In Which Life Gets Away from Me

Every day this week I have planned to sit down and write a blog post and every day it hasn't happened.

Sometimes it's because I leave it until too late on these wintry days to get a good photo of whatever it is that I plan to write about.   On other days the kids need the computer for homework and by the time they have finished I'm too tired to use the computer myself.

In any case, life is going on pretty much as usual at our red house.  We are approaching the winter school holidays and everyone is tired and needing a break.   The vegie garden is in a winter lull, not helped at all by the chooks that keep trying to dig up worms in there, despite all our attempts to keep them out.  They are incredibly destructive little beasts!  

And I am still enjoying riding my bike to and from work (although not as flirtatiously as the girl in the photo above!)

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Working Things Out

vegie patch

For the month of February, instead of working four days a week from 9 until 3, I'm working five days a week.  Another staff member has gone back to China for the Chinese New Year and I have taken on an extra day's work to help cover for her.

One extra day a week doesn't sound like much, but it is making a difference to me.  I don't have as much time to organise my household.  Overall I feel more tired.  I feel I have to be more organised every day because I don't have Fridays to catch up on any messes.

This is a roundabout was of explaining why I am not blogging much at present.  However, I am looking forward to March, when I should be able to write more frequently again.

Thank you for your patience!

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Huge Blog Problems

 Edvard Munch, The Scream

I've been having huge problems using Blogger's New Template Designer so I tried reverting back to Minima, only to find that I can now no longer change the header or do numerous other things I used to do - there is no Layout tab in Minima anymore.  For a while I thought I had lost my new banner and almost everything on my sidebar, with no way to get them back.  Arrrrrgggghhhh!

Please bear with me while I try to sort these issues out.

Postscript:  The issues are mostly sorted now, I think, and I am back using the new Template Designer (Watermark template).

However, in some of the older posts the pictures do not match the frames when using Internet Explorer, and when you click on the post the sidebar appears at the bottom.  I found this out yesterday when I went to link to a post from 2007, No Cook Homemade Playdough, for a blog carnival.

Does anyone know how to fix this? I've already posted the issue on a Blogger forum but no answers so far.

Why does technology so often drive me to near insanity?  It's supposed to make life easier!

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Word Snob

I am a word snob.  I like words to be used properly and I like them to be spelt correctly.

Tragically, I usually write words out in full when texting.

I don't like it when people make nouns into verbs, such as turning 'impact' into 'impacted on', rather than 'the impact on'.

I don't like the (newish) verb 'to diarise'.  It sounds too much like diarrhoea.

It's 'one fell swoop' not 'one foul sweep' (from Macbeth).

I prefer English/Australian spelling to American, although I accept that 'programme' has become 'program'.

I am amused every time I read of someone 'pouring' over a book instead of the correct 'poring'.

And why do people write 'past-time' instead of 'pastime', a hobby?

At school I learnt that sentences should not begin with 'and' or 'but'.

And I do that all the time.

But I shouldn't.

Do you have pet hates when it comes to grammar and spelling?  What are they?

Postscript: A reader reminded me of one of my biggest pet hates, the misuse of apostrophe's. (Yes, that error was intentional!)


Just for the record, simple plurals NEVER require an apostrophe.  Thus it's ponies not pony's and 1990s not 1990's (we would write nineties not ninety's).

Just had to get that off my chest.

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To Moderate or Not to Moderate

That is the question.

I have never moderated blog comments here at Our Red House as I want to encourage open discussion. While sometimes readers have disagreed with my views on things, no one has ever been rude or offensive. The vast majority of comments are kind and friendly.

However, recently I have experienced a spate of spam comments and comments in other languages which I suspect may link to non-family friendly (to say the least) websites. I have also discovered that spammers have been leaving their comments on some of my older posts, especially the ones that continue to get large numbers of hits. It is both tedious and frustrating to have to remove these comments.

So the question is, should I do as so many others do and begin to modify the comments that my blog receives?

Factors in favour of not modifying are:

A sense of immediacy: often a dialogue will start between commenters when I am out of the room, as it were. Modifying comments would discourage this.

My time commitments: I work four days a week and rarely have much time to spend on the blog during those days - when I am home, family comes before the computer. If I modified comments I would need to check the blog more often.

Respect for my readers: by far the greatest majority of comments that I receive are positive. Many come from other bloggers whom I have come to 'know' over the past few years, and I do not wish to deter these people from commenting.

Volume of comments: While in the past, when I used to post almost every day, I could get 20 or 30 comments on many posts, this volume has dropped. It is not particularly difficult to check the comments I receive after they have published and remove any inappropriate ones.

The Decision?

I have changed my Blogger settings so that I will modify any comments attached to posts more than 10 days old (often the targets of spammers), but more recent posts will not be modified. I will review this decision every so often and decide if it is still the best course of action.

