firefox 57 Updated!

Light Your Firefox

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/light-your-firefox/

Well, I had to update to Firefox 57 and I am liking it real well. It is faster for sure. The reason I finally broke down and update was because the Personas Plus extension quit working so I couldn't test my designs. It takes me a bit longer to test but I guess I have the time! One thing I did find that may help you find a theme you recently had installed is to go to the 3 small lines on the far right, click on Customize. Go to the bottom of the page and you will find Themes. There should be a short list of a few of the recently used themes. That is faster for me to go back to my theme than going through the Persona Plus icon. 

I have mentioned before about my extremely dry eye syndrome so I am going to  mention an extension for FF57 that I am very happy with. It is called Owl. You can find it at: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/owl/ You can set webpages to be dark rather than the bright white. It doesn't seem to work on some pages but it is just a tiny icon on your task bar that you can turn off and on. Another thing you may notice is the way the new Themes site looks. If you like the old way, which I do, just go to the bottom of the page and click on View Classic Desktop. Someone had to tell me about that because I didn't  know it and didn't like the new site. You really can't see the latest or most popular on it. I also just had the latest big Windows 10 update and you can set your screen for night. So the screen automatically goes into night mode at a set time. It makes it a much more pleasant color than the bright white. 

Still working on the Comcast telephone thing. Getting our phone number switched was even a head ache. They gave me the wrong number to contact Frontier to get a freeze off our number so it could be switched to Comcast. After re-setting the router it seems to be working. Hopefully!

A beautiful day in the Pacific Northwest. Cold and sunshine. It means we have some fog in the mornings but it is beautiful out.

Got our tiny tree up and some of the decorations this week. Hubby got outside lights up. I went through a huge box of Christmas things that we had collected over the 60 years of our married life and let two of the great grand kids that were here pick out some things they wanted. I don't know how happy their mom was but it was a few less in our box!

Going to get back to work. Have a great week and don't spend too much money on shopping.

 Sparkle Snowflake Blue
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/sparkle-snowflake-blue/

December

Moonlight Rising

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/moonlight-rising-by-m-donna/

December is here and 2017 is almost gone. It has been a very interesting year, hasn't it? The United States has lost a lot of its respect in the minds of the world. And I feel very bad about that. I am sure 2018 will be a very interesting year and hopefully better. Sounds like our income taxes will be going up for us that don't make a lot of money. Everything else is going up so I guess our taxes should too. NOT!!!

This week has been a very hectic one for me. I decided to save some money and cut the land telephone line. Since we have Comcast triple play but I didn't have a modem that you could connect the phone to, we weren't taking advantage of the telephone part. And I didn't want to pay rent on a modem so I called Comcast to find out which modems were acceptable by them. I ordered the one they said was best and acceptable to them. So, Thursday morning I disconnected my old modem and hooked up the new one. Got on line and had wi fi BUT when I called Comcast to get the telephone part hooked up....well, I will just say I was on the phone for 2 days, had to have a tech come out and then lost wifi. So I spent 2 1/2 days on the phone trying to save some money. It is all working now EXCEPT our old phone number hasn't been changed to the Xfinity phone yet. I have to work with Frontier to get that taken care of and apparently they have no one there until Monday. I have had a headache for 3 days. And have Monday to look forward to. Just trying to save some $$.

I didn't realize I had so many Christmas themes and wallpapers made so I started submitting them. I didn't have much time to work on any this week so am looking forward to having some fun making more next week.

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and got to spend time with family. I fixed the 59th Thanksgiving dinner in a row and enjoyed it. It was just 4 for dinner so tried to downsize my recipes. We used to have over 30 family members, but as time goes by and everyone gets older and families get larger things change. Everything was really good and our daughter in law made the best pumpkin pie ever. From a real pumpkin, not a can! One of the family traditions is making my Grandma's candied sweet potatoes. I know most people make them with marshmallow's, etc. Not my family. Grandma made the best sweet potatoes, not yams...sweet potatoes! (Some people don't realize they are different) You have to cook the butter and sugar to a certain point and then pour over the sweet potatoes and bake...and hope they turn out just right. And this year they did!

Have you downloaded the Firefox 57 update yet? I still haven't put it in my desktop and don't know when or if I will for sure. I can't test my themes on it very easy because Personas Plus is so different. Sometimes I have to test a theme 10 or more times and I am not a very patient person so don't like the extra time it takes to test. I try to get it so it looks good on all sizes of screens but sometimes it just doesn't work out.

It is a yukky rainy day here today so think I am gonna go read for awhile.

Have a good week and don't spend too much $$ Christmas shopping.

