The first website I ever designed and built, I built 7 years ago for a friend with a custom stained glass business. It had more nested tables than a furniture store, and enough spacer gifs to shore up the structure…and since it was a freebie I hadn’t updated it in years. I finally told her that if she would commit to a real domain name and get set up on something other than her “free” ISP server space that I would rebuild it.

Well, she got the domain name and I did as promised and rebuilt the site using mostly CSS. I took into consideration the things I’ve learned over the years from our SEO folks here at flyte.biz, and I was SO EXCITED when I googled it this weekend using - maine custom stained glass - and even without using her name one of the pages came up ON THE VERY FIRST GOOGLE RESULTS page!!!

So if you are not sure it’s worthwhile to have us redo that older site structure, consider the possibilities of having your site move WAY up the Google results. Oh, and if you want to see the revised site, and some absolutely GORGEOUS custom stained glass, go to http://www.tamarascustomstainedglass.com

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Sometimes the best vacation days are the unplanned ones that you take on a whim (something I do a little too often!) This week on Tuesday I decided to take Wednesday off and managed to wrangle a couple friends into going up to Windjammer days in Boothbay Harbor. It was one of those ideal days where we laughed ourselves silly all day long, had ice cream for lunch (It was about 80 degrees, sunny with a nice breeze off the water).

We overheard some people talking that there were far fewer people for the festival this year….perhaps a reaction to the high gas prices? Somewhat ironic to have high gas prices keep people away from something that celebrated the old days of moving people and cargo by the the power of wind…..

We had great fun touring the ship Friendship of Salem which was docked at the Boothbay Harbor Shipyard. Originally built in 1797, it was a merchant ship, and I think my favorite pic of the day is the one looking up from the cargo hold through the deck to the mast - the glass in the door just caught the reflection of the flag flying high above in the wind.

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There are things I barely understand that make me laugh. This is one of them.

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At least, that’s what Cybele would have you believe. There’s some people who believe this to be true, there’s some who don’t.

To save my life, Cybele bought me this new funky metal water bottle. Have to say that the design is very cool.

I’m not crazy about how you have to suck the top like a teat to get any water out, and the metal frame keeps you from squeezing the water into your mouth. (I was always taught it was tacky to put your mouth on a water bottle.) Also, the metal frame seems to work as an anti-vacuum, sucking the cold out of the water in record time.

(The idea that room-temperature water is somehow better than cold water is a completely crock of shit, IMHO, and no wacked-out, Google Adsense-supported blog is going to convince me otherwise.)

However, I’m a strong believer that husbands who listen to their wives live a longer, happier life.

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Our family recently joined a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) right here in Scarborough at Broadturn Farm. We pay a seasonal fee and are entitled to a weekly share of the farm’s yummy fruits and veggies ( not to mention fresh eggs, and poultry/pork shares too if we want).   So last week we got our first share and as it is still quite early in the growing season it was on the smallish side (pak choi, lettuce, arugula, rhubarb and chive flowers)…but as my friend tells me by the end of the summer, we’ll need 2-3 bags to bring home our share.

So we made lots of salads this week, with varying toppings, like mango, avocado, nectarines and it’s been yummy served on the side of this giant striped bass that Rich hauled in from off of P-Town last week.

And, Maya and I went strawberry picking this past weekend.  Not too many left after early morning visitors, but we came away with about a quart and a half (for $4)…can’t beat that.  And so since I’m not a pie-maker of any sort, I was struggling with what to do with all this rhubarb and strawberries…until, low and behold in EveryDay Food, I found a great recipe for strawberry rhubarb sundaes…so easy and delicious–
and speedy.  Combine a pound of strawberries, hulled and halved, two stalks of rhubarb chopped into 1/2 inch pieces, 1/2 cup of sugar and 1/4 cup of water in a saucepan.  Simmer over high heat for 6-8 minutes.  Cool and refrigerate for about an hour and serve over vanilla ice cream…the girls loved it and so did I.

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Why is it so hard to find a good car these days?  Not that I’m actually looking yet…my Subaru Outback ‘99 only has 75k miles on it and should easily last another 5 years (nice not to have a car payment…) but eventually, vanity will triumph over finances and I’ll begin to crave that new car smell–or at least the spray they use for the slightly used cars.

But when I do finally cave in to replace my car there are a few things that are definitely on my list of “must haves”…namely,

1) it has to be all wheel drive or offer 4-wheel drive for those snowy Maine winters…I’ve always had 4-wheel drive and could never go back at this point.

2) it needs to have the capability of seating more than just 4-5 people…yes that’s right, I’m talking about that 3rd row seating capability all the new cars are toting.

3) and finally, it would be super nice if I could get 1&2 along with a hybrid option with the way gas prices are going these days.

So why is it so hard to find what I want?  currently there is only one, ONE car out there that meets my requirements– The Toyota Highlander.  I can find cool hybrids with all wheel drive, like the Saturn Vue (Green Line) and I can find plenty of cool cars with all wheel drive and a third row, like the Hyundai VeraCruz…but none that meet all three.

I wouldn’t be caught dead in a mini-van, and even there, only one option offers all wheel drive, the Toyota Sienna…but they are really bigger than I need, (only occaisionally will I need to actually transport more than 4-5 people) and their fuel efficiency is a joke (18 miles/gallon) with gas prices pushing $4-5 /gallon soon enough.

I’m totally in love with the Mazda CX-9, sleek, sexy, and 3rd row with all wheel drive.  All they need is a hybrid option and I’ll stand in line.

So why is this so hard?  Increasing fuel costs, increasing desire to transport more people/car pool and be cost conscious with a hybrid car and so few options.  We need more family friendly cars, that are safe in the snow, and fuel efficient.  Is that asking too much???

I can only hope that by the time my trusty Outback kicks it, there will be plenty of options available.  For now I can only dream about my perfect next car.

-Family chauffeur, green mom

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In these tough economic times, here’s an e-commerce site that provides a little free entertainment.

http://producten.hema.nl/

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Google and Disney have teamed up to create the most detailed 3-D model in Google Earth to date. Save yourself a flight, an $85 ticket, and a $7 soda, and gather round Google Earth!

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I never fail to be astounded by the fact that these things are actually allowed to be sold to people. The worst offender contains a whole days worth of nutrition. They should all be illegal. You’d be better off with a pound of chips. Eat This Not That

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