Foovay’s Cauldron

Posts Tagged ‘squidoo’

Indeed, spring has sprung. I offer as evidence the ground squirrel we saw on the ranch yesterday. They are so small and so fast that to get a photo to share with you I’m going to have to spend a sunny day lurking near a burrow. This is also probably true about getting a photo of one of our fascinating little rock squirrels that have begun scampering around the rocks near the lake. Certain populations of these Rock Squirrels have a genetic anomaly that, once they shed into the summer coat, causes them to be half black, and half the silvery gold agouti that is the normal color. They look as if their head and shoulders have been dipped into an inkwell! I heard a Red-winged Blackbird in town just yesterday. They don’t usually visit us at the ranch – not enough water here – but we may be treated to a fly-by visit from their cousins the Yellow-headed Blackbird. Earlier this week a huge flock of Sandhill Cranes flew over, circled a while, and left. I suspect they had hoped to stop at Jornada Lake for a snack and a rest. However, thanks to the road building and spaceport crews, this year we have no lake, even though we have had some rain and even snow.

My friend the juvenile Sharp-shinned Hawk has posed for some more photos – this time sitting on top of the brush pile waiting for something small enough to eat to dash out. Now THAT’s lurking! I’ll share the full photo first so you can see how thoroughly he blends into his background when he is being still. He’s right on top of the brush pile.

And now cropped just to show the hawk:

He really outdid himself yesterday though. I went out to feed the chickens for the evening. My eyes were on the rooster – who is feeling rather crabby as I don’t let them out to free range on cloudy days so they haven’t been out for a day or two. So I didn’t even notice the young hawk was on top of the chicken pen until he took off from right above my head. I was about to say something to him about not eating my chickens when another visitor flew up from under my feet. A cottontop (Texas Scaled) Quail had been inside with the chickens. When I came in, the quail flushed out through the side of the pen – and the hawk was instantly in hot pursuit. Great – now not only does he think we are pals, he thinks I’m going to flush game for him! Glad to be of use

Speaking of cloudy days, which means a bit of spring rain now and then out here on the high desert – hubby got lucky and caught a picture of this magnificent double rainbow that arched over the far end of our ranch this week. It was a perfect complete arch, both ends touching the ground on the inner rainbow, right at sunset. It was so pretty when I went outside the horses and mule had even turned to look at it. Probably watching the fairies dancing around the end of the rainbow.

Of course, traditionally there should be a leprechaun and a pot of gold down there. Maybe I should have hopped on Moses and galloped down to see!We could use a pot of gold around here!

Dover sent me their sample this week and it was all about the Irish – irish folklore and fairy tales and leprechauns and celtic coloring stuff. Drool. I was so inspired I did a new Squidoo lens about Irish Fairy Tales and Folklore, and updated the St. Patricks Day Coloring Pages and Coloring Books, Leprechauns, and Fairy Tales.

I’ve been taking pictures of our beautiful storms and sunsets, trying to get a nice collection to chose from for my Squidoo lens devoted to the New Mexico Sky, and also Maxfield Parrish. Now they aren’t done, so those links probably don’t work right this minute – but try them later today, okay? LOL. Here’s one of the photos though:

The hubby had his surgery Thursday to install the fistula in his arm for dialysis. Everything went just great and we were even home early. They did tell him not to use the arm until it heals – and of course when it heals they’ll begin dialysis. So it is quite unlikely he is going to be able to return to work as a cook. Despite the fact he cannot work, Disability says he isn’t disabled, call AFTER he starts dialysis. *rolling eyes*

Luckily, I had already started job hunting and have gotten a call from one job already which would be only two days a week – the weekend. Actually, that is ideal since I have to drive hubby to Dr.s appointments and so forth and they’re all during the week. I also took the test to work for the Census and did well, so they are supposed to call me Monday. Until he begins dialysis I can work both – and will. We need every penny we can get.

Up until I am working, I will do my best to hang in there with the Get Cracking Lens a Day Challenge – so even if I don’t get here to the blog, you might want to check in on my New Lenses for the Get Cracking Challenge list.

Yesterday we had to drive to town for a errand, and did we luck out on the way home! A small herd of mule deer were grazing right next to the road. We got some great photos. Here’s my favorite:

When we got home and got them on the computer, we saw a deer BEHIND that mesquite bush that we had not even noticed while taking the photos – LOL!