Best Bright Christmas

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/best-bright-christmas/ 

Firefox 57

Autumn Mist

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/autumn-mist-by-m-donna/

Well, have you updated your Firefox? If so, how do you like it. I have it on my laptop and am trying to get used to it. It takes me much longer to test a theme when I am making one. So I haven't installed it in my desktop yet because of that. But I will soon, probably. Plus my laptop just installed the latest big Windows 10 1709 update and things have changed on that also....so I am getting used to that. Changes! I don't like change.

The user count isn't working at all with the technicians and developers trying to get everything updated and problems fixed. I know there must be a lot of new Firefox users, though because I am getting tons more reviews. I get an email when someone reviews a theme and I always try to reply to a review. So my email tone keeps beeping. But I am glad to have people using my themes. Makes it more worthwhile.

Our oldest great grandson went deer hunting with his great grandpa yesterday and they had a ball. And he spent the night with us.  He is taller than my husband now! Hard to believe he will be 13 early next year.  When he was born I didn't think I would live long enough to see him in his teen years...so I feel super lucky and grateful. Plus we have 4 other great grandkids we have got to know and love. 

 We got up early and I scrambled half a dozen eggs and made 5 waffles for the guys this morning because he had an lacrosse game. We got our shopping done early, too.  I knew town would be busy with shoppers the Sat. before Thanksgiving. This will be the smallest Thanksgiving dinner I have made and I know I will cook way too much. My recipes are all for too many people. 

I have found a few extensions that I really like for the new Firefox. InformEnter has been updated and I am very thankful for that. But he couldn't put all of the useful things into the new format so I really miss the right click and enter the info when I am submitting themes. I like Owl to make pages dark so they aren't so hard on my eyes. I also like Translate Now because a lot of the reviews aren't in English so I have to quickly translate and this is easy to use. One extension I wish and hope will be available is Tabs on the Bottom and so far that isn't available and the developer said he couldn't update it with the new format so I doubt if I get that one. I don't like the tabs up where they aren't as easy to see.  Of course you have to use Personas Plus to be able to change themes and your favorites are there and you can change the text color, etc. Another thing about  FF 57 I really like is you don't have to use the search bar, etc. All you have to to is type it in the space you would type a website and what every you searched for will come up. Plus you can get rid of the search bar and see more of your theme. Just click on Customize and pull the search bar down into the space. WaLa....no more search bar because you don't need it.  Let me know how you like the new Firefox!

Gonna get back to replying to some of the reviews. Have a great week end. 

Winter Finch

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/winter-finch-by-m-donna/

Quantum Launch Day!

Hideaway Sunset

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/hideaway-sunset/

Well, today is the big day for Firefox! The new and faster Firefox is out now. I installed it on my laptop but not my desktop. The way I test my themes is not available on 57 yet and until they fix Personas Plus I won't install it on the desktop. I am working with them so hopefully they can fix it. For anyone else, it will work fine. So try it and let us know how you like it. 

There must be a lot of new Firefox users because I am getting so many more reviews than usual. A lot more. I try to answer each and every one so it takes a lot more time, but I think if someone can take time to write a review I can certainly take the time to reply.

We were supposed to go to our son's birthday party on Sunday and we thought we did!  BUT when the whole family sat down to watch a video...it was a HAPPY 60th ANNIVERSAY that came up. It was pictures of us, with the kids, grandkids and great grandkids. Every family member made a video with their wishes and thoughts. Clear down the the 4 year old! My gosh, it was so fantastic. I cried of course. It was just so beautiful and special.  And we had our first wedding cake! It was a pretty special cake with mountains, trees, flowers and a Seahawks emblem! I am quite sure the cake maker had never made one like it. Such a surprise because our anniversary was months ago and we thought we had celebrated it with a dinner out with the kids! They had a photographer there and I can't wait to see the pictures. I know I am always commenting on our family but this just proved me right. Our family is very special and loving. Our daughter in law went to so much work! I hope she knows how much we appreciated it and love her.

We have been having lots of rain and high winds and sounds like it will be that way all week. 

Try out the new Firefox and let me know how you like it. I would love to have it here, on my desktop but since this is where I have Photoshop installed, this is where I make the designs so I am hoping Personas Plus gets some extra things added to it so I can preview my themes. Sometimes I have to re-do a theme ten or more times to get it to look right and fit in that small space. 

Have a great week.

