Razzmatazlady

Category: My New Niche

  • The Chickadees and Rhubarb

    Strawberries & Rhubarb – A Great Combo!

    I’m really sorry to say that I haven’t seen any chickadee activity the past few days. Actually, there have been no birds in the cranberry bush AT ALL! What’s going on? I sure don’t know but I think it might be my fault.

    We moved the bird feeders to see if the other birds would go away and leave the chickadees alone to make their little home. Well, maybe the chickadees LIKED having the other birds around.

    Someone who knows a lot about birds said that chickadees usually don’t nest in a birdhouse. Maybe they decided to build their little home on a branch in a tree. Maybe, maybe, maybe…guess I’ll never know. But I’ll keep watching for them.

    I’ve been working like a madman the past couple of days on my Squidoo stuff. Just posted two new pages at midnight, last night. All about rhubarb…well, not ALL about rhubarb…one is on rhubarb pie and the other on a bunch of other things you can make with rhubarb. I’ve got tons more to add but this is a start.

    Here are the links: Rhubarb Pie – 3 Great Recipes and Rhubarb Muffins, Cakes, Sauces & More.

    I’ve also decided to donate any earnings from the My Quest For A Greener Life lens to the Elizabeth Glazer Pediatric AIDS Foundation. That’s the terrific thing about Squidoo. If you earn any money from your pages you can choose to donate it to a charity. I probably won’t make a million bucks but every little bit will help, I think. I’m probably also going to convert the Chocolate Chip Cookie page to charity, as well. I’m going to check that out, today.

    I’ve decided to create another blog, too. Hopefully, in the next week or so. It’ll be quite a bit different from this blog. Will keep you posted.

    Well, I promised Jack and myself that I would, by-hook-or-by-crook work in the gardens. First, I’m going to plant the flowers he gave me for Mother’s Day and the packet of Texas Wildflower seeds that I bought when we were in Dallas. It’s sunny and warm – going to be 74 degrees F. Got to get out there and enjoy our very brief summer!

  • Sara Paretsky and My Squidoo Lens and Rainy Day Notes

    Jack and I both like to read. We read every single night before we turn out the light. Sometimes for just a few minutes and sometimes for hours. Anyway, we read all sorts of books but right now we’re on a “crime novel” jag and the author of choice is Sara Paretsky.

    Her heroine is a lady private eye named V.I. Warshawski. The stories take place in Chicago. Part of the reason I enjoy them is because we lived there for five years and can follow her travels throughout Chicagoland easily.

    This is my favorite V.I. quote: “Never underestimate a man’s ability to underestimate a woman”. Ha! I love it. Isn’t that just rich????

    I recently did a Squidoo page on Sara Paretsky but it was kind of lacking on content and pictures. I sent a message via her official website to ask permission to use some of the pictures and content in my Squidoo page.

    WELL, I got a personal message from Sara Paretsky, herself, giving me permission to use anything from the website as long as I attribute it to the website! I was SO excited!

    So I’ve redone the page and I think it’s pretty complete. I have to add an RSS feed to it – maybe from her website. If I understand it right (and it’s entirely possible that I’m totally wrong), an RSS feed is basically a link to something that is automatically updated when new content is added. Like news from her website. I’m still learning about feeds so I haven’t finished that part but otherwise I think it’s pretty nifty. Please take a look and tell me what you think. Here’s the link: http://www.squidoo.com/SaraParetsky. You can also get there by clicking on the link in the right hand column. I hope.

    Update on the weather here: It’s raining. There are two good things about that…we need the rain and it’ll probably help the ice go out on the lake. But it makes for another indoor day. Well, there’s lots to do indoors, anyway.

    Hope it’s sunny where you are…

  • Spring Fever Pictures


    Nope, these aren’t new photos. I wish they were.

    These are pictures I took last year. They’re my inspiration to hang in there until spring really is here in all it’s blazing glory.

    Those are Blackeyed Susans in the first photo, a gorgeous Day Lily in the second and the third is one of the lush, velvety Peonies from one of three Peony bushes that we have.

