And Now For the Stats

Last month I participated in the A to Z Blog Challenge.  Wow!  I had no idea how difficult it was going to be to come up with 26 posts in 30 days.  But I did it.  I tend to be a hit and miss blogger, so having to discipline myself to write something every day was definitely a challenge. 

Between April 1 and April 30 I posted 26 different blogs on a range of topics, many of which were suggested by friends.  (Thank goodness!  I’d have been lost without them.)  To date those 26 posts have been viewed a total of 583 times.  The most viewed post was D is for D’Arcy, having been viewed 56 times for 9% of the total Challenge views, thus proving that D’Arcy is indeed awesome (and a damn fine pirate!). 

Throughout the challenge, the number of followers of my blog increased by 125%.  My ego is vehemently in opposition to my posting the actual numbers, which are much more impressive expressed as a percentage.  (I went from 8 to 18 followers.)  Still, I’m good with that. 

I personally read over two hundred challenge posts from other bloggers.  There was no way I could have possibly read them all; there were hundreds of bloggers participating and thousands of posts.  It was really quite amazing that anyone found me at all amid the really quite interesting and amazing blogs that were there. 

Over the past month my blog posts were viewed 420 times in the USA.  That is 20% more than in Canada (348).  Russia is third with 181 views in the last 30 days.  Honorable mention goes to Germany (101), UK  (48), China (35) and Poland (28).  Obviously, they were viewing posts previous to the Challenge posts as well.  I use the word viewing rather than reading because the reality is that, statistically speaking, probably only 10% of the people who happened upon my blog actually read anything!  (I’m good with that, too.)

Several times (no specific – or even calculated  - stats available) I asked myself why I blog.  I honestly don’t have an answer to that.  I’ve always loved writing and I’ve always dreamed of being a writer.  I suppose that this is an outlet, even if it is more of a diary than actual writing.  It does cater to my curiosity.  I am often compelled to research new ideas and I love finding new information.  Sharing it in my blog helps it to process and assists in retention.  It’s partly habit now.  Other than that, there is no real goal or objective. 

Yesterday I started another month-long challenge – David Suzuki’s 30 X 30 Challenge!  I did this last year with the encouragement of my daughter and thoroughly enjoyed it.  Being motivated to get outside and connect with nature was good for me.  I walked more.  I went canoeing.  I went kite flying.  I spend time at the duck pond.  I worked in my yard.  A year later, the lessons of that challenge are still with me. 

You can participate in the 30x30 Challenge, too.  If you wish to officially register, you can do it here:  http://30x30.davidsuzuki.org/.  Or you can just challenge yourself by pledging to spend 30 minutes a day for the next 30 days outside being active and enjoying nature.  

Z is for Zippety-doo-dah

Zippity doo dah, Zippity ay,

My oh my what a wonderful day

Plenty of sunshine coming my way,

Zippity doo dah, Zippity ay!

If you don’t recognize this little ditty, it’s a song from the 1946 Disney classic live-action and animated movie Song of the South, sung by James Baskett.  The music was written by Allie Wrubel and the lyrics by Ray Gilbert and it won the Academy Award for Best Original Song that year.  (It was the second in a long line of Disney songs to win this award, after When you Wish Upon a Star from Pinocchio.)

And if you’re wondering why I’m sharing it with you, it’s is in celebration of this being my final post in the A to Z Challenge 2013!

I did it!  I completed the challenge.  I posted 26 blogs this month on different topics from A to Z.  It wasn’t easy.  It was a lot of fun, but I have to give credit where credit is due and thank all the people who posted suggestions for topics that sparked my muse and inspired me.  I think I would have given up 20 or so posts ago if it wasn’t for that support.

So sing along with me as I end this final installation in the A to Z Challenge…

Zippity doo dah, Zippity ay,

My oh my what a wonderful day

Plenty of sunshine coming my way,

Zippity doo dah, Zippity ay.

Mister blue bird's on my shoulder,,

it's the truth,

it's actual,

everything's satisfactual!

Zippity doo dah,

zippity ay,

zippity doo dah,

zippity ay!

Have an amazing day, everyone.  Thank you all who stopped by and read my challenge posts.  Here’s wishing you all plenty of sunshine!

