Earning From Your Blog - Sound Advice

As you know I write, I love writing and I love reading the works of others. Blogging is a wonderful way for me to get out of my head and into another's, to root around and find what I can that will help me along the way. One of the ways I have been able to earn a few cents from a small earning blog I have, was by reading the advice of others. Some folk write so over the top, using words with no meaning or simply with no sense, rhyme or reason, others spout off about contacting them and they will point you in the right direction, yes straight to their earning blog about nothing relevant to you at all. The one article that set me on the right path was Three Ways to Earn Money from Your Blog by Christy Tuller.
The author has written loud and clear about how and where you can achieve the goal of earning from your blog. If you are considering this approach my advice is read it and follow it. I can assure you it is not my pen name or my work!

If you want to find out if earning money from blogging is worth it another author I found with sensible, legible advice is Khassandra whose work Do We Really Earn From Blogging
is laid out clear and has a positive tone to it.
They are not heavy, long boring reads, my advice is go check them out.


Picture Credit
internationalfiction.com

Nursing as a Career / with funny moments from the ward

I have fond memories of my nursing career, I chose a profession I was proud to be part of.

There are many who have chosen the career path of Nursing, it is a rewarding career.

There are articles out there to help you along the way, read them, they have valuable advice, try asking as many nurses as you know what they found helped them.

Text books are expensive, check out who is selling their second hand ones, check out Ebay and Amazon

10 Guidelines for the New Student Nurse

I am a Nurse Not A Robot

There is humour in the world of nursing too:

Funny Moments From The Ward
More Funny Tales From The Ward

Running Advice

Temper tantrum over and time to move on.



I looked for advice about running, or starting to run. My daughter started in the UK and did the race for life, I am not a runner but I feel I would like to do some sort of charity run, being slightly over 49 + 12months, I realise I have to be sensible about this, hence a bit of research.
I came across an article that gave me valuable, sensible insight on what to do and buy. The author wrote in a manner that I can understand, simple and well laid out.
Tips for New Runners is a must read.



Picture credit
www.womensportsnutrition.com

Back to Normal - well my blog is!!!

PHWEW!!!
Got back to some normality, panic over, new colour but work back insitu


http://clipart.peirceinternet.com/png/balloons3.png

TRYING MY PATIENCE!!!!

I have had a major problem with this blog today, I saved my work inorder to add a new template

BIG MISTAKE!!!!!

It didn't upload my work properly afterwards
IF YOU HAVE COME HERE VIA MY TRIOND ARTICLE -COME BACK AGAIN SOME OTHER TIME AND YOU MIGHT SEE YOUR NAME BACK IN THE LINK SPOT AGAIN

IF YOU HAVE COME TO HAVE A LOOK SEE AS NORMAL...YOUR NAME WILL BE BACK ON MY SIDEBAR SOON OR MY HOTSPOT

ARRRRRGGGGHHHHHHH!!!

Writing -Published and Self -Publish

This is a collection of Poetry I self published through www.lulu.com
I had support from the start of my project through to the end. It was fun to do and I was so excited when I sold my first copy to a stranger. The cost of print on demand is so much better for my budget.
To learn more about self publishing your book, make a calender from your photographs or art work, make Cd's and videos have a look here

To get your writing noticed on the Internet a great site to consider joining is TRIOND
to read more about the way they work and how to get your work published have a look at this
you get paid and they find areas for your work to be seen.

It Rained!! Yipee!!

