31 Days to Build a Better Blog

I’m currently working my way through Darren Rowse’s 31 Days to Build a Better Blog. My wonderful Husbitect bought me the ebook and I am really enjoying the course so far. I’ve already tweaked a few things after learning new techniques and there will be more to come.

The main, or at least, most noticeable change is a new header image. Part of the first days lesson is to define what your weblog is about in a clear, short statement. My original tagline was “dipping french fries in thickshakes since 1974”. Cute, but it doesn’t tell any first time visitor what my blog is about. I found this task a bit tricky, but narrowed my new tag down to “Crafting the geeky life one day at a time”.

I chose that tag as it covers three of the main topics that I write about; craft, geek related subjects and day to day life. I also changed the graphics in the header, removing the olive wrapped in bacon image because it didn’t really have anything to do with what I write about. Other than it was an image from the 60s and I do write about retro collectibles.

I’ve been blogging now for over eight years (must look up when I first posted) and some people may remember my first weblog, Bindi. Around that time was also when I first came across Darren’s weblog, when he started hosting ‘Blogger Idol‘. Anyone remember that? Good times. I intend to get all my old blog posts imported into this blog. It may take a while but I want to get them in here.

I still regret the fact that I disappeared from blogging for an extended period, because I had built up a reasonably popular weblog. That regret, and also my going back into web design, has been a part of my wanting to get back on track with blogging. I’m going to run through the ProBlogger course with this blog, and then I am going to start a new weblog on my business site and implement what I have learnt. The new weblog will be focused on topics related to web design and business – I’ll still be writing my personal blog here.

Are you working through 31 Days to Build a Better Blog? Let me know – we can cheer each other on!

Five Geeky Websites

I am a geek, a SciFi-loving geek. I present the above photo as proof of my SciFi-loving geekiness. It was taken in the city at Kinokuniya on Free Comic Book Day earlier this year. When we heard that ‘Daleks’ were going to be at Kinokuniya, we had to go (the Husbitect is also a SciFi-loving geek). A free comic was a bonus. The Dalek was patrolling inside the store while Darth was prowling outside the store. As you can see, I am taller than a Dalek but shorter than Darth Vader.

In honour of all that is geeky and SciFi-licious, I present a list of five fab websites for those who are similarily inclined:

  • Dalek City – Devoted to providing information on how to build a full size, working Dalek. Definitely on our to-do list!

  • Think Geek – Chock full of geeky gifts, toys and wearables.

  • Tor.Com – Fab site with SciFi/Fantasy stories, articles and an online community.

  • Make Zine – I’m sure you have already come across the fabness that is Make. One of the best sites for science and tech related tutorials and articles.

  • Blake’s 7 Guide – A guide to one of the best SciFi shows ever created, Blake’s 7.

Miniature Gardens

I have moved my weblog back to the main directory of my site. Now that I have a separate business site, it is so much easier for me to have my weblog here, rather than a sub-directory. I do apologize for causing those who link to me, to have to change their links. I promise I shall leave the weblog here, really.

Now, on to something more fun!

As part of my Mum’s birthday present, I made her a miniature garden. Mum missed the lovely, rolling gardens that we used to have when I was younger. So while I cannot buy one of those, I decided to make a miniature, fairy-sized garden. Mum loves it! Every day it has more flowers and more growth; I must add some updated photos as the garden has grown quite rapidly since I took these photos a couple of weeks ago.

The plants I chose are: Chamomile, Alyssum, Box, Bunyip Buttons (the mossy one) and a variegated Thyme. I had a theme in mind, at least one plant that was tree-shaped, some hilly shapes and then a few other plants for some soft, shrub-like shapes. I also added two frog ornaments as frogs are one of Mum’s favourite animals. She lost a few froggy ornaments that were in pots in their last move, so I am trying to find new ones. These are two of the first. The ones she lost were some that I had bought for her many, many years ago when I was in High School, so it was quite sad to lose them.

I am *so* loving miniature gardens right now. I had a lot of fun making this one and have lots more in the planning stages. You can simply go wild with themes – Fairy gardens, Gnome gardens, Lord of The Rings themed gardens, Secret gardens, Miniature Forests… the possibilities are only limited by your imagination. Grab a pot, some potting mix, plants, a few decorations and go for it!

