Shoe Repairs And Several Other Things When I Was 7

Shoe Repairs And Several Other Things When I Was 7
My Dad repaired most of our shoes believe it or not, I can hardly believe it myself now. With 7 pairs of shoes always needing repairs I think he was quite clever to learn how to “Keep us in shoe Leather” to coin a phrase!

He bought several different sizes of cast iron cobbler’s “lasts”. Last, the old English “Laest” meaning footprint. Lasts were holding devices shaped like a human foot. I have no idea where he would have bought the shoe leather. Only that it was a beautiful creamy, shiny colour and the smell was lovely.

But I do remember our shoes turned upside down on and fitted into these lasts, my Dad cutting the leather around the shape of the shoe, and then hammering nails, into the leather shape. Sometimes we’d feel one or 2 of those nails poking through the insides of our shoes, but our dad always fixed it.

Hiking and Swimming Galas
Dad was a very outdoorsy type, unlike my mother, who was probably too busy indoors. She also enjoyed the peace and quiet when he took us off for the day!

Anyway, he often took us hiking in the mountains where we’d have a picnic of sandwiches and flasks of tea. And more often than not we went by steam train.

We loved poking our heads out of the window until our eyes hurt like mad from a blast of soot blowing back from the engine. But sore, bloodshot eyes never dampened our enthusiasm.

Dad was an avid swimmer and water polo player, and he used to take us to swimming galas, as they were called back then. He often took part in these galas. And again we always travelled by steam train.

Rowing Over To Ireland’s Eye
That’s what we did back then, we had to go by rowboat, the only way to get to Ireland’s eye, which is 15 minutes from mainland Howth. From there we could see Malahide, Lambay Island and Howth Head of course. These days you can take a Round Trip Cruise on a small cruise ship!

But we thoroughly enjoyed rowing and once there we couldn’t wait to climb the rocks, and have a swim. We picnicked and watched the friendly seals doing their thing and showing off.

Not to mention all kinds of birdlife including the Puffin.The Martello Tower was also interesting but a bit dangerous to attempt entering. I’m getting lost in the past as I write, and have to drag myself back to the present.

Fun Outings with The camera Club
Dad was also a very keen amateur photographer, and was a member of a camera Club. There were many Sunday photography outings and along with us came other kids of the members of the club.

And we always had great fun while the adults busied themselves taking photos of everything and anything, it seemed to us. Dad was so serious about his photography that he set up a dark room where he developed and printed his photographs.

All black and white at the time. He and his camera club entered many of their favourites in exhibitions throughout Europe. I’m quite proud to say that many cups and medals were won by Dad. They have been shared amongst all his grandchildren which I find quite special.

He liked taking portraits of us kids too, mostly when we were in a state of untidiness, usually during play. Dad always preferred the natural look of messy hair and clothes in the photos of his children.

Essential Garden Tools For The Avid Gardener

Gardening is potentially a very rewarding task. There is nothing more satisfying than looking out your window and seeing a beautiful flower bed in full bloom or bountiful vegetable garden ripe for the picking. However, these beautiful gardens don’t just spring up on their own. They need a lot of careful tending and hard work to make them flourish. There are certain garden tools that are essential for any avid gardener. Here is our short list.A garden or digging fork is one of the most useful and versatile tools in a gardener’s arsenal. It is useful for turning soil, mixing in nutrients and aerating soil. A spade can also be used to carry out these tasks. However, the tines on a fork come in handy for breaking up clods and raking out weeds and stones. Most gardeners will have both a digging fork and spade.There are several types of garden hoes available to use for weeding and creating seed furrows, including the heart-shaped and diamond-shaped hoe. Every gardener has his or her own favorite type of hoe based on personal preference and the type of gardening being done.Pruning shears, loppers and a pruning saw are all essential items for keeping a garden neat and tidy. Pruning shears are useful for dead heading flowers and cutting back unwanted vegetation. Loppers come in handy for cutting off twigs and small branches as well as for pruning bushes. A pruning saw is useful for cutting off dead branches from large bushes and trees.A hori hori knife is a very versatile tool. This multi-purpose knife has a sharp, heavy serrated blade with a semi-sharp point. It can used for many gardening chores, including cutting open bags of soil, planting, weeding and light digging.A garden cart or wheelbarrow is very useful for transporting bags of soil and plants as well as other gardening supplies and materials. A cart can also be used at harvest time to transport ripe vegetables back to the house.Gardening trowels are another versatile type of tool that are used for a variety of garden chores. They are especially useful for weeding, planting, digging up plants and mixing fertilizer into the soil.It’s always a good idea to have a sharp-pointed shovel on hand for digging holes and breaking up dirt clods. If a flat blade or scoop is better suited for the task, you will want to use a long-handled garden spade instead.Use a watering can or garden hose to keep plants watered. For a more automated solution, a drip irrigation system could be used instead.When shopping for garden tools, always choose the ones made by respected manufacturers with high quality materials such as strong steel and sturdy wood. Ash hardwood is the best material for handles. It is a very strong wood that still has a bit of give to it. Also pay attention to the length, weight and angle of the tool. It needs to feel comfortable to use and fit your body type. Not every tool will be the right fit for each gardener or every gardening task. You may need to experiment before you finally come up with the perfect set of tools that fit your gardening needs. The good news is, once you do find them, quality gardening tools will last for many years to come.

