No modem until around February 4th!

This time I am sitting at the University Library, CNB (the Norrkoping branch of the University of Linkoping). But Elisabet is with me so I can't stay long. We've had a blizzard here and got about a foot of snow in one night. I'll try to take some more recent pics than this one from before Christmas, but it is bitter cold. Minus 19 degrees Celsius at nine AM.

Hugs and thanks to everyone who has stopped by to check on me.

Anna

How To Get 1 Million Hits!

Hi everyone! I just read all of your wonderful ideas about what kind of prize should be had for my 1 million visitors giveaway! I will let you know what I have chosen when the milestone approaches! While I was reading your comments, I came across a suggestion from one of my followers, aussiegold (thanks Phil!). He wanted me to write a post about blog promotion. So that's what I am going to do today!

1. You want people to visit your blog so it needs to be interactive in some way. You need to keep the information new and updated so people have a reason to keep coming back. Maybe ask them to comment. Post a giveaway (this is a great idea to try). Anything to get your name out! On this note, create your own button so people can share it on their blog!

2. Love what you do and it will show! It also helps if your blog/webpage is useful to others. When I first began blogging, I found many sites that were very useful. When I finally learned how to tweak my blog to be "just right" I wanted to share what I had learned with all of you! And it helps if you offer "free stuff", too!

3. It's all about public relations! So, respond to people who leave comments! Visit their blogs. Don't forget to leave your email or contact button somewhere on your blog. Encourage people to write to you, and write back to them. Try and develop relationships with your visitors.

4. Get your name out there. List your blog on blog circles, advertise your blog on other blogs (like Tina's ;) or advertise on much larger scales. My personal favourite: Trek Advertising!

5. Wait it out. I didn't have all the traffic to start with. It takes time! But with regular posting and following these tips, your blog will slowly be known in the blogosphere.

With these suggestions in mind, your site can reach 1 million visitors, too!

Still blogging at the public library!

Hopefully I will get my modem repaired and returned to me tomorrow. I apologise to everyone who advertises on my blog with out any new content to get readers interested in visiting. But I have not been idle. I have been working on making jewellery! My first posts will be about new pieses of jewellery that I would like to get some feed back on before listing them in my shop!

Best wishes

Anna

P.S.

Working at the library means that I am borrowing a computer and do not have access to new photos. This is why I have "recycled" older pics to have something for "LinkWithin" to latch onto.

Still offline!

It's Friday, January 22nd, and I am still not connected! I am writing this at the public library again and don't have much time.It may take until sometimew next week to get my modem back!

Thank you all who havbe stopped by and left comments! Hugs to you all!!

Best wishes

Anna

OFFLINE from January 7th to 17th - My modem suddenly died!!

I apoligise for not getting the English-transaltion about the cat shelter up.

My modem suddenly stopped working and I have been offline for ten days. I am sitting at the public library trying to catch up. If any of you had your ad on my widget during the 11th to the 15th of January, please let me know in a comment, and I will give you an extra thank-you-link.

Best wishes,

Anna

Happy 2010!

Hi everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season! I think it is time for another giveaway! This time, I am going to celebrate...drum roll please... 1 MILLION visits to my page! WHOOOA it's coming up soon! And I need your help! What kind of prize would you like to win? Please leave me a comment and let me know, and I just may use your idea! Until then, there will be lots of exciting things to come. Happy 2010 everyone!

Wordless Wednesday: Snow-landscape

The view from our house: A snowy landscape!

Happy Wordlessness!
Anna

Random Tuesday Thoughts: Not Finished with Christmas - Part One

Not Finished with Christmas - Part One

As I mentioned yesterday, I'm not finished with Christmas. Some of you may recall that just before Christmas, I lamented over the fact that we were not going to have a Christmas tree for the children, Erik, eight years old and Elisabet, only five. It was not my choice. We own forest. We usually can go out to our own forest and cut down our own Christmas tree. But this year my husband, T said no, without giving any real explaination. "It's too much work; it makes such a mess..." Yeah, well "too much work for whom?" I might ask? Who usually puts it up and takes it down?
In order to have something Christmassy on my blog, I posted some pics from a couple years ago that showed our lastest/last(?) Christmas tree. (Everybody looked two years younger too.) Some visiters to my blog even thought that I was posting this year's Christmas tree. Well, if you are in a hurry and don't have time to read the captions, it is easy to assume that. But now, I can finally tell you what actually happened this year (er, I mean for Christmas 2009).


