Summer is finally starting to feel like it's finished. Hottest on record worldwide since records began 137 years ago. Too much for me.

I'm still on holiday because I had three weeks of annual leave to take. My first day back at the library is the 28th. (That's 2 days before my 46th birthday). While I've been away, I've seen half a dozen emails about people moving on to other jobs. I love my job as a shelver but it feels like the end of an era. Ho hum. The only constant is change etc. I feel sad because I'm getting a new manager and the library is becoming increasingly more UCL and corporate.

I'm working extra shifts in October because the shelving team is currently understaffed. A six hour shift is tiring, and I'll have three and sometimes 4 a week. Wondering how I'll cope and if I need to get some shoes with squishier soles. I only wear vivobarefoot shoes these days - one option is to fit two pairs of insoles in my most supportive pair.

Huw's working long hours at the moment on a project he isn't enjoying. I've got everything crossed that the client will run out of money so he can stop doing it. His mum and brother are both still waiting to hear when their surgeries are going ahead. His mum is in France, I think hers is likely to be quicker. Owen's could be another few months on the waiting list.

We're still working on getting the house spruced up so we can move out. We go back and forth but our current feeling is that we want to sell. I'll be happy if I don't have to spend another summer in the city. I want to feel grass under my feet that isn't in a park and trodden by hundreds of people a day. We're getting articficial grass put in our garden, and a new deck, it's exciting. I've been selling old furniture on ebay as part of the decluttering process. I enjoy it a surprising amount. Our house is not small (it's the size of a decent 2 bed apartment, about 1000 sq foot), but the proportions are a little mean and there are a lot of stairs, so it's quite a job to move furniture around. Moving furniture around is one of my favourite things to do when I'm feeling restless (I get it from my mum). No wonder I've felt so restricted living here. Yesterday, I carried loads of drawers and shelves up several flights of stairs (Huw helped me with the heavy stuff). It was quite satisfying, and there's a lot more to be done. Cheerleading appreciated.

On Saturday night, I watched something that turned out to be more graphically violent than I was expecting. Then last night I watched a film in which the denoument was a dog getting squashed flat by a lorry. I did it to myself. I'll be ok, but I need to remember that I'm better off watching intensely emotional and/or violent stuff at the cinema, where I feel more detached. I should get into documentaries. Recs welcome.

My head is all over the place today. I'm trying to decide if I want to go to my work supervision group tonight. It will be good for me to see everyone - they always lift me up - but the group doesn't finish until 9.30 and the journey is quite tiring. Plus all the social interaction and soul searching. There's no right answer, but I'm leaning towards taking care of myself and staying home.

Htere's a link to an incredible house under the White Cliffs of Dover. It's beautiful, but seriously who would be mad enough to live here? Come to that, who would be mad enough to insure it?
https://jo-blogs.livejournal.com/

This is the best thing I've found today that sums up how I feel about the EU campaign and result, so archiving it here for future reference. From an Australian journalist, because everything I read in the British press is infused with too much emotion for my stomach, especially today:  Whipping Up Fear To Sway the Brexit Vote

As for me, I managed to throw myself down the stairs yesterday morning and now have a sprained ankle and an array of bruises to show for it. It could have been much worse: I only fell three or four before hitting the ground. I'd just woken up and was carrying my laptop down to the basement where my charger lives. The mistake I made was not noticing I was still half-asleep. I normally bounce into full wakefulness because I sleep lightly, but early signs are that my new strategy is working, and my sleep has improved greatly over the past week.

I'm choosing to look at this injury as a step on the road to recovery. Hear me out - I injured both ankles badly when I was sixteen and for the next few years, they were weak and unstable and I reinjured them frequently - usually on nights out involving drinking alcohol. My overall health got worse over time, my ankles remained weak but were paradoxically more stable because they were so stiff. During that period, I tried to exercise doing step aerobics and other equally unsuitable activiites for someone with my health condition, coupled with poor alignment. Inflamed joints and very weak muscles meant that I succeeded only in injuring my knees, hips and spine as well.

