My hobbies

I don't have one particular hobby that I spend a lot of time on. I have several different hobbies that I dedicate my time to. I'd love to have more time to dedicate to them and I would probably be amazing at them all. I am happy with mediocre.

I think it's important to have some sort of hobby, even if it is just one. Everyone needs something to fill the downtime with, to keep minds active and to help relax, whether that be reading, knitting or scrapbooking, or whatever.

My hobbies begin with gardening. I've made a garden in every house I've lived at for the last 25 years. I find great pleasure in planting something in the ground and being rewarded with gorgeous flowers or produce to use in my kitchen.

It's taken me a lot of years to be good at growing my own veggies. I sucked at it for a long time, mainly concentrating on having loads of colourful flowers. 

I enjoy going on garden tours and looking at other people's gardens too. My mum is  in a local gardening group who do just that once a month and I don't mind tagging along with the old ducks. I am sure they will set me straight about the old bit right away!

My other hobby is photography. I would love to be better at it, and I suppose this is one of those things that the more time I spend on it, the better I will be. 

I have to make more time for getting out with my camera to different places and conditions. I could probably explore with my camera settings to see what more I can do with it.

The Wattle Range Council photography competition is coming up quickly. I need to go through all the local photos I have taken in the last year and pick some good ones I can enter. 

I am a pretty creative person, and love to create when inspiration hits. I 

I don't do one particular sort of craft, like sewing or painting. I like to have a go at just about anything. You could say that I am a jill of all trades when it comes to crafting.

I have never been inspired enough to take up knitting or crochet, but don't mind sitting behind my sewing machine if something takes my fancy. Like the humpty dumpty I made for my Kindergym class.

There was a time when I did lots, and I mean lots of embroidery. I enjoy that, but haven't done any for a while.

I don't mind getting my paintbrushes wet every now and then too, and I've been known to do a bit of drawing.

I tend to only craft when I am inspired and motivated to do so, and I am always happy I did. Google comes in handy if I get stuck on how to get something done! I get very determined when I set out be creative.

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How to share effectively on Twitter

Whether it be sharing your work, or what I like to do, share others work, here are some tips to help you do it more effectively and win at this Twitter bizzo.

1. Use share buttons

Most sites these days have a plethora if ways you can share straight from the page you are reading.

On blog sites, this is usually at the end of a post, or a pop up that comes out from the side of the page. I prefer the ones that are located at the end of the post. Those pop up ones are sometimes really annoying and only serve to cover up most of what I am trying to read.

If you have your own website, I cannot stress enough to make sure you have sharing options available, and to make sure they work. I want to share your work, and other people will want to as well.

Important as well, if you have a 'follow' Twitter button, make sure, when clicked it takes the reader to YOUR Twitter feed, so they can easily follow you.

2. Use your tweet to your optimum advantage

What I mean by this, it to make sure you use every available character (you have 140 of them to use) to your advantage.

Some tweets from a web page will have room to add something else. So hashtag the hell out of that tweet. Add a hashtag in front of any relevant word in the tweet.

Most twitter users search for hashtags, and a lot of tweets are liked, retweeted or shared again in online publications, because of their subject matter.

As of late last year, the 'favourite' option, with a star icon, was changed to 'like', with a heart icon. I have only just cottoned on to this.

From 87 characters remaining, to the one below, tagged to the shitter with 4 remaining characters left.

3. Tag the author of the post you are sharing

This lets the author know you admired their work. It lets them know who is sharing and what. If you are lucky (or the person you tagged has good twitter etiquette), they will retweet you, or like your tweet.

4.  Be a gracious tweety bird

If you are retweeted or you tweet is shared on an online publication, be gracious and thank them for retweeting/including you.

I feel so glad when something I have shared, is shared on a wider scale, beyond Twitter. I love seeing someone else being recognised for their work all because I shared it in the first place. Plus I get my gorgeous mug(totally tongue in cheek) and twitter handle shared about as well. Which really is good advertising for my blog, and good karma coming back at me.

The middle tweet from My blogworld, telling me one of my tweets has been shared in their online publication.
The shared tweet below in that publication.

5. Choose your handle wisely

Your twitter handle is the words after the @ sign of your twitter user name. Mine is @alleychook. I wish I had chosen wiser.

