Better Blogging: The Dead Link Hunt!

I decided not to do everything in order while trying to build up my blog. I figured if I pick a topic a day, one that is relevant at the time, then I will still make it through the 31 Days to Building a Better Blog project. I scanned the list and one of the topics really jumped out at me. Day 23 is "Go on a Dead Link Hunt".

The Dead Link Hunt

Since I have a lot of time on my hands, I manually went through every month in my archives searching for links that no longer work (AKA dead links). At first my goal was simple: Only look for links! But as I started searching for links, I started reading my past entries. I laughed, I cried, I pondered, I went back over it looking for dead links because I forgot what I was doing and was too busy reading old entries.

Just for kicks and giggles, I wanted to share two posts from way back... I nearly peed myself laughing!

Earplugs Please! Apparently I was in a crappy mood when I posted this. I vaguely remember when this happened but I didn't remember blogging about it. Now this I laughed at until I had to go to the bathroom!

Sail by Braille Oh yes, I DO remember that night! All to well! I was really having a trip down memory lane on this one!

Back to the Dead Links

As of now, and after 5 hours of surfing my blog, there shouldn't be any dead links. Well, except for the couple of months in 2006 where you can't click on ANY link anywhere on the blog. But the rest of the blog has all working links. If you find one I missed, shoot me an email at blogwriter at gmail dot com!

Dead Link lesson I learned?

In the beginning of my blogging experience I didn't add links to my posts. I didn't know how, I didn't want to and I didn't see the need for them. Then, apparently sometime in 2005, I figured out how to create links and went stupid with it. Every post for several months had links all over the post. Links to silly .jpg pictures, links to Wikipedia articles, links to YouTube, Facebook, twitter and every site imaginable.

Looking back at these posts I thought they looked like a link whores dream come true but it also made them look... BAD! So I removed a lot of the links that really weren't necessary, fixed the broken links and removed a sentence or two from back posts about links that no longer worked to make the post read better.

It also made me realize that I need to be careful about adding too many links to a post. I like adding them to ingredients in recipes, like the Buckwheat Oat Amaranth Biscuits, because I don't always use common ingredients. But I learned from looking back at posts from years ago how they must look from the new reader who is just now stumbling across my blog.

From now on, I will be more careful with adding links. Not that I am never going to add them, but I will make sure they are relevant to the post and aren't covering every other word like this:

I love blogging! But I will definitely watch the dead links.

Some of my posts were that bad! Thanks to ProBlogger for the great tip to keep my blog looking great. I always hated dead links on other sites. I never really thought of going all the way back looking for them on my blog.

My next task: Working on a "Sneeze Page".

Building a Better Blog

While surfing the net about what tabs I should add next to my about me and other tabs, I ran into ProBlogger on the net through his article 31 Days to Building a Better Blog. It really got me thinking about my blog. I need to do more with it and spruce it up a little, wipe off the cyber dust and make it beautiful again. I mean, really do something besides change the background at my every whim.

So I decided I am following the steps in his article and I'll get this blog moving a little again. Plus I have a list from ProBlogger called 98 Blog Tips for a Lazy Sunday. I am going to go through those too. This should give me something fun and productive to do during the next month since walking and cleaning hurt too bad and I'm not working any at the moment. It should also give me enough momentum so that when I finally go back to work I can keep up with my blogging.

I plan to journal this on here too so if you want to follow along, I'll add a tag to this post or a link or something that you can follow. UPDATE: Here you go! Click here!

Gluten Free Buckwheat Oat Amaranth Biscuit

Since I found out all my allergies back in August 2010, I haven't been able to find a bread I can eat. For the most part, I don't miss it at all, or at least that is what I have tried to convince myself. It didn't work. I want a sandwich, or biscuits or something!

I spent the last the last year searching and experimenting with recipes trying to find ANY bread I can eat. Either they can out like bricks (I could built houses with some of the bread recipes) or they looked beautiful but tasted like crap.

This week, I was in another experimenting mood and found a biscuit I can eat, that tastes great (everyone is eating them... my kids, guests, friends) and that have a lovely bread feel to them. Here is the recipe!

They taste great with gluten free gravy!

Note: I added clickable links to each ingredient.

Gluten Free Buckwheat Oat Amaranth Biscuits
Makes 12

Nutritional Info
Calories 125.5
Fat 5.9
Carbs 15.1
Protein 3.5

Ingredients:

• 3/4 C Oat Flour (Note: Not all Oat Flours are gluten free.)
• 3/4 C Buckwheat Flour
• 1/2 C Amaranth Flour
• 1 TBSP Baking Soda
• 1 tsp Arrowroot Starch
• 1/4 tsp Salt
• 1/3 C Powdered Milk
• 1 TBSP Buttermilk Powder
• 1 C Hot water
• 1/4 C Extra Virgin Olive Oil or Canola Oil

Preheat the oven to 450.

Mix all the dry ingredients together in a bowl (from oat flour to buttermilk powder)

Add the oil and water. Stir thoroughly.

Spoon onto a greased cookie sheet. I use an ice cream scoop and get a beautiful 12 biscuits with a teensy bit left over. They don't expand a lot so you can put them a little close together.

Bake for 10-12 minutes (I usually go the whole 12 minutes).

Let cool and enjoy.

I LOVE these with butter and blackberry jelly. I keep meaning to make a sandwich with them but they don't last very long.

I got smart today and made a buckwheat/oat flour mixture by mixing 1 part buckwheat flour to 1 part oat flour. I think I did 3 cups each. I mixed them together well and put them in a new container by themselves. Now when I go to make the biscuits, I'll just add 1 and 1/2 cups of the mix. I am good! And so are the biscuits!

If you try this recipe, leave a comment and let me know what you think!

For more recipes, click here.

Crochet Slipper Socks!

I have been crocheting slipper socks out of complete boredom. This is my third pair of slippers. I am keeping these! I made them with two pieces of yarn crocheted together. They are really warm and will come in handy this winter.

Filewise Filing System is no more? I am devastated!

UPDATE: Goldie C, a reader of the blog sent me links to the FileWise system. I decided to take it upon myself (after learning 1 out of 5 test people can't open the file... bummer) to put the whole system online! Call me insane... but I am in the process RIGHT NOW! Eventually it will be complete. THANK YOU GOLDIE!!! Here is the Link... FileWise Blog I am constructing.

Okay... you can now continue on to the rant...

I have used the Filewise filing system for years now. I found it while I was living in Tennessee and started using it right away. I love it! I started cleaning up my files that went to hell between move after move from RV to boat to van to various storage units while we lived in San Diego. Since I have plenty of time on my hands, I figured I'd get all my piles of papers and file folders that are completely disorganized and start getting it together again.

One problem, I can't find my filewise index that tells where each thing goes. I know where some of them go. The paid bills are in E-4... or is that E-1? And personal stuff is the L section, Or maybe it's home. Well, okay maybe not as well as I would like to think. So I went to file folder A-3 which houses the Filewise Index. It tells you where to file each document and sheet of paper you have. I nearly fainted! It's not in the file folder at all. I have no idea where it is either.

I immediately started searching the internet for the program so I could see if I could buy just the index or maybe download a trial version so I could just print off that file. Hey, I paid for it once, I feel okay doing that! But it turns out that they are no longer in business. My boring little world is crashing around me right now. I am pouting. Not really.

After that I started searching for file systems and found one but being the routine stickler that I am, I do not like change and having to change file systems just blows my world away. I hate every second of it. Eventually I will order the system and let you know how it works but in the meantime, if anyone happens to have the Filewise Index that tells you which folder to file each document in, if you could pretty please email me, I'd really appreciate it.