 Grandad's Barn

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/grandad-s-barn-by-m-donna

 

Busy November

Harvest Basket

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/harvest-basket-by-m-donna/

I wonder if November has been as busy for everyone else as it has at our house. Normally everyone would think our lives are very boring, but at our age we kind of like boring! But hubby has been busy getting everything winterized and doing some hunting. I have been very, very busy with Firefox. Working on themes and keeping everything updated. The most helpful extension I have is InformEnter and I use it a lot and it saves a lot of time. The developer has been very busy updating it to the new format Firefox will be using when FF 57 is launched on November 14th. He has been updating it several times a day and it is working all right. Not quite as good as the original but that is not his fault. I am very appreciate of all his hard work. If you fill out a lot of forms, etc. this is a must have. You can find it at: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/informenter/

Personas Plus was updated today but I had to go back to the old version because I couldn't get the preview to work. I HAVE  to use a preview to test my themes. And I test over and over so I hope the version for 57 will work for me when I update to that version. Footers will not be available for 57 because they are doing away with the add on bar at the bottom. It really isn't necessary and that just makes one less step for a developer. 

I use to use an extension called Color Picker and the developer isn't updating that one so I have to us the one for Web Developers and it isn't quite a good. Anyway it isn't for my use. 

I love Tabs on the Bottom and so far that extension isn't available either. I am also learning to use The Pocket. 

I loved Simple Night Mode but that isn't being updated, either. So I am using Owl and that is pretty good but not as easy as the Simple Night Mode. 

Monday I had a 2 hour eye appointment. And after that I couldn't see very well because of all the drops he used. I have extreme dry eye syndrome and the cataract surgery made it flare up again. (That is the reason I have been using an extension to darken the computer pages) I have to use a steroid eye drop for a month and then go back to see him. He could actually see the dry spots on my eyes.

Tuesday my husband had an appointment with his cardiologist and that took half the morning. Wed. we had dental appts. and yesterday we went to one of our great grandson's Veterans Day assembly and that was all afternoon with the driving, etc.

This morning we went to Costco to get a lot of things we needed. 

Tomorrow we go to our oldest son's home for his 60th birthday party. It is hard to believe he will be that old. I was 18 when he was born and I remember how excited I was. I wasn't worried about being a mother because I was almost 13 when my baby sister was born and since we lived on a big farm in Iowa, my Mom was busy outside a lot so when she was outside working I was taking care of baby sis and learning to cook! But time goes way too fast. 

If you read my blog, you may remember I mentioned our daughter losing her cat she had had for 19 years. Well, she has a new pet now. Last Sunday she showed up with a 2 1/2 year old Brussels Griffon called Lola. She is so happy with her and it is good for her to have something to take care of when she gets home from work. Her kids arranged the whole thing and all she had to do was go pick her up. You can tell in her voice how much happier she is. 

Well, I have killed enough time and have a few designs in my mind I want to work on. A lot of things on Firefox are kind of getting backed up because of the new version coming out next week. The user count hasn't worked for almost a week. There doesn't seem to be an Up and Coming page anymore. And if there is I can't find it!

I hope you are all excited about the new and hopefully improved Firefox that will be launched next week. I just hope everything goes well.

Have a great week end.

Dimensions in Circles

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/dimensions-in-circles/

Great Week End

Fall Painting

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/fall-painting-by-madonna/

We had a wonderful week end. The weather was fantastic for October and  got our shopping done first thing Sat. morning. Had my cell phone on all day so our grandson could text us and keep us up on the Lacross Nationals that our great grandson played in in Florida. They won two games Saturday and lost one. Our son and daughter-in-law stopped in and we celebrated the 2 wins. then our daughter and her son and a grandson stopped in with two Papa Murphy pizzas. A bit later our youngest son and his oldest son came over, too. So it was a super great fun day. And I ate too much...

Sunday morning I got up at 5:30 and got my cell phone turned on and let our son and grandson know I was actually up! (We sleep in on Sunday so this was very different for us) The first game was at 6:00 AM our time and they won that one, so got to play for the National Championship at 8:00 our time. They were live streaming that so we got to watch that one, but..not a win. But the boys got silver medals and that is pretty darn good and we are all so proud of him and his team. 

Sunday afternoon our daughter came over and brought a bunch of food so we could watch the Seahawks game. That was a very nerve wrecking game. But the Hawks can usually always pull out of it at the very end of a game and get a win. I was pretty exhausted last night, though and ate too much food over the week end! But it was fun. 

Our weather has been so nice but now they are saying a cold spell coming down from Canada later in the week and we could get snow on Friday. Not ready for that.

Got stuff ready for Trick or Treaters tomorrow night. Since we live on a dead end road we usually only get great grandkids. And I have no idea what they are going to be dressed up as this year. I usually get a hint from one but not this year. I wouldn't be surprised that the 4 year old is something from Star Wars, though! Will be fun to see. 