I decided that I really did want to have a Christmas tree this year. The children are still children, and they grow up so quickly. But how was I to do it? It was already the morning of Christmas Eve.

Traditionally, there is a lot of folklore associated with Christmas Eve. And Sweden is no exception: This is the one time of year that animals can speak and that the dead are allowed to have their own church services. There is an atmosphere of anticipation in the air; but even calm. What needs to be done is already done.

Or no! Suddenly, it was discovered that we needed more milk! All the grocery stores are closed on Christmas Day and only open for a few hours on Christmas Eve! We need at least four liters! Is there anything else? "There isn't any baked beans at home!" was T's thought on the matter. I thought of all the things that I could not afford to buy when the children and I were out last-minute-shopping the day before. And the Christmas presents for the children that did not get bought because they were with me.

It was decided by T that it was my turn to go out and get these items and that he would even give me some money to do it. I did not protest. This was my chance to perhaps do something more for the children. Here was a rare opportunity to be out, without having the children with me. I would be an idiot not to do this.

But it was not easy leaving the house. It never is. I received a barage of hugs and kisses from five year old Elisabet, as if I were to be away several weeks. (I made a mental note to cherish this. There will come time in the future when I will wish for these moments again; when Elisabet, the little girl, has become a teen or a young woman who has another kind of attitude toward her mother.) I had to go before the store closes and it was already almost eleven o'clock. I closed the front door behind me. There was no going back. But as soon as I step out on the porch, I regretted not taking my camera with me. You never know. I might see something.

With a huge broom, I brushed easily away the powdery snow from the cement steps. Yes. I will regret not taking the camera along. Resigned to my mistake, I proceeded to the bicycle-room behind the garage. I don't think I should ride a bike. But four liters of milk is heavy to carry. I'll take the folding stroller. We call it the umbrella. But as everything we own that is for babies or young children, it is either bought used or worn out. The plastic footrest broke and to prevent Elisabet from dangling and draging her feet along the surface of the ground, I replaced it with a very broad (three inches?) suitcase strap with a quick-snap lock. But since it was rather long, I hade to weave it several times around the legs of the little portable pram. It doesn't look very stylish, but it works. So I'm off to buy milk!

It was snowing and about 5 degrees Celsius. Perfect temperature for fluffy snow! It was clean, pure and white. It fell softly and made everything quiet. The white snow brighten the otherwise gloomy time of year. All outside objects were covered in white and made "magical". The naked branches of the trees became a canopy of white lace over the promenade that makes Norrkoping a kind of Paris in miniature. I was not alone. Maybe I looked like a scare crow with my unkept clothing and my childless broken baby buggy. There was an air of light-headed happiness and quiet friendliness among passers-by on my way. As if everyone there who met my eyes, smiled.

Part Two to be posted soon!

Anna

New Year's Resolutions? I'm not finished with Christmas yet!

Most bloggers have already written their New Year's resolutions by now. I am not really finished with Christmas! I got a cold yesterday and am sitting here with soggy paper tissues trying to keep my running nose from dropping over the keyboard while I write.

There are lots of things to write about. I have about three to four unfinished texts that I could post, but they're not ready yet. I'll have to write at least one more post about Christmas before I'm done.

I have been thinking about the cats at Katthemmet Kompis who endured first a fire and then cold winter weather when they ran away. Amazingly a few of these cats have been found after several days of wandering about in the woods. I would like to praise the fire-fighters and the people who take care of these shelter cats for their efforts in rescuing them. Nybro is several hours away from where we live. I can't drive a car filled with cat food and other supplies that they have listed on their website, even if that is exactly what I wish that I could do. All I can do is send a donation to their plusgiro account (pg konto):

35 74 82-9 and wish them well.

