A blog overhaul

I have not been very active on my Grains of Sand blog in recent months. Even my Finding Frohsinn photo-a-day blog has had an extended nap. Only Flat Kathy is still sharing her fantastical adventures around the world.

I have decided to give my blog a theme overhaul, by trying out the Expound theme. I like the option of creating a Front Page, where I can highlight certain categories or my favourite posts. And I really like the Featured Posts functionality.

But during the transition period, things are unfortunately a little messy.

Happy New Year: Introducing “Finding Frohsinn”

One of my New Year’s Resolutions for 2014 is to take a photograph every day this year, in order to learn how to use my camera more effectively, and to challenge myself photographically.

You can find my new photos-only blog here: http://findingfrohsinn.wordpress.com/

Welcome to the Blogosphere: How has blogging changed my life?

A couple of months ago, I had been asked by my friend Alison (of Despatches from Timbuktu) to give a presentation on the marvelous World of Blogging to the writers’ club to which she belongs: the West Coast Writers’ Circle. I had previously given a presentation to them three years ago, when I spoke about…

Learning how to write a feature article: Studying online with GetSmarter

The last few weeks since our return from our 3-week visit to the USA have gone past in a blur, and I am playing catch-up. I am sorry that things have been so quiet on the blog-front, and apologise in advance that it’s going to remain a little quiet here for the next couple of…

Will infinite scrolling be rolled out infinitely? Please not!

I just about had a conniption fit yesterday, when I discovered that my footer widgets had disappeared and that post after post after post after post after post after post after post after post after post after post after post after post after post after post after post after post after post after post after post…

Dear WordPress.com: Stop messing with our Themes!!!!

Brace yourselves, dear reader. After the advertisement debacle (see Adverts on my blog and Update on adverts), I am just about ready to have a volcanic eruption. It seems that WordPress has suddenly and unilaterally implemented a completely idiotic feature on the very popular Twenty Ten and Twenty Eleven themes called ‘infinite scroll’.

Adverts on my Blog? Be-Gone!

A blogfriend brought it to my attention a while back that WordPress.com does (occasionally? all the time? I really don’t know) allow adverts to appear on our free WordPress.com-hosted blogs. As I am always logged in, I never see these adverts, so I had not given it much thought. Tonight, though, as I happened to…

The WordPress Stats Helper Monkeys review my Blog for 2011

The WordPress stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog, like they had done last year too (My Blog Health-O-Meter reads Wow!). I thought you might enjoy reading it, so I have included the link below.

The latest newsletter of Eseltjiesrus Donkey Sanctuary

I have just received the latest newsletter from Eseltjiesrus Donkey Sanctuary – the last newsletter of the year, as the hard-working staff have earned themselves a break over the festive season. Do not fear, though – the furry-long-eared-four-leggeds will continue to be looked after and to receive the best quality of care and love. I…

I made it into the People’s Post and onto the Reserve Force Division website!

Yep, two recent articles I wrote have appeared in the People’s Post and on the Reserve Force Division website. The People’s Post is a weekly community newspaper, of which several editions are published around the Cape Peninsula, with content tailored to the different neighbourhoods. The Reserve Force Division is part of the South African National…

Get Creative with a “Caption This” competition at “Notes from Africa”

In September, Lisa at Notes from Africa started a new series on her wonderful blog, called “Caption This” (Gallery of Winning Captions). She posts a photo of animals in the bush, and you have a week or two to come up with a humorous caption: “When you spend time watching animals and birds in the…

My blog is in the Pinelands Muse!

A couple of weeks ago, I received the following comment on my blog: “Dear Reggie Really enjoyed your very interesting blog on your walk in the Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve, particularly the photographs and the facts that accompany them, makes the story educational as well. The editor of the MUSE magazine has asked…

Hey, what happened to my page views?!

Yesterday, I had been so excited at crossing the 10,000 page view threshold and reaching 10,024. So it gave me quite a turn when I saw my total reflected as 9,898 hits a few minutes ago! Here is the new monthly summary: Months and Years Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct…

10,000 page views!!!

In January this year, I crossed the 3,000 page views threshold on this blog (see post). Today, I am thrilled to say, that I have crossed the 10,000 page views threshold! So I would like to thank every single one of my regular readers, as well as all those who occasionally pop in for a…

Grains of Sand

“To see a world in a grain of sand, and a heaven in a wild flower, Hold infinity in the palm of your hand, And eternity in an hour."

Tag Archives: Blogging