My X Marks extension updated this morning so it will work when the FF 57 update is installed on Nov. 14th. That is a great add on if you have more than 1 computer because you can sync them so all your bookmarks, etc.  show up on each computer, tablet or whatever.

Well, guess I will get back to work on themes. I make about 8 or 9 more a day than I submit so my supply is increasing every day. Fall is such a pretty season to work with, though.

Have a safe great Halloween. Will update my blog on Wed. 

 

Beach Sunset

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/beach-sunset-by-m-donna/ 

Happy Halloween!!!!!

Firefox Quantum

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/firefox-quantum-by-m-donna/

A beautiful fall day here in the Pacific Northwest. 

I am so excited for our oldest great grandson. He is 12 1/2 going on 16! He and his Dad, our grandson are flying out of Seattle later today on their way to Florida for the IMG Fall Lacrosse Nationals. What an experience for him. The whole team, Time Bandits were able to go. They managed to get enough money to pay for the trip. And every boy on the team is able to go. I can imagine how thrilled and excited they are today...lots of butterflies, I imagine. I have butterflies and am not going anywhere!

I am still looking for extensions I can use for Firefox 57. So far I have quite a few yet to find. The new and improved FF is supposed to be two times faster and uses 30 % less memory so other programs you might be using won't slow down. Use Firefox Private Browsing to block ads with trackers for extra peace of mind… and pages that load up to 44 % faster. So it sounds wonderful and I have faith enough in Mozilla that what they say is true. I am not using the beta version because I didn't want to foul up my theme submissions, so I will be trying in on November 14th like most people. I am keeping my fingers crossed that the submission pages will not be effected. And there won't be any bugs!

Are you ready for the Halloween trick or treaters? It is so different than it was when our kids were young, in the late 50's. They would dress up in home made costumes that we would put together. Since we lived in the mountains we had to drive them around to neighbors, since our closest neighbor was over a half mile from our home. But the neighbors would all work on making home made cupcakes, cookies, candy, etc. Can you imagine that happening now? Your child can't even open a wrapped candy if it has a hole in it, etc. Our kids could stand out by the road to catch the school bus and I wouldn't worry or have to watch them till they got on the bus. It is sad that parents can't feel safe for their kids and have to watch out for all the dangers out there. It was a simpler time and I personally think it was a better time. 

Last night my hubby gave me a hug and said "We are growing old together." (we were both feeling a little stiff and achy) And we are, growing old together.  I am so happy that I found someone that I can grow old with, love and be loved by and feel safe. We got engaged 61 years ago this Christmas! Sounds like a long time but in my mind it dosen't seem that way. Seems like yesterday. I was thinking about my life and if I had it to do over, would I change anything. Maybe a few small things but nothing big. I am glad we had our kids when we were young so we could do things with them that we wouldn't have been able to if we were older. And we enjoyed doing things with the grandkids that we weren't able to with our grandparents. And now we are having fun with the great grandkids and being a part of their lives. I feel blessed to have such a wonderful, close family that we get to see often. 

I have been working on a book cover for an author and he seems to like the last layout I sent. I am hoping it will work out for him. If everything works out, I will post when his book is published. 

Time to work on lunch. Have a great week end and take care of yourselves. I will be close to my cell phone because our grandson is going to send out group texts when the lacrosse games are on. If they should go to the last two teams we can watch it on ESPN!

Have a Happy Halloween and don't eat the goodies!

 

Halloween Halloween

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/halloween-halloween/ 

Time!

Rainy Fall Drive

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/rainy-fall-drive/

Can you believe how fast October is going? The weather changed so quickly here in the Pacific Northwest. One day it was nice and hot and the next it was cold and rainy. Cold and rainy is here to stay...I put the clothes pins up today because I don't think I will be hanging laundry out anymore this year.

My 60th class reunion was last Saturday night and it was so great. One of my best friends from high school was there and I hadn't seen her for 30 years. Like I have said before there were only 5 girls in my graduation class and 2 of those have passed away. But I recognized everyone...which is pretty amazing how much we have all changed. 

I am anxious to get Firefox 57 update in...but yet am dreading it. I know things will change and I don't like change! It sounds like a lot of my extensions won't be updated so will have to do work arounds. There are new extensions coming on line everyday, though that will work with 57 so things will work out in the end. Hopefully. It is supposed to be much faster and safer. It sounds like there won't be a footer in the themes anymore, though. Which is fine, I guess. Less work for sure.

