Some Facebook discoveries and links to check out too

To me, Facebook is all about discoveries - discovering what my friends are doing, discovering news that is not on the News at 6 and 10, and discovering new art, music, and takes on what is going on in the world.

Many people on Facebook like this. For me, I like discovering what my friends and acquaintances like, and also finding out about new art, news, links, photos, and lots more.

I repost some of the discoveries I find there by using the "share" button, and that re-circulates other people's stories and finds.

One example: Today I found out that the .ly suffix is owned by Libya/Ghadafi, so I pledged to use another free url shortening service, Google URL Shortener. I then shared this on Facebook so others can do it too.

Are you on Facebook? Do you have family, friends and acquaintances on your Facebook page? Do you have a fan page where you share some of your finds and ideas?

If you are not on Facebook, you could miss some discoveries - like these:


The Sewing Machine Orchestra
Louise's Apple and Cranberry Crumble Squidoo Recipe lens
A new Mashable article: How Baby Boomers are Embracing Social Media
A photo of a soldier and how he feels about  possible government shutdown
Low-Tech Tunnels: Tech solutions to Spring Fever
AP Newsbreak: the IRS awards 4.5M to Whistleblower
Indian activist ends hunger strike

I would not have heard about these stories anywhere else.

Just saying!

-Betsyanne

PS Join me at my "Like" Facebook page here: Betsyanne's FB page.

My Personal Page and blog
The Nontrads site and blog
My Squidoo pages
Join me on Twitter as @betsyanne or @nontrads

FYI: the picture of a Mars Rover is from the free clipart and art site, Clker.com.

The Flying Festooned Tankman Truck

The truck that reminded me of a parade

I saw this truck about a month ago. The plastic tied around the tanks just streamed into the wind, and made quite a fanciful sight. These new tanks were festooned with clear wrapped pieces that each were caught separately by the wind.

I loved it!

We tried to catch up to it again to get more pictures, but it quickly vanished ahead. I think taking a movie of it would have caught the movement a lot better, but you can get a semi-idea here of how fun this was to see.

I have never seen a machine that had such beautiful decoration.

 The effect of the streaming plastic was like a celebration.

I was thrilled by the beautiful waves the plastic made in the wind.

Finally, this fanciful sight faded away. I looked "Zander" (the tank company) up online, but there were quite a few different ones, so I wasn't quite sure which to list here.

This one was taken from inside the car, so it's got a screen pattern on it.

I was sorry to see this tanker cargo leave and go up the road.

I hope to see another truck with cargo like this, including plastic streamers, someday. This whole idea could be made into other things too, like long heads with streamer hair, or a sculpture with waving wires. The top photo captures the moment best.

All for now,

-Betsyanne

My Personal Page and blog
The Nontrads site and blog
My Squidoo pages
Join me on my Fan Page on Facebook
Join me on Twitter as @betsyanne or @nontrads

A semi-perfect cup of coffee - my recipe using instant coffee

I thought I'd share my personal coffee mixture today. It can really hit the spot, and you don't have to make a whole pot of coffee to have it. It uses instant coffee as its base.

Of course, a really ideal cup of coffee may well be some delicious variety of Fair Trade Coffee that you grind yourself, and place into your electric coffeemaker... but I digress.

My Coffee Recipe Ingredients: 

100% Columbian Trader Joe's Instant Coffee - 1 tsp to 1 tbsp. (to taste) Of course, you can use your personal favorite here too.
Spreadable or pourable honey - around 1/2 tsp. or more if you have a sweet tooth.
Several shakes of Stevia extract (natural sweetener)
1 tsp. of pure vanilla (or more, to taste)
1/2 tsp. of cocoa or carob (optional)
milk or cream to taste

I usually heat up the water first (filtered water is the best option) and then add all the ingredients. Then back to the microwave my coffee goes until it's nice and hot.

There you have it. I hope you like it! I am still experimenting with this recipe, but so far I like it. I think maybe a teensy bit of cinnamon might be a fun thing to try with it too.

