Tutorial needed

So, supposing I wanted to take a photo like this one...

 

...and then add some text onto the actual photo, how actually would I go about doing that?  Could some kind, savvy soul please either write a set of instructions (free of fancy computer-speak) in the comments section or even write a tutorial on their own blog and then let me know?  That would be great.  Thank you. Mx

Thank you Deb (and Karen too)

This post is to say thank you to Deb who in four short months of blogging at This Fleeting Moment, has changed my life.

Deb's blog is full of godly wisdom, insightful observations of life, fantastic cleaning and home organisation ideas, great food, amazing craft ideas for kids' groups and fun. And she likes letter writing, teaching and West Wing too.  The perfect blend of serious thought and great humour. 

And in four short months she has changed my life. 

First it was the post about shower cleaning that evoked a response from the lovely Karen about using Viva Kitchen Wipes (are you allowed to mention brand names on a blog?) to clean the shower and voilà, keeping the house clean seems a little easier.  I now grab this lot...

 

...and away I go.  Now don't get me wrong.  Our house isn't spotless.  It still has a very much lived in look and feel to it.  But with all these wipes and a good dusting cloth, those 15 minutes windows are now amazingly efficient, productive and satisfying.

And then there was the dishwasher post where I left a cheeky comment...

...and now our dishwasher sports this snazzy magnet.  Hey presto.  No more sad moments in the kitchen.

 

Thank you so much Deb and thank you Karen too.  Two blogs worth a peek for a realistic, God honouring, fun and helpful view of life.

 

Thank you

A flower for you to say thank you.

I checked my "stats" today for the first time in a long time and was completely surprised to find that there have been daily visitors here all month despite the fact that I haven't posted anything, apart from a heading, in over a month.  So thank you for dropping by and for checking in.  While I haven't been blogging I have been...

1. Recovering from December.
2. Celebrating my birthday.
3. Doing lots of holiday things with the kids.
4. Away on holidays.
5. Reading lots of novels.
6. Reclaiming house and home after being away on holidays or being at home but spending my time reading novels.
7. Drowning in start of year admin from the various things I find myself involved in.
8. Writing lengthy emails to special friends - those moments when the time has to be given to writing for the personal rather than blogging for the general.
9. Spending some time catching up with special people.
10.  And basically following Jean's advice of trying to put my family and other relationships first, fulfilling all my primary responsibilities, and not blogging for the sake of people-pleasing, and, and, and...

And while all that has been happening I have been brewing up a few blogworthy thoughts and can see a window of blogging opportunity coming my way.  So watch this space.  Actually, thanks again for watching this space while I was away.

Must write something again some time...

Maybe tomorrow...

So much to say.  So little time to write anything down.  Maybe tomorrow.
But in the meantime, just letting you know that I have turned the comment moderation back on.  It isn't that I don't trust you.  You have all been very well behaved.  But I like to try to reply to most comments and it's just easier to keep track of them this way.

Blogging Question

So, if I turn off comment moderation and trust you to behave yourselves with your comments, does blogger let me know that you have left a comment or do I just have to discover it by constantly checking through all my posts?  See, I like to try to reply to most comments and I'd hate to miss one by accident.

Smelling the roses: Check!

Things I've done in the last two weeks while I haven't been blogging...

• lots of Bible reading
• lots of praying
• talking with a few people about the issues filling my head at the moment
• watching WAY TOO MANY episodes of West Wing during the evenings (I think I have devoured four disks worth in the last fortnight, but wow, it was good!  Series four was sensational!!)
• got the amount of time I spend in front of this computer back under control
• cleared my head
• came to some conclusions and made some good decisions

And now, even though I said I'd be away for six weeks...and it has only been two...I'm back - in part inspired by this post by Simone.  I've missed being a part of our little community.  And hey - there are things to be said.  For a start, there was a very big storm here last night.  More on that as soon as I have written it.  For now, it is bath and dinner time.

Off to smell some roses...

I haven't written a post in a week.  And truth be told, the posts of the previous three weeks were, by and large, hard won. 

I can't quite put my finger on what the problem is.  I don't feel like I have blogger burn out.  I have made a point not to put myself under any pressure to post at any time and I usually rest from blogging during the school holidays - more for the sake of our children...but there is a benefit for me too.  I would certainly be loath to shut this blog down - I have made some lovely friends and my relationship with God has deepened amazingly this last year or so as I've put my mind to writing about the things of Him in (I hope) a faithful way.  I love writing - it is a great form of recreation for me.  It's not like I don't have anything left to say - I have a nice, long list of ideas in my notebook to explore.  And I have been enjoying using some of my own photos this year - not that this rose photo is an original!

