Sunday Selections #7 - seaside Sundays

If you'd like to join in on Sunday Selections, head on over to Kim at frogpondsrock.

We used to spend lots of weekends in Esperance, and this is where we went every Sunday morning. 

Can you feel the serenity?

help me, I'm blogging

So, I've learned heaps this week, about how to increase my blog traffic, how to promote my blog, even how to tweet! (Sort of.)

I've had a lot more people crossing my blog, and added a number of new followers, which gave me a real lift. Now it's up to me to make my blog something that readers will want to re-visit.

Daunting, much?

One of the things I know I can do is to make it visually appealing. Or at least not a problem to physically look at.
So I would like some feedback from YOU, Dear Reader.

How does my blog look to you? Is it easy to read? Do the colours combine well? Are the various typefaces OK? Are there too many distractions in the sidebar?
I know my siggie needs an overhaul, and I'll get to that one of these days.

I'd love it if you could take a moment and let me know if you think I should make any changes. I want to make this a place you enjoy visiting.

Thanks :)

PS I just put up a button for Thursday Themes and it needs some work -- but if I have to look at Photoshop once more today I'll cry. I'll fix the wording and my siggie sometime. Later.

next Thursdays Theme is....

Two posts today! And I'm only on my second cup of coffee....

This is just to let you know what NEXT Thursdays' theme will be....

TOOLS OF THE TRADE

No matter what you do, whether you're a full-time mum, retired traveller, employed outside the home, even a street-walker, you use tools to get the job done.

So let's see a post about the tools of YOUR trade. What do you use that you couldn't do without?

You can use pictures or not, link to old posts, whatever floats your boat.

Remember to post this NEXT Thursday and then come here for the linky.

squeeze and hold, baby.

People are often shocked when they ask me how many kids I have, because I don't know how to answer.
And this is why (it's complicated):

1. I have been pregnant 8 times

2. One was a blighted ovum, hence no actual child.

3. I was still sick as a dog for the whole 13 weeks though, before I had a miscarriage.

4. I had 7 actual live births, but my boy, Levi, died at 48 days old, of SIDS.

5. Which leaves me with 6 living children.

6. Of which, only 3 live with us as the other 3 are now grown-ups.

7. There are 2 step-children in the equation as well but they don't live with us.

So how many kids do I have? I have no idea. You tell me.

I had every one of them (the ones who are mine, that is) by pushing them out.

This is the result.



Two of my boys were 10 lb babies. Whatever that is in kilos. I don't care. One had a head like a bowling ball. One was just fat.
Levi was 9lb 10 or so but came out with his arm stretched up beside his head as well.

Is it any wonder I have *ahem* problems when I cough or sneeze?

Thank God for Dr. Kegel.

Thursday Themes!

This is an idea that's been brewing in my head for a while, and I had a look around to see if anyone else was using it. If you know of another similar (Australian) meme, please let me know.

So here are the rules:

Each Thursday, if all goes well, I'll post a theme for the day. Join in by writing a related post, and be as creative as you like.
Make sure to link back to me in your post, and make sure to leave some love on at least one other persons' post. The link should be open till midnight Friday.

Todays' theme is Art Attack.

We all have items around our home that are decorative AND have a story behind them. Maybe the vase Great-Aunt Marjorie left you, or a picture you bought on holiday, or that lumpy clay thing one of your kids made you for Mothers' Day.
I want you to have a look around your home and find THREE things that you could conceivably call ART, and write about them.

And here are mine:

I found these in a op-shop, and instantly fell in love. I Googled the names and eventually found the studio where they were made, and contacted the artist. She e-mailed me back and said she would get back to me with the details of who the knight and his lady were, but I never heard from her again.

I have them hanging above the bedside tables in our bedroom. I like to imagine that they were deeply in love and lived happy lives. Probably not, but I can dream.

***

So what do you reckon this is? I think it looks a bit like it wants to be an owl.

I found it one time when we were out bush-bashing.