Ok I know you are thinking what a crazy lady, but it rained early hours of this morning and we are thrilled.
I will explain. I live in Cyprus and we are in our 4th year of a severe drought. Today the dust got dampened down, a luxury for us and a little less dusting for me.
When we lived in the UK it poured constantly and I never thought I would say, I wish it would rain. The temperature has gone from very high 30's to mid 20's overnight. It is a pleasure to sit and not drip constantly, but I wouldn't change a thing.
We will get cooler now, we live in the hills but when this coptic storm has moved on the sun will shine again and we will walk the dogs through the vineyard hills again.




picture credit
www.holistichandsforhealth.com

Gambling -'til death do us part

On Monday a young married man with two teenage daughters shot himself. Our village is in shock. He shot himself in through the heart and left nothing but a bloody mess.
He literally left nothing,he was heavily in debt. He was a gambler, many Cypriots gamble and there are an amazing amount of betting shops on the island. In our village, a small rural village in the hills of Southern Cyprus there are two betting shops and a lottery, gambling shop. The temptation must be enormous.
There are no casinos on the Southern side of the island and now the borders are allowing more regular crossings to the North the Greek Cypriots are gambling across the line.
Thousands of Euros are being lost by those who succumb to the tempting sound of the racing commentators or the casino buzz.

picture credit

Hurricane Ike,Shopping at Bargain Prices,Rants & Ravings

I hope my friend Marylou in Texas is ok after the hurricane, I will not know what has happened to her until they get their power back and we can exchange emails again, this is what she would have received today...
So Gatwick Airport is going up for sale, the monopolies commission say the owners have enough and must get rid of one, oh how I wish we could do that with world leaders!
Barclays are buying out Lehman on the cheap, XL airways have got planes and airspace to get rid of at bargain prices.
What a shame everyone has lost their cash brought on by the credit crunch as there are some bargains to be had out there.


It was declared that UK unemployment figures have risen...errr yes because a lot of jobs were lost this week!
The supermarket violence makes me nervous about returning to the UK for a visit and popping in for a loaf of bread, trolley rage is no more, you punch to kill or stab. What has happened to people?


I see the chinese babies are dying because of contaminated milk, that is sad news indeed, poor little things.


Well Mary, I pray you keep well, that is my news for today
Take Care
x




www.twistervideos.com
www.dailymail.co.uk
www.worldnewschina.com

Mobile Phones

When we emigrated to Cyprus there was a box of bits that I threw onto the removal van. Four years down the line, this box that I needed has been opened and the contents shown the light, only to be place into the darkness of the rubbish bin.
I did find an old mobile phone from the 80's, a brick, I compare it with my new slimline pocket size one and laugh.
I then got searching online for a new phone case, what lovely decorations there are for this essential piece of equipment. While I was looking I came across some cute handcrafted ones,
they are so much better than all of the commercial stuff that is duplicated around the world.

I found them Here

Wedding Disasters and Insurance

When we were planning for our wedding in 1979 it never occurred to us to invest in Wedding Insurance, 30 years later I am advising my Son and our eldest Daughter who are planning their weddings for 2009, get insurance.
There are so many last minute hitches and some can cost you a lot of money, as in the case of the young couple who have been let down by XL Airways, they are due to marry in America at the beginning of October or the couple from UK who were caught up in a river bank burst. In America hurricanes are affecting wedding plans and days.
With the rising costs of venue hire, wedding clothes, transport, wedding rings etc this financial investment should automatically be on the wedding list.







WEDSAFE

DREAMSAVER WEDDING INSURANCE
MARKS & SPENCER

Scrapbook challenges and Stop Digital Piracy

My new hobby is a week old today! I love it and am addicted to Digiscrapbooking.
I joined Scrapbook Flair a community site and enjoy reading the comments others leave.
I have entered 3 challenges, one of which is a Make a Bookmark challenge. Today I went onto the site and mine is sitting in the Challenge owners choice box!



There are others who will get to the winning line with their votes and to be honest they are gorgeous and deserve to win, the hard work that is in them and the colours are lovely, but do I care? No! Just seeing my work sitting there today gave me such a lift, such a feeling of wow!
I was looking around my cyberworld today and came across this Stop Piracy site for digital designers, I wish I was clever enough to pinch ideas digital! LOLIt is a shame when others cannot think for themselves and have to steal.

Mother's Pride and Reptiles

My son Darren was 11 years old and asked for an Iguana, this was about 18 years ago, I thought "here we go another fad".

