Archive for the ‘Chill out stuff’ Category

Apple recipes and more…

If you live in the northern hemisphere you will know it’s autumn now.  Golden brown leaves dropping quicker than you can rake them up!

Darn it!

I have just glanced outside and have noticed that the wind is up and here come the leaves, cascading down again!  We only have a small garden (fortunately) but the leaves come blowing from who knows where!

Our summer was cooler than usual this year which is why we have had a bumper apple harvest this autumn.  My special daughter is giving apples away, so many yummy, crunchy apples to store and use.

Searching for great apple recipes.

Have already made one batch of apple and sultana chutney.  Have made numerous apple crumbles, apple cakes and apple muffins.  The family seem to still enjoy the apple recipes so will continue using the delicious apples – cannot stand the thought of wasting them! 

I have found a clean box to store the apples in the cool shed so we will have a supply to last us well into the winter months ahead.

Our tomato crop is very disappointing (remember I mentioned we had had a cooler than normal summer?) and we still have green tomatoes clinging to the vine, which is not good.  We have had a few tomatoes ripen but I reckon I’ll be making Green tomato and apple chutney!

LOL more chutney!

Fortunately, we love chutney!  It’s a great way to use up fruit and vegetables and makes a lovely gift, doesnt it?  Curry with chutney…Mmmm, delicious!

I have managed to find a few delicious sounding apple recipes whjich do work really well!  Have also managed to use my trusty old recipes and adapted them to include apples instead of the usual ingredients.

Oh-oh…

All this baking will mean I must make sure I do my usual weekly 8 miles of jogging so I don’t put on any weight!

Drop me a line if you are feeling overwhelmed with your apple crop.  If you want to try a few highly recommended, tried and tested apple recipes, I’ll send them to you. 

I do not do complicated baking, these are real easy apple recipes – as easy as pie (!) and work real well, you won’t be disappointed…

So that is it for now…

Bye!  

Emmanuel Kelly – X Factor 2011

So who is Emmanuel Kelly? 

This is not my usual blog post, I must admit.  I do NOT normally “do” X Factor.  My mind did close up when I first saw the post on “Emmanuel Kelly on X Factor”

This is for the simple reason I believe there are many more gifted singers and performers around than the ones VOTED in on these X Factor-type shows!

However, in this case, I have sat up and watched this amazing person – Emmanuel Kelly, what a performance!

More on Emmanuel Kelly on X Factor 2011

A friend on Facebook posted this YouTube video of Emmanuel Kelly an entrant in the Australian X Factor auditions. 

Emmanuel and his brother are victims of terrible Iraqi chemical warfare.  They were taken to Australia for treatment and later adopted by the aid worker who found them in the Iraqi orphanage. 

Emmanuel Kelly really does have talent!

Me posting this video of Emmanuel Kelly on X Factor is not a sympathy thing, despite Emmanuel Kelly’s disability. 

I thought it might help us to try to put our pathetic problems into perspective.  I know my problems paled into insignificance after I watched Emmanuel Kelly singing 10 minutes ago.

Emmanuel Kelly radiates enthusiasm!  He is an inspiration and is making use of his God given talent – singing – and beautifully too!

How many thousands like Emmanuel Kelly have had their lives destroyed by the madness of civil war?  Emmanuel Kelly and his brother are the lucky ones…

I hope you also enjoy the video of Emmanuel Kelly as much as I did.

Emmanuel Kelly is singing Imagine, the John Lennon song. 

Here it is below, listen for yourself… and let me know what you think?

God Bless Emmanuel Kelly and all the best with your X Factor journey!

Back from a wonderful vacation in Cornwall.  It really is a lovely part of the country, isn’t it?  If you haven’t been to Cornwall yet, then I highly recommend you make the effort to go.

We did so much, saw so much and generally had a good time.

Plenty of good food and wine was consumed, managed to get a few runs in so did not feel too bad! ha,ha!

For us the hightlight of the visit was the Eden Project.  It’s an amazing place, we did not manage to see everything which we wanted to see so will be back again, that is for sure!  Entry ticket includes a free pass to go back again. 10 out of 10 for that Eden, it encourages people to go back.

Had amazing scones, strawberry jam and cream.  These scones were double the size of normal scones – they made my eyes pop out when I first laid eyes on them!

The Eden Project shop has a great range of “stuff”.  We managed to find a few great little gifts that are original and were welcomed by the recipients.  If you struggle to find original gifts then I recommend you check out the range at the Eden Project.