Early in the process of blogging, I had no idea of social media and unifying all my accounts with my blog name. In hindsight I should have made the name of my blog my twitter handle.

It makes it easier for people to remember when tagging, and makes it easier for people to associate your blog, with your tweets. 

Being a part of Twitter definitely has it's advantages. I am not an active user as in browsing the millions of tweets that happen everyday. Who has time for that shiz?! I have found it invaluable for sharing my own and others work on the interwebs though.

Bonus tip:

Create yourself a unique hashtag over all of your social media accounts and spread that shit like glitter.

I have created #openslather, #onemotherkitchen, #onemotherkids, and #onemothergarden. If someone searches or clicks on one of those hashtags, all of your relevant work will come up. Easy share, and easy exposure. In theory. You have to do all of the hash tagging work.

Do this in the tags on your blog posts, photos your share on social media and posts you share on social media.

Happy Tweeting!


Are you on Twitter?

How have you found your Twitter experience?

Are you using your social media to the best of it's ability?

 

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How to post a recipe with print option, without a wordpress plugin

I've just joined my local community garden. I went to my first meeting yesterday and planted out a couple plots with the girls. I am really excited about it, and can't wait to be involved with, hopefully, making the gardens a success.

One thing I have volunteered to do, is set up a website for the gardens, which I have. You can have a sticky beak here. I have thrust myself into uncharted territory and gone with using wordpress, something I have no idea about. 

I am enjoying the challenge so far, not too much swearing, yet. One thing I am anticipating and hoping for lots of input from my fellow gardening members, is sharing recipes. The goal I am going for in the long run is to have enough recipes, to compile a cookbook we can flog online and in print. A cookbook of recipes from our community garden.  

Even though I don't do it on this site, I wanted to kick off from the start on the gardens website, to present recipes with a print option right there on the page.

I did lots of googling (as you do when you need to know something, you have no idea about), and realised that because I haven't registered a domain name, and am using wordpress free, I don't have the plugin option.

I had to find another way, and I found it here.

There is a short code, you can easily use, that presents your recipe in a pretty package with a print function bow tied on top.



[recipe title="name of recipe" servings="a number" time="length of time" difficulty="easy, hard"]

type recipe here as you would normally

[/recipe]


As long as you add just one the servings, time, or difficulty options after the title, the print button will automatically appear to the right of the recipe, after the heading.

Where there is red in the above short code, add your own text according to your recipe. 

Try it next time you want to publish a recipe on wordpress and you don't have a plugin. You don't need one!

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A week off...

I've had a week off. It's been swell. 

I have come full circle back to Monday. Open slather.

I have nothing. I have lots, nothing to say. That's just me. Bursting with information with nothing to say. 

Boring as batshit, eh? I sometimes wonder about Jakes' aspergers,  and wonder if I am a little that way inclined. In the fact that I am not a great communicator. Not a big talker. And when I do talk it comes out all awkward. 

I go through the week, light bulb moments. Scenarios exploding in my head. I come to sitting down at the computer, I have zilcho mundo. 

I have a recording function on my phone. Why don't I just hit record and talk? Beats me. Note. to. self. press record.

There has been lots happening. 

I received an email from an elderly gentleman.  A photo of his wife at ten years old in front of a rotunda with her relatives in 1940. Trying to find the location of that rotunda. It looks like our town rotunda. Amazing old photo, has me intrigued, referred it to the local family history group. Interesting stuff.

Buzz has gone on to another home. After the fourth time escaping the fence, Brett let the pound find him a new home. I was in two minds. He is such an active dog, he needs more room. He was bloody marvellous with the kids, but he is a farm dog, an intelligent, working dog. We love him but realise he is the wrong dog for us, right now. When it comes to the crunch we had to seccumb to reality and not sentimentality. He already has a new suitable home. I hope they have a basketball for him, he's a bloody good dog.

The council dog catcher referred us to www.petnet.com.au and rightly so,  for the next time we want a new dog, we will be most certainly be following this advice. 

About receive my first parcel in the mail for review. Excited plus. 

I am in the process of writing up a disclosure/PR page. No friggin idea what I am doing. But I'll keep thinking, piece of piss, and trogan on as per usual!

I haven't been totally slack, you will surely notice I have spruced up the place :) 

What's been happening with you?