You can click on any of these BTW and go to the Flickr page and see the bigger ones – this new camera takes huge photos. When I get time I’m going to mosey through, tag things better and license them for use.

It’s been a good week since I added any new coloring pages. Job hunting, Doctors, stress… but all things considered we are doing well. I will do my best to keep my little online empire going and growing, but it doesn’t earn enough to support us and I can no longer depend on the husbands income.

Oh! I was so gobsmacked – someone sent me a donation for the artist for use of my free public domain clipart! Not only did it make me jump up and down with joy, it made it possible for me to pay for another month of the downloadable digital coloring book shop. Thank you!!

I also updated my homepage/business card at Summer Fey Foovay.com and added a new binder at my Zazzle store. Don’t forget that the Pagan holiday ecards I used to have up at fre-ecards.com are now at my Zazzle store as paper greeting cards and stamps. Ostara is coming!

And I wanted to share my hubby’s idea of a day of “take it easy, don’t use that arm for anything” – he fixed the kitchen faucet, did the dishes, cooked dinner, trimmed some mesquite bushes that had grown into the driveway, and took those photos of the deer. All one-handed. He’s a pretty great guy, huh?

Thanks for hanging in with me. I have a lot I hope to get done today so I gotta go.

Summer Fey Foovay

The hubby has been busy this week getting some great photos like this one of a house finch. What I love about this is if you look, you can see how those streaky breast feathers blend right in with the brushy mess on the ground to provide the perfect camoflage.

He also got our best photo yet of that pretty pale Eurasian Ring-Necked Dove. I’ve begun to feel quite sorry for her as the rest of the flock clearly ostracizes her. Of course, she may as well have a target painted on her as be this pale color here in the desert. We have at least two hawks who pay daily visits to the ranch. I wonder how long she will last?

And our best photo yet of the buffalo. We always consider it a sign of good luck when we see them on the way to town.

Speaking of luck, in the last few weeks I have won five times in a row on the Lottery. Only a dollar each time – just enough to buy the next ticket – but I’m feeling pretty special! I’ve concluded that I probably ought to spend more time and effort playing the lottery since my chances of winning a big jackpot are somewhat better than the odds of getting a book published that actually makes any money! (No, really, look at the figures someday – it’s pretty unlikely that even a GOOD novel will make anything)

Never mind the odds of making money on the Internet. I had to laugh the other day at a comment on a money making article about “why isn’t my article making money?” and the writer said “Oh, you have to let them mature”. Yeah. I’ve got articles that have been maturing for almost 10 years and they are up to a few pennies a month now! LOL.

Yeah, playing the lottery is looking good.

But until I win “the big one” I’m working on some Squidoo lenses for the Get Cracking with Robin and Bonnie Challenge. The idea is to do a lens a day for…however long you can take it, I guess. Although their main thing seems to be giving prompts for ideas – and the last thing I need is more ideas since I have half a notebook full of them – I’m using it as a motivation to get all those Work In Progress lenses I have finished up and published. So far, so good – I’m four for four. Here’s my list of the new additions – everything from “I love my iPod shuffle” to “Dragonfly Watching”. Keep your eye on this space, folks!

Yesterday I got a nice surprise check from the sponsors of one of my adult sites. It’s even nicer when you think that I don’t even have a link up to them right now! Gotta love the adult biz – repeat customers rule. So I have put that on my todo list – really got to get a real website up there again someday! Besides, it’s fun. I guess you’d have to say it’s MATURED. *snicker*

Blessedbe

Summer

It’s official – I have joined the Get Cracking with Bonnie and Robin Challenge on Squidoo, and here is my official list for the challenge lenses. What I really want to do is get the fifteen or so works in progress lenses – some of which are over a year old (shameful) made into real publishable lenses. I am full of great ideas – I have a whole notebook full of lenses I want to make – I just lack follow through.

Now I’m going to go lay down again. I’ve gotten a really awful stomach virus somewhere amongst all these doctor and hospital visits for the hubby. At least HE didn’t get it, for which I am very grateful. We are supposed to have rain and snow over the next few days so I don’t mind so much not feeling up to getting out and about. Maybe I can get another big batch of coloring pages drawn up as well as some Squidoo lenses done and my last bit of sewing for this winter.

