Tullamore Returns to the Celtic Ozark Music Scene

Tullamore, one of my favorite celtic ozark music groups will be returning to the SW MO Celtic Heritage and Music Festival on September 10, 2011. Read more....http://ping.fm/Qv0v1

Living the Summer Indoors

OK, living the summer indoors has its down side.  Some of the historic places to go, like Silver Dollar City and White Water, are just no fun when it is this hot. This is despite the fact that both locations have water rides. Even in the Lazy River, your head can fry.

This time of year, I love going to places like Roaring River State Park, and doing some fly fishing.  Well, you had better be up early to do so, and be waiting on the morning horn.  If you are lucky enough to get somewhere that allows waders, you can fish a little longer.  Fishing is almost out of the summer game.

Forget about frisbee golf in Springfield, MO, unless you get out early.  The heat can just drain you. 

So what do you do for fun?  Night fishing.......way down deep.

Guess I'll go back to playing on Facebook now.  Stay cool, and conserve electricity where you can. We don't need rolling black outs.

Ray Province
The Celtic Ozarkian

Dealing with Death in the Ozarks

This week, we were given the news that the daughter of one of our friends in the Ozarks had died.  She passed away from a tragic outdoor accident involving a lightening strike, water, and a canoe.  The whole town is hurting with her. So, the question is: how do we deal with death in the Ozarks.

One of the answers that I have heard involved rational thinking about how to have avoided the issue. We should not be on water, in a canoe, during a storm.  But that answer left me a bit shallow, though I do remember learning this safety rule as a Boy Scout.  "Get off the water."  It still leaves me feeling a bit shallow, though, because we don't know what this group did to avoid the problem.  We don't even know how far away a storm might have been.  We just know the canoe was struck by lightening. Rationalizing on what could have been done does nothing to help us deal with the death.

Another answer involved trying to figure out what to do in the post tragedy.  The young woman's daughter must be cared for now. The family must make plans: funeral, dinners, etc.  It is part of what we do to deal with death in the Ozarks.

The thing that makes me most happy, though, is knowing the whole community will grieve with the family. In small ways, we will all try to do something to let the family know we hurt with them. There  will be shoulders to cry on. There will be hugs to be had.

It takes a community to do grief counseling...

Ray Province, The Celtic Ozarkian

Canning Your own Green Beans

I finally had some time tonight to get the information up on the Food Supply Gardening website on how to can green beans using a pressure cooker. This was a sacred ritual in my childhood home this time of year. My dad and mom would bring grandma up, and they would have us all snapping green beans for what seemed like an eternity.  Eventually, grandma and mom would get to squabbling, and Dad would have to break it up. Grandma would always listen to whatever Dad said, which made my mother very mad.

Canning green beans was a family ritual. It is a shame that more families don't do that now. It was a time to bond as a family, and also put away food that we would eat all winter.  I didn't know what a canned beans from the store tasted like till I was out on my own.

Mom made the green beans later with onion, salt, pepper, and some bacon fat.  A little bacon grease went into the beans also. What a deal.  She said the Methodist women made the best green beans in the world, and she was right.

Give them a try,

Ray Province
The Celtic Ozarkian

Do Some Fall Food Supply Gardening

The month of July officially starts the beginning of the fall food supply garden. And food supply gardening does not stop, just because summer is coming to an end. In fact, many parts of the United States will have good weather well toward Christmas.
In the Ozarks, it is certainly got enough, but it will not be too hot to start the process of growing food in the fall. There are garden plots to prep and fertilize, seeds to propogate and start, etc. So, get yourself a cool glass of sweet tea or lemonade, and let’s grow some food this fall. Knowing how to grow your own food supply would not be complete, if we let go of several months of growing season.
Read on at http://ping.fm/1Qg0E

Joplin Tornado and Possible Help From Your Garden

Dear Friends,

As you know our Ozark neighbors in Joplin have been hit by an EF-4 tornado. So many folks have no home to live in. A large number of wonderful volunteers have made their way to Joplin to help their neighbors. All these people will need to be fed.

