One Step Forward...

Amazing weather, 17C (66F) on November 12th. No idea what the normal temperature should be, but I should think something around 5C (42).  The sun broke out here and there but it was mostly grey, windy and very warm.

We mowed great swathes through the hayfields for the dogs this summer and we are still enjoying them. Today the dogs and I were out for two long walks, through the hayfield and into the woods. Glorious.

Walking around the fields and farmyard things are now tidy but a little forlorn.  All the garden tools have been cleaned and oiled and put away, the tree fort is empty-looking, even the old summer chairs at the end of the lawn look sort of sad. 

After lunch, Fettucini alfredo with grilled shimp and salad, I spent several hours working on my draft pages, going through my SEO list to check that I have actually input the right tags, links and keywords.  After an hour or so a strange thing happened, I lost the ability to edit the posts, except in html. Everything I typed into the Visual screen came out white.  White on white, impossible to read! 

After a frustrated search through the forums I went to my host site and discovered there was an error in my Wordpress installation and the host wanted to 'roll it back'.  I backed up the database and rolled it back. Now waiting to hear that's been done. Sigh!

Still having learning curve issues. Want comments on some pages but not on others. So far when I choose No Comments the text "Comments Closed" appears on that page.  I don't want any text at all.  Back into the forum tomorrow. I've had enough for today.

Ended the afternoon with a trip to visit the goats which is always uplifting.  They were intrigued by the camera and I got lovely silly shots of their mugs close-up.  Lovely.

 

Wound down with a bit of blog surfing, mostly expat blogs about Brits living in Portugal. Checked the temperature in the Algarve.  High tomorrow should be 19C(70F) and sunny.  Raging jealousy!

Learning Curve - Wordpress and AdSense

A lovely mist lay over the countryside here early this morning. The air is warmer than the earth for a few days at least. Strange weather for November, but I'm not complaining.

My early morning walk with the dogs was magical, the grasses were laden with dew, the mist clung low to the ground rolling slowly eastwards with the light breeze. It felt as though we were in an old black and white film with fog machines.

The neighbour's farm

The hayfield and woods smelled like wet grass, freshly turned earth and cedar.  The dogs could smell rabbits in the woods but a half-hour's rooting through the undergrowth turned up nothing.  We saw deer tracks along the paths in the cedar wood and a lovely golden hawk sitting high in a pine.

The hayfield

On our way back we found this spider web.  A lovely bit of Ariadne's weaving.

I spent the afternoon reading a book called Wordpress 24-Hour Trainer by George Plumley.  I have already set up my website and have hosting. I have written about 25 pages but they are mostly text, I haven't added photographs or other media yet. I have found the learning curve with Wordpress to be moderately difficult but I am getting the hang of it.

At first I used the Help menu and then I discovered the Wordpress forums.  Most of the time it was easy enough to enter a search string and I found the answer to my questions within the first two or three answers.  But there were enough frustrations to send me to the bookshop looking for a basic Wordpress book.  I bought two: Wordpress for Dummies by Lisa Sabin-Wilson and George Plumley's book that came with a DVD in the back.  I have found them both useful, but I find the Plumley book has a little more depth.  I have yet to use the DVD, so far the text is self-explanatory, but if you are visual learner it might be helpful.

If I am going to make money with my website I'll eventually have to put in some advertising.  So I've been reading up on that too.  I looked through about five books and chose The Adsense Code by Joel Comm.  In addition to covering how to set up your site, apply to Adsense, and place your ads, he also has a great section on Adsense rules and regulations, so that you won't have your account closed down because you made a beginner's goof. 

At 4:00 I stopped to make a late lunch.  We had lamb-burgers, with mashed sweet potatoes and green beans.  The recipe is easy and yummy:

Lamb Burgers

1 lb. of ground lamb
1/2 onion, diced small
1 garlic clove, minced (optional)
salt and pepper
4 small slices from a log of goat cheese

Put the ground lamb in a bowl.  Add the diced onion, garlic, salt and pepper and mix well.
Divide the ground lamb into 3 or 4 portions.
Divide each of these portions into two thin patties.
Place a slice of goat cheese in the center of one patty.
Place the second patty on top of the goat cheese patty and meld them together, encasing the goat cheese inside.
Continue making patties with the rest of the ground lamb and goat cheese.