I thought I had lost another very sentimental item last week. I told you about the Pocket Angel. I have told you how we took care of my Mother after she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Well, my husband made a lot of silver rings during that time. He made one for me out of a silver dollar his Mom had given us and I wear it as a wedding ring and have for years. I think you can actually see it in the Firefox video. He made rings for our daughter and several others out of old silver quarters. It takes hours for him to make them and don't ask me how because I don't really know...it takes a lot of hammering and turning, etc. Anyway, my Mom said she wanted one so he made her one which she wore the last months of her life. After she passed we took the ring off of her little finger and I put it on mine. And I had never taken it off. I know you can see that ring in the video. Anyway...to make this long story shorter...as I was getting ready for the class reunion I noticed the ring wasn't on my little finger..and I panicked. We looked all over the house and the car for it, tore the bed apart but not anywhere.  So I thought and thought about where and what I had done that day. I had noticed the ring was getting a bit loose but didn't think it would fall off. Anyway...I FOUND IT! It was in the rubber glove I use for washing dishes. I am going to have to have it squeezed a bit to make it smaller, though, or I will lose it again.

I went to town to do the shopping this morning by myself. First time in ages that we haven't gone together. But Hubby is hunting with a grandson and great grandson today so it was up to me....I am so spoiled because he has been doing the driving, pushing the cart, loading bags into the car, taking the cart back, and unloading the car when we get home. I am so spoiled.

Well, I am going to get back to work. Have to mop the floors. Have a good week.

Steam Engine

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/steam-engine-by-m-donna/

Cold Rainy Friday

Chilly Fall Morning

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/chilly-fall-morning-by-m-donna/

I was so pleased with how the above theme turned out. It is from a Thomas Kinkaid painting. It takes a lot of time to move and rearrange a painting or photo so it will all work together smooth and flowing on a theme. As you all know I love the cabin and farm paintings I can re-work into a theme.

Our weather totally changed way too quickly. We had super warm days early in the week. Even yesterday was pretty nice but today is a very cold, windy, rainy day. I don't like it! Put the heated mattress pad and flannel sheets on the bed today. Have to keep warm!

My 60th class reunion is tomorrow night and I have to admit I am a bit stressed out. I still haven't decided what to wear and wonder why is it so important that you look really nice for a class reunion! I had ordered an alumni hoodie that I was going to wear. That way I would be comfortable and warm. Well, it hasn't even shipped yet....so that idea is out the window. I may end up and run into Target in the morning to find something. 

I am still trying to find extension replacements for Firefox 57. You might want to check out: https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/quantum/

 This will give you an idea of what is to come. It is supposed to be faster and safer. I have noticed that ever so often I get a pop up from Windows 10 telling me that edge is faster. NOT!  

Misty Fall Morning

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/misty-fall-morning-by-m-donna/

Well, I am going to sign off now and look through closets again. Wish me luck!

Grief for Las Vegas vicitms and families!

I just want to post my grief for the families and loved ones of the horrific shooting in Las Vegas. Country music is my very favorite genre so everyone at the concert must have been country music fans. I hope this horrible action will not make our country even more divided than it is right now. But I am sure it will. So much sadness and grief.

My thoughts and prayers!

Summers End

October Mount Baker

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/october-mount-baker/

I made the previewed theme from a photo I took of Mount Baker. Hope everyone likes it. 

It is almost time to turn over another page on the calendar. We have had quite a year, haven't we? The past few weeks news hasn't been very promising for 2018. Families torn apart by politics, hurricanes, earthquakes and a big chance of an impending war. 

Have you ever had a friend that was very close and all of a sudden they aren't anymore? It is a very hard thing to go through. They don't come around nor call. Years and years of love and friendship...gone...poof. It is very hard to understand and it hurts. 

The past week we have had beautiful weather and looks like it will be 80 degrees. Now that is my kind of fall weather. I was able to hang laundry out this week.

I have spent a lot of time looking for Firefox extensions to replace some of the Legacy ones that will not work after the November 14th update of Firefox to 57. Most of the developers seem to be making replacements so if you are worried about your extensions you can go to: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/extensions/?sort=created and check for any extensions that you want to continue to work. One of the first extensions I used was InformEnter and I love it. Saves so much time. I tried several new ones that are out and they just didn't work like InformEnter so I contacted the developer and he is working on an update. So I am totally happy about that. These developers work hard to keep their extensions updated so I am suggesting if you have one or two you really find indispensable, some have a place on the extension page you can contribute a bit to help them out. When InformEnter is updated in November, I am going to do just that. Also if you want to check out exactly what is going on in the update of Firefox 57, you can follow a blog at: https://blog.mozilla.org/addons/2017/02/16/the-road-to-firefox-57-compatibility-milestones/
I just hope the update will not be difficult so that some users just give up on Firefox and switch to another browser that is just not as good, safe or fast, such as Edge, Chrome, Safari, etc.