If you are starting to get produce out of your garden and live close to Joplin, please consider donating any extra produce that you have. Some outlets will include local churches and food pantries. The situation is very dynamic at this point, so there will be many opportunities provide food. It is amazing how healing a bit of normalcy can be in this type of devastation. A fresh spinach salad or fresh leaf lettuce can bring back some happy memories plus provide much needed nutrition in a suddenly torn apart world.

If you still have garden space, consider tossing in some extra tomato plants, green beans, squash, and herbs. There will be a need all summer to help these folks. It will take time to pick up all the debris, get new houses built and get the infrastructure back to normal. People who normally helped local food banks and church-based relief activities may now find themselves in need of help. It is time to pay it forward if you can.

If your garden is too small to provide any extra that is okay. I am sure our neighbors would appreciate your prayers. The numbers of people who lost their life is absolutely mind numbing. Their families will need the comfort that only the Great Healer can provide. Unlike the produce which is perishable and needs to be grown close to the disaster, prayer has no expiration date. It can be transported over many, many miles without any wilting or spoilage.

Thank you for considering planting an extra row of crops to help. Thank you for your prayers and help. While I don’t live in Joplin, my heart aches for my neighbors and I so appreciate any comfort you can give these folks. Blessings to you and yours.

Ray Province, the Celtic Ozarkian
www.celticozarkian.com

Ten Thousand Missouri Gardens

If you live in Missouri and have a garden, do I have the website for you. The state of Missouri is trying to get 10,000 new gardens registered across the state. This project started small with a goal of 1,000 gardens several years ago. That goal has been met so it is on to bigger and better goals.

All gardens are welcome to be registered. You don’t need a huge truck garden to feel comfortable in this group. Any garden is welcome to apply. Whether you are growing food for your family, or flowers to feed the birds and butterflies, take a look at this site.

Actually, that is one of the reasons I love gardening. I can grow great tasting food for my family and have a little corner that produces food for the birds. I love growing sunflowers for the birds. Some people place net bags over the heads of the growing sunflowers to keep the seeds safe. I however, just let the birds eat them whenever they want them. It doesn’t necessarily make for the prettiest sunflowers, but I feel good about feeding the critters. It is my garden and I can grow it my way.

If you haven’t started your garden, it is not too late. In fact we are moving this summer so I don’t have a summer garden in this year. For the first time in forever, there are no fresh tomatoes coming from my labors. However, we will be settled in time to start a fall garden this year.

I may get in a few tomatoes before it is all said and done, but I plan to buy the majority from farmers markets this year. However, I will be planting rosemary and thyme as soon as possible. Then as the summer starts to cool, I will be planting lettuce, spinach, peas, and some corn salad or mache.

If you don’t have space for a garden, consider growing a small garden in pots. Herbs love to grow in pots, and there is nothing like fresh cut herbs to brighten any sauce or salad. I love to grow rosemary both inside the house and in the garden. I keep a pot of rosemary on the window sill for a quick snip for a sauce, a dice to throw in a loaf of bread that is rising to bake, or to toss a couple or sprigs on a baking chicken. It is so fast and easy and really makes a huge difference. I even just brush the leaves gently to release a wonderful aroma as I am standing at the sink doing dishes. All of that from one little pot of rosemary that I got on sale at my local nursery at the end of the season.

If you have a garden space but it has been too wet to get your tomatoes in, have no fear. Go ahead and plant your tomato plants now. It is really to late for seeds, but tomato plants will catch right up with your neighbors in the coming hot days. In fact, we have still had some pretty cool nights that have slowed down the growth of any tomatoes already planted.

Now is a great time to get beans and squash in the ground. If you can just find a day when the ground is dry enough, it has been a bit rough in this part of the Ozarks this year. But that is the life of a gardener. Too much rain, not enough rain, hail, and strong winds always make being a gardener a challenge! Speaking of challenges, here is the website I promised. Sorry I got so wordy; I just love all aspects of gardening. http://ping.fm/M1DNO

5 Reasons Why People are So Unhappy

Today we will look at 5 reasons why people are so unhappy. We will be looking today at some verses from Luke 10: 26-28 to help us. When asked about what it takes to be able to live forever, Jesus replied:

26“What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”

27He answered: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.”

