Add Captions to Blog Photos

Do you want to include captions with your garden blog photos? There are two ways this can be done. One way is to use purchased software and the other way is to write free html codes.

Most of the time, I use a software program (ImageWell by Xtralean Software) to add a caption before uploading the photo.

By adding the caption to the photo before uploading, the two are attached. So, if someone copies the photo, the caption is part of the image. Using software, it is very easy to change the font size, font color and position of the text.

However, it's difficult to use a hyperlink within the caption. Also, note that in the photo below, the caption is small. When I uploaded this photo, I selected the "small" format and Blogger adjusted the entire image.

Photo by Defining Your Home Garden

In the second photo, I added the caption using html codes. I also included an optional hyperlink to my blog.

To use html codes for captions, first upload your photo.

In the code below, the red text shows you the html "table" tag that I used to anchor the caption with the photo in the blog. I also set the font style, size and position of the caption. I kept this caption short enough to fit under the photo because I don't want to complicate the coding.

By using the "table" tags, I am treating the photo as one row of data and the caption as another row of data.

The "tr" tag represents a table row.
The "td" tag is used for table data.


The green text indicates the caption wording. The blue text indicates the hyperlink coding. I set the link to open in another window by using the "target" option.

The text in black was generated by Blogger when I uploaded the photo. I just wrapped the Blogger code with my table tags.

You can copy these pieces of code to play around with your own photo captions. The downside of using html codes is that it is a bit tedious. However, if you store these wrapper pieces in a text editor and then cut and paste the code around your photo code, it is a bit easier.

With the winter days keeping most of us indoors, this is a great time to share non-gardening tips. Next time, I'll show you how to use html to position two photos side-by-side.

This story was originally posted in February 2009. All photos and instructions by Freda Cameron, Defining Your Home, Garden and Travel

Garden Art and Inspiration: Surprises Among Flowers

Walking along the street, I see a colorful patchwork of cottage garden flowers. I want a closer look at the front yard of a quaint stone cottage.

A white-painted bird feeder rises up from the blooms. A brick path invites me to an open patio circled with brightly painted Adirondack chairs. Can I really go into this garden and take a seat?

Yes. This isn't a home garden after all! The patio, garden, bird feeder and colorful chairs are actually in front of the Bob Timerlake® Gallery in Blowing Rock, North Carolina.

The garden objects can easily be adapted for home gardens, but are there bigger surprises in this flower-filled town?



The town of Blowing Rock is known to be pretty. On the August day that we visited, hanging baskets donned every lamp post. The storefronts and the parks were overflowing with flowers.

Veterans Park flanks one side of the downtown street where The Blowing Rock Garden Club maintains a gorgeous garden. The sloping bank has both sun and shade where shrubs, annuals and perennials are used together to provide interesting vignettes for strolling visitors. In addition to the flowers, the town is filled with galleries displaying works of local artists. But, not all art is displayed indoors...

Among the masses of flowers, I see the head of a gardener! I can relate to her sitting there among her flowers. I can see that she has paused from her gardening to take in the results of her work before moving on to her next delightful task.

She is you. She is me. We are gardeners.

"The Gardener" is a beautiful bronze sculpture by Alex Hallmark. She was commissioned in 2006 to recognize the work of The Blowing Rock Garden Club.

Alex says:

She is composed close to the ground. She has a sense of pride in her work, but she is also humble, knowing that she is only a simple tool working in a medium she did not create. Her neck is slightly elongated to give her a feeling of vulnerability.

She seems so real to me. I want to chat with her about the flowers in her garden. Maybe you'll want to visit with her, too.

-----

Words and flower photos by Freda Cameron. Bronze sculpture and photo by Alex Hallmark. Location: The Town of Blowing Rock in the mountains of North Carolina. No incentives were provided to the writer for mentioning the products or businesses.

Reader Question: Decorating a Tudor dining room?

Laura emailed me one of my most challenging questions to date when she wrote

"Any ideas about redecorating a dining room in an English Tudor home? My husband is an architect & engineer and thank goodness, a very handy man! We mostly do everything ourselves. We agree it is important to stay with the style of our home. Any ideas for a dining room?"

Everything I "know" from the Tudors comes from Philippa Gregory novels and Showtime's program. "Tudor style" does conjure images in my head of dark, decorative half-timbering, lush colors and fabrics, and lots of texture. I found an article by Meghan Carter on Ask the Decorator who toured Stan Hywet Hall, one of the best examples of Tudor architecture in America.

She writes, "Wood paneling, wood doors, wood furniture and wood beams on the ceiling were just a few of the more prominent uses of wood in the home, and Gilles confirmed that those uses of were common in most Tudor homes. In addition to wood, stone was used frequently as flooring and hearths and white plaster was used on the walls and ceilings."

A beautiful example of a tudor exterior.
via Southern Accents

For me, I also think of dark woods, very saturated colors and plush fabrics.