Some of my favorite extensions are Translate Now, AdBlocker Ultimate 2.28, and Checker Plus for G Mail. I will post other soon. You can also go to the Open Menu in the far right corner of the header and click on Add Ons, and check for any updates for the extensions you have. I have been doing that twice a day and sometimes there are updates both times! So the developers are hard at work.

Think I will check on the laundry and get back to submitting a few Halloween themes. 

 

Reaper & Ravens

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/reaper-ravens/

Half Over!

Wolf Timber

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/wolf-timber-by-m-donna/

I can not believe that September is half over. We will start seeing Christmas advertisements soon. I am so not ready for fall. I can't get enough summer.

What horrible things have been happening in Texas, Florida and the other southern states. I feel so badly for everyone that lost loved ones and homes. Plus the devastation to nature itself.

I really don't have anything new to write about, but felt like I should stop in and at least let you all know I am still around. I have been working on themes and submitting quite a few. The one I am highlighting today is the Wolf Timber theme. I was very happy with how it turned out. 

I have been checking everyday on the latest extensions that are being posted. I still can't find my favorites. One of our grandsons just got his college degree this spring in computer programming so I may have to break down and ask him to start making Grandma some extensions!  I heard from one developer that he isn't going to make a new Color Picker extension, so I will have to use the one in Firefox Tools. I don't like it as well, but....when Firefox 57 comes out the one I am using won't work. And that will be in November.

My 60the Class Reunion is next month and I haven't got a clue on what to wear. I wonder why it is so important to look really good at a class reunion! I can remember one of my best friends lost a lot of weight for her 10th reunion. But started gaining it all back as soon as the reunion was over. We don't go out to fancy dinners, etc. much so I don't have very many dress up clothes. I have lots of jeans, sweatshirts and flannel shirts but that won't cut it for the reunion! I hate clothes shopping. They are too expensive and I can never decide what I want. So I may just find something in my closet that is totally outdated and wear that. It will be so nice to see some of the "kids" I graduated with, though. There was only 5 girls in my class and I know 2 have passed away. Quite a few of the boys have also. So will be sad to find out if anymore are gone.

We got our flu shots on Monday, so that is done but we both have to get a different pneumonia shot so will do that this Sat. 

I thought I was over the cluster headaches because I hadn't had one for quite awhile but Monday night I got a bad one so didn't get any sleep at all. I hope and pray they don't start coming back on me. I don't know what causes them...I kind of thought stress had something to do with it when they started several years ago. But I really don't know. 

My husband is trying to get things ready for winter, so he is quite busy. We do have to buy some presto logs since we didn't get to go out and get any wood this summer.

Going to sign off for now and start getting something ready for dinner.

Hope you all have a great week end and I hope the Seahawk's will play better this coming Sunday. Was so disappointed on their last game.

The best to all you. 

Falling Fall Waters
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/falling-fall-waters-by-m-donna/

Dawn of September

Sun Moon

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/sun-moon-by-madonna/

We were blessed with wonderful weather again. We haven't had rain in a very long time. And the forest fires and brush fires are burning up acres of trees and grasses. We had gotten the smoke from Canadian forest fires for almost two weeks and now we are getting the smoke from Oregon fires and eastern Washington. The breeze is off the ocean today so should be blowing it to the east for a few days anyway.

We had such a fun week end. We rode down to Olympia with our daughter to visit her kids.  They had bought their first home. I couldn't believe how this house was made for their uses like someone designed it for them. Our granddaughter has a very successful preschool and she has rooms for that. Our grandson makes music with his computer & a bunch of other things...don't ask me how because that is beyond me. But he has his own room for that with soundproofing on the walls, etc. Then our grandson-in-law has a big shop with a room above the shop where he has a music room. He plays guitars and has a studio set up there. Really very, very cool. 

The first day we went to a wine tasting before we started pickling. Our granddaughter bought 70# of cucumbers so we could make dill pickles using my Grandmother's recipe that my Mom and I had used. It was so funny because the winery took a photo of the 3 of us with our wine and I texted it to one of our sons. He texted back and asked if were were pickling or getting pickled! It took us the rest of the day to get them all canned. But it was so much fun. This is our second year of pickling together and are hoping we can make it a family thing. I have to admit when we finally went to bed late that night my knees burnt so bad from the Fibromyalgia that I had a hard time sleeping. And on the way home I had charlie horses and the burning in my legs most of the way home. So that was the not so fun part. But such a good time that the pain will be forgotten!