You can grill the patties on a barbeque but at this time of year I simply put them in the frying pan for about 6 or 7 minutes per side on medium heat.

I serve them on soft Italian buns with fresh lettuce and tomato.

Lucy on the sofa

Nico snoozing

 The dogs, wiped out from their romping slept away the afternoon, waking briefly to supervise the making of lamb burgers, of course.

Tomorrow I hope to revise a few more webpages and start inserting photos and video.  Right now though it's time for a cup of tea, Earl Grey preferred, and an hour or two to finish my book: The Occupied Garden, A Family Memoir of War Torn Holland by two sisters: Kristen den Hertog and Tracy Kasaboski.  Here's a review from the Globe & Mail:

"The tiny, mundane details of these very ordinary lives are brilliantly interwoven with the colosssal events and backwash of all-out-war that move the story relentlessly sometimes breathlessly, forward...As in a painting by Seurat, the masses ('dots') of  information meticulously build up, slowly, vividly, revealing the many personalities and the devastating time."

 I hope you have a great weekend.

Writing My Own Ticket.....to freedom

The black dogs?

Nico, seven years old, a Heinz 57 mix. Rescued from a local shelter. He had been given to a little boy as a  Christmas present. Mom wasn't keen on the idea. Nico ended up in the shelter at 4 months old. We were told he would probably grow to 40 pounds.  He's now 80 pounds. His puppy-hood was rambunctious to say the least. He chewed anything that moved and everything that didn't. He got so excited one day he ran right through a pane of glass. When his favorite visitors came over he would pee on their shoes, he couldn't help himself.

At seven he has mellowed. He still loves visitors but he's a tad more relaxed about them. He loves squeaky toys and sometimes sings along with his squeaky ball.  A few squeaks and then a howl, a few more squeaks and a howl.

Nico

Then there's Lucy. Owned by a lovely old lady Lucy was adopted from a shelter when she was a pup. Her owner, Betty, died last April and left a note with her will asking us to give Lucy a home.  She adopted Dad right away and sleeps in his room.  She's a border collie/spaniel cross. Maybe 35 pounds, but with that collie attitude she holds her own with the big guy. She's 8 now. She was a little uncertain for a month or two, but now she's part of the pack. She could use a few sheep to herd, but she makes do with Nico and me.

Lucy

The blue skies?

Anywhere warm in general, but Portugal in particular. After 26 years of marriage my husband D. and I are pretty fed up with Canadian winters. But moving somewhere warm isn't just a matter of buying an airline ticket. The easy way is to retire somewhere warm and live on your pension.  But first you've got to have a pension (like millions of others we don't).

D. worked in theater and film as a carpenter for many years. The art world isn't famous for it's long term planning or pensions. Then he went freelance and worked for himself. Even less chance for a pension there.

I worked for as a legal assistant, then as an IT professional for lawyers, then as a technical writer.  My pension contributions wouldn't pay for our dog food for five years.  So there we are.

How do we get to Portugal?

Olhas de Agua, Southern Portugal

Well, that's what I'll be blogging about. I have been a writer of one sort or another all my life: a journal keeper, a short story writer, an online journalist and a technical writer. So I have decided to write my way out of this corner we find ourselves in.  I am going to write us all the way to Portugal and a new life in a warm place, dogs included!

The Plan So Far

I realized I would need some way to make a portable income, some way to make money that did not rely on living in any particular location. After much research I decided to write about what I know, what I like, and put that information into a website or two.  Then I will place Google Adsense ads and do some affiliate marketing. With luck people will be interested in what I write about and maybe they will use the ads to investigate possibilities or buy something I've recommended. If they do I will make a few pennies here and and few pennies there.  Over time, with diligence and good writing I hope to end up with an income that will support the blue skies dream.

If you are curious about how this might work, or just interested to see if I succeed or fail, please feel free to follow along.  I'll be here two or three times a week with updates on what I'm writing about and what I'm learning about AdSense and affiliate programs.

An open door in Silves, Portugal

Right now there is no definite time line. I'd love to be in Portugal at this time next year.  Could it happen?  Well, I believe anything can happen, but I'll keep you updated with my progress as we go along.