What is YOUR favorite cup of coffee recipe? You can share it below, or leave a comment. Thanks!

-Betsyanne

My Personal Page and blog
The Nontrads site and blog
My Squidoo pages
Join me on Twitter as @betsyanne or @nontrads

The Tamarind Indian Bistro in Nashville, Tennessee

What a great buffet the Tamarind Indian Bistro had on Friday.

They had vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes, samosas, a good selection of curries, papadums, nan bread cut into little triangles, and two kinds of desserts right next to the regular buffet. We really enjoyed it.

The Tamarind changes their buffet menu every day. I liked the nice white napkins folded into a hat at each place, and fun Indian music playing too. I saw people from all over eating there. Note to new customers: when you get the buffet, you just walk over to the little counter when you are through and pay.

I took a few other photos the same day. One is of Rickey and a big rooster. Notice the chain on the big rooster's leg. This statue is right down the street from the Tamarind.

We also went into two other stores here, Flavour Women and Men are both really the same store, but men's clothing and hats are on one side, and women's clothing and accessories are on the other. I saw some interesting things.

The women's jewelry featured the new bracelet style, which is are more like big long armbands. They had several kinds of these. To me they seem like many bracelets glued together. But it was a fun store, with friendly shopkeepers.

I tried to get Rickey to try on a hat. Maybe next time!

So... this lunch was definitely a great success. I think we will for sure be going back there! I think I would like to try some of the items on the regular menu also someday. I enjoyed the Chicken Tikka, one of my Mom's favorites, along with Sag and the Gulab Jamun dessert (yummy honey sweet dessert balls sometimes made with rosewater).

Here is the Tamarind Bistro website. They have coupons there for $1.00 off the buffet and one for dinner and  carry-out orders too. They also have a PDF file of their menu.

Betsyanne

My Personal Page and blog (this one!)
The Nontrads site and blog
My Squidoo pages
Join me on Twitter as @betsyanne or @nontrads

It's garden time! Another BIG list of seed and garden catalogs

 It's time for a garden!

A beautiful flowery garden fence.

It is that time again. time for planning your garden, and actually working on it too.

What will you plant this year? Some tomatoes? Peppers? Tons of different vegetables? Here is the BIG list of catalogs and companies to order your plants from.

Personally, I will be ordering or planting (hopefully) some heritage seeds and saved flower seeds this year. I also will be pruning the apple tree and putting in at LEAST a couple of tomato plants.

I live in Kentucky, and most things have a long-ish growing season. A trend I like is towards natural seeds, seeds that are good for your own area of the country, and seeds you can collect from the garden and then re-use (heritage seeds.)

I have found some great listings in some fun magazines this year too, Natural Awakenings, Countryside, BackHome, Body & Soul (now Whole Living Magazine), and Mother Earth News.

Here is my updated list of fun sites to explore:

ORGANIC AND HEIRLOOM SEEDS

Grandma’s Gardens catalog and endangered species seeds
http://underwoodgardens.com/index1.php

Hudson Seeds, California
http://www.JLHudsonseeds.net

The International Seed Saving Institute
http://www.seedsave.org/

Seeds Trust for high altitude gardens
http://www.seedstrust.com/

Flowers from nursery sources
by the Brooklyn Botanical Garden
http://www.bbg.org/gar2/topics/plants/handbooks/flowers/9.html 

Redwood City Seed Company
California
http://www.ecoseeds.com

Redwood City Seed (California) #2 site
This features pepper varieties
http://www.lovepeppers.com/catalog.welcome.html

Baker Creek Heirloom seeds
This company is famous and one of the very best!!
http://www.rareseeds.com/

Heirloom tomato seeds – These have letter codes indicating resistance
to different diseases – and includes Seed Swap 101, how to swap seeds.
http://www.vegetableseedwarehouse.com/heirtom/html

Fantastic Findings lists of seeds
http://www.fantasticfindings.com/results.aspx?cat=seeds

Heirloom Acres, Missouri
http://www.heirloomacresseeds.com/
Takes PayPal.