Neurotic. That’s me.

Ruh roh! I am very, very naughty with this blog, aren’t I? I’m still getting back into the swing of regular updates and trying to overcome a nasty case of ‘blog nerves’. Do you have that? I do!

I get all caught up in ‘what to write about’, ‘is it interesting enough?’, ‘what can I write that is fun’…and then that turns into a complete case of blog posting anxiety. And then I write absolutely nothing. Silly. Self-defeating. Boring! So instead of trying to think of what I want to focus on in this blog, I shall just write about daily things and whatever comes to mind.

Currently in my mind, is makeup. Well, not literally as that would be bad…and sticky! But I am fretting a teensy bit about how to do makeup for a formal, evening function that we are going to very soon. Makeup for me (when I actually wear any) is simply foundation, blush and maybe a bit of pencil eyeliner. I have no clue about how to do fancy smokey eyeshadow or whether or not to use a primer, or what lipstick shades I should wear etc.

And if makeup fretting isn’t enough, there is the whole issue of strapless bras *gasp* and buying and then wearing my first pair of high heels in a very long time. Possibly since my year 12 formal. Which was about eighteen years ago….wait, what? 18 years ago? Far out, brussel sprout!

I am a failure (not that I really think so) in the area of shoes, at least compared to the *average* woman. Unlike most women, I own maybe four or five pairs of shoes. Six including my new heels. Very small heels – a kitten heel, I think it is called? I am planning on wear my new shoes around the house tomorrow in a desperate attempt to be able to walk in them gracefully. Or at least, without falling over and displaying my knickers to all and sundry!

And then we come to the strapless bra. Who invented those?! Why are they still so bad at holding things in the correct place?! We can put men on the moon but we cannot invent a comfortable strapless bra. Sheesh. I am going to cave in to fear of a wardrobe malfunction and buy some of these diamonte bra straps. It is that or the clear ones. I figure diamonte straps look more classy. More noice!

Anyhoo, being one of us women who have more voluptuous hips and busts, I was more than a little worried about whether I would find a suitable dress. I was very happy to find City Chic who cater to sizes 14+. I found a gorgeous dress and I am looking forward to wearing it. I’ve never owned such a pretty, fancy dress before so I am quite excited! I will try and take a photo of my shoes tomorrow, too. And! And, at City Chic, my size is a SMALL! Wow! That is a first! hehe


My dress. Isn’t she pretty? I hope I look half as good in it!
* Photo from City Chic website.

Hello Doris!

Allow me to introduce you to Doris, my retro sideboard. Isn’t she lovely? I found her on eBay for the enormous sum of $5. Yes, only five dollars. I couldn’t believe my luck, either. I had been searching for one of these sideboards for a long time. Today she had another spruce up and I put some of my 50s/60s collectibles on the shelf. I named her after Doris Day. Yes, I do like naming inanimate objects. hehe

Doris is in want of a replacement glass shelf, something which I will buy very soon, and then a new coat of semi-gloss paint inside and a bit of a polish. Of course, then I can buy even more retro things to display in and on Doris. Ah, retro goodies, I do so love you.

I feel quite chuffed with how much I got done today. I cleaned Doris, moved around some of my collectibles, came up with my own crocheted flower (which I am going to make into a brooch) and I made a Persian roast chicken for dinner, with mashed potatoes, spiced carrots and zucchini plus gravy. Yum! More about my Persian chicken recipe soon. Below is a photo of my latest granny squares (playing with colour combinations) and my crocheted flower. I think it is a little like a chrysanthemum in style. Happy to have had a productive day, after quite a few non-productive ones.

I hope your day has been filled with good things!

Learning New Crochet Motifs

Now that I can make granny squares, I’ve started learning how to make other crochet motifs. The first was hexagons and today I started learning how to make simple flowers. I love the thrill of learning something new and then practising to refine your technique. I’ve been enjoying looking through crochet blogs and come across some wonderful tutorials, two of which taught me the two motifs below.

The flowers are in the order in which I made them, starting at the top, the same with the hexagon motifs. With both, I’m not 100% spot on with the technique, but I’m quite pleased with my progress so far. I haven’t blocked any of my crochet motifs yet, something I really should learn how to do.

For the Hexagon motif, I used the tutorial from Life on Laffer and for the flowers I used a tutorial from Attic24.

