Pinging your blog for free, 4 great sites

 Hi, all! Do you have a blog or website? Want to get the word out and get more readers?

I am doing my blogs today, and realized I have not posted ping sites here for my readers. In case you have a blog especially, pinging it can really help it get seen. I have four different pinging sites I use. They are all free. Many have fee options, where you can sign up and they will ping your blog for free too.

Pong Panda from the MS Clipart pages

Here are the pinging sites I use:

#1: Pingoat - this site has a funny cartoon goat as its logo, which is kind of strange, but it goes with their name. However, they do have some good sites they ping to. I have noticed all the pings they do for you don't always work. But many do.

#2. Ping-o-matic: I like this ping site because it is (a) fast and (b) all the pings alway go all the way through and actually contact the sites they are supposed to send to.

#3. The Feedburner Ping Page: I am on Feedburner anyway with my sites, so this just helps them get noticed sooner on the email of people who are signed up for my blogs.

#4. Pingler - I added this site most recently. It sends to a lot of mysterious places I have never heard of, but I like it because of the volume of pinging it does.

If you want your website pinged or sent to web search engines for free, try Self Promotion.com. You can also join here to have your websites auto-promoted too.

Do you have a blog? List it under here as a comment.

A photo from Fountain Square park recently.

All for now,

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Bowling Green, Kentucky's Second Saturdays! Pix and notes from yesterday, 8-13-11

Some Second Saturday Photos - I took these yesterday during the Bowling Green Second Saturday Street Fair event. They are photos of Fountain Square Park and the Pots Place Studio and Gallery downtown, plus other downtown photos.

There were booths at the Second Saturday Street Fair, plus food, a kid's inflatable section, and more. The shops were part of the event too, of course.

At the Pots Place Co-op Studio and Gallery, we had some classes by Laura Bain-Selbo, and also demonstrations by Bob Brigl. Both are potters who are part of the Co-op.

We had such a fun day. We had lots of visitors.

Here are just a few of the photos I took yesterday. I have more on the Pots Place Facebook Page.

The Fountain Square Fountain.

A park statue and some booths.

Bob Brigl demonstrating.

One of Laura Bain-Selbo's classes.

Of course, it was also fun at the Square, and all the other shops too. Maybe next time I will take some time off and explore.

Later!

You can see more pictures of the Second Saturday event at the Second Saturday Photo Album on the Pots Place Co-op Studio and Gallery page.

There are some recent Pots Place Co-op Studio and Gallery photos here too.

Still feel like exploring? Here are some more of my sites:

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Photos and talk about the Gallery Hop at the Pots Place, Bowling Green, Kentucky

Having fun at the Gallery Hop

Well... Helen brought 4 matching tumblers new work), and Laura displayed her new Tree of Life Table. Everyone was there - - at least for awhile.

We had lots of visitors. Many thanks go out to Mariah's for the great chip and dip, along with fruit salad.

Bob and two visitor

Laura is getting ready for a class tomorrow. Lucky kids who come to the Pots Place tomorrow can make a knee pot or monster at a special table all set up in the Gallery for $10.00 during Second Saturday tomorrow from 11-2. She will be personally helping as the instructor.

The entire Second Saturday event starts at 9, and goes until 5:30.

Today at the Gallery Hop, Laura, Norman, Helen and Bob were there, and Betsy came for awhile (that's me!)

 A Bowling Green Daily news reporter came and interviewed for a little bit. There should be a news story about the Gallery Hop in Wednesday's Daily News. I can't wait!

All in all, it was a great Gallery Hop.


If you didn't get to make it, the next one is on October 21st.

And remember, tomorrow is the Fountain Square Downtown Second Saturday Street Fair. I hope to see you there!





Find out more about the Bowling Green, Kentucky Gallery Hop
Visit the Pots Place website
"Like" The Pots Place Facebook page

Second Saturdays on Facebook

**click to see more Gallery Hop photos! (They are on the Pots Place Facebook Photo Album section...)

And thanks for visiting!

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Fun at the Pots Place today with Laura's class

The Pots Place had a class today...

It was taught by Laura Bain-Selbo. The time flew! It was fun to meet everyone, and I wound up going back to take some pictures too.

Here are a few of them from today:

Glazing a pot.