Whatcom rare seeds
http://seedrack.com/

Sources for organic and heirloom seeds by mail:
http://www.heirloomseeds.com/organic.html

Heirloom flower bulbs
http://www.oldhousegardens.com/

Heirloom seeds on Ebay
http://stores.ebay.com/Blue-Ribbon-Tomatoes_seeds_W0QQfsubZ2QQstorecachemissZblueribbontomatoesQ5fseedsQQtZkm

The Heirloom Sampler site – this site shows pictures of heirloom varieties and explains about each one. "The Heirloom Vegetable Gardener's Assistant".
http://www.halcyon.com/tmend/sampler.htm

Amishland Heirloom Seeds
http://www.amishlandseeds.com/index.htm

Thomas Jefferson’s seeds
from Monticello
http://monticellostore.stores.yahoo.net/plants---seeds-seeds.html

Bill Best’s article from Appalachian Heritage magazine
http://www.heirlooms.org/beans.html - this article features descriptions of heritage beans from Kentucky. You pick out the kinds you want and then send them a check.
http://www.heirlooms.org/catalog.html

Local Harvest Seeds
http://www.localharvest.org/store/seeds.jsp
also: herbs, honey products, soaps, more

Rutgers University tomatoes - these include the Ramapo tomato:
http://www.njfarmfresh.rutgers.edu/JerseyTomato.html

Grow Shitake mushrooms
http://www.mushroompeople.com/

REGIONAL SEED EXCHANGES
Saving, storing, and growing seeds
http://www.freetechsupport.com/csr/seeds.htm

Southern Exposure Seed Exchange
http://www.southernexposure.com/index.html

Seed exchanges for each state
http://www.blossomswap.com/exchanges

FARMERS PRODUCE SHARE CO-OPS
AND SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE SITES

Local Harvest – buy foods grown close to your location
http://www.localharvest.org/

The Farm Eco-Village Training Center
offers classes and apprenticeships
2008 Calendar
http://www.thefarm.org/general/calendar.html

INTERNSHIPS

Sustainable farming internships
http://www.attrainternships.ncat.org/

ORGANIC FOOD STORES
Goodness Greeness
http://www.goodnessgreeness.com/

INTERNATIONAL GROUPS

Equal Exchange
Massachusetts
A Fair Trade site – coffee a specialty
http://www.equalexchange.com




Global Exchange
includes Fair Trade items, too
http://www.globalexchange.org/

NATURAL MAKEUP, HEALING REMEDIES, MORE
Marsha Mason's company, River Herbs
http://restingintheriver.com/

Herbal Healer Company
http://www.herbalhealer.com

INTERESTING ONLINE STORES 
Hoegger Supply Company
http://hoeggergoatsupply.com/xcart/home.php

Raven's Nest Herbals
http://www.ravensnestherbals.com
They have a downloadable catalog.

(A neat Chicken Coop for sale)
Horizon Structures
http://www.HorizonStructures.com/coop.asp

My Amish Goods
More Chicken Coops, more
http://www.myamishgoods.com

Cosmic Connections, 1701 Portland Avenue, Nashville, TN
615-463-7677
http://www.YourCosmicConnections.com


HOLISTIC and ALTERNATIVE/COMBO DOCTORS and CLINICS
See listings at http://www.NANashville.com

LOCAL – KENTUCKY
Kentucky only
Farmers Market Directory
http://www.kyagr.com/marketing/farmmarket/directory.htm

Agriculture links
http://www.kyagr.com/forms/aglinks.htm

HOW TO SAVE YOUR OWN SEEDS FROM YOUR GARDEN
From Natural Life Magazine
http://www.naturallifemagazine.com/9504/seeds.htm

I hope you enjoy these. Please add your favorites as a comment below here, or just leave your comment, a short one is A-OK. Thank you!

