The Initial of my True Love

 

Lately I've been off-line due to a hideous cold that has left me tired and fighting to regain my energy.  For those who've seen this as an opportunity to delete me from your followers list ... well ... c'est la vie. 
Back in the days of cavemen and dinosaurs I went to a friend's birthday party; the invitees, all young ladies, were not yet going steady, let alone engaged. We were a giggling bunch and all dreaming of our future prince charmings. There was a game we played that day; each girl was given a small apple and a vegetable peeler or paring knife, with the object of peeling the apple in as long and as thin a strip as possible. Once we each had our covetous apple peel spiral we were instructed to drop it over our shoulder and let it fall to the floor while reciting " Apple peel please reveal the initial of my true love". Perhaps it was wishful thinking but we would always see the initials of someone special in our apple peel pile. As for all those peeled apples ? Well I suppose my friend's mother ended up baking a lovely apple pie ... what a sneaky way of getting us to peel her apples for her.

Now step back about 3 weeks ago. I saw a recipe on another blog (thank you LanyardLady) for an apple crisp; the tender slices of juicy cooked apples topped with a crispy, crunchy crust of brown sugar and cinnamon truly looked delicious and I decided to try making it. So John and I headed to the store where I purchased a few nice Granny Smith, green, tart apples. Upon returning home I washed the apples and as I began to peel the first one I was jolted back to that day a million years ago; seeing my group of girl friends giggling over the initials of their true love revealed in apple peelings. Carefully I peeled, round and round and round ending up with one long continuous spiral. Since I am already married the formality of dropping it over my shoulder and onto the floor became irrelevant and instead I held the spiraling peel high above the kitchen sink and then ... released it. There in my sink was the initial of my one true love. Normally the last place I'd wish to photo would be the inside of my kitchen sink but as I peered at the apple peel it was so unmistakably clear that I had to get my camera and take a photo; otherwise no one would believe it.

 Photo above - The peel looks like a perfect cursive J, the first letter of my hubby's name, John.

Photo below - However when I looked closer I noticed that below the J was a perfect e, John's middle initial is e for Evan.  Yes coincidence but still very interesting.

Another silly game involving the apple was to take firm hold of the apple stem and  turn the apple, with each full rotation of the stem we would start through the alphabet ... a ... b ... c ... d etc.  At the letter where the stem finally breaks off would be the letter of one's furture boyfriend.  So while we girls were busy with frivilous games trying to foretell who our prince would ultimately be the boys had their own game that they played with the apple.  After eating the apple and left only with its core the boy would shout; "Apple core" to which someone replied; "Baltimore ... whose your friend?"  Someone would shout out a name of another boy in the group and then the apple eater would throw the apple core at that boy and shout out; "Not no more !"  Just one of the many ways that the sexes are different. LOL

Do you recall any cute little games or traditions such as these and if so please share them with me, I'd love to read them.

NEVER Write a Blog Post While Under the Influence ...

Recently I wrote and published the following post but probably should not have. At the time I was fighting off a bad cold or perhaps it was the flu, and was under the heavy influence of cold/flu medication and cough suppressants. Though drugs have been known to induce vivid and creative writing, this was not so in my case. After reading through my article I realized it was incoherent and in fact was missing a complete paragraph; well, perhaps it wasn't missing, the paragraph was there but inserted into the wrong place.
If you've read this before you will find that the corrected version below should make more sense.
I know not to drive when taking cold medications and now I will add to that to also refrain from publishing blog posts.


Not long ago my Creative Arts group had a guest speaker, an artist known for her mixed media art and for her woven textiles. Her presentation was interesting, especially when she came to the part of having an online website and how she utilized Search Engine Optimization during the busy gift buying season of the Fall Winter holidays. When questioned "How" she optimized her site, it was a let down to find out her husband worked for a company that specialized in designing websites and SEO enhancement. Basically she just handed it over to his company to help direct traffic to her web-pages. Must be nice if you have someone on the inside to help you but most of us don't.

SEO has always been a mystery to me, seems that no matter what I do it doesn't change things much. Friends have told me how they've spent far too much trying to improve their websites visibility by hiring someone to optimize their site but ultimately found it to be a waste of money.
I must admit that the mumbo-jumbo, techno talk of SEO intimidated me and there was a lot that went way over my head however recently I found a website that offers a free booklet that explains SEO in simple terminology. No techno babble, just clear English with a pinch of humor added for flavor. The booklet is called: "The Care And Feeding Of Search Engines" a simple guide to SEO.

And yes, it is free.   That may be changing in the near future as the website grows and accumulates more followers and more business. The thing that I liked best was there's no pressure for you to sign up for anything and you're not required to commit to anything. Conrad Walton started this website, he's a techie guru and he offers website design and also SEO services for those wishing it. His booklet is an accumulation of his own experiences and knowledge and, granted it is just the first rung on the SEO ladder, it does give a lot of insight and information about SEO.