    Jack is outside cleaning out my perennial bed, bless him. As he removes all the leaves that piled up there last fall, you can see the tiny green bits starting to peek through. I’ll take a shot of them when they’re actually big enough to be seen through the camera’s eye.

    I, meanwhile, am sticking to the computer. It’s just that I’m on a roll and I hate to quit. No earth-shattering news to report about earning my first “internet million”. Just plodding away learning new things and trying to apply them.

    I’ve decided, though, that I need to pace myself. Spending twelve hours a day on the computer is very likely going to land me in the looney-bin. There are those who would argue that the looney-bin has always been just a stone’s throw away from me, anyway, but I choose to think othewise.

    So here’s my plan:

    I will make a schedule (and keep it) for spending time on my internet “work”.

    I will post to my blog every day. Even if it’s just a picture or a blurb that I’m still evading the looney-bin or whatever. Every day. A pledge.

    I will take a nice, long walk every day (if it’s not raining or snowing or blowing like mad). Walking is something I really enjoy and it’s fabulous “thinking” time. And maybe I can drop a couple of pounds. Funny how I lost ten pounds and kept them off all winter. The minute we got home to “the frozen north” and were sequestered inside because of the weather, I started to pile it back on. There is just no justice.

    I will spend some time, every day, reading. I always read for awhile every night, anyway, but that’s my time for light reading like novels. I’ll spend another hour or so reading to learn.

    It’s almost noon and I started this a couple of hours ago. Had a hard time getting the photos to upload right. Never did get it to work so this’ll just have to do. In any case

  • I’m Squidooing Like Mad

    Today is supposed to be a beautiful warm day and the weatherman says it’s going to hit 54 degrees – woo hoo!! I’m thinkin’ positive! Soon as this snow melts, we’re outside. Still haven’t finished the organizing that I said we were going to do. I’d better get crackin’…today, for sure, I’ll accomplish something. What have I been up to?
    Well, I spent almost the entire weekend on the computer! I’m really into this stuff and I am working on another blog. Not ready for prime time, yet, however. Also, I’ve completed six Squidoo lenses and am working on a few more!

    Jack is going to leave me if I keep this up, though, I think. But this is all part of my search for that “niche” that I talked about a long time ago and if I’m not getting any younger! Gotta get my fifteen minutes of fame. So, hopefully he’ll be patient a little longer.

    I really am looking forward to getting out in the gardens, though. Two of my Squidoos are on gardening – one on lakescaping and one on rain gardens. It’ll be so good to get out there and get our hands dirty, again.

    There’s nothing quite like seeing those wildflowers and grasses go from little tiny things in the spring to full grown a couple of months later. Plus the perennial garden in the front is my baby. My friend Diane shared dozens of her perennials with me and it’s just beautiful now. Well, not this very minute, of course, because it’s covered with snow – ha! But it will be!

    By the way – if any of you get a wild hair to join Squidoo, would you please click the “create a lens” (or whatever it says) button from one of my lenses? That way, I’ll get credit!!

    O.K., I’m off to sort and organize. Well, I’ll have a cup of coffee and read the paper, first, and THEN I’ll sort and organize!

  • We’re Snug As A Bug In A Rug

    I think I’m coming to terms with the fact that spring is NOT here. It’s just around the corner, though. Word is that by Monday it’s going to be in the 60 degree range. Be interesting to see if that really happens.

    In any case, it’s toasty and warm in the house and we’re having fun planning the kitchen redo. The guy from Home Depot (who was scheduled to come out this morning to measure) called and cancelled. Our street hasn’t been plowed and Jack says he’s not going to clear the driveway…we’re not planning to go anywhere and it should all melt in a day or so. “Should” is the operative word, here.

    Remember my “dream job” aspirations? Well, I’m getting back on that. I’ve been having a great time with the Squidoo lenses (pages) and am learning a LOT! It’s fun and there’s a real possibility for some income if I play my cards right. I’m thinking about creating another blog, too. Maybe on WordPress instead of Blogger. I haven’t shelved the plans for a website, either. Really, you just have to stick with it – no matter what your goals are, don’t quit. It makes life so much more interesting.

    So that’s the scoop from here. Nothing too exciting but, hey, that’s life.