-Betsyanne at The Garden Spot

The photo of the beautiful flowery garden fence is by cwwycoff1 on Flickr.


Here are some of my pages and sites:
My Personal Page and blog
The Nontrads site and blog
My Squidoo pages
Join me on Twitter as @betsyanne or @nontrads

Too much stuff!

Not my mess - but you get the idea!

I have way too much stuff to fit in my house.

Do you also have too much stuff? Do you glom on to more when it is "good" stuff that maybe you collect?

I watched the TV show about packrats, Hoarders, last month. It was so sad to see how awful living conditions can get when you simply can't keep up with stuff. So much of the things people kept weren't even good things.

I did like that people were trying to help them, though. This show made me feel better about myself, because some of the people there didn't want to try any more or even do dishes. (yuck!)

Back to the subject. There is a website I like called FlyLady that helps people get rid of things they don't need in their home. I like it.

One of my biggest weaknesses are books. I am a big reader and love to look at them too. I need to get rid of many books I have already read. But mostly, I need to neaten up the storage and decide which ones to give away or sell.

Do you have collections or junk you need to get rid of? What things do you collect that you know you need to organize or change?

Oh - I almost forgot. I got some more books today. (!) But I am not worried too much about it. I WILL get organized. One of these days....

Leave a comment if you are in my boat - - too much stuff, and not enough space!

-Betsyanne 

The photo at the top here is by sideshowmom on Morguefile.



Here is the Hoarders Episode Guide online. (The videos start up automatically in case you need to turn down your computer volume).


My Personal Page and blog
The Nontrads site and blog
My Squidoo pages
Join me on Facebook (my fan page)
Join me on Twitter as @betsyanne or @nontrads

Historic Thomas Drug Store, Cross Plains, Tennessee

My visit to Thomas Drug Store in Cross Plains

 This is my second visit to Thomas Drug in Cross Plains, Tennessee. What a charming store! It is both modern drug store plus turn of the century (LAST century) store.

You can see wonderful old things here, including vintage wallpaper and wooden booths. We had lunch at Thomas Drug Store, and it was really really fantastically good. I ordered a Club Sandwich, and Rickey had a Grilled Cheese with Bacon sandwich. I think mine tasted like a BLT, only better. It had lunchmeat, lettuce, bacon, tomatoes, and toasted bread. Rickey liked his, but mine was a lot bigger.

We also had homemade ice cream shakes. We are talking REALLY homemade. It took awhile to make these and you had to drink them FAST. It was like getting 2-3 shakes instead of just one. I used a lot of the napkins they had at the table. Next to us was a family with a new baby. Everyone in the store knew them, and ooohed and aaahed at the really cute baby, who didn't cry (much).

The atmosphere at Thomas Drug is marvelous. It's a small town place, and everyone smiles and speaks to one another, a la Mayberry. And I kid you not. They have real parts of the old brick cobble type streets there too. And some really pretty antique stores and boutiques.

I will definitely be back to check out the fun stuff for sale, which includes stationery, dolls, handmade wooden building decor, postcards (I got two), and ceramic drink coasters.

I am putting all the photos on Flickr and Facebook too.

-Betsyanne 

Here are some more photos are from Cross Plains' Citywide Yard Sale in June 2010 and are on Flickr also. There are some more photos of the inside of Thomas Drug here too.

My Personal Page and blog
The Nontrads site and blog
My Squidoo pages
Join me on Twitter as @betsyanne or @nontrads

A new ray of hope for Alzheimer's and dementia - plus two Alzheimer's blogs

An easy future cure for Alzheimer's and Dementia? This is definitely worth a look.

I ran across a great, interesting article today in one of my favorite blogs, The Alzheimer's Reading Room. The author, Bob DeMarco, is himself a caregiver for his mother, Dotty.

He writes about his experiences, and also posts new information that is of interest to other caregivers. Often, he writes about new possibilities for treatment, what works, and news about Alzheimer's too.