28“You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”

Jesus was sharing about the requirements to have eternal life. What the crowd may, or may not, have realized is that eternal life was also there. If we are going to live forever, that time period starts a new every day, and we get a chance to live by the words of Jesus.

So, let’s look at some reasons why people are so unhappy in our day. Keep in mind the priorities that God set for our lives.

1. People that are so unhappy often focus only on outcomes, versus the process of getting there.
   We often spend all our energy on outcomes. But when we stop and love, we often are not concerned with highly goal driven outcomes. We are focused on being in the moment with that person, and doing what we need to get done.
2. People that are so unhappy often see failure is not a stop sign, instead of a sign post. It’s like the old saying, “if at first you don’t succeed, quit.” In the eyes of love, failure tells us we need to find another path to travel. Doing the same thing consistently, with the same unsuccessful outcome, is a big factor for people who spend a lot of time unhappy with life.
3. People that are so unhappy often think rejection is just about them. Most of the time, they are wrong. Ideas, concepts, plans get rejected all the time. Even Jesus rejected certain ideas and principles. For whatever reason, we think we are so important that the rejection must be about us. In love, have a five minute pity party, and move on.
4. People that are so unhappy have a constant internal battle of the mind and heart. In other words, unhappy people lose the ability to follow their heart. Often, the voice inside us is the right one.
5. People that are so unhappy are often never grateful for anything. When we can put our love of God and humanity ahead of ourselves, we can remember to be grateful for all the good we see every day. It’s like the old Neil Armstrong song, “Wonderful World.”Practicing these 5 reasons why people are so unhappy is the hard part. So, try this plan: try practicing just one of the 5 reasons why people are so unhappy every day. Make it a goal to practice the opposite behavior, whether you emotionally believe in it or not. Over time, the act of changing your attitude and beliefs will change you.

Here’s to your happiness,

Raymond C. Province, M.Div.

St. Patrick's Day Celebration Buffalo Missouri

Come enjoy some Irish Celtic food and entertainment at the St.
Patrick's Celebration being held on Friday evening, March 11th at the
O'Bannon Center on Ramsey St. in Buffalo, MO. The fundraiser is for
the ninth annual SW MO Celtic Heritage Festival and Highland Games.

Dinner begins at 5:00 PM with a dinner consisting of Corned Beef and
Cabbage, Bangers & Mash, Irish Stew, Irish Soda Bread, and an
assortment of Celtic desserts, coffee and tea for $7.00 per plate, or
advance tickets are $5.00 per plate. Following the dinner will be an
auction offering over 40 Branson show tickets and attractions and
round off the evening with Celtic entertainment beginning at 7:00PM
There will be music by Jon Reneu, Sarah Hook, Irish music by Nancy
Daily Green, Irish dancing; Bagpipes by Daryl Dickerson and an
appearance by the infamous, Scotty the Fox. All these entertainers
will be performing at the 9th annual Celtic Festival which will be
held here on Sept. 9th and 10th.

Broccoli in the Celtic Ozark Garden.

It is time to think about broccoli in the Celtic Ozark Garden. BROCCOLI (Brassica oleracea Cymosa) is a yummy vegetable that deserves a place in any Celtic Ozark Garden. I hope that you will consider adding it this spring. Here are the basics you need to know.

The big heads of broccoli you see in your store is of the 'Calabrese' type. By far, it is the most popular type of broccoli grown. Buy seedlings if you have never grown broccoli before, as you will have a better chance of good growth. If you want to get experimental, you will need to start your seeds soon. You can start the seeds 8 weeks before your last frost, to give them time to grow. You’ll need plenty of sun, as the shoots emerge. You can also plant the seeds a month before your last frost, and let them take in the garden. Sow the seeds directly into the soil about ¼”, and let them do their thing.

Modern hybrids are fast growing, and if they are subjected to prolonged stress of drying, they may form tiny heads prematurely, and the plants come to nothing. That is why I always recommend that you use an heirloom style seed. You may not get a head of broccoli the size of a football, but you stand a better chance of getting a nice overall crop.
You need to provide a fertile soil and don't let the soil become dry. You can look through the archives of my blog for my soil recipe for raised bed gardens. I touched on this subject in the last blog. Add plenty of lime for the broccoli, as they like a pH 6.5 to 7.5. That is their 'ideal' range.
Plants growing in Spring, especially late spring, are prime targets for the green caterpillars that come from the white butterflies in your garden. A light netting can help to keep the butterflies off your broccoli. In about 90-100 days, your crop should be ready to go.