U is for Unusual

I am typically drawn to things that are unusual or unconventional.   And mystical.  I like things that are a bit strange; unexplained.   Esoteric teachings fascinate me. 

Good.  If you're eight feet tall and only
sleep in one position.

At the same time, I look for logic in the unusual and unconventional.  It has to make sense.  To me. 

So I experiment a lot with thoughts and ideas.  If This is so, how is That not so?  That’s a big question for me; one I like to play with often.  How did this come to be?  How did it come to be accepted?  Why?  What is the purpose of this belief?  That ideology?  How does it serve?  How does it not serve? 

Hold on to your handlebars -
it's going to be a bumpy ride!

I used to ask myself what my purpose in life is.  I don’t anymore.  My purpose is to Be.  And so I try to do that.  Just Be.  Just Be creatively. 

I love this!

My struggle is to balance the mundane obligations of life with creativity.  My challenge is to approach the mundane as creatively as I can.  It’s hard to be creative when vacuuming the floor, for instance, but the floor still needs to be vacuumed.  Or does it?  I’ve been conditioned to wanting to live in a clean environment and vacuuming is one way to achieve that.  If the stuff I dump out of my vacuum canister is anything to go by, it’s testimony to at least a certain degree of success.  (Where does all that stuff come from!?)  If I can’t be creative about pushing Tyler, my Dyson Ball vacuum cleaner, around, I can at least be thankful for the time it gives me to experiment with thoughts and ideas.  Like how to be creative when I’m paying my bills!  Again, I find it fascinating that just by moving numbers from one field on my computer screen to another, service providers are somehow satisfied.  All I’m giving them is digits, disguised as binary code.  It’s kind of bizarre – when you really think about it.

I can't decide if this looks
comfortable - or not!

Nature always finds a way.  

I love conspiracy theories.  I love that they challenge me to think unconventionally; to see an unusual perspective.  I love that they cast doubt on the status quo.  I don’t necessarily believe them (in fact, I rarely do), but I like that they challenge the mind to see things differently.   I think that there is great value in that.  Question everything is my motto.  Like mantras, why, what and how are the first things that come to mind when presented with any new information.  Is it at least plausible?  If so, is it good or is it bad?  Does it serve the greater good, or is it a product of egocentric greed?  Is it beautiful, or is it not?  Is it creative, or is it destructive?  Is it helpful, or is it harmful?  Can it make my life better?  Can it make everyone’s life better?  Can I get behind it?  Or is it best to walk away? 

I wonder if this is real...

Obviously, I don’t have the time to put that much energy into everything that comes my way.  It has to pique my interest, speak to me somehow as being worth the effort.  But if it does, I’m like a dog with a bone.  I buy books.  I find articles.  I experiment with it – mentally or physically, if I can.  Deconstructing notions, reverse-engineering an idea is one of my favourite… for lack of a better word, hobbies. 

I'm guessing PhotoShop...?

Does this count as topiary?

It took me a long time to realize that not everyone likes to be challenged like I do.  I still have difficulty processing that sometimes and it does get me in trouble now and then.  I don’t mean to be aggressive or cast aspersions, but that’s how I come across to some people.   And, yes, I do occasionally take exception to the points-of-view of others.   (Usually, only when they are being aggressive or casting aspersions, though.) 

Few things are as satisfying as a healthy debate.  Often this is where the unusual and unconventional come to light; where the imagination is ignited and new ideas are born. 

T is for Topiary

How majestic!  

I don’t know a damn thing about topiary.  Except that it’s very cool.

This would look so cool outside
the library.

The idea of training live perennials to form shapes fascinates me.  Not enough to go out and learn how to do it.  Just enough to blog about it. 

 

The word topiary derives from the Latin, topiarius – a creator of topia or “places.”  Evergreen plants such as European box, arborvitae, bay laurel, holly, mertle, yew and privet are commonly used in topiary due to their small leaves or needles and dense foliage.  Today, wire cages are sometimes used to guide untutored shears, but traditionally topiary depended on patience and a very steady hand.  For the impatient and unsteady, small-leaved ivy can be used to cover a cage to give the look of topiary in a few months (more my speed).  The simplest form of topiary is the hedge, used to create decorative boundaries, walls or screens. 

