Featured

Welcome

So here we are, my first new blog. Wow this can be really daunting as I don’t have a particular topic or theme to my musings and perspectives, just my “on a whim” interests and life. Everything from looking after my menagerie of animals to my cooking and silver jewellery making.

In reality I’m a very private person not one given to exposing my life, not even my recipes!

I am of that age where I have a LOT of life skills and experience whilst getting overly opinionated yet not quite old enough that I’m tactless with it. 

Its the day after Boxing Day and I’ve been spoilt with a fancy new laptop and I adore gadgets, so naturally I’ve had a little play but compared to my old laptop this one could probably do my housework as it’s that advanced, it makes my old one seem like it used caveman technology where you carve your message on a stone 😂.

We’ve all had technology, from a smart fitness watch to a TV stick etc…

My family have long past the stage of games and toys which although a godsend in terms of wrapping, it’s sad as there wasn’t a scrabble ( excuse the pun) on the floor assembling the various components, the begging for someone to join in and play😔.

Now I find myself looking at everyone, heads down reading instructions or pressing on buttons absorbed in the latest device whilst an eerie silence envelopes us, quite different from Christmases passed.

This year 2020, the year of THE PANDEMIC, we have learned to adapt, to cope and to seek new ways to make the most of the situation and for us this Christmas was no exception. Our family have been split by lockdowns, tiers and bubbles. FaceTime played an important part in our Christmas dinner, we clinked glasses and sent pictures of decorations and dinner courses. It was odd pulling crackers just the three of us over a half empty table. However, we found ourselves a new dinner guest with fluffy fur and long whiskers who didn’t require a plate but merely placed a paw upon the table when food was needed and two paws if he became impatient.

One of the “rules” I have in our house is that on Christmas morning when my children wake up (not early as I have trained them 😆) is that I like to hear their excited squeals when opening their Christmas stockings at the end of their beds. This year my youngest son had to FaceTime his sister and open both his AND her stockings as “THE BIG MAN” didn’t get a chance to re-direct them at the last minute to the differing locations.

We have promised ourselves that we will make up for all the disappointment by hopefully, all being well and good, meeting up at Easter and in some part recreating the festivities as I usually cook a turkey then too, that’s providing there are any as we are also under the cloud of a wild bird flu epidemic too 🙄.

As I write an update now, (I rarely finish a blog all in one day) we are sending 2020 into the history books and looking forward with our faces to the sun for a more hopeful 2021, where with vaccinations 💉 separations will no longer be compulsory, masks will be put away and hand sanitisers resigned to the first aid kit. We will again shake hands with strangers and hug loved ones, we will “shop ’til we drop”, we will dine out and consume alcohol in pubs only having to burn it off again in reopened gyms and swimming pools, some will return to offices whereas others will have new “home” offices created out of need but now because of the discovery that a better home/life balance can be achieved, the office holds no relevance. Children will return full time to their school desks and play with friends with parents returning to complaining about the time spent on laptops that previously were an educational lifeline.

Whatever 2020 threw at you, may I wish you health, happiness and safety. But most of all I wish that you hold on to the lessons that we have all learned and values that you may have rediscovered such as FAMILY IS EVERYTHING!!

Introduce Yourself (Example Post)

This is an example post, originally published as part of Blogging University. Enroll in one of our ten programs, and start your blog right.

You’re going to publish a post today. Don’t worry about how your blog looks. Don’t worry if you haven’t given it a name yet, or you’re feeling overwhelmed. Just click the “New Post” button, and tell us why you’re here.

Why do this?

  • Because it gives new readers context. What are you about? Why should they read your blog?
  • Because it will help you focus your own ideas about your blog and what you’d like to do with it.

The post can be short or long, a personal intro to your life or a bloggy mission statement, a manifesto for the future or a simple outline of your the types of things you hope to publish.

To help you get started, here are a few questions:

  • Why are you blogging publicly, rather than keeping a personal journal?
  • What topics do you think you’ll write about?
  • Who would you love to connect with via your blog?
  • If you blog successfully throughout the next year, what would you hope to have accomplished?