I spent most of yesterday trying to find extension add-ons for Firefox that will work when the 57 version comes out. So many of my favorites won't work. I found a few that will work but have a long way to go. Luckily the developers have a few months to update their program. 

What is happening in Texas and the other states that are affected by Harvey is so sad. I can't imagine losing everything they own like so many have. Some even losing family members. My heart goes out to them.

I wish you all a great Labor Day weekend. Years ago we would be loading up the camper and dirt bikes and heading for Cle Elum to ride the trails and coal piles. Sitting around a big campfire with family and extended family members telling stories about the trails we rode that day. Oh, getting old is so much fun!

Autumn Morning Seenity

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/autumn-morning-serenity 

 

Feels like Fall!

Watermill Theme

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/watermill-theme-by-m-donna/

Wow, but it is beginning to feel like fall in the evenings. We sit outside and read for a bit after dinner and we have both noticed the feeling of fall in the air. We have had some really great summer days, though. 

Did you get to see the eclipse? Our daughter & granddaughter drove down to Salem, OR to watch it and I guess it was totally awesome from what they have said. We didn't have the glasses or anything so we didn't "watch" it, but could sure feel it as it got cooler and grayer out. We didn't have the total eclipse here but most of it. I can't believe the hype for it. 

My husband took the 4 wheeler to the back pasture and picked blackberries so I made a pie. They are a little seedy but make a really good pie.

I just updated my Firefox to 55 and got quite a surprise. Most all of my extensions now say Legacy in bright yellow. And that means that those AddOns won't work after November when they update Firefox to 57. So I have been trying to find some that will replace them that will work with 57, BUT there aren't many out there yet. And I don't know if they ever will. I am very disappointed in this. I was reading on their blog and apparently a lot of people and developers are unhappy about it. I don't think there is anything we can do about it except hope that smart developers out there can re-write some of the extensions so we will be able to use Firefox the way we want to. It is kind of funny, in a way because I had just made up my mind to write in my blog about some of them! Guess that won't happen now!

I spent 2 days trying to get rid of an error on my desktop in Windows 10. I did so much research and working on it I started to get frustrated. After working on it all day Monday and half of yesterday I figured it out and got it working all right. I have no idea why it happened but apparently a lot of people have had the same error notice and everyone had a different way of fixing it! Most of them didn't work and I honestly don't know which one finally fixed mine but after the last restart the error notice was gone. So, it seems like all I have done for several days was actual "work" on the computer not have fun making designs. So all is well in MaDonna Land right now. Till  something else goes wrong. With computers there is always something, right?

Fall Light

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/fall-light-by-m-donna/

Well, I really don't know anything new and I am sure you get bored with my "no news" so I will figure out something for dinner. Have a good night.

Bullying!

 

 

https://blog.mozilla.org/internetcitizen/2017/07/31/a-more-inclusive-world-and-web/?utm_source=mih-08-15-17&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter

This is a great article on bullying and I hope you will take the time to read it.

I was bullied by another theme designer a year or more ago. She made horrible threats to me over quite a period of time. Emails and on the old forum. 

A Netflix original show to watch is "13 Reasons". It was about teenagers and bullying. If you have Netflix I would advise every teenager and parent should watch it.

Have a good day.

Feels like Fall!

Autumn River Ranch

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/autumn-river-ranch-by-m-donna/

We were sitting out last night after dinner reading and we both noticed how much it felt like fall. I am not ready for that.

Have been working on some fall themes. I know I have tons made but I love working with fall graphics. The theme I am posting today is one of my favorites. It is from a painting with a lot of work in Photoshop to move things around and blending. Hope everyone likes it.

Had the TV on this afternoon while I was working and saw the Pres stick his foot in his mouth! Wow! 

Will write more next time. Am running out of time today!

Scary Times!

Orca View

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/orca-view-by-m-donna/

Good afternoon...and it is a good one. Very warm and would be warmer if the smoke from the forest fires in Canada wasn't hiding the sun. It has been smokey now for over a week. Supposed to change a bit tomorrow with some clouds and wind coming from the west. We haven't had any rain for a long time so the forests are tinder dry. Lots of wild fires, etc. We don't water our lawn because it is a waste of water so our front lawn is brown. But it always comes back as soon as it rains.

I had the telephone interview last Thursday with the magazine and I think it went pretty well. I will post when/if it gets on line.