This dining set is from Pottery Barn, and it isn't "tudor," but the top table's legs remind me of the timbering used on exteriors.
via Pottery Barn


The two images above Met home created using Showtime's "The Tudors" as an inspiration. See the whole gallery here.
via Metropolitan Home

The four images below are all from a Tudor revival, so if you don't want to go for the traditional, dark wood, dark walls, etc., this revival might give you some ideas for combining Tudor style with a lighter, airier look.





See the whole revival and read about it here.
via House Trends

via Home Trimmings

Mixing your finishes and materials ads to the rich and sumptuous environment

I've always really liked this house from Country Living, and I think it's a good example of "modernizing" Tudor style. The furniture is visually and physically heavy and dark, but the decor is contrasting and the room is sparse and minimal. See the whole renovation here.
via Country Living

via Apartment Therapy

The article continues with some other good points:

"The use of tapestries, rugs and drapes soften the look of the hearty wood and stone giving Tudor homes an inviting, cozy feel you would not expect. In addition to fabric, Tudor homes incorporated numerous symbols, which also helped to give the interiors a softer more pleasant appeal.

Common symbols used in Tudor homes were the Tudor rose, the thistle, the Fleur-de-lis and the linen fold, as Gilles informed me. Those symbols would be found carved into the wood moldings and furniture, woven into tapestries and rugs and featured in stained glass. Another element featured often in Tudor homes that is easy to spot is the Tudor arch, which was used on both windows and doors.

The combination of stone, wood, white plaster, tapestries, rugs, symbols and the Tudor arch give Tudor homes a distinct feel that is part storybook...."
Read the whole article here

If anyone knows of any books or websites to steer Laura towards please leave a comment below or email me and I'll send them her way!

Get the best vintage finds and use them well!

I think vintage is one of those styles that is more easily said than done. It really takes an eye capable of imagining a certain item in your home to tell whether or not it's a good fit, and I'm sure one gets better with practice! I found these tips particularly clever.


Be selective. Collecting should be about quality, not quantity. Remember to keep your collection fluid, not set in concrete. If better examples are found, sell off the poorer ones.


Question yourself. Do you love it? Is it a good example of its type? How rare is this particular one? Is it by a notable maker/designer? Is it in good, original condition?



tips and images via Home Life


A vintage window makes a stylish substitute for a transom in the passageway between the entry hall and the living room. Old windows are easily found and can be used to add architecture where it might be missing, or even to serve as affordable art.

The homeowner's favorite find is this bedroom door, which they mounted on a track like a barn door. The decal touts Dr. Swett's Early American Root Beer.

When a beloved vintage sign fell off the homeowners' truck and shattered on the highway, they had a quick-witted cabinetmaker turn the fragments into a backsplash.



tips and images via BHG

We're in Morocco this week! -Some Moroccan eye candy!

I could not be more excited to be leaving for Morocco tomorrow - I'm writing this on Saturday - you'll be reading this, hopefully, on Monday. I'm trying to write this week's posts ahead of time as I'm not bringing my laptop to Morocco as we'll be traveling back and forth from Marrakech, Fes, and Essaouira, and lugging it around will be a challenge. I'm hoping that I will be able to publish these posts from computers in our hostels and hotels so as not to leave everyone neglected for the week.




via NiKreationS


via Just Morocco

via DarInteriors

via Anja Cronenberg on Flickr

Winter Is Not Always Snow and Ice

Sunshine and blue skies brighten many cold, winter days from the Piedmont to the Coast of North Carolina. Sparkling crystals of frosty mornings melt with the first beams of sunlight. Snowfall and ice are rare events. Some years, we have no white precipitation. Most years, we'll have a light dusting of snow that disappears quickly. Once in awhile, we'll get a deep snow.

Evergreens, both native and ornamental, provide evidence of year-round life in the gardens, parks and woodlands. We watch the bare, graceful branches of maples and willows for the first buds that indicate spring is coming. Camellias and hellebores bloom. Holly berries provide rich color.

Ducks and swans still swim on ponds while herons, egrets and ospreys continue fishing without barriers of ice. Songbirds sip and splash in the shallow, rocky edges of streams.

While we can have days of rain, our winter months are interspersed with sunny days that lure us outside to break the doldrums of cabin fever. Get up, bundle up and go for a walk.


Photo taken by Freda Cameron at Sarah P. Duke Gardens, Durham, NC in January 2009

Le Cathédrale by Rodin: Symbol of Hope and Faith

These hands called Le Cathédrale (The Cathedral) were sculpted by Auguste Rodin in 1909. They are a symbol of hope and faith. The Musée Rodin gardens in Paris, France are glimpsed through the window.

Wishing you a wonderful New Year 2010.

Photos (antique effect) taken by Freda Cameron; Location: Paris, France; May 2009