I told him he had to prove himself worthy of caring for such an animal, he would have to study about it and be able to tell the man at the pet centre all he knows, he would also have to save to buy it and all its requirements, plus pay his father to make the vivarium to house it, I promised he could have one and keep it in the house if he acheived all targets. I walked away thinking that would put him off, how wrong I was!

He studied so hard he knew more than the staff in the pet shop,( he got a career decider job there later) he worked so hard doing chores etc he saved more than enough money and he designed an enourmous vivarium floor to ceiling and the length of his bedroom, I was held to my promise. My home became a haven to every living reptile, his father became fascinated and my world was invaded.

The big day came and Iggy came to live and live he did, he moved to Battersea Children's Zoo when Darren qualified as a Zoologist and got a job there, Iggy then went on loan to an Animal Husbandry centre where he met his mate, he then died at the grand old age of 17.

My son then became Assistant Curator at Manchester Museum Vivarium, Andrew Gray his boss is the one who has discovered the rarest tree frog in the world, to go HERE read their blog and the story of this frog and many others they are trying to re-introduce into the world. I never knew how important their work was until my son taught me more.

So all you mothers out there who are being pestered for the latest fad, think before you say no, it might turn into a career, my son is now about to take his expertise to Canada, he is to become the Senior Aquarium Biologist.

Animal Cruelty

Meet Max, he fell dying on our doorstep here in Cyprus, a victim of the hunting season. His owner had taken him hunting on the Sunday and we found him on the Monday, now I am sorry but you do not get into such a state that the Vet wants to put you down by starving overnight!
We didn't listen to the Vet and nurtured this dog through his ordeal.
We have three other dogs and they love him. He is now 2 years old and fit and healthy. He rewards us daily and has a good character, he would have made a fantastic hunting dog if he had been cared for and trained properly, their loss.
Abandoned dogs, abused dogs and other animals are a huge problem in Cyprus, many people campaign and work tirelessly towards rehoming and caring for those who are found wandering the island, to read all about them their links are at the bottom of this article. Animal cruelty is all over the world, if it wasn't the RSPCA wouldn't be needed and other great protectors of the animal world. Every country has its problems with this subject.

WRITTEN FOR MY 'MAXI BOY'
WHEN I VERY FIRST LAID EYES ON HIM HE MELTED MY HEART....& STILL DOES, THOSE THAT MEET HIM WILL TELL YOU THE SAME

My Reward
By Glynis Smy


Your eyes look down, searching
You move behind a tree
I watch you from a distance
Knowing you are scared of me.
Your starving body stumbles
Your skinny legs ache
A morsel you do seek
Dried bread, rotten meat or stale cake.

Your eyes are full of sadness
Your future’s not so bright
You have not found a friend to care
Nor a bed to rest your head tonight.
You need a decent meal to eat
And water to quench your thirst
I watch with sadness
Hoping I can get to you first.

There’s every chance you will runaway
When I reach out my hand to you
I know why you are in this state
And what I need to do
You did not reach the goal
Your master had in mind
You were taken on the hunt
And sadly left behind.

My four legged friend
I’ve got you
And happily take you in
And when you play with others
I swear you wear a grin
You reward me daily with your tail
It wags for all the day
You give me pleasure friend
When I see you play

Copyright GJS2007


PAWS DOG SHELTER
PAPHIAKOS ANIMAL WELFARE

The RSPB & Hunting in Southern Cyprus

Next month is the start of the hunting season in Southern Cyprus, the Government and The European Union will record the start of the season fatalities and injuries. The Government records indicate that 25% of males in the republic are hunters, they are the legal ones, the ones with licences, the others pick up a gun and shoot, they shoot anything. There are rules to be broken and they break them, they shoot small birds such as Blackcaps, there are various methods of capture, lime sticks being one. They are sold illegally as delicacies, there is no more than a mouthful of meat on these small carcasses.

'Ambelopoulia' - pickled, small birds - are a Cypriot delicacy.

