Current contents of my feed reader...

... blogs, and feeds that I'm currently following.

I had a clean out of my feed reader a few weeks ago, and deleted about half of what I'd subscribed to. Things that I'd once found interesting, but not anymore. The following list is what I have left.

1. a few things from my life -http://fewthingsfrommylife.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default
2. Abstract Gourmet - http://abstractgourmet.com/feed
3. always time for tea - http://alwaystimefortea-brooke.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default
4. Annean.org - http://anneanorg.wordpress.com/feed/
5. Annean's Home - http://anneanhome.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default
6. Antipodean Steampunk Adventures - http://austeampunk.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default
7. Bowl of Honey - http://feeds.feedburner.com/BowlofHoney
8. Breakfast In Perth - http://breakfastinperth.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default
9. Cafe Grendel - http://cafe-grendel.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default
10. Cherry blossoms　桜 Pool - http://api.flickr.com/services/feeds/groups_pool.gne?id=51156738@N00&lang=en-us&format=atom
11. Chester 5000 XYV - http://jessfink.com/Chester5000XYV/?feed=rss2
12. Christian Fletcher Photography - http://christianfletcher.wordpress.com/feed/
13. Comics. Often dirty. - http://pipes.yahoo.com/pipes/pipe.run?_id=_j_P8zpm3hGBTmHJHzfpSg&_render=rss
14. Complete Organizing Solutions - http://feeds.feedburner.com/completeorganizingsolutions/XSSR
15. Corners of My Home Pool - http://api.flickr.com/services/feeds/groups_pool.gne?id=86662290@N00&lang=en-us&format=atom
16. Creature Comforts - http://feeds.feedburner.com/creaturecomfortsblog/oDSo
17. D&D Pool - http://api.flickr.com/services/feeds/groups_pool.gne?id=99673332@N00&lang=en-us&format=atom
18. Design*Sponge - http://www.designspongeonline.com/feed
19. Discover Magazine | rsslist - http://discovermagazine.com/rsslist/rss.xml
20. Five Senses Coffee - http://feeds.feedburner.com/5SensesCoffee
21. Food Porn Pool - http://api.flickr.com/services/feeds/groups_pool.gne?id=52240578442@N01&lang=en-us&format=atom
22. Fresh New Spaces - http://api.flickr.com/services/feeds/groups_discuss.gne?id=99433240@N00&lang=en-us&format=atom
23. Fresh New Spaces Pool - http://api.flickr.com/services/feeds/groups_pool.gne?id=99433240@N00&lang=en-us&format=atom
24. haus maus - http://hollymaus.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default
25. ikea hacker - http://feeds.feedburner.com/Ikeahacker
26. Lava Volavka - http://lavavolavka.com/feed/
27. ListPlanIt - http://feeds.feedburner.com/Listplanit
28. Local is Beautiful - Growing & Eating Local Food Pool - http://api.flickr.com/services/feeds/groups_pool.gne?id=40272635@N00&lang=en-us&format=atom
29. Lolcats 'n' Funny Pictures of Cats - I Can Has Cheezburger? - http://feedproxy.google.com/ICanHasCheezburger
30. Love Freo - http://lovefreo.wordpress.com/feed/
31. Made On The Left - http://madeontheleft.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default
32. Media Statements: Statements - http://www.mediastatements.wa.gov.au/_layouts/listfeed.aspx?List=28fda1b0-9f25-4179-ba96-f82380778cb0&View=3a0c6aa0-d2fe-42eb-a602-18189cc10493
33. MENAGE A 3 - http://www.menagea3.net/comic.rss
34. My2Penn'orth - http://thorsten-food-photography.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default
35. Nestled In - http://www.nestledin.net/feed/
36. one day - http://saraoneday.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default
37. Order of the Stick - http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots.rss
38. Organize in Style - http://organizeinstyle.typepad.com/organize_in_style/atom.xml
39. Organizing Your Way - http://www.organizingyourway.net/feed
40. OSIER - http://osier-handmadevintagereconstructed.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default
41. Perth Upmarket - http://perthupmarket.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default
42. Pink and Brown Love - http://www.pinkandbrownlove.com/feeds/posts/default
43. Pink to Green - http://pink-to-green.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default
44. Precocious updates - http://www.rsspect.com/rss/precocious.xml
45. Reclaiming The Home - http://api.flickr.com/services/feeds/groups_discuss.gne?id=612285@N20&lang=en-us&format=atom
46. Reclaiming The Home Pool - http://api.flickr.com/services/feeds/groups_pool.gne?id=612285@N20&lang=en-us&format=atom
47. RPGnet - http://www.rpg.net/columns/index.xml
48. Selfsufficientish Pool - http://api.flickr.com/services/feeds/groups_pool.gne?id=823452@N22&lang=en-us&format=atom
49. SixThousand - http://www.sixthousand.com.au/rss/
50. Spool Photography Landscape Photography - http://spoolphotography.wordpress.com/feed/
51. stonesoup - http://thestonesoup.com/blog/feed/
52. Style Voyeur - http://www.stylevoyeur.com/atom.xml
53. The Chocolate Blues - http://www.thechocolateblues.com/feeds/posts/default
54. The Coffee Collective Blog - http://coffeecollective.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default
55. The Perth Files - http://theperthfiles.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default
56. The Steampunk Home - http://thesteampunkhome.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default
57. The Worst of Perth - http://perthworst.wordpress.com/feed/
58. Today on Real Simple - http://feeds.feedburner.com/realsimple-today
59. Towards Sustainability - http://feeds.feedburner.com/TowardsSustainability
60. Twitter / theworstofperth - http://twitter.com/statuses/user_timeline/15953157.rss
61. Uploads from Thorsten (TK) - http://api.flickr.com/services/feeds/photos_public.gne?id=8696045@N02&lang=en-us&format=atom
62. urban homesteading Pool - http://api.flickr.com/services/feeds/groups_pool.gne?id=674101@N23&lang=en-us&format=atom
63. vi.sualize.us/saracarl/steampunkhome - http://vi.sualize.us/rss/saracarl/steampunkhome/
64. Voyages Extraordinaires - http://voyagesextraordinaires.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default
65.  Wandering Gourmet - http://wanderinggourmet.net/?feed=rss2
66. Wood and Brass - http://woodandbrass.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default