SEO Book – Can You Learn SEO From Scratch by Reading Books?

If you’re reading this article, most probably you already know (or at least suspect) that Search Engine Optimization is like a key to Fort Knox for any online entrepreneur. Why? Because proper SEO opens your website the door to leading positions in search engines. The higher your website ranks in search results pages, the more ready-to-buy users find you, not your competitors first. And they buy from you, not from your competitors. Your top position in Google multiplies the dough you get twofold, threefold and (pardon my play on words) Google-fold.OK, SEO is a rock-solid way to make your on-line business flourish. But what if you hadn’t even heard the word “SEO” till yesterday? The Internet sea abounds in screaming “SEO in two days” and “SEO book for noobs” headlines. But can you really zero-base learn SEO – for which SEO companies charge up to $5,000 a month – on your own? By simply reading about it? The answer is YES. SEO is no rocket science if you have the right source to ladle out your knowledge.So where is the knowledge treasure-house for a self-taught SEO?Some old hand SEOs would claim – the only way to get on-the-nose SEO tips is searching through forums and blogs, where professionals share their real-life experience.Well, digging deep into these sources can be very informative. This is a perfect way to enrich your SEO wisdom: pick up some useful know-hows and savvy tricks and techniques. But only if you already have your SEO-mindset stable. I mean, if you’ve already learned the basics of SEO science. If not, how can you tell a worthy piece of advice from useless scribbling by muddle-heads who often swarm on such forums and blogs? Besides, it’ll take you ages to gather the pieces of SEO-puzzle together and get a complete picture of how to SEO your website.SEO books are another pair of shoes. All you need is packed together for you. No surfing through dozens of websites. But here you should also keep in mind several important points:- The Internet world and SEO principles are changing at supersonic speed. What was good for website promotion yesterday may turn out to be a complete waste of time today. In what way would the authors keep up with this speed of changes? In no way, unless their SEO book is a day by day updated e-book. That’s why the SEO book you can really trust is an e- book- Does “Search Engine Saturation” or “Traffic Referral Rates” sound clear to you? Would you like your SEO book to speak the language you don’t understand? Definitely, no. You need SEO things made easy as ABS. So you need an SEO book that speaks plain English- The ultimate goal of your learning SEO is being able to actually optimize your website, not only use some SEO terms, isn’t it? If so, a solid-cheesy-theory book is a waste of your precious time. Make sure your SEO book gives practical advice and step-by-step guidance for your page optimization- On the other hand, learning something parrot fashion is also no good. You are to UNDERSTAND WHAT, HOW, and WHY you are doing. Otherwise, a small deviation from a studied scheme – and you are deadlocked. Pick up the SEO book that not only orders you what to do, but explains why you should do thisThese criteria considerably narrow your range of choice. One of the books I’ve recently come across that perfectly hits the spot is “SEO in Practice”. It is an all-round online SEO guide by a 9-year experienced SEO pro Dan Richmond. He leads you by the hand into the world of Search Engine Optimization, pointing each step you should take and clarifying all whys and hows so that a child could understand.To top it all, keep in mind: whatever way to dig into SEO you choose, it’s your zeal that grows the fruits to reap. There is no one but you to knock in the knowledge into your head.