Fast forward a number of years and things were so bad I had to leave my job on medical grounds. So I started my ten-year research project into figuring out what was going on. Over time, with the correct thyroid treatment and dietary changes, my health improved. A couple of years ago, I discovered Katy Bowman, and applied her approach of Nutritious Movement to stretching and building a strong foundation. I'm not as diligent about it as I'd like to be, but it's made a huge difference. Yesterday gave me quite a jolt: I screamed very loudly (poor Huw, he came running) and felt like I was going to throw up from the adrenaline. Once I recovered from the shock, however, the pain and swelling has been manageable. I'm resting appropriately and feeling hopeful I'm going to heal well.

In other news, we're having a rare old time at the moment bingeing on "Kirsty and Phil's Love It Or List It" because we're planning to take the plunge and move out of London, sometime in the next year if we can. In April 2017 we'll have been in this house 10 years and we're ready to move on. I want to keep my job at the library (now I'm well enough to work a regular job again, albeit part-time, I'm not giving it up if I can help it), so we need to live somewhere with good rail links. We're thinking South Coast, possibly Folkestone. It's an expensive commute but unless Huw decides to stop freelancing and accepts a full-time job, we can minimise the number of journeys we make.

So that's where I am. My writing course finishes in two weeks. It's been an interesting experience to write with people with a decidedly commercial mindset. I don't think it's where I am, so I've decided to do The Artists' Way next. My vague, half-formed plan is to shift the focus of my PhD to a practice-based thesis in Creative Writing. I'm hoping doing The Artists' Way will help me gain some clarity about how/if I want to take that forward.

Hope all is well with everyone. Clear skies here in London after some very thundery and heavy showers over the past few days. Sitting with my feet up enjoying a view of brilliant blue and little fluffy clouds.

I haven't updated lately because life has been crazy but I had a bit of good news this week.

I won a free place on a 9 week online writing course [x]. I had to submit a first line of a story I wanted to write. The rules allowed multiple entries, so I put in 4. Here they are (feeling very happy right now to have this group of awesome writers/lovely kind people to share this with):

1. Despite being—in the words of one former employer—really qualified, the mermaid struggled to find a position that suited her.

2. The January rain seeped into the bones of her aching feet and the bus smelled of the common cold.

3. Kneeling to put a match to the kindling, she found that the old bastard had spit in the fire again.

4. In the town clinging to the hill above the flood plain, the rats were legendary.

"Had spit" is a slightly unusual construction, I'm aware. It's on purpose but clearly I don't feel confident about it, or I wouldn't be mentioning it :D. But hey, I WON. ME! ME! ME! ME!

This a Big Deal for me after the setbacks of the last few years. I'm enjoying my job at the library and finally in a place where I feel ready to take the leap of faith into writing some original fiction again.

P.S. Also the last one is cheesy as anything, but RAH, I DON'T CARE!

When we reminisce about web hosting, all of a precipitate some species of market clicks in our mind which implements an accommodation reservation and access to the websites. Certain websites surely need some new technologies to be viewed at their sites, and those are provided by the web hosting services. They are deposited in the workstations in an exceptional location proclaimed a ‘server’.

Consequently, a becoming web hosting service supervises to the best website. So we should be fully aware of the pros and cons of a web hosting service to lead our website to success. Most of the hosting companies require an additional domain for that. If you don’t have one, you can explicitly acquire one!

You may ascertain some WordPress theme bundles in the section. But, here I’ll supervise you about some of the astounding web hosting services you can associate with, to score your website.
Site Ground

It has a load time of 585ms which originates in the 6th series in the breeze. It supports live chat. It is officially recommended by the WordPress. This web hosting service is crafted with care. They understand your needs. They provide you the latest speed technologies in your server. They have many unique security solutions.

They have amazing technical support. Since 2004 until now, it is recommended for the web hosting by many high-quality web hosting.

It has more than 800,000 domains worldwide. It has very dedicated servers and also provides you cloud hosting.400 personages are pouring the co-operation.
A2 Hosting

A2 caters you all the amenities you demand your website. It gives the fastest page load speeds and the most secure settings. They don’t take your trust light in their service. Each day they’re focused to provide you your favorites.