You’re not locked into any of this; one of the wonderful things about blogs is how they constantly evolve as we learn, grow, and interact with one another — but it’s good to know where and why you started, and articulating your goals may just give you a few other post ideas.

Can’t think how to get started? Just write the first thing that pops into your head. Anne Lamott, author of a book on writing we love, says that you need to give yourself permission to write a “crappy first draft”. Anne makes a great point — just start writing, and worry about editing it later.

When you’re ready to publish, give your post three to five tags that describe your blog’s focus — writing, photography, fiction, parenting, food, cars, movies, sports, whatever. These tags will help others who care about your topics find you in the Reader. Make sure one of the tags is “zerotohero,” so other new bloggers can find you, too.

Introduce Yourself (Example Post)

This is an example post, originally published as part of Blogging University. Enroll in one of our ten programs, and start your blog right.

You’re going to publish a post today. Don’t worry about how your blog looks. Don’t worry if you haven’t given it a name yet, or you’re feeling overwhelmed. Just click the “New Post” button, and tell us why you’re here.

Why do this?

  • Because it gives new readers context. What are you about? Why should they read your blog?
  • Because it will help you focus your own ideas about your blog and what you’d like to do with it.

The post can be short or long, a personal intro to your life or a bloggy mission statement, a manifesto for the future or a simple outline of your the types of things you hope to publish.

To help you get started, here are a few questions:

  • Why are you blogging publicly, rather than keeping a personal journal?
  • What topics do you think you’ll write about?
  • Who would you love to connect with via your blog?
  • If you blog successfully throughout the next year, what would you hope to have accomplished?

You’re not locked into any of this; one of the wonderful things about blogs is how they constantly evolve as we learn, grow, and interact with one another — but it’s good to know where and why you started, and articulating your goals may just give you a few other post ideas.

Can’t think how to get started? Just write the first thing that pops into your head. Anne Lamott, author of a book on writing we love, says that you need to give yourself permission to write a “crappy first draft”. Anne makes a great point — just start writing, and worry about editing it later.

When you’re ready to publish, give your post three to five tags that describe your blog’s focus — writing, photography, fiction, parenting, food, cars, movies, sports, whatever. These tags will help others who care about your topics find you in the Reader. Make sure one of the tags is “zerotohero,” so other new bloggers can find you, too.

Introduce Yourself (Example Post)

This is an example post, originally published as part of Blogging University. Enroll in one of our ten programs, and start your blog right.

You’re going to publish a post today. Don’t worry about how your blog looks. Don’t worry if you haven’t given it a name yet, or you’re feeling overwhelmed. Just click the “New Post” button, and tell us why you’re here.

Why do this?

  • Because it gives new readers context. What are you about? Why should they read your blog?
  • Because it will help you focus your own ideas about your blog and what you’d like to do with it.

The post can be short or long, a personal intro to your life or a bloggy mission statement, a manifesto for the future or a simple outline of your the types of things you hope to publish.

To help you get started, here are a few questions:

  • Why are you blogging publicly, rather than keeping a personal journal?
  • What topics do you think you’ll write about?
  • Who would you love to connect with via your blog?
  • If you blog successfully throughout the next year, what would you hope to have accomplished?

You’re not locked into any of this; one of the wonderful things about blogs is how they constantly evolve as we learn, grow, and interact with one another — but it’s good to know where and why you started, and articulating your goals may just give you a few other post ideas.

Can’t think how to get started? Just write the first thing that pops into your head. Anne Lamott, author of a book on writing we love, says that you need to give yourself permission to write a “crappy first draft”. Anne makes a great point — just start writing, and worry about editing it later.

When you’re ready to publish, give your post three to five tags that describe your blog’s focus — writing, photography, fiction, parenting, food, cars, movies, sports, whatever. These tags will help others who care about your topics find you in the Reader. Make sure one of the tags is “zerotohero,” so other new bloggers can find you, too.