One thing that I learned from reading his booklet is the true function of our Blog List. You know, it's that list of blogs most of us have along side our blog posts. I thought they were just there to say; "Hey these are some of my favorite blogs" and though that's true, the real purpose is to provide "links". Every blog that features your blog in their list or roll provides a link back to your own blog and these links are counted by the search engines; so the more links we have out there the higher our standing is with search engines. All in all it's a good thing to have a Blog List and even a better thing to be on other blog's Blog List. How about all those cute little button or badges that blogs ask you to take and put on your blog ? It's the same thing. It provides a link back to their blog and is free promotion. Maybe I was a bit dense that this had not dawned on me before, but it's nice to know ... better late than never !

If you care to check "The Care And Feeding Of Search Engines" this post is filled with highlighted links that will take you there. Hope it will be as enlightening for you as it has been for me.

Here's a Scary Thought ... SEO ... How to Optimize?

Have I got your attention ?

SEO has always been a mystery to me, seems that no matter what I do it doesn't change much.
Friends have told me how they've spent far too much trying to improve their websites visibility by hiring someone to optimize their site but ultimately found it to be a waste of money.

Not long ago my Creative Arts group had a guest speaker, an artist known for her mixed media art and for her woven textiles. Her presentation was interesting, especially when she came to the part of having an online website and how she utilized Search Engine Optimization during the busy gift buying season of the Fall Winter holidays. When questioned "How" she optimized her site, it was a let down to find out her husband worked for a company that specialized in designing websites and SEO enhancement. Basically she just handed it over to his company to help direct traffic to her web-pages. Must be nice if you have someone on the inside to help you but most of us don't.

 Searching for the answers?

I must admit that the mumbo-jumbo, techno talk of SEO intimidated me and there was a lot that went way over my head but recently I found a website that offers a free booklet that explains SEO in simple terminology. No techno babble, just clear English with a pinch of humor added for flavor. The booklet is called: "The Care And Feeding Of Search Engines" a simple guide to SEO. And yes, it is free, however that may be changing in the very near future as the website grows and accumulates more followers and more business. The thing that I liked best was there's no pressure for you to sign up for anything and you're not required to commit to anything.
Conrad Walton , the man who started this website, is a techie guru and he offers website design and also SEO services for those wishing it. His booklet is an accumulation of his own experiences and knowledge and, granted it is just the first rung on the SEO ladder, it does give a lot of insight and information about SEO.

Yep it's all about attitude !

One thing that I learned from reading his booklet is the true function of our Blog List. You know, it's that list of blogs most of us have along side our blog posts. I thought they were just there to say; "Hey these are some of my favorite blogs" and though that's true, the real purpose is to provide "links". Every blog that features your blog in their list or roll provides a link back to your own blog and these links are counted by the search engines; so the more links we have out there the higher our standing is with search engines. All in all it's a good thing to have a Blog List and even a better thing to be on other blog's Blog List. How about all those cute little button or badges that blogs ask you to take and put on your blog ? It's the same thing. It provides a link back to their blog and is free promotion. Maybe I was a bit dense that this had not dawned on me before, but it's nice to know ... better late than never !

If you care to check "The Care And Feeding Of Search Engines"  this post is filled with highlighted links that will take you there. Hope it will be as enlightening for you as it has been for me.

Officially It's Scooby ... Scooby Doo

Little Lexie turns 10 this Monday.  When asked what she wants for her birthday her answer is nothing for herself.  She is now the proud and loving owner of her very own horse and all she wants are things for Scooby.  BTW for those who've read the post about "A Child's Dream Come True" you know who Scooby is and will be pleased to know that his full name is indeed, Scooby Doo. 

Our daughter helped us out by suggesting a nice birthday present; a plaque, with Scooby's name engraved, for Scooby's stall .  So yesterday John and I hightailed it over to our local mall where there's a "Thing's Remembered" kiosk and we had Scooby's very own plaque made up. 

Unfortunately the engraving isn't as pronounced as we would have liked as it is carved into brass ... maybe if we dabbed some black paint into the etching and then wiped it off ?    What type of paint should we use ?  Or is there something better on the market ?  Any suggestions or recommendations ?

A Child's Dream Come True

This October my granddaughter, Lexie, will turn 10. If she could have only one gift, her request would be for a horse of her own.

Photo above ... Lexie, the taller child wearing the cowgirl hat, and her new love Scooby. 

Lexie took to horse back riding much like the proverbial duck takes to water. After just a few short lessons she was infatuated with the sport and with the animal. So it was with no surprise that for the past few months she had been asking, well perhaps more appropriately begging, her parents for a horse.


Everyone told my daughter to wait until Lexie was older because children's whims change and what she is fervent about today may be different by next year. But Lexie seemed head-over-heels in love with horses and with the sluggish economy many horse owners were now relinquishing their beloved animals; the cost of feed and care having cut deeply into their once well padded wallets.  Now is a prime time to purchase as there are many fine horses being sold well below cost and many come complete with tack.



Lexie and her parents looked at several fine steeds and narrowed the field down to 3 of the most gentle that were within their budget. In the end the winner, hands down, was Scooby. Scooby is 9 years old, not a huge horse, he is very docile and for $500 comes with all his tack ... a match made in heaven!
As Roy and Dale used to sing; "Happy Trails to You".  May they have many happy trails together!