So tell me:

Do you modify the comments on your blog? What has led you to this decision?

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Beautiful Bathers

Like most women, especially those who have had several babies, I cringe at the thought of shopping for a swimming costume for myself. However, I almost swooned over the Fifties' fabulousness of the cossies in the video below, which I filched from the 50s times. Anyone for a Wingding?

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Lots of Links for Creating Beautiful Blogs (and They're All Free!)

As you can tell from the number of times that I have changed the look of my blog, I have yet to find the 'perfect' blog design.

However, there are so many websites now providing free blog backgrounds and free digital scrapbooking that we need never get bored with one design.

Today I thought I'd share some of the best sites I've found for free blogging materials. If you know of others, leave a comment and I'll add them to the list. Please note that these designs are all for Blogger blogs.

Beautiful Backgrounds

These sites all have free backgrounds, mostly for 2-column blogs. All you have to do is add some html to your sidebar; you don't have to fiddle with your template at all. Most of these designers also offer paid services for a more integrated blog design.

The Cutest Blog on the Block: The largest number of free backgrounds in one spot, mostly in bright, cheerful designs

The Background Fairy: I have only just discovered this site and I love it. These designs are perfect for the blogger who wants a subtle, pretty backgrounds that doesn't overwhelm her blog.

Cute and Cool Blog Stuff: Funky and whimsical, an absolute delight.

Aqua Poppy Designs: More bright and beautiful designs, although at present they are all for 2-column blogs

LeeLou Blogs: Lots of free layouts for Blogger blogs

Simply Chic Blog Backgrounds: More pleasing designs. Some of the earlier ones will not cover a widescreen monitor fully, so please check when you install them.

Free Digital Scrapbooking Materials

The easiest way to create a custom blog header is by downloading free scrapbooking materials and using them with a photo-editing program.

Two sites I love are:

Digiscrap Depot

Scrapping with Ikea Goddess

Helpful How-Tos

For those who are a little more ambitious, here are some links to making changes to your blog that may involve fiddling with your template. Please save your existing template before trying them.

• How to change your blog from two columns to three

I did this over the weekend and it's easier than you might think.

• How to make your own background using Photobucket

In 2007, Jess from Making Home wrote a series on "Redesigning Your Blog" that you may also find helpful.

Here are the links:


Redesign Your Blog #1: DREAM

Redesign Your Blog #2: Design the Photos/Graphics

Redesign Your Blog #3: Dealing with Pesky HTML

Last but not least, here is a link to a fantastic series with 31 Ways to Build a Better Blog. Highly recommended!

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What Kind of Happy Are You?

You Are Blissful

You are passionate about life and thrilled with the world. You aren't just feeling good... you're feeling great. Happiness comes easily to you. You are a truly radiant person. People feel your warm, jubilant vibes. You truly make the world a happier place. And a better place too.

What Kind of Happy Are You?

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Our Red House in the "Independent Weekly"

For the last couple of weeks I have had an exciting little secret: "Our Red House" has been invited to feature in a newspaper article!

A few weeks ago, John Harris, who writes the "Technofile" column for the Independent Weekly, asked if he could interview me about my blog.

And yesterday, the paper was published, so now I can tell you about it.

Here is a link to digital version of the paper. You have to click through to page 31.

And here is a link that will (hopefully) take you straight to the right page. You can zoom in to read the article on the bottom right-hand side. If you can't zoom, try clicking on the article and it should enlarge.

Let me know what you think!

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Free HTML tutorials

Computer as Envisaged in 1927, Illustration to the Thought Machine by Ammianus Marcellinus

Ever since I began blogging I have wanted to learn html. I even borrowed a copy of HTML 4 For Dummies
from the library but it didn't help much. I guess I'm just too dumb. Or perhaps the ancient edition was the problem.

(For those unfamiliar with html, it's the language that you write a web-page in. Your web browser reads the html and 'Voila!', a web page.)

Although Blogger does most of the html for me, there are times when a greater knowledge of html would be very useful; for example, if I wanted to design my own blog background or increase the number of columns without deleting all my other information.

Just as I was beginning to think that html might be beyond the grasp of lesser blogging mortals such as myself, I read on Life in a Shoe that Kim's young daughters are taking html lessons on the internet.

This, I thought, requires further investigation. I followed the link on Kim's blog and found a website dedicated to teaching all sorts of computer information. It even looks straightforward enough for me, the queen of all Luddites, to understand. Best of all, the tutorials are free.

Here is the link to the html tutorials.

Well, tickle me pink! I'm gonna go learn me some html. Bye for now!

Postscript: My teenage son (and family technology guru) just told me about another useful web tutorial site called http://www.tutorialized.com/. It has tutorials for Photoshop and lots of other programs.

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