A rather exciting, unexpected event has occurred which has me chomping at the bit.
My Blog was started on my return from the 3 months that I spent in the idyllic little cottage in Sweden during the middle of a very cold winter.
While out of the country, and wanting to document my experience, I began to post daily updates to my normal Facebook page. The objective was two fold. Namely to have a diary that I would be able to look back on once the holiday was over, and the other was to keep my existing Facebook friends aware of what I was doing.
On the return to South Africa I was astounded by how many of you had enjoyed these posts, so with that in mind, I started my Nola D Writes Blog on a Facebook Business page. From those humble beginnings the writing continued.
My Life in Instalments was fun to share and at the same time I continued to document my daily life.
What you see when looking at my individual blog entries
are the likes, comments and shares, but what you do not see are the background stats that are generated by the Facebook Analytics. These numbers have grown so nicely that during the past 28 days, close to 5000 people have been on these posts, and while not many comment, the figure is growing nicely.
We have new tenants who have moved into our block and I was aware that they both worked from home, in the IT business segment. I plucked up courage and asked them whether they would be able to help me grow my existing blog, with the hope that it could become a source of income for me if I knew how to go about it.
They were so kind. Yesterday afternoon they popped in to discuss various options with me. I found out that they specialise in marketing, graphic and web design as well as social media management. Frikkie and Madelyn Stander have managed to grow their home based business from home during the Covid pandemic and it has grown through satisfied customers and word of mouth recommendations.
Anyone needing help in this regard can contact them via their business card which I will attach.
Well, as they explained it to me, a web domain name was something that I really needed to have if I wanted to get the word out, then consistent blogging needs to be undertaken to make it viable. The writing I know I will be able to continue with, my track record speaks for itself, but to have to spend money on a domain name, a company to host it and the help and support me while getting it up and running, was like the sword of Damocles, hanging over my already dwindling retirement pension.
But this is where my happiness and excitement comes in. They were not only prepared to buy and register a domain name, viz. noladwrites.com, but they have also offered to set up my web page, link it to all my social media platforms and help me to get going. So this evening I typed in the address on Google and there it is for all to see, RESERVED FOR NOLADWRITES.COM.
Now I am needing to be patient and wait to see what the web page will look like.
This has given me an added boost to start searching YouTube for ideas and videos.
TUT (Mike Dooley) and the Notes from the Universe keep on arriving on my desktop. I read them and smile because ‘his’ philosophy in life is that one must just keep on working towards what you want.
Don’t worry about how it will happen, but by just continuing to show up, and have your dreams set in your mind, if it is meant to be, it will come about. How wonderfully right he is.
Daphne…
I had Daphne visit me this morning to do my household chores that I don’t enjoy doing during the month. The main one is to mop the tiles throughout the flat.
Today she also had the unenviable task of climbing onto the kitchen worktops to wash off the accumulation of cooking oil that seems to settle on the top units.
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She, too, has had a good news story to impart on her arrival this morning.
She made up her mind that in 2022, after competing in 10 Comrades Marathons and completing 7, she would not take part this year. But to keep active and motivated she wanted desperately to compete in the Soweto 42 km marathon in two months time. That was before she found out that the entrance fee to participate, had gone up to R550!
Added to this huge expense is the R1400 needed for her to get to Gauteng in the bus and for the accommodation once there.
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She was feeling gutted. However, she is now working for a new employer who saw that she was not her normal happy self and asked her what was wrong.
She told him about this setback and how sad she was not to be able to go. He turned around, went to his purse and took out R550 and just handed it to her. Can you even imagine how grateful and happy she must have felt! What a heart felt gesture.
Games…
Tomorrow I am having my friends over for another game of Mexican Train. One of our normal players has just returned from 2 months being out of the country in the UK. She has been tasked with supplying bangers and mash with mushy peas for lunch. No doubt we will drink a few glasses to celebrate her return and have a good time catching up on all her news.
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My last photo is of a sleek lizard who was sunning himself
 on my birds old perch which is currently outside in the garden. After spotting him there, I ran upstairs for my phone and was so happy to see that he hadn’t moved while I had been away!