The posting in question is about a possible new treatment for Alzheimer's. It sounds so hopeful. Plus, it does sound like exciting research. The post is called Alzheimer's vaccine in a Nasal Spray.

I hope that this research pans out and turns out to be useful for patients and their families.

Another great new blog about Alzheimer's caregiving happens to be written by a former high school friend, Tinky Weisblat. She is the caregiver for her Mom, Jan (Taffy) too. You will also love her quirky, fun sense of humor. Here is her blog: Pulling Taffy. I know you will enjoy it.

She has also written a book, The Pudding Hollow Cookbook. Here is that page.

All for now,
Betsyanne

My Personal Page and blog
The Nontrads site and blog
My Squidoo pages
Join me on Twitter as @betsyanne or @nontrads

Computer and scanner glitches - - and neat jewelry from Laura Reynolds!

Just scroll down for the upbeat stuff. :-)

It's been awhile since I've had to grapple with glitches. One such glitch is my not-working driver for my scanner. Ouch!

I have tried several times to get it working again with downloads of new drivers. So maybe it's time for another scanner?

I got my trusty Microtek 4800 a long time ago, and really like it. It works for me. At least it used to! Now to search for other kinds OR try to get the driver working. Last time this happened, I spent about two days getting it to work again, which is a major waste of time.

Onward and upward!

I did have another posting to put here today before I was interrupted by scanner drama.

I have photos of some wonderful handmade jewelry I got at Concave last weekend. They are both necklaces, the bottom part (no chains). One is of a dragon with an eye in it, and the other looks like some kind of round steampunk machine switch with a bit push button and lights on the side.

Here are pictures of them...

Both pendants.

A beautiful steampunk pendant with faux lights.

A dragon with a dragon eye.

These are molded somehow, and very light. I like the attention to detail, the shading, and the bright additions.

They are made by Laura Reynolds, who also makes beautiful models and other art. Here is her website: Prism Studios. Thanks, Laura!

And here is an article about her: Laura Reynolds: Enchanting Animals. 

-Betsyanne

My Personal Page and blog
The Nontrads site and blog
My Squidoo pages
Join me on Twitter as @betsyanne or @nontrads

Too many blogs? I wonder.

 Hi everyone!

Today I am doing my blogs. Of course, each one is different, so I am finding something (hopefully interesting!) to put on all of them.

My new proposal to myself is to write something here and on the other blogs at least every other day. That way, they have good continuity, which is a great thing on a blog.

Here are some of my other blogs:
The Nontraditional Student blog - this blog was set up to help other nontraditional students. I hope to put this on the Nontrad website this year so it adds to the freshness of the first page OR has its own page.
The BGAMUG blog (for now!) - announcing club events for the Bowling Green Computer Club. I am thinking of broadening this blog to include other members doing guest postings or getting some good computer tips to post here too.
Squidoo Liz - continuing my Squidoo journey of building lenses towards my first 50.
Cheap and Free Stuff in and around Bowling Green, Kentucky. This list has proven handy for some of my readers, who use it to check out what they plan for the week. Plus it helps keep me apprised of events.
Find Scholarships and Grants - this blog helps students of all ages find free help and links to get scholarships, grants, and more.

This does not count the Nontrad discussion group, My Squidoo pages, or my websites, which all need an update. PLUS I have a monthly newsletter I need to do. So I think I will still aim for quality postings on my blogs, but won't mind as much if they are shorter. And nothing says I must always find a good photo for them... but I do like clip art, photos, or other decorations on my blogs.

Do you have a blog or blogs, readers? How do you decide whether or not to keep a blog you have invested in? Or do you just abbreviate it? I would be curious to know.

My Personal Page and blog
The Nontrads site and blog
My Squidoo pages
Join me on Twitter as @betsyanne or @nontrads
Selling on Ebay:  

ConCave photos for Friday, February 25, 2011

 ConCave is fun this weekend. I took some photos of it and posted them on Facebook too.

Here are just a few:

The reception at the Art Show.

