I’m spending some time with my family in San Angelo this week. One my favorite things to do while there is drive around and look at the older, more stately homes in town. It’s fun to imagine what sort of people may live in these houses. Perhaps western author Elmer Kelton, a long time resident of San Angelo, did the same during his lifetime.
Many of these houses employ a simple address plaque to accentuate their beauty. Some plaques appear on the buildings themselves, while lawn address plaques are staked in the yards or posted on fences.
Outdora’s selection of address plaques includes wall mounted plaques, lawn markers and decorative plaques. They carry Qualarc Address Plaques, Whitehall Address Plaques and Montague Metal Address Plaques — including commemorative, illuminated, and reflective plaques.
Such markers — especially the illuminated and reflective ones — make it easy for family, friends and service people to find your home. In my former day job as a delivery driver I greatly appreciated address plaques hung on back fences. Commemorative plaques honor weddings and anniversaries, the passing of loved ones or other important dates. Decorative plaques are ideal for theme parties, holidays or the changing seasons.
Maintainance-free address plaques from Outdora are not only decorative but practical. All of their hardy, long-lasting address plaques are made from either rust-free recycled aluminum or natural stone. You can choose to have an address and/or a family name on the signs. They come in a variety of interesting shapes and attractive colors.
You might even select a literary or a western theme if you are a fan of Elmer Kelton’s writings. Maybe something reflecting your community, state or region would be appropriate. Whatever your address plaque needs, Outdora delivers variety, affordability and value.
This is a sponsored post. Image used with permission.
Redesigning The Sky’s the Limit has caused me to think more seriously about not only the look and feel of the whole site but the look of individual posts. There have been a few problems nagging me over the months, and now is the time to address them.
I could be doing a better job at writing post titles and at SEO in general. I want to strike a balance between creating headlines that are useful to you and headlines that feature good keywords.
I’m also revamping the categories and tags. I’ve created categories as needed while attempting to keep them simple. The problem is that they’re not very concise. My tags are a mess. I’ve used both singular and plural variants of some words; I’ve hastily added others that weren’t well planned. There’s always going to be a plethora of tags, but I need several strong keywords which I can utilize over and over in the mix.
A friend who knows about SEO once offered to teach me some things. I hope she meant it, because I’m about to take her up on the offer.
Of all the grills offered by Outdora, the Viking grills are the most powerful in terms of BTU. These things can really cook! (Yes, I’ve been salivating over Outdora’s grills again.)
BTU — short for British Thermal Unit – is a basic measurement of heat energy. One BTU is the amount of energy needed to heat one pound of water one degree Fahrenheit. That means if I poured 16 oz of water at 50 degrees Farenheit in a pan and put it on a gas burner, it would take one BTU to raise the water to 51 degrees.
Viking outdoor grills include 29,000 BTU burners. That’s the most powerful standard grill burner in the industry. It’s more than enough heat for your backyard cooking needs, whether you’re serving just the family or a group of neighbors and friends. Viking is the world’s first heavy-duty commercial type range for the home.
Viking gas grills range from 30 to 53 inches in a variety of styles and layouts. Features include a fully enclosed, ultra smooth rotation rotisserie rod and easy to clean porcelain coated grill grates. These high-end stainless steel grills not only meet and exceed outdoor cooking requirements but add value and beauty to home or recreational spaces.
With their wide selection, Outdora has the perfect Viking grill for any outdoor space. There’s both built-in and freestanding Viking grills, side burners and rotisserie kits, carts and stations, bases and other accessories. They even allow you to select the type of vent kit you want for your grill.
Whatever the demands — cooking for the family, impressing neighbors and co-workers, providing food for a party — the power and class of a Viking gas grill from Outdora can handle it.
This is a sponsored post. Image used with permission.
Scheduled for November 24 – 26, 2009, TweetsGiving is a global celebration that seeks to change the world through the power of gratitude. The 48 hour event was created by Epic Change and encourages us to express thanks using online tools and at live get-togethers across the world.
Guest are invited to give to a common cause in honor of those people and things that make them grateful. This year Epic Change will be partnering with Lucy Kamptoni in Tanzania to implement a technology lab at a primary school. The following video gives us a look at Tanzania:
But that’s not the whole story. According to the CIA’s World Factbook, Tanzania faces serious economic and health issues which will be addressed by the next generation. TweetsGiving gives us an opportunity to equip students in Tanzania to take leadership roles in the country’s future. Today’s students are tomorrow’s leaders.
Tanzania is in the bottom 10% of the world’s economies. The assistance Epic Change offers to Shepherds Junior primary school in Arusha ensures the necessary tools for the best education the school can possibly provide.
I hope you’ll join me in celebrating the many blessings and opportunities we share. Visit the TweetsGiving community and sign up for your own profile (it’s free). Then commit to give at least $10 dollars to the cause. You can also find a TweetsGiving event near where you live. Be a part, make history and help the kids in Tanzania.
“What a world of merriment their melody foretells!” — Edgar Allen Poe
Medium Black Country Bell
I’ve been looking at the assortment of wind chimes and garden bells from Outdora. They have chimes, farm bells, garden bells and dinner bells with innovative designs and a range of tunings and pitches.