So choosing A2 Hosting is not a bad option at all and I’ll recommend it wholeheartedly. It makes sure to meet your unique needs. The people are very responsive to your problems and query. The control panel is not so difficult to navigate. I wish there would be more companies like this in the near future! So, if you’re a well-seasoned developer you must go for this monstrosity!
IPower

It renders you most of the indispensable accessories you’ll undoubtedly want for your locality. The major feature is the additional business services it provides you such as domain name registration, email accounts, web services, online community resources and various other small tools.

It is very evenly split. It keeps both, the business and personal uses in consideration. The company was founded in 2001 and now has nearly 700,000 consumers. Its CEO is Thomas Gorny. Its sharing hosting service comes in three plans: Starter, Pro and Pro Plus. They all resemble to be Linux based, though it isn’t mentioned anywhere.
InMotion Hosting

They don’t only do business but also think of your secluded inadequacies that a habitual user could have even while sitting in his/her room, tugging on a PC. They have a good range of choice. The key feature is that they start from the free domain.

This feature ensures that they do not only promote their business but also your personal needs. All in all, there are many sanities to go for the InMotion Hosting.
HostGator

Whether you are an established Internet Pro or just originating out with your preeminent website, their acknowledged aides-de-camp will be there to aid you. It provides you the best drag and drops building experience. You may choose from a wide selection of themes and even pre-built selections to craft your own website in less than no time! You can endure your online responsibility in one handy volume.

Hold this article was worth invigorating your subconscious about multiple web hosting services. Now you’ll surely be able to differentiate among most of them and choose the best one according to your need. Let’s assume for the more wondrous ones in the contiguous eventuality!
https://fabnewz.com/2018/02/23/best-web-hosting-services-in-2018/

ShootOrder

With the adjustment in the innovation and computerized change, advanced showcasing has picked up its significance. To reach to the a great many individuals it has turned out to be vital nowadays to utilize showcasing stages. From the most recent couple of years, bunches of changes have been found in the methods of advertising. Procedures of showcasing are changes every day, with the adjustment in the calculation or with new updates. To keep up a high position in the online market it ends up important to roll out improvements in the sites with each new refresh. At the point when your site will fully informed regarding advancements at that point, naturally you will get a high rank on SERP.

Advanced Marketing is useful for the development of business and additionally, future degree is likewise great in this. This extent of future pulls in numerous hopefuls towards making their profession in this field, likewise it expands the quantity of advanced advertising employments opening.

Here are the significant key patterns that must be followed in 2018:

Multichannel Marketing: It isn't conceivable to connect with more movement by utilizing maybe a couple channels. Today, fortunately loads of assets accessible for us bunches of various stages. To center around the intended interest group it must be important to utilize every stage adequately. Utilizing different channels for advancement will clearly give you favorable position over your rivals.

Versatile Marketing : Nowadays, cell phone additionally large affects promoting or on the development of the business. Google additionally offer inclination to those destinations which are portable benevolent and more responsive. "Portable First" is the Google mantra and a critical positioning variable. In versatile promoting, one needs to center around various advancements, for example, Speed of site, Apps, Google AMP and so on.

Social Marketing: These days it has been seen that clients are very dynamic via web-based networking media. It is important to attempt each stage to interface with the group of onlookers. Regular clients look through 300 feet of substance however remain on the substance which they discovered more intelligent. There are some methods for online networking promoting, for example, Chat water crafts which influence client to benefit speedier, Video sharing and so forth. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter are the best source to achieve the intended interest group.

Content marketing: Content marketing will become even more important, creation and distribution of content have changed drastically. In this Classifieds, mobile messaging, Banners, Infographic, Images, Email, guest blogging all come under this. Without content, it is difficult to engage traffic on any site. It became very trendy and has gained its importance.


Search Engine Optimization: SEO Off Page is not much essential in 2018. There are a number of different strategies used in this which is helpful in increasing more traffic. Without On Page SEO it becomes difficult to reach the target audience. On-page and off-page optimization of the site will help in improving the website.

These are some latest trends that will be used now. To become more active or to gain more traffic it becomes necessary to adopt all the these new trends.

http://netblogtips.com/latest-digital-marketing-trends-2018/

I have been learning so much about SEO and how to maximize traffic on my blog so today I invited my blogging friend, Nathan–who also happens to be a professional at this sort of thing–to give us some simple tips for how to SEO a blog post. These tips are easier than you might think and you’ll notice a difference in your traffic right away!