Working hard!

Stirring a glaze.

 See more photos at the Pots Place Studio and Gallery Facebook page.

And here is their website.

It really was fun. I got to make some ultra-mini pots, and did some mini-mini Fairy Doors too. They were a lot harder to make than the bigger ones, but they were still fun to experiment with.

Onward and upward! I hope to take some more class pictures at the Pots Place PLUS one of opening the kiln soon.

Neat, huh? Comment below. Are you an artist? Do you like art? Share about it.

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Photographic Experiments

Hi, all!

I posted an older photo I took in Nashville on another blog posting recently. I call it "Nashville Downtown: Phones." Here it is:

My photo: Nashville Downtown: Phones.

What is neat about this photo is that it resulted from a bumpy car ride and I was just lucky that all the lights turned out to be colorful and neat looking. It's one of my favorites.

If you are a budding photojournalist (think: blogger who has a camera...) then you want to find out all about your camera. If you can join a local photography club, that's great. They usually don't cost a lot to join; at least, usually they are cheaper than taking classes.

If you can't do this at the moment, you need to take LOTS of photos and try out all the different settings on your camera, at least.

That is what I am doing right now. The camera I have is a Kodak EasyShare DX7630. It is 6.1 megapixels, a big step up from my old 3.0 model. I like the EasyShare because the plug-in Kodak camera dock is easy to use and does the uploading to iPhoto automatically.

Back to the subject. About cameras: you don't necessarily need a really expensive camera. I saved money getting a new one, and NOT a state-of-the-art one. Any kind will do for learning with. I know a more expensive one would take better pictures. But you can still have a lot of fun with any kind of camera.


I bring my camera with me anywhere. Sometimes I see something I just HAVE to photograph, other times I'm just glad I have it with me.

Do you love to take photos? Share your photography or portfolio below with a link. I look forward to seeing your photos and your experiments too.

Thanks!

My photos on Flickr

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Join us at the Pots Place August 12th!

Gallery Hopping!

We have another Gallery Hop coming up in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Mark your calendars!

It is on Friday, August 12th, from 5-8 p.m. Many artist's studios will be open that evening. It is a fun, free event.

Drop by the Pots Place Co-op Studio and Gallery in downtown Bowling Green, on Fountain Square.

We will also be open that night, with delicious goodies from Mariahs! We will have new ceramics on display from all the artists too.

The Pots Place website is here: The Pots Place. And come visit our page on Facebook too. See you there!

The EventCrazy Gallery Hop page
The Gallery Hop page on the Amplifier Online

PS I make Fairy Doors there and little monster faces and animals. I hope to be here for the start of the festivities. Later!






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The pottery studio image is from the Microsoft Word Clipart Pages.

My cattle neighbors relaxing across the street under the trees

Where my neighbors across the street like to hang out

Sometimes when it's pretty hot, my cattle friends hang out under the trees.

I keep saying I will put a photo of that here on my Moon and Willow Tree blog, so I am finally doing it.

Here they are. If you squint, you can see them OK. Just scroll down one for an even better view.

You can sort of see them from the porch.

You can see them a bit closer up here.

They do like it under there. I think there may still be a little mud left there sometimes after a pretty good rain. It must be pretty comfy there, comparatively.

All for now,

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Do you want to have a sundial? Here is one example, with Grow Old With Me on the top of it.

I would like to have a sundial.
Maybe to make one? Maybe to buy one? I don't know. I ran across these pictures of a sundial that I liked. Perhaps I will find one like it, or make one like it.

It is from the garden area at the Care Home in Nashville my mother is staying in. It has a poem on it. I looked this up today, and saw that the whole poem is by Robert Browning.

Here is just a portion of it:

"Grow old along with me!
The best is yet to be,
The last of life, for which the first was made:
Our times are in His hand
Who saith ‘A whole I planned,
Youth shows but half; trust God: see all, nor be afraid!"

 

I see that John Lennon has used the first part of this poem in his song, Grow Old with Me, and has added his own verses to it.

Grow Old With Me - the Sundial Number One

Grow Old with Me - the Sundial Number Two

I would not mind having a sundial like this. It is a classic and would look great at The Garden Spot.