But somehow I have just lost my voice at the moment.  Certainly reading Calvin and Winslow have deepened my thinking and I while I find myself in the process of realigning my thoughts as a result of being on this steep learning curve, I wonder whether I'm just sounding plastic or worse still, self righteous just at the moment.  And I guess too I find my thoughts in other places just now - this year our youngest started Kindy and I have found the transition between what was last year and what will be next year surprisingly and unexpectedly...well, it has occupied a great deal of my brain space, which I didn't anticipate.

I have a couple of beautiful quotes that are scheduled to pop up over Easter and I may do a Calvin Club update but otherwise I'm pulling up stumps until after the April school holidays and then I will see how things are going.  I'm going to keep reading a few blogs - although I am going to narrow the field down there too. 

I have no idea how many people read The Key to the Door - it doesn't boast a huge readership but amongst its ranks are some very special women and so to those dear friends I wanted to say, I am off to smell a few roses until mid-April.  And maybe to cook a roast as well!

Two Public Service Announcements

1.  To fellow bloggers...some time last year I wrote a post lamenting the fact that aspects of Blogger are quite problematic, like the way it adds lines between paragraphs at will and how hard it is to put photos into the text without it rearranging the format.  Well, I discovered the other day that Blogger has updated its editor and the new one is much, MUCH more useful.  It gives you more options (like easy strike through) and downloading photos and rearranging them is now a snap.  Even for me.  So look for the spot where you get to update it (sorry, I can't remember where I found it...see, I am really hopeless...but it isn't too hard to find because I managed to find it) and go for it.  It will make your blogging life much easier.

2.  To the dear folk who subscribe to this blog via email...as soon as I have published this post I am going to get rid of this means of subscribing on my sidebar because I have some unhappy issues with Feedburner.  As I don't know enough about all of this, I don't know if it will affect your subscription or not.  It may be that you have control over your subscription.  If that is the case, I am happy for you to keep receiving posts from this blog via email but this facility won't be available to anyone else.  Subscriptions, if you like to read blogs this way, will need to via Google (or some other) reader.  Otherwise, just keep clicking on my actual blog and see it in its natural setting. 

Thanks.  Mxx

Happy First Birthday to The Key to the Door

When I first started this blog, my dear friend Helen was the first person to leave a comment. She said,

"The pressure is on me leaving the FIRST comment for it to be significant! I am sooooo excitied for you Meredith to enter the world of blogging. I hope it brings as much thought, friendship, growth and amusement in your blogging life as it has in mine. Looking foward to sharing the Year of Optimism with you!"

At the time I was so excited to actually get a comment on my blog that I didn't fully appreciate what she had written.  But a year down the track I can safely say that Helen was absolutely correct.  A year of blogging has brought thought, friendship, growth and amusement in truckloads. 

As I reflect on one year of blogging I am thankful for

• a place to write and think, especially about the most important things of all...the things of God.
• the accountability to keep reading my Bible and other good books that being in blogosphere has provided.
• the encouragement I've received from dear friends via the comments, emails, letters and things you've said to me in person.  I have been blessed with so many kind words about my ramblings.
• the new friends I have made - through our comment pages, some who I am now in contact with via email, a handful for whom it is my privilege to pray and one I am looking forward to meeting later this week!  It is great to be a part of this community.  Thank you.
• and yes...it's just been a hoot.  For example, if you actually saw our "garden" you would realise how funny it is that, to date, I have NINE posts labelled "How does my garden grow"!  And this post was pretty funny too.

The first year has been an absolute joy.  Thank you for travelling with me.  Now, onto the second year!

It is Worse than I Originally Thought!

Not only is the hard drive on my computer failing, the motherboard is also failing. And the cost to replace both is almost as much as the cost to buy a new computer. So while I can keep blogging on my husband's computer when it is not in use (ie. not as frequently) I am otherwise off-air (ie. NO EMAILING!!!) until further notice (ie. until we work out what to do next.)

Computers - great when they are working, paralysing when they are not.

And this just illustrates rather shockingly to me once again the extent to which we live in a throw-away society. The dying laptop is maybe five years old and it is as good as dead. Mmmm...