Running puppies!  And you don't have
to clean up after them.

Topiary is also a fun word to say.  Topiary.  It sounds fanciful and whimsical; somewhat magical, which it sort of is. 

Giraffes would make a nice addition
to any garden.

Ah, the king of the jungle.

And now that I know a wee bit about it and have discovered the ivy cheat thing, I might just add some pseudo-topiary to my garden plans…  Hmmm… 

This guy is interesting!

I'm guessing the owner does this
for a living. 

And the mighty tiger.  My favourite.

Anyone know where I can get a wire cage shaped like a tiger?

S is for Spanokopita

If you’ve been following this blog – or if you know me at all! – you know that I am a very fussy eater.  Very fussy!

The only cooked vegetables I typically eat are peas and corn – and I prefer my peas raw and my corn popped.  If you count potatoes as a veg, then, yes, I do eat cooked potatoes.  But I’m talking about veggie-veggies… green beans, broccoli, cauliflower and such.  

Tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers can be lumped in here as well, even if they are technically fruits.  Although, I do like cucumbers a bit.

I will eat almost any vegetable raw.  I love salads.  Not crazy about tomatoes (unless they are in a sauce) or peppers (at all).  But spinach and cabbage and carrots and broccoli and cauliflower, etc. tossed with lettuce and cheese cubes and boiled egg and nuts or seeds and a bit of yummy dressing and I’m in heaven.

Cooked carrots, beans, broccoli, cabbage…  Yuck.  You couldn’t pay me enough to eat a brussel sprout.  I’m not adventurous enough to know if I’d eat asparagus or squash.  Getting past the veggie part takes a lot. 

And spinach?  Well, raw in a salad is fine.  I can handle that.  If it’s chopped up really fine, I don’t mind a good spinach dip.  But cooked?  Yeah, that’s just not going to happen.

A few weeks ago, my niece was staying with me while her parents were in China.  She came home from the babysitter’s house one afternoon with a little container filled with Spanokopita.  She was so excited and suggested that we have some with our dinner that night.  I had no idea what Spanokopita was, but pretended to be as excited as she was. 

As I prepared our dinner – can’t recall what it was now – my niece kept reminding me about the Spanokopita.  I assured her that it would be on the table.  She was probably just happy to have something for dinner that wasn’t… well, cooked by me.  I’m not much of a cook either.  When we sat down to eat, my niece reached immediately for the Spanokopita.

“Have one, Aunty Toni,” she said, so enthusiastically.  “They’re really good.”

Not wanting to set a bad example, I took a small piece from the container and placed it on my plate.  I used my knife and fork to cut a corner off so I could see what was inside.  It was green.

Green mystery food and I don’t have much of a track record.  “What is it?” I asked my niece.

“I don’t know.  But it’s yummy!”

She’s seven.  And she’s eating – willingly! – food she can’t even identify.  What’s up with that?

I actually made these all by myself.  

I sniffed at the corner I had cut off.  It did smell good.  So I closed my eyes and plunged the fork into my mouth, fully prepared to make an exit to the washroom to spit it out if I had to.

I stayed right where I was, chewing thoughtfully. 

It was good.  It was really good.

I still didn’t know what it was, but I heard myself telling my niece to ask her babysitter for the recipe. 

After dinner, I Googled Spanokopita.  Imagine my surprise to find it was spinach.  Wow!  Must have been the feta cheese, nutmeg and garlic that won me over.

What a delicious treat!  The recipe is now tweaked and safely recorded in my recipe box.

 

Spanokopita (Toni style)

Phyllo pastry sheets

One package chopped spinach, thawed and drained

One package cream cheese, softened

One tub feta cheese

Two eggs

Salt, pepper, garlic to taste. 

A pinch of nutmeg – optional

Put everything (except the Phyllo pastry) into a food processor and blend the crap out of it.  Follow the instructions on the phyllo pastry package for making triangles.  Use a good dollop of the filling – almost a tbsp. or so – for each triangle.  Bake at 350 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes. 

There is enough filling for two packages of phyllo pastry using two sheets per piece of spanakopita, more or less.  (About 72  pieces)

Enjoy!

Spanakopita is a Greek dish, by the way.