Down the Road

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/down-the-road-by-madonna/

We are living in pretty scary times, aren't we? This goes to show how important it is to vote. When you have two egotistical children running countries...this is what happens. Who is the biggest bully? I had hopes that our country wouldn't have to go through this kind of bellicosity again. I remember when our kids were told to get under their desks in case of a bomb during the Cuban Crisis. I don't think a desk is going to save anyone now. My Dad moved us from Washington to Iowa during WW II and I can remember when he took a shortcut across the Yakima Bombing Range ( which he wasn't supposed to!)  He told us to get under the truck if they started practice bombing.  I was hoping my kids, grankids and great grandkids wouldn't have to be afraid like we were. I remember being afraid of the Japanese and German people when I was very small.  

Pathway to Autumn Light

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/pathway-to-autumn-lights-donna/

I am looking forward to my 60th class reunion this fall. Haven't seen any of my classmates for 10 years and I know several have passed away.

We spent Monday morning at the cardiology office as my husband had a nuclear stress test and the call we got yesterday saying it all looked good was a relief. He has been busy making some bird houses for our grand daughter's new home. They just moved to the country a few months ago and are loving it.

I wish you all love and happiness! Have a wonderful week end. Summer is beginning the down days and I sure hate to see the end of it.

Heat!

Gerbera Glow Butterflies

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/gerbera-blow-butterflies/

Whew, we finally got some hot weather but you can't see the sun. The air is full of smoke from the wildfires in British Columbia. The smoke was up high yesterday but today is clear to the ground. It actually looks foggy out but very warm! There are forest fires all around us actually. At least two in our old stomping grounds in the District we lived in when hubby was in the U.S. Forest Service. Oh, how he would love to be able to fight fire. He loved doing it and since we weren't making tons of money working for the government, we loved the extra pay in the check! The kids say they can still remember what their Dad smelled like when he got home from a fire. There was one summer I didn't even get his fire clothes washed before he got sent out on another one.

I want to thank David from Virginia that sent me a really nice pocket angel to replace the one I lost. It actually has the same saying on the back of it that my old one did. So, thank you, David.

I am so disappointed that the local radio station that I listened to every day changed their format from progressive talk to music. And it isn't even the kind of music I like so I do not listen to it anymore.

I am doing an interview tomorrow with a magazine and I am a bit nervous about it. I hope I will do OK. I will post here when it is on line.

The cataract surgery I had last month is all completed and I picked up my new glasses yesterday so am pleased that is all finished. I had my last appointment with the ophthalmologist last Thursday and I had to start putting the steroid eye drops in for another week because my dry eyes made the healing a bit slower. 

One of our grandson's and his family spent most of Sunday with us and we had such a good time. The weather was really nice so we got to sit outside and the boys could use up some of their energy. They rode the 4 wheeler in the field and picked some of the blackberries that were ripe. If anything happened to this corner of the US...and their were no people....the blackberry bushes would take over. Most people think they are a nuisance but personally I love the blackberries. You do have to control them but the County likes to mow them all down every year. At least they can't get to our back field!

Washington DC is certainly in turmoil! You don't get bored and it is hard to keep up with who is in what position because the man in the white house might tweet something and pow...someone has been replaced. I just hope he doesn't get in so much trouble he decides he wants to blow North Korea off the map. Oh, how I look back to the last 8 years and wish the news was not quite so scary.

I am going to get back to work and wish me luck with the interview tomorrow. Have a great week.....

Fox & Butterfly

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/fox-butterfly-by-m-donna/

~~Some of My Favorite Firefox Add-Ons~~

Purple Passion

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/purple-passion-by-m-donna/

Decided to take a break from housework and theme work. I enjoy the theme work so much more than the housework! But I have so many themes made I really need to slow it down some. So I thought I would take a half an hour to promote some of my favorite add-ons. One I just found over the week end. Since I had my cataract surgery my eyes are more sensitive to light and as I am sure you are aware the computer screen doesn't help that any. So the Mozilla home page highlighted Simple Night Mode. So I installed it. I liked it because I didn't have to restart Firefox and it was easy to put to use. If you are on your computer at night it may be very helpful. You can find it at: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/simple-night-mode/

This is a before screen shot.

This is an after shot. 

You can see that it changes the background from white to black and the text is mostly bright green. All you have to do is right click on the screen and click Night Mode On!  Then right click and turn it off.

Another Add On I use so much is InformEnter. You can find it at: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-us/firefox/addon/informenter/

If you have information you have to continually type in this extension makes it super easy. It puts a little blue arrow on the area you would have to put in an email address, or whatever and it will add the info from the list you have added to it. You do have to restart Firefox with this Add-On, though.

Well, I am going to sign off for now and will tell you some of my other favorites when I have a slot of time. I go tomorrow to get tested for my new glasses and will be so glad when I get them. It will make my life much easier...

Enjoy the rest of the week and I will be back soon.

Painted by the Sun

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/painted-by-the-sun/