Blog updates and reviews

Only two weeks to go and Summer begins.
Looking at the weather today, you might think we skipped the Summer and are in the middle of Autumn.
No, it is not cold but the forecast for today is thunderstorms, rain, and wind force 8!
Stormy weather isn't too bad when all the leaves are gone from the trees but right now 'high trees catch a lot of wind'. How true is that today.

I planned to go food shopping but wait until tomorrow. I already have an appointment with a dear friend who is also a hairdresser. She is always very successful in upgrading my market value. Unfortunately the value only lasts for two weeks or so ;-)
Instead I have been busy upgrading my Dutch Blog. I know, I did it a month ago as well but I wasn't satisfied with the look.
I plunged into the help section of Blogger to find out how I can add my own Header. It turned out to be very easy (click Lay Out and edit Header, choose if you want to replace it all - like I did - or another option).
Than I made a new Logo (wondefull app called Logopit Plus), went to Picmonkey.com and designed my own header.
It sounds and is as aimple as this but of course before I was happy with the logo's and the background (paper) of the header, it took me a while. It had to match with the colours of the new theme I have chosen on Blogger.
One day, when I have plenty of time on my hands (when ever that will be, I am probably still busy in the home for elderly people in 30 years time...) I am going to design my own theme.

I also added pages to my Dutch Blog.
One with Slow Cooker recipes (currently only one so please feel free to send me your recipes!) and a page with the reviews of my e-book 'Observaties'. The reviews are slowly but surely dropping in. A big thank you to everyone who took the effort to write one!

I also made the Dutch and English Blog easier to navigate; less bulk information, and added a Skype Chat button. Feel free to chat with me on Skype but please stay on topic: books, writing, translations. This will be much appreciated.

Keeping up with Social Media is time consuming and I do not have so much free time but I will do my very best and also added a Pinterest account. The link is in all my blogs next tot the Facebook, Instagram etc. tab under the header.

Off I go, writing on a short story for a writing contest, deadline end of June.

Enjoy your day!

Helen

Fresh free range eggs and trimming hedges

Yesterday at Ascension Day, I gave myself a day off. Such luxury! Doing nothing but reading in the shadow, listening to the birds in the fields. A cup of tea, a sandwich and a meal from the Slow Cooker and home made ice cream  for dessert. I loved it.

It was also a bit charging the battery for today; I promised myself a few hours of gardening.
Due to all sorts of circumstances, the last weed in the front garden was in September last year (can you see me blushing??).
In my part of the world, weed does not grow during Winter and fortunately Spring did not come early this year. But as soon as the temperatures rose and the sun came out in between showers, the weed grew as never before. The front garden looked like a film set for 'The Jungle Book'. It became embarrassing.

Up early, no shower (would not make sense with the high temperatures of today and all the dirty work), a fruity breakfast.
I gathered all the garden equipments and started with the weed. Their never seemed to come an end to it.
After an hour or so, I got out the trimmer for the Box tree hedges. There are quite a few metres.....
I was not even half way and although all my precautions, I cut the wire and there was silence.
Fortunately I have some more but know I need to restore it as soon as possible. Of course it shut off all electricity of that group in the meter box. I went in to switch it on again and managed to trim the rest without any other accidents (I learn fast....)

My neighbour was also working in his garden and together we drank a cup of Wiener Melange, our favourite drink. We talked a while sitting in the shadow of one of my pear trees. Our conversation was about cars.
People who know me, know this is one of my favourite subjects. I dislike talking about shopping! I dislike shopping too. Do you recognize the feeling of entering a shop like Mr. Jekyll and leaving it like Mr. Hyde??

Temperatures rose and rose and at 2 PM I called it a day, the heat was killing me and I have to admit that I am not in the best shape after a Winter Sleep. But today was a true workout. I feel muscles I forgot all about. It feels good, I feel alive!

Around 12 PM the local sheepfarmer, a lovely man in his 70's and the proud owner of a white bushy beard, passed by on his bicycle with a box with 12 fresh eggs in his hand. He stopped for as what I thought one of his enjoyable conversations but this time it was also to give me the eggs. And I did not had to pay for them. I don't have to say that I am very happy with the eggs, they taste delicious and can't be any fresher.
The sheep farmer often stops for a chat and spoiling me with fresh vegetables from his own land. And the taste is so much better than we you buy them.
I am always grateful!
The sheep farmer received a phone call from his wife who needed him at home so off he went half way one of his stories.

There is still a lot to do in the front garden but enough was enough, there is always a tomorrow, even a next week.

The shower took care of all the dust in my hair and anywhere else dust likes to settle.
Yours truly is writing this post nice and clean. Any complains will be deleted ;-)

Enjoy a wonderful weekend!

Helen