HOW TO LEARN NEW STUFF

As citizens of a fast moving world of commerce and technology and lifestyle and dubious news we must set upon ourselves the task of Keeping UP.  (Or Not: which is another good choice).  But the world is changed and changing. Very fast.  I want to keep up, but often I am frustrated that I don’t know how to learn all this new stuff and I needed to find someone who knows more than me. So I went on a search.

The someone I found is a young woman named Samantha.

Samantha is my newly minted Personal Web Assistant. She has created this new look for us, teaching me and coaching me all the way through it. She helped me set up the Amazon Affiliate page,  Zazzle and other social media challenges. She draws me pictures and makes screen shots with arrows and circles and does not sigh when I ask the same question twice.

If you don’t keep up you get left behind. And I have decided that I am not ready to drift off into a gentle backwater.  I want to know how to find the stuff I did not know I needed by being open and ready to learn.  I need specific information.

Also (and probably more important) I am a woman with no apparent means or skills  – I have no ‘real’ job.  No formal training or income. I am an immigrant with no settlement. I have nothing to fall back on in times of trouble and i am not getting any younger.   Lately I feel fragile, exposed, unsettled, my future capricious and dependant on too many variables.   I farm here on John’s family land and grow all our food but I rely on my husband  and his summer income for my bread and butter and to “bring home the bacon” – though I churn the butter, and bake the bread and grow the bacon.  But you know what I mean. He brings home the cash, he pays the bills.   And illness or accident or natural disaster could sweep that all away in an instant.  I need to regain my self sufficiency.  I am almost self suffucuent in food, now I need to go the step further. This is another modern day truth.

And so I found Samantha to teach me all the stuff I need to know to try and develop and learn and expand using the tools the internet is giving me.  And because she helps me this affects you too.   (The Kitchens Garden is my mother ship and you are my associates, my Lounge, my Fellowship, my Marketing Team). So, here is our cohort.  Our Personal Web Assistant. She and our Resident Artist are helping us shape the future of The Kitchens Garden and the Farm and the Retreat and the Shops. 

Meet Samantha Glunt.  Say hullo Samantha!

There is no internet knot that she cannot unravel. No stupid question she cannot interpret. The internet it not ageist or sexist or racist. It can be used for more than Twitter arguments and Facebook nastiness. It is a tool that needs careful navigating though and I needed to learn where the maps are. Samantha is showing me. We have even changed to a FREE theme so she is saving me money too.

Samantha is well educated with WordPress and happy to share so if YOU  get stuck on stuff she would be happy to help you too.  No job too small.  And you won’t have to sell an arm or a leg. Tell her I sent you. Her small business takes place on the internet so you can employ her from anywhere in the world.

I will add her contact details to the page – Our Cottage Industries. 

I am a team player and am grateful to have such a team.

Meanwhile back on the farm.  I  have almost finalised a plan to sell my pork to The Chefs in Chicago.  This might even be a weekly income if the middle man I am contracting can sell it to the right chef. I will keep you up dated as to when and where (which restaurant) so we can all go up and eat my home grown pork cooked by a real live big time chef! He is confident he can sell my pork on the weekly list he sends to a number of chefs in Chicago.

This is big news for the farm and if all goes well it will bring in enough income to pay for their feed and fly me to New Zealand for Christmas with family. This is such a relief.  The hay loss was a big financial blow. So let’s hope this works out. 

And also – look at this. Yes. An udder developing and the owner of that udder is no other than Aunty Anna the grumpy one. Hmm. And I had put her out to pasture thinking her barren.  Of course there is also the chance that it is all the good clover enhancing her bosom – she does not look pregnant at all. No bump. But we will see. 

I towed 130 bales of the most beautiful hay home yesterday with my big truck. It was quite the drive but I made it without incident. You cannot see behind you when you tow hay and you have to go SO SLOW. But it was OK. 

Now I must away and work out the latest technical details to make sure this posts correctly.  I love this new format- especially the font – much clearer. But there are a few more steps I need to remember before publishing. (But that is OK –  I have made up a cheat sheet from Samantha’s instructions).

I LOVE learning new things but sometimes I would rather go to sleep under a tree … !!!

I still hope you have a lovely day – this will never change. I really do hope you find loveliness today.

Love celi

WEATHER: It is warming up!

Friday 09/15 10% / 0 in
A mainly sunny sky. High 86F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph.

Friday Night 09/15 10% / 0 in
Clear skies. Low 63F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph.

Sun
6:33 am 7:01 pm
Moon
Waning Crescent, 20% visible 1:26 am 4:15 pm