Ten things I most want to do - this year

Aaaaaaand, the following is a list of a small number of the things that I want to achieve this year...

1. Sew a patchwork quilt.
2. Pull together family recipes and favourite meals to create a recipe binder for each of my sisters, and Harry.
3. With two nephews and one nephew/niece on the way we're looking to have a big Christmas this year, so I've got three presents to make for them.
4. Create a herb garden in pots, and possibly vegetables.
5. Improve my photography skills.
6. Work on the world in my head, and get it down on paper.
7. Write more, and blog more.
8. Expand my recipe repertoire.
9. Read 100 books this year.
10. Make my home more... comfortable.

Ten of my favourite websites

The following list contains the websites that I visit on the regular basis; some of them a couple of times a day. Others are references, that I'll only visit when necessary but I still couldn't live without them.

1. Nestled In - http://www.nestledin.net/; A blog by Katja and Minna, a couple living in Finland. Its all about their home, and the renovations they undertook to make it theirs.
2. Flickr - http://www.flickr.com/; Yes, the photo-sharing site makes it to my top ten list of favourite websites. I find it inspiring, and can quite happily spend an hour or three on there sometimes. I've found a number of my favourite blogs on there, too.
3. One Day - http://saraoneday.blogspot.com/; a blog by a West Australian woman, who I find to be very inspirational. I love her photography, and her writing style. Its always a good pick me up.
4. Order of the Stick - http://www.giantitp.com/index.html; a Role Playing web-comic, done in stick figure style. Its hilarious, and very well executed. Love it.
5. System Reference Document - http://tinyurl.com/m8jey6; OGL document, for D&D 3.5. I find it very useful in session, whenever rules need to be consulted and trawling through the books can be time consuming.
6. Least I Could Do - licd.com/; A rather offensive comic, really. Well.... sometimes. But, I enjoy the style. And the company's other comic, Looking for Group.
7. Taste - http://taste.com.au/; An Australian based website, devoted to food and cooking. The recipes are top knotch, and you can always find something there to cook.
8. Amazon - http://amazon.com/; I can literally spend hours on here. Looking for books, and drooling over them all. Wishing I had them in my collection.
9. Blogger - http://www.blogger.com/; at the present, Blogger is out ranking Wordpress in my heart as blogging platform of choice. But, I can't afford to get the most of out Wordpress so its no wonder. However, Blogger is a good platform, for sure.
10. Google - http://google.com/; who could have a list of favourite websites and not include Google? I love google reader, gmail, blog finder, google image search, google search... hell, I just love Google, lol.

Diving in the deepend, with only rudimentary swimming skills

I was going to continue my project list from yesterday, but then I thought - there's no use in overwhelming myself with a huge list of things that I want to do. Best to begin making inroads to the projects I've already written down before coming up with more. Otherwise I won't know where to start, and I'll become bogged down with it all. I'm terrible like that.

So instead, I'm going to START one of those projects. In the planning stages at least, and actually do something for a change rather than simply talking about it.

...

I'm not the best photographer in the world, have a little understanding about the way it works and how to do it properly, but I love doing it and I've always had the passion and desire to get in there and just DO IT. I've got some technical knowledge, and the more photographs I take the better I feel I'm becoming and expressing my creative abilities, too. But I haven't found my niche yet, or added my own personality to the photos that I take.

So I guess the first steps will be learning more, and developing my own style. I hope to start promoting myself from the outset, offering free photography in return for models, and possibly access to places I wouldn't otherwise get the opportunity to photograph. I'm tossing up whether or not I want to offer free prints of some (or one) of the best photos from each shoot but I guess it will be good incentive.

And, I need to really look into ways to promote myself properly. I'm not doing very well in that department as yet. I'm home sick still, which means I've got all the time in the world to really do this well.

Wish me luck!

Annean xxoo