A fun advertisement for a room party.

Looking out at the pool and hot tub.

You can see more photos here on Facebook. It's a fun convention for science fiction fans, and is now a Kentucky tradition.

Later!

-Betsyanne

My Personal Page and blog
The Nontrads site and blog
My Squidoo pages
Join me on Twitter as @betsyanne or @nontrads

Friends of the Linebaugh Library booksale - photos and thoughts about some book dealers

Photos from the Linebaugh Library Sale in Murfreesboro - and their new rules about pricing scanners and glomming books.

Here are some photos I took of the great library sale in Murfreesboro, Tennessee on Saturday.

The entrance to the Friends of the Linebaugh Library Sale in Murfreesboro, TN

 There was a long line waiting for the sale to open. It was hard to navigate for awhile inside... but then people started to leave, and space opened up to look more. People were polite and eventually lookers got to see all the sections if they were patient.

One thing helped a LOT. The Friends of the Linebaugh Library have a new rule: no handheld computers or scanners, or booksellers hogging areas. I say "yay!"

DVD's, CD's, and Hardbacks were $1.00. Paperbacks were 50¢

.

 I have been going to as many booksales as possible lately, and have found some good deals. But I have noticed a lot more professionals taking advantage. They swoop down on an area, and won't let others look.

I do not think that is fair. Some booksellers are so focused that they don't seem to even see anybody else... and they are given special treatment. Some glom on to the best books by taking over whole sections of some booksales, so nobody else can look.  They never move from their chosen section until they are done.

This table was outside. It had some good audiobooks on it.

And it seems to be OK with the book sale people sometimes. Some dealers are even allowed to see ALL the new books first that people bring in too.

I can see how book sale organizations may need to develop special relationships with professional sellers. After all, they need to sell their books; as many as possible. But I think they should show special treatment at other times, like before the sale (if they need to at all). Personally, I think professionals should get the exact same chances as everyone else.

I think people had a lot of fun at this sale.

Then there are the professional scoopers. OMG. These booksellers just scoop everything up that they can on a table, (the good books, of course...) then set up somewhere else to scan at their leisure. They don't let anyone else have a chance to find something they like. All the valuable or good books or those in good condition are kept by the professional person, and they put their dregs back on the table later on. Is this fair? I think not.

Some more happy book buyers.

It's too bad that some of the professional booksellers are starting to give all booksellers a bad name by these practices. And I'm really glad the Freinds of the Linebaugh Library put a stop to it this year.  I hope other library sales do that also.

More polite and happy book buyers. And nary a handheld.

I don't have anything against professional booksellers (I occasionally sell a book or two also...) but I think things should be fair for everyone. I bet I'm not the only person that does not like it when people "hog" an area and don't play fair.

It's fun to look for a good book and it's fun to find a deal, but it's NOT fun to be blocked from looking.

OK - off my soapbox.  I had SO much fun at this booksale.  I found a lot of great books, and some audio books, too. Thanks, Friends of the Linebaugh Library! You rock!


-Betsyanne

My Personal Page and blog
The Nontrads site and blog
My Squidoo pages
Join me on Twitter as @betsyanne or @nontrads

Why I love older technology

 Older technology has some great advantages.

#1. It is cheaper than the newest technology. This goes for things like computers, software, tape players, and tapes.

For example, I can find a nice tapebook (the old-fashioned cassette kind) for maybe $2.00 or $1.00 for the whole book. It both plays great and is fun to listen to. Now, if I would upgrade to always listening to CD audiobooks, I would have to pay more.

#2. It's still technology. And I do like to play with techie gadgets.

#3. I can wait for the newer technology to get older, then buy it. This will work the bugs out of it. And (#1 again...) The price will have gone down by the time I buy it, which is a win-win situation.

#4. Technology is still useful whatever its age, as long as it still works. This advantage is great because I don't care if it is old or new. I just care if it is fun or useful. I think lots of people agree with me on this. Now, if I allowed myself to get used to only new technology, that would be another story. But I don't.