More soon on our amazing Cornwall break!

Bye for now

Whew!  I have finally got down to updating this site.

So much has happened in our online business and I have completely forgotten to keep you all up to date on what is happening!  My apologies.

As far as enjoying ourselves? Nothing has changed!

As far as what have we been busy doing? Lots and lots!  Most of our income now comes from Affiliate marketing.  This is going really well, it is a process which suits us.  We now have a number of affiliate sites up and earning us a regular income. We also do a bit of CPA and website building.

We still go off regularly on vacation.  Sometimes we go to areas which do not have wonderfully fast internet connections.  West Wales is a prime example.  It’s “just down the road” from where we live, figuratively speaking.

We love going to Wales,  the countryside is beautiful, quiet and less inhabited and that all equals less traffic!   Anybody who knows me well, will know that I absolutely loath traffic! I cannot stand getting caught up in a traffic jam!  Long lines of cars, spewing out fumes and wasting time – just waiting….!  Eeek, drives me crazy… well almost!

What we are doing online is working so well for us.  The income stream just continues whether we are at home or away on vacation.  If we can get find a reliable internet connection then we make use of it by skyping the kids and checking up on the news from home.  We also check emails in case a client has any questions which need answering.  However, now that we have everything in place it is not essential to work on the business when we are away on vacation.

So, there you have a brief outline on what we have been up to over the last few months.  Life is sweet, real sweet!

Take care and bye for now.

Well, almost all packed and ready to go!

Thanks to our online business we can take off whenever we want and the internet business continues as if nothing has happened.  And that’s what’s happening today.

Flying off the Qatar to visit the family.  What other job or business lets you take a fortnight away?  In our online

5* luxury resorts with Primo Vacations

business we go off for short breaks and vacations all the time – with the internet we can communicate with our contacts no problem at all!

The problem we have is we can’t check in online!  For some reason this is not working at Manchester airport – just a glitch.  Sunshine and warmth here we come! The business continues as if nothing has happened.

An extra bonus for us is that we enjoy discounted luxury accommodation worldwide at up to 80% discount with Primo Vacations! which is another one of our income streams!

Bon Voyage

Owen and Brenda Cooper

“Creating Wealth with Integrity”

iNetPro Group Members

Just a quick post, some light-hearted stuff…

This is a pleasant little video folks.

Enjoy the music and the message.

Brenda and Owen Cooper

Too many people put off something that brings them joy just because they haven’t thought about it …

… don’t have it on their schedule,

… didn’t know it was coming,

… or are too rigid to depart from their routine.

The following was sent to me by a special friend on the other side of the world, who I have known all my life.

Seize the moment...!

It brought home to me how fortunate we are to be able to do what we want when we want…  Our lifestyle has totally changed because we made the decision to take the first step to change our position.

So many people never get round to taking the first step and doing what they really want, for various reasons.  Please read this article, I hope it helps you to make changes in your life or to do something you’ve been putting off for months.  Here it is …

- 0 -

I got to thinking one day about all those “fat” people on the Titanic who passed up dessert at dinner that fateful night in an effort to cut back.   From then on, I’ve tried to be a little more flexible.

How many women out there will eat at home because their husband didn’t suggest going out to dinner until after something had been thawed?  Does the word ‘refrigeration’ mean nothing to you?

How often have your kids dropped in to talk and sat in silence while you watched ‘Jeopardy’ on television?

I cannot count the times I called my sister and said , ‘How about going to lunch in a half hour?’ She would gas up and stammer, ‘I can’t.  I have clothes on the line.  My hair is dirty.  I wish I had known yesterday, I had a late breakfast, It looks like rain’ And my personal favourite:  ‘It’s Monday.’ She died a few years ago. We never did have lunch together.

Because we cram so much into our lives, we tend to schedule our headaches.  We live on a sparse diet of promises we make to ourselves when all the conditions are perfect!

‘We’ll go back and visit the grandparents when we get Steve toilet-trained’.  ‘We’ll entertain when we replace the living-room carpet.’  ‘We’ll go on a second honeymoon when we get two more kids out of college.’ and so on…

Life has a way of accelerating as we get older.  The days get shorter and the list of promises to ourselves gets longer.  One morning, we awaken, and all we have to show for our lives is a litany of ‘I’m going to,’ ‘I plan on,’ and ‘Someday, when things are settled down a bit.’