Do you have any favourite crochet sites or tutorials you’d like to share? Please do! I’ll include them in a new post with your links plus a link to you, then we can all explore fabulous crochet sites together.

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Update: More flowers! Wheee, I’m on a flower kick:

I played with the pattern and instead of doing 9 dc in the circle, I do as many as fit to make a tight circle, then add the petals. The more dc the more petals, it seems.

What’s On Your Table?

What’s on my Table or What’s in the Bag?

I’ll open it up a little more, it looks quite full of something squishy and soft. Could it be…

Yes! Yes, it is full of yarn! Glorious yarn in many colours including the shades of pink and white yarn that I need to complete my first granny square blanket.

Ah. Now I can play with crochet motifs in many colours. And feel content that I finally found more hot pink yarn, after many weeks of searching.

I was about to enjoy a cup of tea while writing this post, however I took one sip and felt ill. I may have over-tea’d myself lately. At least with plain black, milky tea. The drain enjoyed that cup. I think I shall have a glass of apple juice instead. Do you ever over-tea yourself?

What is on your table? Join the lovely Joyce’s meme!

Sifting; better when making biscuits

This week saw yet another problem with the house. Some history: First we had the oven fan breaking down and almost a week with no oven. Next the water heater failed so no hot showers for about a week. The latest problem was a plumbing blockage, meaning problems with the loos! Good grief Charlie Brown, what next?! Hopefully nothing else will break or otherwise fail, touch wood *touches own head*.

Fortunately the plumbing problem was dealt with in under 48 hours. A week without toilets would be…very bad. I know many like to be close to nature and all that, but I like my modern amenities! No squatting au natural here, thankyouverymuch! I had no idea that the old style electric eels are rarely used now. The plumbers had a new fangled jet hose which blasted its way down the drains. At one point the water erupted on the other side of the garden, causing the short appearance of Mt. Smelly Water. The air was quite fragrant, to put it delicately. Ah well, all’s well that ends well.

Today I have been carefully sifting through the policies of the major political parties, deciding where to cast my vote. By the end of it, my brain was melting from reading so much political guff, but at least I have decided who to vote for.

This morning, the Husbitect and I were discussing where to vote, and he very wisely suggested that we decide by considering which school would sell the best sausage sandwiches. A winner!

The photo above was taken by me when my Husbitect was making his delicious, Pfeffernüsse biscuits with top secret ingredients. Nom! Speaking of food, I thought I would share a few links to some delicious recipes that I have come across lately. Enjoy!

What's On Your Table

What’s On Your Table – Tuesday. Yes, today is Thursday…as usual, I am late to post. Oops! Please excuse the iPhone photos, I keep forgetting to charge my camera’s battery. The photos are of one of my birthday presents from my Husbitect. It is a little felt craft kit to make a charm for use on your mobile phone (or somewhere else). I think it comes from Japan.

My kit is a teensy donut and a cup of coffee. The donut even has beads for sprinkles! So cute! This will be one of my next crafty projects. Everything is included except a needle so I am good to go. Will post photos of the finished charm soon.

Perfic!

Thanks for the Birthday wishes! It’s been a lovely few days with some lovely presents and time spent with my loved ones. I need to take some photos of my birthday pressies plus the sideboard I bought for myself. I have always wanted a retro (50s / 60s) sideboard and go over eBay regularly, searching for one I that can afford. I’ve seen them often go for over $180 so imagine my surprise when I saw one for $4.99! I won and although it was quite a kerfuffle fitting her into the car, Doris is now home. Yes, I named the sideboard. After Doris Day.

I’ve had delicious Fettucine Carbonara made by my Dad on my actual birthday, a super yummy quiche made by my Husbitect last night and tonight, Dad is cooking Roast Beef with a mustard crust and Horseradish sauce, with all the yummy roast veggie sides. Mum is baking her nommy rice pudding to be served with mango slices! I may not be able to move from the feasting, but it will be worth it.

I’ve spent the afternoon reading “Home Is Where the Wine Is” (which I am enjoying immensely) by the lovely Crazy Aunt Purl, and painted my nails with blue, glittery nail polish. Now is it is Wine O’ Clock. Perfic!

How about some John Barrowman? Isn’t his voice lovely?!