…. and keep track of the blogs you like to read, too.

I am constantly on the lookout for new blogs and have been adding *NEW* to each new blog that I add to my blogroll.  (I leave the *NEW* on for a month or so.)  But I also realize that many people read my blog without actually coming to the web address itself.

Readers - some people use readers.  I had been in the habit of using a Google reader… but have abandoned it because when you read that way you have to make a special effort to click through to comment or to read the comments a post has received.  Plus it is a pain to keep up to date.

Feed Aggregator - I use Netvibes, and there is a link to my public Netvibes page at the bottom of my blogroll (and here.) (a new window will open) I like this because it shows the last couple of posts including a thumbnail picture if there is one.  I read on Steve’s blog comments the other day that some people have been in the habit of going to his blog to see who has updated theirs most recently, and this Netvibes page works the best for me. You are welcome to bookmark it and use it any time.  (or modify it for your own use) You can see I have several pages for different types of blogs.  A screen capture of the top of the page is below.

Facebook - Most of the bloggers I know who are on Facebook use a tool that allows them to import their blog into Notes.  Then Notes publishes to the News Feed.  I did this for a while and then realized that similar to using a reader, it allows me to do a comment on their Note but since I hadn’t gone to their actual blog my comment wasn’t part of the comment discussion on their blog.  To me it felt like I was diluting my blog, not enhancing it.  Plus I have plenty of Facebook friends who might not want their Facebook cluttered with each of my blog posts.  So, I have decided to stop importing my blog and will post it manually to my Wall when and if it seems appropriate.  A picture of the Facebook note for my previous blog entry is below.

Kindle - I don’t exactly know why I did this, but I enrolled Countdown to Mexico with Amazon to be available for subscription the Kindle.  99 cents per month, and  three people have done it so far.  I get a third of that, I think.  (Someday!) A screenshot of that is below, and if you want to subscribe, click here.

On another topic, I have received a few comments lately that I thought I would ask for help on.  First, they have all come through on my post Drip, Drip, Drip and all are in Asian characters.  They don’t actually show up on the comments to the post although I received email notifications which you will see below.  Can anyone read these?  Are they spam?  Any help would be appreciated!

Three boogie boarders last Friday

Last Friday, it was hot.  Really hot.  And sticky.  Humid. Uncomfortable.

In the afternoon Paul was heading upstairs for a shower and I suggested we run to the beach for a swim instead.  We changed, grabbed towels, and headed out immediately.  There was a breeze off the ocean, so that was good, but the water was so warm it was almost not refreshing.  We got wet and stood knee deep in the water, letting the breeze cool us.  We paddled around a bit but it wasn’t the refreshing swim we had hoped for.

Home we went, and after showers we felt much better.

Overnight that night we had a rainstorm that put two and a half inches additional water in our fountain, our unofficial rain gauge.

Saturday, Sunday, and now today, Monday have felt like winter to me.  Warm but not sticky.  I did some projects and got a little damp but nothing ridiculous.  I’ve looked at the weather history and can see no reason for such a perceptible change… no reduction in humidity or dew point.

So, I guess I’ll take it as the gift that it is, a refreshing treat in the middle of summer.

I was afraid we wouldn’t be able to call this room our sala fresca once the windows were installed, but it is actually way more open feeling now than it was with the wrought iron! The only time the windows are closed is when we are sleeping or when it’s raining! I think it’s interesting too that the streetscape in the mural is at the same perspective as the new windows…it is quite amazing, really.

See the equipal chaise, above?  That’s where you’ll find me reading.  I can see both hummingbird feeders from there, too.

Can you see we also had the fountain retiled?  One last picture, below.

This house spoke to us the first time we saw it, and we love it even more now.  If you want to see the whole project from start to finish either go to the Photos page above or click here.