Troubles with Blogger

Does anyone else have a problem with Blogger putting in and taking away spaces between paragraphs at will? It decides to rearrange the spacing - the results of which generally appear only in the published post - and it just will not allow me to change it back. I seem to have a particular problem with this when I put photos in - even when I put the photos in first and then work my text around them. Can anyone give me a handy hint here so that it doesn't take three times as long as it ought to publish a post, not to mention a ton of unnecessary frustration?

The Key to the Door

So why "The Key to the Door?" Well, two reasons really.

Firstly, I recently had my birthday, and turned the auspicious age of 42. I laughed with a friend that 42 was double 21. If at 21 one can get the key to the door then surely at 42 one is entitled to a second key…maybe a back door key if the lock is different. And as I was reflecting on my newly acquired "two key" status, it came to me that if one were to have a blog, then "The Key to the Door" might well be as good a title as any.

But out of the mirth comes a happy co-incidence in the second reason. First and foremost I am a Christian. So it goes without saying that much of what I will reflect upon in this blog - in amongst posts about daily life as a wife, mother, daughter, sister and friend (and maybe even letter writer and one time primary school teacher) - is Jesus, who is THE key to THE door.

Jesus says of himself, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No-one comes to the Father except through me." (John 14:6) If this sounds unfamiliar and yet interesting to you, click on the Two Ways to Live button in the sidebar, have a read and see what you think.

The Year of Optimism

I was introduced to the world of blogs about 18 months ago. A dear friend keeps a blog about her quilting adventures and achievements. She let me have a peek one day and I have read it ever since. Other blogs followed…

And I must say, I have benefitted a great deal from blog lurking. For one who threads a needle about once a year I can now keep my end up in a conversation about quilting! Elsewhere I have been encouraged to start reading again – something more substantial than recipe and parenting books – and I find that my sleeping brain is awakening! I have been inspired to rekindle a habit lost in the mists of babies - of starting the day reading the Bible and praying before the other members of our household get up, which for me is the best way to start the day. I have learned a good principle that in times of upheaval, life needs to be simplified and the two priorities to maintain in addition to coping with the cause of the upheaval are nurturing one's family (which basically equates to having good, simple food on the table and clothes to wear) and nurturing one's soul (which for me means keeping up those times in God's Word and in prayer.) Many other things can be put aside for a season. Even blogging, I suppose!

Inspired by my blog reading, I have been musing about keeping a blog on and off during the last year. More recently, I found myself reading the occasional HOW TO BLOG article. One memorable article stated that in order to maintain a successful blog one must:-

Read a wide collection of blogs.

Well, I read a few.

Be an active reader of blogs and therefore be an active member of the blogging community. That means leaving comments on others' blogs. Lots of comments. And they need to be well thought out, well written comments – not just a quick sentence here or there.
Well, I leave the occasional comment. And I guess a couple of them were well thought out.

Post an entry on your blog every day. And the large majority of your posts must be significant – not just humorous one-liners. And it goes without saying that each post must be well written.
Well, good writing is fine with me. But every day? Sorry – that counts me out. Frequently? Yes. Everyday? Nope. And so I put the blogging idea aside.

Just before New Year I had dinner with a friend on her annual trip home from England for three weeks of summer weather and catching up with friends. As we talked over dinner, we both decided that 2009 should be designated "The Year of Optimism" and such a year would be characterised by actually doing some of those "one day I might…" things and maybe even taking some risks. For my friend, risk taking is at the mountain climbing end of the spectrum. Now as you know, I am at the chess end of the spectrum but because I am not that keen on chess, my first risk-taking adventure in this year of optimism, from the safety of my desk and with no mountain in sight, is this blog. Welcome to "The Key to the Door."

Where is Blogging on the Thrill Spectrum?

Slightly over twenty years ago (oh my, was it THAT long ago??) I did Educational Psychology – one of the compulsory units in my teaching degree. I can hardly remember a thing from the course apart from one delightful paragraph from the prescribed textbook concerning levels of thrill. It stated that people have different levels of thrill – that for some, to get the adrenalin pumping, they would need to climb mountains or engage in other such forms of dangerous sport. (The term "extreme sports" had not yet been coined!) Others could achieve the same effect from playing a game of chess. Whilst not that keen on chess I remember thinking, somewhat forlornly, that I was more at the chess end of the spectrum.