@Rivethead Rasta – one of my favorite Twitter pals – shared this link to the 20 Scifi Movies We’re Most Excited to see in 2010. I don’t know about you, but I think I’m just going to print it out and check them off as I get them

I was even more excited, however, to see that they are making John Carter, Warlord of Mars into a movie. I am a serious Edgar Rice Burroughs fan, and although he is best known for Tarzan – my personal favorite of his series was John Carter of Mars. I am also a huge Pixar fan, and it does seem just too perfect as the medium for four armed ten foot tall Martians to be brought to life.

Meanwhile, I’ve gotten the ,a href=”http://color-your-own.com”>coloring books organized and sent off to the magic software man who also happens to run eBook Connections, an ebook store. I am eagerly anticipating their return and also trying to figure out how I’m going to be selling them.

Here at home we’ve had some rather distressing news about my hubby’s health. We are still pending more information before any big decisions or changes can be made but it seems likely that there will be some changes. We are trying to look at it all in a positive light and it just might turn out that way. Who knows? We don’t yet – not until next week.

I’m off to do some dishes and then settle in to the tedious job of updating the coloring pages site one page at a time. HoHum.

O – I added a new original short fairy tale at Demented-pixie.com as well as another of the Victorian age short stories over at Foovay’s Floozies. As life settles into a more humdrum routine again after the holidays, I’m sure I’ll start getting more of the fiction blogs going properly.

I also created a new Squidoo lens that I hope will save bloggers, crafters, artists, webdesigners and other folks like me a lot of wasted time Public Domain Clipart has all my personal favorite sources for public domain clipart that you can use.

That pretty well catches us up!

Now that I’ve written a title for this post – I feel a bit more like I have accomplished a thing or two this week! I have some things to muse and mutter about, and some updates and new items and recommendations to share. Maybe I shouldn’t put it all in one blog post – but then again, I’m not limited to 140 characters here! I will break it up into sections – will that help?

This is kind of a combo Squidoo, Internet marketing, and most important Pets and Christmas section

First off, I want to thank everyone who has helped promote Pets as Christmas Gifts and say keep at it and keep sharing and yeah – thanks! I updated it a little today because a friend of mine has created a lens that is the perfect companion lens – Furreal Pets and Friends. Sandy describes several of the fun new electronic pet toys and gives you a chance to vote for your favorites.

While I’m talking about pets , I want to share this unique business opportunity with you. You can open your own online pet supply store through this offer. I signed up for it myself because it looks to me a bit like my online sex toy shop deal. Over the years that little shop has been a dependable money maker even when I am not actively promoting it. Along with the online store, you are able to purchase your own pet supplies at a deep discount. So I’m thinking this would be very cool for someone who does pet rescue from their home – you get a discount on your stuff, you make a few bucks that can help defray the costs of rescue, and it would be painless to promote – face it, you have a zillion pet loving pals online don’t you?

That rather nice segues into my next subject, making money on the Internet. I don’t usually write much about this, because I don’t feel like I am all that successful at it. I’ve been working at making a living on the Internet for almost ten years now. Wow. I’ve tried adult sites, affiliate marketing, selling my art and stories, and had a bit of moderate success but I am most definately not a millionaire yet. Not even a thousandaire.

I have tried a lot of different Make Money on the Internet programs and found out that the vast majority of them are scams. I’m pretty cynical at this point.

My roommate sleeps with the TV on. This means that we get exposed to a whole lot of those late night informercial programs. About a week ago he told me that he had seen a program on making money on the Internet that actually sounded practical and real. As he described it to me, I became interested because I could see from my Internet experience, what this guy – Anthony Morrison – was doing and it is a legitimate business. A few nights later, I happened to see the program. I was intrigued enough to write the number down, and on hubby’s payday, I called and ordered it.

What impresses me the most is Mr. Morrison over and over says that you are not going to become an overnight millionaire. You aren’t going to buy your Lambourgini and lay on the beach at BoraBora while your website magically cranks out the big bucks without you lifting a finger. He tells you that it grows slowly and that you do have to put in some work. You know – like in the real world. I got my free website, which is right here if you want to check it out and have been going through the training videos. I laughed my butt off last night at the last one I watched where he says that people who go for that “overnight millionaire” scams are living in a dream world. So true.

