A Closet for My Lenses on Squidoo

One Step Forward

2011-03-04T05:38:00.000-08:00

One Step Forward

Just discovered this blog and wanted to share it.

Gardening on Squidoo

2011-02-28T08:30:00.000-08:00

Last Year's Raised Bed Garden:

Spring has sprung in the Southern USA -- at least for the time being-- it is end of February, after all. It has been know to snow here in April! Yes, April.

This past weekend my husband and I were out shopping for new landscaping plants and -- surprise -- stocking up at Costco for the week ahead. Costco has their finger on the pulse of their members and they have begun stocking gardening supplies. They had even put out tomato and pepper plants. Yes, I was tempted, but I resisted. It is still just too early. But I do feel that tomato pot calling my name. At $13.99 for three 3' tall plants (with blooms!) is a great deal. I think I could carry the pot inside if I need to protect it from the cool nights.

All of this has made me think back on my past successes and failures with growing tomatoes. I have several lenses on Squidoo that are centered around this topic. I am in the process of editing them this week. I am no expert, I just have a lot of experience and I need to let the readers know this fact. I want to encourage novice gardeners to experiment, think out of the plot and enjoy their gardens.

If you want to see my small vegetable gardening articles, please click on the following links:
My Small Vegetable Garden
"Secret" Container Potting Formula
My First Raise Bed Garden
Tomato Planting Tips

Have a great day, y'all!

NASCAR Toys And Fiction

2011-02-23T14:03:00.000-08:00

I have several pages (lenses) on Squidoo about NASCAR. Most of them center around the late, great Intimidator--Dale Earnhardt, Sr.

My first article was about Dale, Sharyn McCrumb and my husband's Commemorative Talladega Dollars.

In fact, I used to sell these dollars on eBay.

You might be wondering who Sharyn McCrumb is right now. She is a wonderful author who writes beautiful mysteries and sometimes even Racing fiction! She is a NASCAR fan and wrote a charming book called St. Dale. I learned a lot of NASCAR trivia when I discovered and read that novel.

My newest article focused on yet another Earnhardt, Dale Jr., and features NASCAR action figures and a diecast #88 car. Go check out NASCAR Racing Toys for the kids! and let me know what you think of this new article.

It is official--I am a Squidoo Angel for the next three months!

2010-04-14T10:46:00.000-07:00

Being a New Squid Angel

Yep, it is official. As an Angel on Squidoo, I am allowed to give lenses (lenses are pages or articles on a site at www.Squidoo.com) a "thumbs up" or a "thumbs down". What does that do, well it can help in the lens rank for a page on Squidoo for a little while. I can let the lensmaster know that I gave them a good review by telling them in their guestbook. I am not obligated to tell anyone how I rated the page, either.

What this does for me is something I am sure you might want to know. Well, for starters, I get to help out new lensmasters by giving them a boost. Sometimes that is all one needs to keep on creating good lenses.

I know how that feels--getting a pat on the back, that is.

Home Again--New lens in the works!

2009-07-04T05:02:00.000-07:00

Just returned from a ten day road trip.

My husband and I drove from Alabama to Colorado and back. Why drive and not fly? First of all, we like to listen to audio books and this long trip presented a perfect opportunity to expand our "have listened to" list.

Second, we needed to take lots of stuff. One does not just carry on two fly fishing rods and waders and boots on a plane for free!

Third, we would need a car in Colorado that could go over dirt roads that might not be in the best of conditions. Renting an SUV is expensive.

Now that we are home, I will evaluate the costs involved and report the results in the future. It was a LONG trip--we spent three nights in motels going and three nights coming back. Also, we were both a bit "testy" toward the end of the trip. Next time, I might fly and send my hubby in the car.

I did take photos (on the iPhone) along the way so I could personally illustrate a planned lens (article) on Squidoo.

Stay tuned!

I got a purple star!

2009-05-29T11:05:00.000-07:00

Wow.

A purple star was given to My Vegetable Garden today.

I love getting noticed on Squidoo. It is pretty difficult to be found anywhere on the web lately, so this felt really good.

I update this lens every week along with the other two gardening lenses of mine. How do I update and keep each of these lenses fresh? By taking pictures. If you have read any of my other posts, you know that I love to use the Photo Gallery module on these lenses. I also use the Polaroid module. I think the effect is really nice.

Wondering what a purple star is? Read this article by JaguarJulie to find out more.

My Brain Is Full, Right Now! Come Back Later.

2009-05-18T06:54:00.000-07:00

I am having trouble sleeping.

I am having trouble finishing anything!

I cannot stop thinking about my articles on Squidoo. What have I not done to make them the best I can make them?

Recently I joined the "Valley of Giants" blog as a team member. What was I thinking?

I am no writer. I am really a "poser", a wannabe, a dreamer. Again, what was I thinking?