Some accounts tell us chimes and bells originated with the Chinese Emperors. They were enjoyed not only for their harmonic sounds, but for their assistance in weather forecasting. It’s even said that chimes are mentioned in the Bible (although I can’t find any reference).
Today, wind chimes and bells are appreciated for bringing musical tones to our outdoor space. They accent gardens, hang in trees, function as door bells and promote balance in our homes.
During the years I was growing up, my parents kept a dinner bell on the back porch. I recall my mom ringing it on occasion to call my dad or I in for the evening meal. They now have a black farm bell outside the back door. My kids love to ring it.
Outdora offers many fine examples of a farm bell. The Medium Black Country Bell is especially nice. It’s fashioned of rust-free recycled aluminum and finished with weather-resistant paint, giving it an attractive sheen. Its high quality construction is built to withstand harsh outdoor elements. An accented, six-inch mounting bracket adds to the bell’s appeal.
If you’re wanting a dinner bell, you can’t go wrong with one of the various meticulously crafted bells from Outdora. Whether black, natural rust patina or metallic finish, they’ve got the bell to fit the bill.
The Woodstock Heroic Metalworks Bell adds just the right touch of ‘Old West’ feel to any porch, garden or yard. It’s made of hand-crafted steel with an antiqued copper powder-coated finish and a contemporary design. Weather-resistant materials ensure the rustic look of the bell won’t deteriorate over time.
Edgar Allen Poe knew a great appreciation for the melody of bells. How about you? Any fond childhood memories of wind chimes or garden bells? Which is your favorite farm bell or dinner bell from Outdora?
This is a sponsored post. Image used with permission.
The folks over at Notes and Grace Notes dropped me a line saying that Grace Notes Books is thrilled to announce the publication of Venus Laughs – a collection of poetry from Harmoni McGlothlin. Notes and Grace Notes seeks to be a single source for the needs of aspiring writers. Their purpose is to nourish new talent, reward excellence, and equip writers to achieve.
Also, as of November 1st, Grace Notes Books is launching their first book-length contests. Apparently there will be a $1,000 grand prize, judge’s feedback on all entries, maybe even publication offers. Guidelines for the Novel and Memoir Competition and the Short Fiction/Essay Collection and Novella Competition may be found on their site.
As always, educate yourselves before entering any contest.
Goodreads’ November newsletter announces a new initiative. Each month Goodreads will highlight a different charitable foundation that promotes reading. Their inaugural recommendation is Room to Read, which partners with local communities in the developing world to build libraries, create local-language children’s literature, construct schools, and provide education to girls.
My first introduction to Room to Read was through NaNoWriMo several years ago. (At one time NaNo gave a portion of monies raised to outside charities.) John Wood, founder and executive chairman of Room to Read, launched the organization after a visit to Nepal, where he was saddened by a shocking lack of educational resources. He quit an executive position with Microsoft and built a global team to create sustainable solutions to educational challenges.
Room to Read’s approach calls for:
Scalable, measured, sustainable results
Low-overhead, allowing maximum investment in educational infrastructure
Challenge grants fostering community ownership and sustainability
Strong local staff and partnerships creating culturally relevant programs
With more than 2,600,000 members Goodreads is the largest social network for readers in the world. Members can recommend and compare books, keep track of what they’ve read and would like to read, form book clubs and more. Their monthly newsletter features interviews, news, trivia, book recommendations and contests.
Tonight my wife and I are having friends over. And don’t get me wrong, while pizza is my favorite dish, it sure would be nice to grill some steaks on a BBQ grill from Outdora.
Whenever I cook out I have to borrow my dad’s BBQ grill — a grill that has served us well, but is gaining some wear and tear with age. The starter is broken, and lighting the fire can prove to be quite an adventure. I’ve had the bald fingers to show for it.
Just looking at the barbecue grills from Outdora sets my mouth to watering. I don’t know if it’s over the possibility of a juicy steak or the beauty of the grills. Outdora offers built-in grills, free-standing grills, portable grills and fire pits.
Outdora features everything from the Big Green Egg — an all-in-one grilling system that functions as a smoker, a grill, and an oven — to a massive built-in Lynx Grill with rotisseries, side and sear burners, even ice machines. If simple is your thing, they’ve got a black cast iron fire ring. It’s a low-maintenance alternative perfect for small yards or camp sites.
Because many outdoor cooks prefer to use a single BBQ grill manufacturer for all of their outside kitchen equipment, Outdora separates their selection of high-quality barbecue grills by manufacturer on the left side of the page, and then by other criteria such as style, heat source and grill accessories. They make it easy to find exactly what you need to satisfy your grilling needs.
That oven cooked pizza will be good, but a meal cooked on a BBQ grill from Outdora would be so much better.
This is a sponsored post. Image used with permission.
This short film from French publishing group Editis presents one vision of the future of books. The video doesn’t represent Editis’s digital strategy regarding the epublishing market, but encourages discussion of future possibilities in the market.
Originally filmed in 2007, this appears to be the latest version with english subtitles. You’ll want to skip ahead to the 45 second mark.