#5. Owning techie gadgets is a good thing, older or newer. Tech gadgets are can make life easier and more creative. And then there is the volume thing. Going for older technology means that instead of just owning 1 or 2 techie gadgets, I (or anyone!) can maybe have 3 or 4.

Just saying! What's next? Maybe an older Wii. Hmmmm.....

Betsyanne

My Personal Page and blog
The Nontrads site and blog
My Squidoo pages
Join me on Twitter as @betsyanne or @nontrads

Snow, snow, snow...

Here are just a few photos from the snow today. I knew SOME snow was on the ground, but I didn't know how much.

So I went outside to see. Wow.

I'm so lucky to be snug inside!

Betsyanne

My Personal Page and blog
The Nontrads site and blog
My Squidoo pages
Join me on Twitter as @betsyanne or @nontrads

An excerpt from Ballad of the Little Square by Federico Garcia Lorca

Ballad of the Little Square - an excerpt

My husband Rickey found a poetry book today - The Selected Poems of Federico Garcia Lorca at the Macy's used Book Sale at the L & N Depot in Bowling Green, Kentucky.

He called attention to part of his poem Ballad of the Little Square. I had never heard of this beautiful poem before.

Here is that excerpt:

"...The Children
Why do you go so far
from the little square?

Myself
I go in search of magicians
and of princesses!

The Children
Who showed you the path
of the poets?

Myself
The fountain and the stream
of the antique song.

The Children
Do you go far, very far
from the sea and the earth?

Myself
My heart of silk
is filled with lights,
with lost bells, with lilies and bees.
I will go very far,
farther than those hills,
father than the seas,
close to the stars,
to beg Christ the Lord
to give back the soul I had
of old, when I was a child,
ripened with legends,
with a feathered cap
and a wooden sword.
..."

Betsyanne

The whole poem is scarier than this. Here you can read it all: http://blather.newdream.net/b/ballad_of_the_little_square.html

My Personal Page and blog
The Nontrads site and blog
My Squidoo pages
Join me on Twitter as @betsyanne or @nontrads

A reminder for gardeners

A reminder for gardeners (and for myself!)

If you are going to plant a garden this year, now is the time to start some seeds. You can start them indoors and have lights for them or put them by a window. You will be able to transplant them to a cold frame later on.

I usually put this off and don't have my own (cheap) seedlings to use, and wind up getting plants later in the season and spending money I don't need to. Then I also regret not having any tiny flowers to plant either.

So this year I'm going to do it!

Hopefully. Are you planning a garden this year? Comment below and tell me your plans. Sometimes just writing about it can help make it happen.

What are you going to plant? I hope to plant tomatoes, peppers, loads of different flowers and herbs, some catnip, and maybe potatoes. We'll see. 

Betsyanne

My Personal Page and blog
The Nontrads site and blog
My Squidoo pages
Join me on Twitter as @betsyanne or @nontrads

Caught by magazine temptation at Barnes and Noble

Barnes and Noble bookstore - The magazines there are hard to resist. That's for sure.

I'm telling you, it is DANGEROUS to go to Barnes and Noble and look at their many magazines. Because I can wind up buying some. But I am glad even though I feel sort of guilty about it. But I do love these magazines. They are so fun.

There are SO many good ones there. It is so tempting today that I bought a couple of my favorite ones: Countryside and Backwoods Home.

These magazines are so fun to read. I already found a great article in Countryside called "Publish Your Own Books." I mean Oh My Gosh. This is exactly what I have been looking for.

I already have been writing some ebooks, and thought I knew a little about publishing them (for ebook readers) but it's great when I can find something to validate my research. Now I feel even better about going ahead with my book projects. I can publish my own book on Amazon Kindle for free. This is so great. The article also gives hints about how to proofread, using MS Word, the Blurb website, and converting your book to html.

It's a great article, and only one of many. I do enjoy learning about gardening, herbs, how to survive in a bad economy, great recipes, meatless meals, books, resources, nature sanctuaries, and more in the great magazines they have there.