Western Australia has a massive history of mining towns that dried up and disappeared, and rummaging around the sites can unearth some pretty interesting stuff. Alas, we have never found anything valuable, but I just love this melted lantern frame!

***

Probably not (strictly speaking) ART, but this gorgeous old sapphire pendant came from my great-grandparents to my grandmother to me. One day, I'll get a chain made for it, hopefully before it's time to pass it along to my daughter.

We'll call this one a test run, I think. Tomorrow I'll post the theme for next week, so you have a chance to prepare for it, if you'd like to join in. Thanks for the suggestion, Maxabella.

five facts about Chuck Norris

1. There used to be a street named after Chuck Norris, but they had to change it, because NO-BODY crosses Chuck Norris and lives.

2. If you spell Chuck Norris in Scrabble, you win. Forever.

3. There is no CONTROL key on Chuck Norris's computer. Chuck Norris is always in control.

4. When Chuck Norris enters a room, he doesn’t turn the lights on. He turns the dark off.

5. Google won’t search for Chuck Norris because it knows you don’t find Chuck Norris, he finds you. To prove this fact, go to Google.com and search for “Find Chuck Norris”. Be sure to hit the “I’m Feeling Lucky” Button.

(disclaimer :- I am in no way responsible for any consequences that may arise from you Googling Chuck Norris)

I know heaps of people don't 'get' Chuck Norris facts. That's OK. Just smile and wave as you pass by.

the elevator pitch.

Yesterday I put my ego in a box (large) and tried to ignore the butterflies in my tummy, and signed up for a 31 Days To Build A Better Blog course at Aussie Mummy Bloggers.

First task? sell yourself.

Major freak out. What is my blog about? who am I writing for? What do I want from my blogging experience? so many questions, so few brain cells...

oh, and plus? I have to use Twitter. I have a feeling I'm going to asking for lots of help.

Anyway -- elevator pitch -- we have to write something short and snappy that tells you, the Reader, something about the blog. So mine is here:

When I was a kid, people used to say I could talk underwater with an apple in my mouth. Not true. I never put my head underwater and I don't much like apples.

But it turns out I do have a lot to say, and no-one much to say it to. So I blog.

Most of it is just stuff I might tell you over coffee -- only if we were having coffee, I would let you say something too. Honest.

And I've also put it up at the top, in my About Me page.

Feel free to leave (thoughtful and kind) comments. Helpful would also be good. Especially if you know how Twitter works.

no hearts and flowers

So.

Valentines' Day.

Normally, this is a day I love, and I like to spoil my man and be spoiled in turn.

But today, it's just another day for me, because my husband is away (again). It doesn't matter, really, because we celebrate our marriage every day and a special day is like sprinkles on the icing on the cake.

But today is not 'just another day' for some pretty amazing women whose blogs I've been reading this year. Women who've lost their soulmates and are having to learn to live life without their other half.

How do they do that? how do they get out of bed every day and face life, knowing how cruel it can be? How do they learn to live again?

I often think of these two lines from Sleepless In Seattle.
"Well, I'm gonna get out of bed every morning... breathe in and out all day long. Then, after a while I won't have to remind myself to get out of bed every morning and breathe in and out... and, then after a while, I won't have to think about how I had it great and perfect for a while."
"Well, it was a million tiny little things that, when you added them all up, they meant we were supposed to be together... and I knew it. I knew it the very first time I touched her. It was like coming home... only to no home I'd ever known... I was just taking her hand to help her out of a car and I knew. It was like... magic."

There's nothing you can say to someone who's lost love like that. Nothing in all this world to ease the pain or help them forget.
And on a day like today, when others are celebrating their two-ness, I offer you women my love, my thoughts, my prayers.
It's not enough.
It's all I have.

and the winner is....

I had my beautiful assistant (The Princess) draw the winner of the two Joanne Harris books I wrote about the other day ....

.... and the books will be on their way to RED NOMAD, just as soon as ever I can get an address!

Not to worry -- I have plenty more books and thus more chances to win something. Watch this space....