Sprouting broccoli can also be a good alternative crop to grow. Not many people grow this heirloom variety. You can find green, purple and white varieties of the plant. We like the white variety, because it looks a bit like cauliflower.
Spring is the time to grow this one. Sow the seeds directly into the soil, as noted above. You will need to watch for insects. But here is the cool payoff: your crop should be ready to eat in around 45-60 days. The small heads of the sprouting broccoli plants make it easy to go and pick just a portion for supper. You’ll have to grow plenty for freezing, as this crops is easy to use every day, leaving less for real food supply type considerations. Ah, but what a feast in the meantime.

Spring is the time people in cooler areas should sow sprouting broccoli. It is grown through the summer and carried over winter, for an early spring production the year following sowing. The advantage of sprouting broccoli is that, while it is not cauliflower, the white forms produce cauliflower like curds more easily than growing cauliflower itself, and the multiple small heads means that the serving sizes are right, with no waste. The disadvantage is the long time it sits around in the garden before it does anything.

There are a couple of other varieties of broccoli, but I will confine this installment of my blog to the two types I use. Good luck with your broccoli crop, and I will blog more soon from the Celtic Ozark Garden.

slainte,
Ray Province
The Celtic Ozark Garden
www.celticozarkian.com
www.celticozarkgarden.blogspot.com

A Tradition of Celtic Jams

The Irish and Scottish people that settled the Ozarks area of Missouri and Arkansas have had a long history of making some of the world's best jams and jellies. In fact, that tradition continues into modern times in the Ozarks. So, let's take a trip down Ozarks Jam and Jellies Lane.

The traditions of Celtic Jam makers can be seen with the love the Ozarks have for blueberry, blackberry (also called Braeberry), and strawberry jam. You can also see the influence with local berries like gooseberry and elderberry. Orange Marmelade and Lemon Curd are also popular Celtic jams to be found in the Ozarks.

The process typically makes use of real fruits that are picked and then made into jams or jellies right away. It is possible, though, to make jams or jellies from frozen fruit. Pectin is used to make the product thicker, and real sugar is used to sweeten the product. High fructose corn syrup varieties just don't taste as good, and many people are now avoiding the long term effects of fructose.

Besides making the product taste good, the sugary environment also helps to preserve the product over time. The environment is not condusive to bacteria, mold, etc. You may often still see old Ozarkians just scrap the mold off the top of old jams and jellies and eat them. It may look grose, but it probably will not be a health issue. Any product sold in the state of Missouri or Arkansas should have an expiration date to be safe, though. Unopened jams and jellies last a long time. That is part of the reason our Celtic ancestors made the items: they lasted a long time, and provided a nice bit of carbohydrate to a meal.

In modern times, people in Missouri and Arkansas just like the taste of home made jams and jellies that are made in the Ozarks. If you do not live in the Ozarks, take a moment and order some. You'll enjoy the fine Irish and Scottish jams and jellies of the Ozarks.

Slainte,
Ray Province
The Celtic Ozarkian

Ray Province is an IT Programmer by trade, and owener of www.celticozarkian.com and co-owner of www.ozarkscelticmarketplace.com . He frequently writes about Irish and Scottish history in the Ozarks. You can reach him at contactus@celticozarkian.com or @celticozarkian on Twitter.

Social Media Marketing Still Has Value

There are many people today asking questions about whether or not social media marketing still has value. There are so many people that have jumped on the Facebook and Twitter bandwagon. Can using these types of sites still help my efforts?

Part of the answer to this question lies on who you are marketing to on a regular basis. I am not sure that the youth of the world ever expected the Baby Boomer generation to like Facebook as much as they do. Limited PPC ads on Facebook still work well for the Boomers. You might have to look a little harder for younger people though. Facebook still works for the very young, but their influence on the buying market is limited.