I finally got the nerve up to post entry on this Squidoo blog. Whoa! I forgot to review the guidelines. That was a real mistake--I tend to forget what I have been told, sometimes. Eurosquid sent me an email congratulating me on making my first post. He is so very kind and diplomatic. Seriously. I had included two links to lenses in which I used the Photo Gallery module on Squidoo. I neglected to include an equal number of links outside of the Squid domain. Big boo boo. Again, Eurosquid is so kind. Really. No kidding.

Well, I promptly deleted the entry. Too Quick! I was so embarrassed by my amateurish mistakes, that I wanted to cry. What I should have done was to edit the entry within the blog. I did not even think of this, I was just to embarrassed and wanted to get the darn post off before anyone who is a REAL writer saw it!

What was I thinking? Obviously, I was NOT thinking. Am I YELLING here. Yes, I guess I am.

After I rewrote the entry and posted it without publishing, I emailed Eurosquid and told him I wanted him to look at it before I hit the publish button. I think I had scared him a bit by my "deleting the entry" action and when he emailed me a reply, he was oh so careful in his choice of words.

He said "The post is PERFECT"; but he went on to tell me about "anchor tags". Man, if this does not uncover me as a "poser", nothing does. He suggested that instead of linking my lenses using the titles, I use search terms that will get them found.

I am still not sure I understand this, but now I have something else to think about!

I made the needed changes--I think--and hit the publish button. Here's hoping I am not re-exposed as a poser.

Technorati Profile

My Favorite Photo Module on Squidoo

2009-05-17T13:15:00.000-07:00

This is an entry I posted on the Valley of the Giants blog:
I have recently discovered a photo module that I just LOVE on Squidoo. It is the Photo Gallery. You are allowed ten images in this module. One is large and the others are thumbprints that you can chose to rotate into the large frame or allow the visitor to click on one to examine it closer. In other words, you get lots of "bang for your buck" in the gallery module without having too much vertical space taken up by your pictures.

I have found this gallery module very useful for my vegetable gardening lenses. In Grow Great Tomatoes in Containers, and My Recovery Vegetable Garden I use this module to show the weekly progress in my small plots of earth.

I am enjoying the documentation of the growth of my tomatoes and vegetables so much this year because I might have found two "secrets" to their successful growth. Sunshine and taking the advice of Mike Pender from Classic Gardens and Landscape in Center Point, AL. Mr. Pender has developed a tomato program that uses Ferti-lome products and a "secret" combination of ingredients he sells in a gallon sized baggie. So far, I am the envy of my other vegetable gardening neighbors. Luckily, the Homeowners Association has not elected to give me a "ticket" for any violations that I might have earned (accidentally, of course).

I have a feeling that one of my future lenses might be one focusing on "Fresh Tomatoes Recipes" or "What To Do with a Bumper Crop".

The First post!

2009-05-12T07:19:00.000-07:00

A Closet for My Lenses!

I created my lensography (link is above) quite a while ago--way before I had more than 50 lenses on Squidoo. Making the lens(article) was great for my creative juices and for establishing my presence on Squidoo!

Now that I have made Giant Squid and have more than 50 lenses, I am finding my closet bulging at the seams. I am also finding that I forget when I made the lenses (articles) originally. Being over 50 (age wise and lens wise) is tough!

I should have put the creation date of each lens on that page. I was just not forward-thinking enough.

Now I am working on having a total of 100 lenses! I am finding that this is really feeding my OCD! I see possibilities for articles everywhere. Unfortunately, there are not enough hours in the day to research and write! By the way, has someone thought of creating a support group for SquidAddicts? Hey, another lens idea! Oh no!

With the Giant Squid status, I found that I have become more responsible when choosing content for my lenses. I try to justify why I choose a subject and what information I put there. For example, one of my newest lenses, Swine for Me, is just fluff. It was originally supposed to be an "affiliate" lens to make money. I found some items to sell, became an affiliate, and made the lens featuring those items. Now I am quite embarrassed that I created it, so I am adding substance to it. For example, I found some jokes to entertain, quotes for insight (for pigs?) and origami instructions.

It is taking shape, but I am still embarrassed by this lens. Why did I chose Pink Piggy Stuff as a topic? I'll tell you now. Many months ago, I found that some of my affiliate links actually got hits and made some money. Not a lot, but enough to get my attention. I began to subscribe to rss feeds that claimed that they would help find trends for consumer spending. One of these feeds informed me that "Pink Pigs" would become a really attractive product trend in 2009. So I jumped on the bandwagon and claimed a lens title for Pink Pigs. It sat in my WIPs (works in progress) for many months. Why? Because I knew nothing about "Piggy Merchandise". I don't even know anyone who collects pigs. Do you? In fact, who cares?

Lesson learned: write only about what you care about; your own passions, not some other person's passion.

Another lesson learned: If you do not know what you are talking about, you won't make any money. Am I in it for the "money", anyway?

Just why do I write on Squidoo?

Stay tuned!