Wordless Wednesay - Colossus of Memnon

CC Writing and Sales

I think I’m getting back into the writing swing after my recent holiday and family visits. I spent most of today responding to a customer wanting an article about the history of the Chinese cheongsam that was in the public requests at Constant Content. That probably means I wasn’t the only one to do it and my piece may not get chosen, but another customer may want it.

Be great if I could sell it twice for usage rights, as I have just done with another piece I wrote as soon as I was back from Egypt. That’s the beauty of the usage rights at Constant Content. You can sell and sell again and still have the worked showcased for more customers to find.

More of them seem to be going for usage rights at the moment. It is becoming really popular now, whereas the full rights option has previously been what most people were buying. Of course full rights are more expensive so perhaps it’s because of the credit crunch.

I tend to price full rights at twice the fee for usage, so if I sell more than twice, I will be in pocket. That hasn’t happened yet though. But after a decent interval from a sale, I will put the article on Helium as well so it will continue earning for me as long as people click to read.

My Week

Since I missed posting on both Wednesday and Friday this week, I thought I’d add a Sunday post.

The week has been really eventful and I have lots of new writing material. In fact, there’s so much rolling around my head and noted down in different places, I’ll need a few months to get it all down.

On Monday I wrote here briefly about hubby and I taking my granddaughter to a country park with many adventure play areas. On Tuesday her mother arrived – my wonderful daughter, of whom I am inordinately proud. It was a bit rainy so we went to an indoor soft play centre.

These are a relatively new phenomenon that seem to have sprung up all over the UK. Thinking back to when my children were young, if we’d had them then, it would have made my life a lot easier. With six and a half years between my son and daughter, it was always difficult to find place to go and activities that they would both enjoy.

On Wednesday, we went to the local Heavy Horse Centre. It began with a pony ride for the littl’un. Then we saw the heavy horses in their stables before our picnic lunch and the feeding of pony nuts to the horses, ponies, donkeys and goats. There was the inevitable adventure playground and some pedalled go karts that were a great hit. We rode a tractor trailer and attended a fascinating presentation all about the different breeds of heavy horses.

Thursday saw us head for the shops at Poole and then the beach, and my texts about sipping a glass of wine on the terrace of the Sandbanks Hotel, in the lovely sunshine, made my friends green with envy. Unfortunately I can’t show you that because I’d left the camera in the car.

Friday we busied ourselves turning out rubbish from the garage and taking it to the tip before cleaning up and visiting friends.

And Saturday morning at 11 they left us to drive the hundred miles home, so hubby, who’d been working all week and feeling a bit left out, should have had my undivided attention. Except that the estate agent suddenly wanted the house ready for viewing so it was all systems go to get it looking fairly immaculate by 1.45. The feedback on that is the most promising so far, so I’m agog for more news next week.

Will I have a sale and be one step closer to my dream of moving to the seaside?

Kids' Paradise

This is a picture of a corner of Moors Valley Country Park where hubby and I took my granddaughter today. As you can see we were in good company as we followed the play trail around various different adventure playgrounds in their woodland setting.

After that I'm in no fit state to write any more.

Egyptian Evening Haiku

Egypt nights fall fast.
Magical tree silhouettes
on hotel terrace.

Chili's Anyone?

I just heard that the Chili's restaurant and bar in the Oracle Shopping Centre, Reading, reopened last month. Check out its Reading Press Release to read more about it. Before January, when its kitchen was damaged by fire and it had to close, it was the most popular of the American chain’s seven locations in the UK.

The kitchen has now been completely renovated and the reopening secures the jobs of its 65 staff - good news in these credit crunch days. Hopefully its fans are once again filling its 250 guest capacity, keeping these workers firmly in the numbers of the employed.

According to its website, the Chili’s menus live up to their name, with lots of spicy tex-mex options, although punters can get a plain steak or salmon fillet if they prefer. There is even a section called Guiltless Grill where the main items are guaranteed to come in at less than 750 calories, 25 grams of fat and 8 grams of saturated fat, so weight watchers need not be deterred.

You can also buy gift cards, which is a great idea when you are stumped about what birthday present to get for the person who seems to have everything. But they are only offered in US dollars, so I don’t know if we can get sterling ones. They are definitely offering Chili's Vouchers here, with a good discount for parties of between four and ten people. You just print off the voucher and hand it in when you pay.

Must get myself up to Reading sometime soon with some pals. I'll ask about the gift cards when we try out those scrumptious looking dishes.

Something to Make you Smile

This is doing the email rounds. It's good, clean fun. If you haven't seen it yet, I hope it might raise a chuckle and lift your day for a minte or two.

Catholic Wisdom

When the 98 year old Mother Superior from a convent in Ireland was on her death bed, the nuns gathered around her to make her journey comfortable.

They tried giving her warm milk, but she refused it. As one of the nuns went to the kitchen to take back the glass of milk, she remembered the bottle of Irish Whisky they had received the previous Christmas. She opened the bottle and poured a generous amount into the warmed milk.

She returned to Mother Superior’s bed, held the glass to her lips and encouraged her to drink it. Mother did drink a little, then she drank a little more, then more and pretty soon she’d drunk the last drop.

The nuns said, “Mother, please give us some words of wisdom before you die.” Mother Superior raised herself up in the bed and said, “Don’t sell that cow!”