Twitter, to me, is almost hopeless as a medium for direct sales. You have to be willing to pay your dues on the social media site, make friends, engage in conversation with people. Many business people don’t want to put in this kind of time. Outsourcing the work can help. Talking about hot topics can also help you get noticed. If all you want to do, though, is throw link bait, don’t waste your time.

So where are people going on the social media sites these days? Here is a list of sites that may help you out.

Facebook.com: as I mentioned, it was initially intended for college students — it branched out, and now allows everyone membership. 500 million members. Most of these are Baby Boomer age any more.

MySpace.com: 130 million members. This site is massive, boasting the largest membership of any social networking site on the Internet. There is also a lot of crap on MySpace. You can reach a lot of people though.

Linkedin.com: 75 million members — a powerful tool for business networking.This site is worth the time spent. Go out and get to know people. Even your employer is probably watching this site now.

Friendster.com: 90 million members. Friendster was considered the top online social networking service until around April 2004, when it was overtaken by MySpace. Demographic studies indicate users are from 17 to 30 years old. The younger generation still likes this site for social contact. Keep that in mind.

Stumbleupon.com: Boasting over 10 million users, StumbleUpon is a web browser plugin that allows its users to discover and rate webpages, photos, videos, and news articles. A great way to get website promotion. Bought by eBay for $75 million in May 2007, this is a great site to promote an Ebay business.

del.icio.us: The website del.icio.us (pronounced as “delicious”) is a social bookmarking web service for storing, sharing, and discovering web bookmarks. The site was founded by Joshua Schachter in late 2003, and is now part of Yahoo!. This is a good site to hit to get search engine recognition on the nation’s number 2 search engine.

digg.com: Digg is a website made for people to discover and share content from anywhere on the Internet, by submitting links and stories, and voting and commenting on submitted links and stories, in a social and democratic spirit. It is more of an intellectual site though. It reminds me a lot of writing for HubPages.com.

Orkut.com: Orkut is an Internet social networking service run by Google and named after its creator, Google employee Orkut Büyükkökten. It claims to be designed to help users meet new friends and maintain existing relationships. Now has a membership of 100 million. I really think this is the site of the future. I know I have really been trying to hit this one harder.

Yahoo! 360° (a.k.a Yahoo! Days) is a personal communication portal similar to orkut and MySpace — it is currently in the beta-testing phase. It integrates features of social networking, blogging and photo sharing sites. I think this site has merit for the future.

Xanga.com: 27 million members. Xanga is a free Web-based service that hosts weblogs, photoblogs, videoblogs, audioblogs, and social networking profiles. I really like this site, and it has received a lot of attention of Mashable.com in recent months. Take a look.

Care2.com: Over 9 million members. Care2 is a social networking website that was founded to help connect activists from around the world.

Ryze.com: 500, 000 members. Ryze.com is a free social networking website designed to link business professionals.

So, don’t count social media marketing out of your overall marketing for your website. Good luck with your social media campaigns.

Stanley and Livingstone Men's Line comes to Ozarks Celtic Marketplace

The Stanley and Livingstone line of men's products and gifts have been added to the Ozark Celtic Marketplace family. The news men's line features distinctive smells and sensations that are designed to appeal to himself. We also wanted to honor the Welsh heritage of Stanley.
The line features a Mists of the Falls scented bath soap for men. We have worked on the scent for some time, getting it just right. After much testing, we think we found the perfect smell for soap, that is appealing to both men and women. Lads, we don't want you to smell like a girl.
We have noticed for some time that the old art of shaving with brush and soap is starting to make a comeback. So, we have also added our Zambezi Spice Men's Shaving Soap. It is a distinct plend of scents, mixed in a shea butter soap, that will leave your face feeling clean and fresh.
We also added a Cherry Pipe Tobacco Scented candle for men. Most of us can remember the people in our lives that smoked pipes, in times gone by. In fact, both Stanley and Livingstone were know to smoke a pipe now and then. We have captured the pleasing smell of cherry pipe tobacco, in a way that keeps the real "smoke" out of your home.
Thanks much to the people who have helped us research this new line, and have given kindly of their thoughts and ideas.
Till next time,

Ray and Dale
Ozarks Celtic Marketplace

Time to Clean the Celtic Ozark Garden

The Ozarks has been very lucky this year. We have not had a killing frost yet. However, it looks as though that will happen this next week. So, for the Celtic Ozark Garden, it is time to clean.