The RSPB is working with BirdLife Cyprus to end the illegal killing of birds.
To read more about this and the brilliant work being done to change the way hunting is carried out on the island read HERE

Picture Credit HERE

I don't do politics...but

Every day I try and learn one new thing, I try to remember that one new thing and either act upon it or store it in my one celled brain for later. Today I learnt about trying to get your blog noticed out there in the big cyber world.
I read it and understood it. I then forgot it! I read it again, I understood it and am still trying to retain at least six of the words from the article.
It is so true that the older you get remembering gets more difficult. I do worry as my father has and my maternal grandmother had Altzheimers. This dreadful disease steals your loved ones from under your nose, I do hope both sets of genes don't get together or I will be forgetting I have a blog to attend to.
To read what I learnt today click HERE



I see in the UK Gordon Brown is making statements to try an rally the country together, I don't do politics but this caught my eye:

~Mr Brown said the "new world" pursued by Labour must be based upon "the yearning for fairness".

"I know there are people who feel that modern Britain has been unfair to them. Some of them are right," he wrote.

"But there is nothing that is bad about Britain that cannot be overcome by what is good about Britain, as long as we keep faith with our belief in fairness."~

Great Britain once was, but now it has to try and convince the world it will be Great again, we emigrated, our son and fiance are leaving and emigrating to Canada, that is two generations of the same family spreading its wings, we were middle aged, hard working, heavily taxed people who were fed up of seeing others wearing new shoes on our money, our son does not want to start a family where there are stabbings of young folk, teens hanging themselves as they cannot cope with peer pressure and bullying. When we emigrated nearly four years ago to Cyprus, the expat community was 48yrs to retiring age +, now stepping onto the tarmac are young families, youngsters who are fed up of the unfair system Gordon Brown is trying to change.
I do hope that one day, statistics such as the most boozers picked up in Cyprus and Spain for drunken behaviour are Brits no longer exist. I do not wish to live in the UK anymore as I have made a new life, I am English and proud of my background but unfairness took over, so Mr Brown, go do your stuff and maybe you will overcome the bad you talk about and we have all seen.
To read the BBC report where I found this statement HERE

PICTURE CREDITS
BBC
www.learnthenet.com

Digital Scrapbooking

Thanks to some fantastic guidance from Cen's Loft ( Thanks June) I have started a new hobby, digital scrapbooking, I am also going to try the glue and glitter style later as I have loads of stuff from card making. I am sharing them on a new blog, it will grow the Cypriot way, siga siga, slowly slowly, as they say. If you check out my side bar here or my new blog you will find new friends, great support and FREEBIES! Yes there are some fantastic folk out there who give away all sorts towards your craft, download, leave a comment and a thank you, that is all they ask. Happy Scrapping

Cen's Loft can be found by looking in my Hotspot links, you will also find other great scrappers and sites of different interests

The Home of My Scrapbooking Creations!

Ghunibee's scraps

Cross stitch completed

There is nothing more satisfying than finishing a gift from a friend. This was a birthday gift from my neighbour, the colours of the lady are not shown at their best in this picture, she is so pretty and I love her, now I have to find a frame to compliment her.

This Teddy is so cute, he gives me pleasure and pain at the same time, he was stitched for my daughter when she lost her first baby. It was all I could do for her.

Sing it from the Roof Tops

Health and Safety issues: My roof needed a tile fixing before the winter and in Cyprus this calls for...eyes closed!! There is no sense of fear or danger.
Spyros sorts it out...hey come on up papaIn flip flops, papa carries up a gas cylinder

In four years I have heard of only one accident and it was the fault of the builder himself (non Cypriot). The Eu regulations will soon no longer provide me with the opportunity to capture photographs such as this.

Where there is life there is hope

Last summer we had a large spate of fires in our vineyard area, there was a field was very close to our home, we saw it go up in flames and the blackness of death that was left behind. Over the winter and spring we watch it struggle back to life.
It was with hope and optomism we watched the owners tend the burnt vines and rescue those that might survive.
This summer sees the grapes being picked and this is the field today. Above all odds the vines survived and produced. Evidence of the burning are shown by the bushes in the background of the photo.