When anyone calls my ‘seize the moment’ friend, she is open to adventure and available for trips.  She keeps an open mind on new ideas.  Her enthusiasm for life is contagious.  You talk with her for five minutes, and you’re ready to trade your bad feet for a pair of Roller-blades and skip an elevator for a bungee cord.

My lips have not touched ice cream in 10 years.  I love ice cream.  It’s just that I might as well apply it directly to my stomach with a spatula and eliminate the digestive process.  The other day, I stopped the car and bought a triple-decker.  If my car had hit an iceberg on the way home, I would have died happy.

Now … go on and have a nice day.  Do something you WANT to…not something on your SHOULD DO list. If you were going to die soon and had only one phone call you could make, who would you call and what would you say?  And why are you waiting?

Have you ever watched kids playing on a merry go round or listened to the rain lapping on the ground?  Ever followed a butterfly’s erratic flight or gazed at the sun into the fading night?  Do you run through each day on the fly?  When you ask ‘How are you?’ Do you hear the reply?

When the day is done, do you lie in your bed with the next hundred chores running through your head?  Ever told your child, ‘We’ll do it tomorrow.’

And in your haste, not see her sorrow?  Ever lost touch?  Let a good friendship die?  Just call to say ‘Hi’?

When you worry and hurry through your day, it is like an unopened gift….Thrown away…. Life is not a race. Take it slower.  Hear the music before the song is over.

‘Life may not be the party we hoped for…  but while we are here we might as well dance!’  (Author Anonymous)

Have a good weekend.

Best wishes

Brenda and Owen Cooper

Success, what does it mean?

The definition of “Success” means different things to different people.    

I liked this from Ralph Waldo Emerson.  Sound guide to living a successful life I thought!

To laugh often and much;
To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children;
To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends;
To appreciate beauty, to find the best in others;
To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition;
To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived.
This is to have succeeded.

I suppose for me “success” has many faces: being able to make a positive difference to somebody’s life.  For example, as a wife, it means being a good wife; as a mother it means being a good mother. And lots more…

Get the picture?

In our internet marketing business for me, success is being able to enjoy the lifestyle changes we’ve worked hard to achieve.  It is a very pleasant feeling.

As well as this, success is being able to help other people to also achieve the same as we’ve done.  To make a positive difference in their lives, to support, train and mentor them all the way.  That is also a very pleasant feeling!

95% of people who start out as internet marketers fail!  Horrible stats and, unfortunately, they are true.  Having the right kind of support is what makes the difference between success and failure online.

iNetPro Group and making online success a reality

The iNetPro Group made the difference between succeeding and not succeeding in our online business, without a doubt.  I did not like the feeling of banging my head against a brick wall day after day!  With the iNetPro Group I don’t experience that unpleasant feeling any more, thankfully!

For anybody who’s thinking of “trying their hand at internet marketing” I strongly urge you to find a good mentor and trainer. Do extensive checks.

Ask the iNetPro Group lots of questions

If you would like to ask lots of questions about the iNetPro Group you can contact us and also participate in an information chat-room, free of charge.

These chat-rooms take place every Monday evening and are for people just like you, who have questions and just want to find out a bit more information.

Contact me for info, I will need to send you the link to register because this changes every week.

Bye for now and best wishes

Owen and Brenda Cooper

Life is good, real good!

Here is “Lifted” an old song from Tunde Baiyewu and Paul Tucker of the Lighthouse Family from awhile back.

This duo’s well known in the UK, SA and Oz but my American friends might not be familiar with them?

I really like the guitar work and Tunde’s voice.    You might also like to listen to it?   Lovely stuff to start thinking of the weekend, I thought.

Owen and I love what we’re doing.  Life is good, real good!

So kick back, relax and enjoy…have a good weekend everybody!

Best wishes

Owen and Brenda Cooper

Validation video

The Validation video is an amazing heart warming bit of viewing.  Surely everybody smiles while watching this?  It’s certainly about ‘feel good’ in a big way.

‘Validation’ (the word)

Validation is a rather innoccuous word on it’s own but in the context of this video it takes on a whole new meaning, doesn’t it?

I know it’s just a video but it’s true of real life.  People like to feel special.  It’s no secret.

If more of us complimented (and/or validated) other people with a kind word and a smile like this parking attendant, the world would be a far more pleasant place, wouldn’t it?  There would be less strife and less suffering.

I certainly won’t think of the word ‘validation’ in quite the same way again.

Enjoy the Validation video on YouTube below.  ( With thanks to Kurt Kuenne.)

Best wishes Brenda and Owen Cooper