All the left over plant life that has not been sent to the compost pile will go there. I also like to shake the soil out of the roots of those plants, prior to going to the compost pile. Once done, I like to break up all the soil, and get out as much of the roots as possible.

Once this is done, it is time to add fertilizer to the soil. I have written before about my Soil recipe. That is what I still use. If you want to check out that article, go to http://ping.fm/xKI61 and you can read the article on how to make it. I like to fertilize now, because the elements have time to fuse into the soil all winter. This also helps to insure that the soil will not contains large clumps of fertilizer, that could potentially burn delicate plants.

I am also going to pull the basil in my garden today. It is more than due, as the basil is very unhappy with the weather. I will pick the leaves, and place them in a paper sack. Then, I will punch some air holes, and tie the top shut. The sack will go to a dark place in the garage, until the leaves are dry and ready to use for seasoning.

Finally, the last of my green beans seed pods need to be picked and stored for the next garden year. I always try to leave some behind for this purpose. The pods are now yellow, dry, and shriveled. This is how I want to share them. Leaving them on the vine has also helped to insure that they will not get moldly and rotten.

So, go spend a day in your Celtic Ozark Garden. A little clean up can be good exercise. Slainte va to all.

Ray Province is a retired minister and now IT Programmer in the healthcare industry. He is the owner of The Celtic Ozarkian, a website that chronicles all things Celtic and Ozarks in Missouri and Arkansas. You can check out the site at http://ping.fm/CX8ya, or you can reach Ray at contactus@celticozarkian.com, or @celticozarkian on Twitter.

Raising Chickens for Eggs

Springfield just recently passed ordinance that allows residence to raise up to 6 chickens for egg production-no roosters allowed. There is just nothing like a good fresh egg for breakfast! There are so many good reasons to raise your own chickens for eggs. However, chickens are not low maintenance critters.



First, let me say that I have never raised chickens in the city. We allowed our chickens to free range when we lived in the country. The chickens had about 5 acres to roam over to gather bugs and just generally be chickens. We did coop them up at night and in really nasty weather. We allowed our chickens to stay on a natural cycle of day light and dark. We only left a light on in the coop for warmth on really bitter nights.



Having given that disclaimer, raising chickens is fun and we still miss them. The eggs had a wonderful taste and had a much richer, deep yellow yolk. Since we free ranged our chickens, cleaning the coop was only a weekly job. We had hay in the coop floor and then composted the hay and droppings.



Starting a new chicken coop in the winter months may be more of a challenge than the average urbanite will be willing to undertake. Unless you are starting with full grown laying hens, spring is really the best time to start a new coop. Chicks do not tolerate even moderately cool temperatures. If you start them in the fall or winter, there will be lots of work involved in keeping them warm.



Also, egg production is a function of the amount of light available to the chicken. So production will naturally fall off in the fall and winter, and then increase again in the spring. If you are going to fool the chickens and leave the lights on in the coop to increase production, you might as well just by your eggs from the store. Now is the time to gather information, understand the ordinance and all its nuances and gather your supplies. Starting your new chicken project in the spring makes so much sense.



Coops are one of the most important aspects of raising your hens. You can easily make your own coop; there are several good designs on the internet. Here is just one example: http://ping.fm/On0WE . Another option is a chicken tractor which is a portable coop. We started with a chicken tractor, but then added ducks and guinea hens to our growing chicken brood. They quickly out grew the tractor space. But a chicken tractor is a great idea if you have any interest in letting your chickens safely free range your yard. This link will show you a couple of designs: http://ping.fm/PMi9O





Pre-made coops are also widely available. Hostetler Feed and Farm Supply in Buffalo, Missouri has a nice supply of hand made coops. It is worth the drive to check them out. The Amish Furniture and bulk store in Branson also has some small coops. These are only two of the many places around Springfield to purchase your coop.