To me, having the image of Death on the sundial gives me pause though, and it is, in its way, sad, because for some people who are living here, their lives are not the best ever. Maybe the poem means that Heaven is in view the older people get.

Do you have a sundial? Do you have an idea for one?

Write a comment here and let me know. I hope you are having a great summer, too, and staying cool for at least part of the time.

And here is the entire, much longer poem: Rabbi Ben Ezra by Robert Browning.

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Some of my Grandmother, Helen Hooper's Paintings

Helen Powell Hooper - some more paintings

I took some photos of three of my grandmother's paintings yesterday.

Here they are:

Smaller painting 1 of 2

Smaller painting 2 of 2

A larger painting.

These are some of Grandma Hooper's more painterly paintings. She loved to paint travel scenes, scenes of the woods and nature, and more. She had a great way with color too!

I hope to do some paintings soon and just love hers! I will be lucky if I can do as good a job or even half the job she did.

I have some more of Grandma Hooper's paintings and a little about her at her page here:
About my grandmother, Helen Hooper, and her paintings. It's at my Betsyanne site. (I will redo this page this year hopefully!)

Let me know what you think of these paintings. And have a wonderful, creative day.

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Rolling with the new Post Office flow - Bowling Green to Nashville

Bye-Bye for Now, My Speedy Post Offices!

I guess everyone in Bowling Green saw the writing on the wall. Our Post Offices used to mail to everywhere, and our letters got to their destinations quicker than many places.

Now we've joined the rest of the country in Post Office downsizing. We actually took some mail to Nashville the other day to save time.

Here are a couple of pictures of the "new" choice some Bowling Green people can take to get their mail out faster.

The outside of the Post Office near Donelson

Inside the Nashville Post Office - Donelson

Maybe we'll get more services back in Bowling Green later when the economy picks up.

And in the meantime, send some snail mail, everyone!

An apple blossom from the Garden Spot

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More selected photos from Cheekwood

Hi, all! I hope all my readers are well and happy today.

I recently posted some train photos of the current outside train exhibit at Cheekwood in Nashville, Tennessee.

The same day, I took some more photos. I have posted them at Facebook here.

Here are just a few more selected photos (3):

Looking out the window gate.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is one of my favorite places at Cheekwood. It is by the old pickup entrance.

A beautiful meandering stream on the way up to the museum and gallery.

You can also see the first photos I took the same day: Photos from the Train Exhibit at Cheekwood.

Keep dry and cool, people.




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Photos from the Model Train exhibit at Cheekwood

Tennessee in G: A fun exhibit!

This exhibit of model trains at Cheekwood in Nashville, Tennessee is wonderful! They have a whole train set built complete with historical houses and overhead trestles. It's so fun to look at.

I took some photos too. Here are some of them:

Cheekwood Trains on the track

 

 

 

Some great scenery at the Cheekwood Train exhibit

Coming 'round the bend...

Chessie train cars

Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends coming out of the tunnel.

I hope to get back and see this train exhibit again.

It rates an A+++ with me!

Here are more links to explore about it:

See the rest of the Cheekwood Train Exhibit photos on Flickr!

Trains! Tennessee In G: Cheekwood Botanical Garden
Current Exhibits at Cheekwood
Tennessee in G: a 5-star rating by the NowPlayingNashville website
Tennessee in G: a review by the See Middle Tennessee blog (more good pictures too!)

 

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Free stuff - - free stuff - - I think I'll make a page about it.

Hi readers!

I had a great idea (again) today.  It is something I have been thinking about a very long time. I love free things, like free reports about making money online, free reports about how to get traffic to your websites, etc. etc.

Some of these articles let you share them.

I have quite a collection. I think I will make a page with these all on them to download, and include some of my own too.

Do you like this idea? Let me know. I will list my page on my blogs as soon as I get it done. It might be a membership site, with some free things for everyone, even those who are not members.

In the meantime, how is everyone doing? Are there people who read my blog who would be interested in learning how to make money online and who are some non-ripoff teachers who have lots of free stuff to give away?

Let me know with a comment if you are interested.

More of my news: I got a baby pool for my daughter and her husband. They like it! The birds moved out of my garage (yay), and I cooked some delicious black beans and rice yesterday along with some corn cakes. I have made headway on some writing jobs, and organizing too.

So how is YOUR summer going?

All for now,




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