April Update

Some collections of random musings, taken together might justify a post:

For news and more pix of Easter at Villa Mir Farm, go to the VMF Blog. We had a great time, with 2 feet of snow (!!) and lots of friends and family to help shovel. Here, Jack eats strawberry-rhubarb pie - I have to try eating pie with my eyes closed, wonder if it tastes better that way? That white stuff out the window is not over-exposure, by the way!

I am not the worlds most tech-obsessed person, who has time for it!! But there are a couple of sites that I've started to use fairly often which help me get/stay organized (or at least as organized as I ever get!).

First one is a social networking site I want to recommend to all of you - its called HiveLive, and its a very cool, easy-to-use place you can store stuff and collaborate with friends and family in a private way. Once you sign up (its free) and log in, you can create as many 'hives' as you want. A hive can be a place to keep notes, a daily diary, a personal space or a collaborative space for anyone you choose. Or, if you want to get frisky, you can make a public hive for the whole community on HiveLive (like Facebook). Its a bit like blogging, but maybe more like a digital file cabinet that's easy to access. I've been using it a fair amount to keep all the random notes and stuff I collect on travels. I have hives for: recipes, book reviews and recommendations, favorite quotations, restaurants. I can share them with other members, so if you do sign up, please let me know and I will add you to my group hives. If you have trouble signing up, either email me or post a comment here and I will assist.

Second one is a cute little free thing called the Pocket Mod. Its a customizable planner, which you create on their website, print on a single sheet of paper, then it folds into a little booklet that easily fits in your pocket, purse, whatever. With a clever, origami-like folding scheme, you get 8 pages which can have a daily, weekly or monthly calendar, note space, tables or graphs, all kinds of stuff. I make one every week, then carry it around for a week to jot down a note or so, keep track of travel expenses, see my schedule at a glance. I guess if you're really into a Blackberry, that's better, but I have a Blackberry and I still use this little thing. There is just nothing like a piece of paper sometimes! (For my green, sustainable friends, you can print it out on paper that's used on one side, and when it folds all the unwanted stuff is hidden - thus a good way for 'double-recycling' all that extra paper we wind up with!)

OK, let me know if you like these - and feel free to make some recommendations of your own!