You will have to feed your chickens in the winter months when there are no bugs to eat. In the summer, you can back off on the feed a bit and let the chickens eat bugs and greens. Your chickens will always love fresh green when they are available. Thinned garden plants and any grubs that we found while gardening always went to the chickens. We always tossed a little calcium supplement to keep the shells strong. Fresh water is an absolute must, as is fresh bedding.



As you can see, this is rapidly becoming a big project. You will need to have a place to store the chicken feed that will keep the rodents out. A place to store the bedding to keep it dry will be needed. And a plan for changing the bedding and what to do with the waste is essential before you start. Be sure to keep abreast of the rules regarding waste composting and disposal. At this point there are limits on how much waste can be composted.



Be honest with your self if raising chickens is for you. If you decide that the answer is yes, you are in for a great treat. Once you get into a routine with the chickens, the rewards are great. Fresh eggs that are generally higher in folic acid and lower in cholesterol than store bought eggs. Plus you are in charge of what your chickens eat or don’t eat. It is rewarding to know that there are no antibiotics in your morning scramble.

Let's Do Website Analytics

Let’s do website analytics! Every good website developer, amateur or professional, needs a strategy for website analytics. One of the big topics that was covered during the recent Search Engine Strategies San Francisco 2010 Conference dealt with making better use of analytics. It is amazing how much data can be overlooked by not taking time to dig deep into the information provided. It is also even more amazing how many websites use no analytics at all. Often, a simple look at the source code of a website will reveal no html code for analytics.
One level of doing good website analytics is to make note of the websites that are referring traffic. It is advisable to develop a spreadsheet of those websites, and make note of every time a referral happens. If a website is still small, it may be fine to do this monthly. Place the names of the month and year across the horizontal grid of the spreadsheet, and the website names on the vertical grid.
Another good tactic is to note the number of pages from within a specific website. Certain websites may be feeding traffic from multiple pages. Note the pages that produce the most traffic, and try to target material toward that specific page. In a kind of reverse fashion, the levels of pages on any website should also be watched, to see which pages are getting the traffic. Many people fail to look past the traffic that is hitting the home page.
These tactics can really help a website developer understand where traffic is coming from. However, there is still another layer in this social media era that needs to be considered, if one is to do good website analytics. The actual people that are sending traffic to a website also needs to be noted. Sometimes, on sites like Twitter, people are clicking on a link to a specific website that was placed on a particular User’s Twitter page by retweet, direct message etc. Good analytic software like Google Analytics will be able to show the specific User page that was used as the referral. Hence, you know the specific user, because the referral came from their User Twitter Page.
Once specific social media websites have been identified as referring sites, it becomes advantageous to do research on how wide a market those sites reach. A specific referral to any given website might have come from a Twitter User Page with only 40 or 50 followers. But another referring page might have 8000 followers. Finding ways to frequently target the large Twitter page can help drive traffic to websites. To get a start on this strategy, try a website like Klout.com. There are others as well. A strategy for website analytics needs to involve, as a minimum, these layers of analysis.
Raymond Province is an IT Programmer in the health care industry. He frequently writes about search engine optimization, website development, and writing good website content. You can reach him at celticozarksolutions@gmail.com or @celticozarkian on Twitter.

SEO Questions That Make Me Crazy

Slainte to all my readers here at Celtic Ozark Solutions. My name is Ray Province. I work here at Celtic Ozark Solutions, specializing in search engine optimization rich content for websites. But I am also passionate about doing good search engine optimization. I will, no doubt, be a life long student.
I want to focus this edition of my blog on some of the questions that still make me crazy. These can be hard questions to answer, but I will do my best. I hope you enjoy the conversation.
The first of these questions is why my website does not rank number one in search engine optimization. That’s a fair question to ask. First of all, my website has not aged enough yet. Second, I always put working on my website as a low priority anymore. I make sure I have my client’s work done first. Then, I come back and work on my site.
The biggest reason, though, has to do with the name of my company. Celtic Ozark Solutions. When you are searching for SEO related topics, you will typically expect to find those words in the name of the company. SEO Book is one of my favorites. To be frank, though, I don’t care. I have always wanted to own a company named Celtic Ozark Solutions. So, there ya go. The bottom line is, I am getting good business anyway, doing many other things right.
The second of the questions that make me crazy has to do with the fact that people think I should be working for Google, in order to understand how to do search engine optimization. That is simply not the case. I recently did an article on Design, Build, and Validate that talks about the process of how I manage to move people up the rankings with SEO. It is an experimental process that measures results. You can learn to do anything that way.
The other issue is that, if I worked for Google, I would not be allowed to have a company working on SEO. Pay per click is too big a money maker for them.
These are just a couple of those questions. When I am feeling philosophical again, I’ll write on some more. In the meantime, I need to go back to work.
Ray Province is an IT Programmer in the healthcare industry, and owner of Celtic Ozark Solutions, a company that specializes in SEO, SEO rich content, and website development. You can reach him at celticozarksolutions@gmail.com or @celticozarkian on Twitter.