I have not yet figured out how money can be sent to this Swedish cat shelter from other countries. I wish that everyone outside of Sweden who wished to send a small donation, could do this without having transfer-fees costing too much. If anyone has any suggestions about how this could be done, please leave a comment here.

They are having auctions on Tradera (Swedish Ebay). Maybe I should sell some pieces of jewellery there or in my Etsy-shop for the benefit of the surviving cats of Katthemmet Kompis? Does anyone have experience with charity work that can advise me?

Thank you,
Anna

This week with EntreCard: Thank you for advertising !

Thank you for advertising on my widget 27 December 2009 - 3 January 2010:

Sunday 27 December - Shopping
Monday 28 December - Bakatsuki Fashion And Costume
Tuesday 29 December - Gemma Stothard - My Art My Way
Wednesday 30 December - Coming Back to Life
Thursday 31 December - God's Best Gift
Friday 1 January - Parents Times
Saturday 2 January - Life's Tricky Situations
Sunday 3 January - Take a coffee break...sip slowly...

Best wishes

Anna

PhotoHunt Theme # 194 "Lick"

This week's PhotoHunt Theme is "Lick". I was hoping to get a shot of Cajsa Cat licking water running from the tap in the bathroom.

But the best I could do is her licking water from a little blue cup. Taking pictures of your pets takes time and patience. I admire those who really can do this well!

Happy Weekend!

Anna

P.S.

If you live in Sweden, please read yesterday's post about the fire at Katthemmet Kompis outside of Nybro. Many cats died, but those who survived need food and other supplies.
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Om Ni bor i Sverige, vänligen ta en titt på gårdagens inlägg om branden på Katthemmet Kompis utanför Nybro. De behöver hjälp. Tack!

PhotoHunt

ALERT To Cat-Lovers in Sweden-A Shelter has burned down outside of Nybro

To all my English-speaking friends. I am using Anna's blog as a megaphone to reach as many people in Sweden I can. Please forgive me for writing this post in Swedish. I need to reach people who can help out.
To cat lovers living near Nybro, Sweden. A cat shelter has been destroyed by fire today. January first.
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Till alla som älskar katter och bor nära Nybro i Småland. Katthemmet Kompis brann ner idag, första januari 2010.

De behöver hjälp, pengar och kattmat:
Katthemmet Kompis har brunnit ner

Katthemmet Kompis brann i natt ner till grunden. Brandkåren är fortfarande där. Många katter är räddade, några sprang ut i skogen. Vi vet fortfarande inte hur många som omkom i branden. Hela vårt stora matförråd brann ner, så vi är i stort behov av mat. Orsaken till branden är fortfarande oklar.

Vi gråter och är väldigt chockade!

Har ni möjlighet att skänka kattmat, sand, pengar m.m. till oss så maila mig. jenny@katthemmetkompis.se

Vill ni skänka en valfri slant så är vi väldigt tacksamma. Inga pengar är för små eller för stora. PG-konto: 35 74 82-9

Vi är tacksamma för allt stöd! Maritha och Sonny tar dock inte emot några telefonsamtal.

/Jenny, Katthemmet Kompis

Vår medarbetare Mia samlar just nu på sig kattmat som ska förmedlas till katthemmet, maila mig så skickar jag hennes nummer. Kattmat kan också lämnas till följande butiker där vi har fodertunnor:
Fodertunnor

Arken, Nygatan 10, 361 30 Emmaboda
Coop Extra, Stora Nygatan 6, 382 30 Nybro
DjurMagazinet, Norra vägen 2, 382 30 Nybro
Nybro Zoo, Garvare Nybergsg. 2, 382 30 Nybro
Willys, Torget, 382 30 Nybro
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Thank you for letting me post this./Tack för att jag fick göra det här inlägget.
Anna