SEO is a very tricky thing for bloggers.  Most of us started blogging because we wanted to share something.  Maybe it was a cool DIY project, a deal we found at the store, or possibly a recipe we found absolutely delicious.  But SEO was not something that we cared about.  We cared about writing compelling stories and sharing… That’s it.  Along the way, we realized that treating our blogs more like businesses and creating an audience (and a little bit of income) was important.  Then we heard about SEO and how using it correctly would help our blogs get more traffic from Google.  Well, that’s my story.  I have two blogs with a combined traffic of around 200,000 unique visitors.  Many of those visits come from Google and other search engines.  Over the years, I found it incredibly important to learn all I can about SEO and what I needed to be doing to make it easier to get more traffic from Google.  Now, after being a full time blogger for years, an AWESOME advertising agency in Louisville, Kentucky recruited me to do SEO for our clients!  I’m in a very unique position, being a blogger that cares deeply about my content and a professional agency SEO that works daily on large digital campaigns.

This post is going to touch upon four basic things you need to be doing every single time you post a blog post!  Before we get started I’m going to insist that you install or have your designer/tech install WordPress SEO by Yoast.  This plugin is an absolute MUST.  It will change the way you post on your blog and will really help your blog posts rank better. 

Step 1:
Select a Keyword for Your Post.  I cannot stress this enough, it’s critical.  Keyword selection is one of the most important things a blogger can do.  If you want to know the secret, here it is.  Once you’ve written a post, ask yourself this question: ‘What would I type into Google and expect to find this post?’  The goal of any keyword is to be as specific as possible.  It really shouldn’t be called a keyword, but a key-phrase because it’s rarely ONE word.  For example, I just made a yummy cauliflower pizza crust.  Now what should my keyword be?  Should it be cauliflower?  Should it be pizza crust?  Should it be pizza crust recipe?  If you typed those things into Google would you realistically expect to find my very specific recipe about cauliflower pizza crust?  Probably not.  For this post my keyword is not just cauliflower pizza crust, no, because that’s not what I’d type into Google either.  I’d type in cauliflower pizza crust recipe.  That exact phrase is what I would type into Google, and therefore, that is my keyword.

Step 2:
Select a title.  I ragged (very politely and with permission LOL) on a blogger a while back for posting an amazing post about cloth diapering, but then not mentioning the word diaper in her title.  I wrote a detailed blog post all about titles on my Ad Agency’s website.  (I often write about blogger SEO there, check it out!).  The basics of a GOOD SEO blog title are this:
    •    No cute titles….ever.  Be specific.
    •    Try, if possible, to use your Keyword as your title.  That is the best and most ideal scenario.
    •    Use power words.  Every niche is specific; in recipes the word ‘easy’ is huge!  Find your power words and use them in your titles.
Going back to my cauliflower pizza crust post, the title is identical to my keyword phrase.  Simple. 


Step 3:
Use keywords in your images.  Images present you with an amazing opportunity to signal to Google what your post is all about.  In WordPress, make sure to optimize your images.  I always make sure my keyword is in my ALT description.  This is not only important for SEO but also for Pinterest.  Make sure that whatever keyword you select is in EVERY ALT tag in the post.  Also another little trick, change your image file name to your keyword phrase!  Always use dashes (and not underscores) when doing this and you have another additional opportunity to get some great SEO juice!

Step 4:
Care about your meta description.  Meta descriptions are so very important to SEO. They are the text that describes the post to Google.  NO ONE sees them on your blog, they only appear on Facebook (if you show a preview), and on Google, and other search engines.  This is very important to understand because your metas need to be compelling advertisements for your post.  You want people to click into your post that have no idea who you are.  Write something interesting.  For example, a bad meta description for my post cauliflower post above would be something like. 
“Check out this cauliflower pizza crust recipes, it’s yummy.”

This meta captures so many good keywords and makes you WANT to check this recipe out.  (It is awesome btw, LOL).  Metas should take a little while to write, so put effort and thought into them.  In the meta above, I included many different keywords, paleo diet, cauliflower pizza crust recipe, healthy pizza crust.  All are possible search terms people might use.