The website actually has some good offers. Shit – I signed up for one myself! That is – the pet shop mentioned above. I’m still going through the training videos right now. I’ll let you know how things progress. This might finally be a legitimate “Make Money on the Internet” business. Cool.

Mini-brag about the “old” novel And this is one of those Law of Attraction serendipity things, too. I gave a copy of The River Way to a friend who works at WalMart. He put it in the break room to share and it wandered from employee to employee and has vanished, never to be returned. He asked for another copy. I finally remembered on the way to town yesterday to run an errand that turned out to be a)unneccesary and b)a waste of time – but I stopped at storage and grabbed my last three copies of the novel. Why all three? I dunno. Tossed them all in the car. Stopped at Walmart and my friend was not there, but another mutual friend was – so I asked her to hold his copy for him (I’m not in town much) and she said she would, but also asked if she could BUY a copy. I have to admit, of the big 12 author copies I bought – this is the first one I ever SOLD. I sold it at cost – she is a friend and fellow writer – but it was kind of a thrill anyway

Meanwhile, on Twitter, a new follower there insisted on going to Barnes and Noble to buy a copy of The River Way, rather than downloading the free ebook version. (The link to the Amazon buy it page is on the picture up there) Thanks!

BTW if you’ve bought the novel and read it – can you do me a favor and do a review on either or both sites?

Wow. I just noticed there is a REALLY nice review up at Barnes and Noble. Thank you anonymous whoever you are!

Speaking of Twitter, I’ve tried and loved two Twitter applications. And they are both free, so how cool is that?

TweetCatch.com gives you a simple, easy way to find people to follow and hopefully they’ll follow you back. You can set up filters to gather folks by certain keywords. I have filters for goth, birdwatchers, coloring pages, Squidoo, writing – the things I do and twitter about. Since I started using TweetCatch I’ve gone from about 100 followers to over 700. What I really like though – is I have discovered some of the most fun, interesting people to follow. Twitter is like 100 times more fun to read for me now! No affiliation, I don’t get a commission or anything – but it is really a good Twitter application. The first week is free and then it’s under $10 a month. I thought I’d cancel it – but nah, no way.

The other cool Twitter application I’m using is TweetMyBlog and I am an affiliate although I only get paid if you decide to buy one of their upsell products. Actually, they have some pretty cool stuff they are offering. The application itself, though, is free. This application links your WordPress blog and your Twitter account. Whenever you add a blog post, it is automatically tweeted. You also get a nice widget (you’ll see it to your right here) that puts your tweets on your blog. Myself – that’s all I use it for and I am really happy with that. It’s just a little time saver, trouble saver and if I happen to also make a buck or two – well, gee, cool! I’ve got it on several of my blogs now and it works perfectly. Very easy to install and get set up. And it’s free.

Okay. I think that’s it. For now. Not sure what I’ll be doing today… maybe draw a few more coloring pages.

Oh yeah – that reminds me. I am really trying to get my Free Printable Christmas Coloring Pages lens to the top ten in the Parenting and Kids category on Squidoo this month. You see, being off line I missed the Google dance, and poor Color-Your-Own.com doesn’t appear ANYWHERE in the search engine results for Christmas coloring pages. Which is a real bummer. I COULD maybe make a buck or two if I could grab some nice Christmas traffic, and get some new followers and bookmarkers, too. But I got search engine fucked (sort of my own fault since I had no Internet around the needed time). So if you happen to love me and my coloring pages and want to help out (hint hint hint) visit the lens, blog about it, tweet about it, pass it to your pals, rank it, comment on the guestbook, whatever you feel like doing. Thank you!!!!!! And BTW this really does help, since I started begging you wonderful people to help me out the lens has gone from #206 all the way to (as of today) #62. We can make it to the Top Ten and Squidoos front page – yes we can.

Okay, now that is all – really…

Summer Fey Foovay

I just got finished creating a new Squidoo lens – The Coloring Book Shop. I wanted to create a one stop list of all of my coloring book lenses. Whenever I add new coloring book lenses, I will also add them at the shop.

Tomorrow – I think I’ll do another one for all the coloring pages lenses. Meanwhile, if you are interested in keeping up with my Squidoo lenses, there is My Ten Newest Lenses and also my Lensography which hopefully lists them all. I’ve been making new lenses so fast lately, I am afraid I probably missed a few.

Now I feel a bit more like I probably accomplished something today.