The really cool thing about other magazines is that you can keep up to speed on your hobbies and interests by looking at the ads in the magazines and in the back of them.

I buy magazines so much at Barnes and Noble I probably pay more (paying cover price) than a subscription would cost. I must re-think this somehow.

Are you daring enough to scope out Barnes and Noble's magazine aisle? You never know, you could enter the Danger Zone and take some great articles home.

Good luck!

-Betsyanne

PS this neat photo of people in a bookstore is from the Microsoft Images pages.

My Personal Page and blog
The Nontrads site and blog
My Squidoo pages
Join me on Twitter as @betsyanne or @nontrads

Groupon ticket available for Lost River Cave

Hey, hey! I just saw a great deal online. Do you live in or near Bowling Green, Kentucky?

Groupon, the online coupon deal site, has a terrific coupon for Lost River Cave right now. It is only $7.00 for one ticket to Lost River Cave. The regular price is $15.00. What a deal!

I have been on the Cave Tour, but never to the Boat Tour. Here is the Groupon site:
Lost River Cave Groupon Coupon
They also have a map on the site located at the lower right.

Also, you can read about Lost River Cave here at their website:
Lost River Cave website

Happy exploring!

Betsyanne

My Personal Page and blog
The Nontrads site and blog
My Squidoo pages
Join me on Twitter as @betsyanne or @nontrads

BGAMUG - the Bowling Green Area Microcomputer User's Group

BGAMUG meets tonight and every fourth Tuesday.

Tonight at 6:30, the BGAMUG group in Bowling Green, Kentucky will have a meeting at Bowling Green Technical College, building F. It is completely free and open to the public. They have a presentation at each meeting, and door prizes too.

This group helps people learn more about their computers and computer programs.  They also help groups and people in need.

They have a website here too: BGAMUG. Check it out to see what is coming up at the meetings and see what the group is all about. There is a map there too, to make it easy to find the meeting location.

Betsyanne
My page - The Nontrad Site - Squidoo Secrets - Twitter

Saving my Twitter postings for later, adding Digg, more.

I am saving my Twitter Postings - do you do that too?

In this posting: how to make a home-made Twitter postings backup for personal use, how to add a "Digg" program window on your Firefox browser, and a thumbs up for Hootsuite, a Twitter poster that lets you post ahead of time on your Twitter accounts.

I save my Twitter postings after I use them. I can re-use them that way at HootSuite or put the on my permanent links on my browser, to look at later.

I find some neat websites while searching at Digg and Stumbleupon. The Digg ones I can now check out on my desktop with a new application, the Digg Toolbar on Firefox version 2.0.2. This application really helps me find new stories to list on Twitter.

It is easy to save your Twitter postings by yourself. Just copy at least 10 pages at a time, using the "more" button at the bottom of your Twitter postings page to add each page. Then use your edit-copy-paste skills to transfer these links and postings to any word processor you want. I prefer my easy Text-Edit program. I'm sure you have your favorite too.

I put a date on my folder and voila! I am done and can use these postings as I need them when I post ahead using Hootsuite. Hootsuite can really free up your time. I post on Hootsuite for the next day. Right now I'm experimenting to see if I can see a difference in traffic from less or more postings per day on each account (I have 3 right now). I tried only 2 postings yesterday and it was NOT a good idea. I switched back to my regular every three hour postings today and so far, so good.

The saved Twitter postings I have help me a lot when I go to post for the next day or week. Of course, I also put new and current postings on there, and don't re-post too-dated stuff.

But I believe different people see different postings at different times, so you won't have a lot of "same-same" postings, even if you do re-use some Twitterings. That is my hope!

All for now,
-Betsyanne

Oh - while you are at it:
Join me on Twitter as @betsyanne, @nontrads, and @scholarsgrants.
I look forward to your twitters!

My Personal Page and blog
The Nontrads site and blog
My Squidoo pages