What's On My Bookshelf This Month

Not without my Daughter by Betty Mahmoody (with William Hoffer)

Not without My Daughter is an emotional rollercoaster, it is a true story of one womans struggle to escape the clutches of a brutal marriage and society


Torey Hayden wrote a remarkable story in her book ONE CHILD Sheila was abandoned by her mother and was a survivor of horrific abuse, Torey became her teacher and tells her story. A moving story.


One Child - Torey's first book



Pete bought me a lovely poetry book, it has many of my favourites from my childhood in it, I had a book given to me by my Granddad Tom but never had it returned when I lent it to a friend, sadly I was not able to get it back so this is very special to me.

BEST-LOVED POEMS Edited by Neil Philip

It is filled with poems by many famous authors i.e. Emily Dickinson, T.S. Eliot, John Keats, A.A Milne, Dylan Thomas to name a few

Great Boozers

Cyprus made the headlines in 2008, they became the top country in the world for arresting Britons for being drunk, Spain, USA and the Arab Emirates all have record arrests of boozy holiday makers.
In Cyprus, the drink is cheap and free flowing, the days are relaxed and there are some incredible sights of drunk holiday makers who speak clear English, climbing into hire cars and roaring off the next village Taverna.
The thought is that if the United Kingdom had cheaper booze would the novelty of 'we must drink 'til we drop' attitude disappear? It is a sorry sight to see ladies, middle aged ladies sitting on the side of the road with their head in the gutter.
The relaxed lifestyle and the atmosphere for those living on the island seems to take away the need to have alcohol in order to relax, when the tourists arrive they are stressed and tense and declare how they are in need of a quick fix of village wine to get in the relaxing mood.
It is a shame when a country has on record a vast quantity of names of tourists from the same country who could not hold their drink, are they targeting one particular type of tourist or is that tourist part of a race of hell raising drinkers?
To read more on the rising numbers go to 'SILOBREAKER' the facts are quite astounding.





Aya Napa

This once sleepy fishing village is now the target of young drinking party goers on the island. The government are anxious to rid itself of the problems that have arisen over the years from the booze laden tourists. Fights are a regular occurrence and there is talk now of moving the clubbing antics to a purpose built night clubbing town, this would need to be policed and patrolled properly but would take Aya Napa back to being the pretty tourist spot that it once was.


Charlie's soapbox

Photographs of Aya Napa

Happy Birthday Dad

My Father has Altzheimers and is now in the final stage of mid-stage, entering the final stage. My Mother is his carer, you know, the one that saves the Government loads of money, the one who has to climb a mountain of red tape just to get someone to assist her, you know the one who has a serious illness herself but still has to bash at the door of assistance.
Anyway every year I find it harder and harder to think about what to design for his card, I have done the complicated ships at sea etc and I have written loving verses from the cell of my own brain. This year I watched him struggle reading a menu, I saw him pick up a newspaper and read it upside down, inside out and over and over again, I also saw him get angry reading a Father's day card, saying the words were written in a foreign language.
The one thing I noted he enjoyed a small glass of beer and could recall his drinking buddies with such clarity you would doubt his illness.
I have decided simple is the answer





A QUESTION FROM YOUR CHILD UNANSWERED written for Dad

I Told You!!

I can't believe it, I told you about my friend who passed away, well I wrote on here the other day about her and blow me down her sister contacted me through Facebook!
Is there an energy I ask myself? I was browsing through the Blogs in Blogger and came across one that caught my eye http://mtglife.blogspot.com/ it has a lot of different theories laid out, it will take me a while to read them all but I might,just might find my answer there.
I thought about those who passed in my arms, most who were conscious asked for the light to be turned off or the blinds to be drawn as the light was too bright, others said hello to someone, in my Mother-in-laws case she had had a stroke and I had nursed her for three days, she could not speak,all of a sudden she said hello Jack and passed on, Jack could have been her first husband or her son both who had passed away, there was no Jack in the room with us.
The mind is a powerful thing, it finds new energy even in the time of death.