8th Annual Celtic Heritage Festival 7 Highland Games

The 8th annual Celtic Heritage Festival & Highland Games will be held at Buffalo, MO on Friday and Saturday, Sept. 10th and 11th, 2010. It is one of the premier Celtic Hertiage events in the Ozarks every year. Here is the scoop on this year's festival.

The festivities will begin Friday evening at 6:00 PM with the Calling of the Clans. There will be plenty of entertainment to boot on the main stage that evening. There will be Clan tents, vendors, food, and entertainment all evening. The Friday night activities are a real deal. they are free to the public, and will give you a chance to purchase their advance tickets for Saturday's events.

Purchasing advance tickets will save you $2.00 at the gate, so take advantage of the free Friday night festivities also. There are some new activities and events this year. New is the Scottish Sword Show with cultural information about sword fighting, the archery group are returning also. There are also new vendors and clan tents too. Don't forget the Highland Games on Saturday, beginning at 9:00 AM It is always a pleasure to cheer on your favorite Highland athletic. We look forward to seeing you there.

Ozarks Weather Has Been Hot

The last month of Ozarks weather has been hot. Several summertime heat records have been broken. In Springfield, we have bumped along 100 degrees for several weeks. It sure makes me wish we had the summer weather of the last couple of years.

Today, we have yet another heat advisory and warning. So, there are several things to be on the look for today in the Ozarks. Try to confine outdoor work to the early morning and late evening. The temps are at least coooler then. Be on the look out for heat exhaustion, in yourself and others. Drink lots of water and little alcohol. (Sorry, even the Irish/Scots cut back on this hot a day!) Also, watch pets. Make sure they have water. We even put out an extra water dish for the animals that kind of roam our part of little Fair Grove, Missouri.

Please also, if you have older family members, check on them a lot. Many of these folks do not run air conditioning in the summer. They can dehydrate just as quickly. Ozarks weather has been hot, but we can beat the issues by sticking together.

Watch your gardens also. They really need water this time of year. We have been lucky to get a little rain the last two days. That really helps, cause plants love the warmer water temp. Cold water tends to shock vegetables.

Stay cool, fellow Ozarkians!

Ray Province, the Celtic Ozarkian
http://ping.fm/itGu7

Israel Kamakawiwo'ole Lives On in Music

I’ve had a chance this week in Oahu to get back in touch with my love of traditional Hawaiian music. For me, that journey always begins with the music of IZ. IZ’s real name is Israel Kamakawiwo’ole. He had the voice of an angel. It is such a shame that he left us at such a young age, passing away from complications of a respiratory disease in 1997.

Israel and his brother Skippy formed the Makaha Sons of Ni'ihau with Louis "Moon" Kauakahi, Sam Gray and Jerome Koko. The group changed around a bit through the years, especially with the death of IZ’s brother Skippy. They became prominent on the traditional Hawaiian theme scene in 1991, when IZ’s album Ka’ano’I won Hoku awards for Contemporary Album of the Year. The Makaha Sons of Ni'ihau's "Makaha Bash 3," won Group awards the very next year.

Interestingly enough, it is a two song medley of his that means the most to me. Many people have heard the combo “Somewhere Over the Rainbow/It’s A Wonderful World.” I many respects, I believe those two songs summed up IZ’s wish for a world that lived by a true spirit of Aloha. Take a look into the heart of the singer in this section of verse (you may even know the melody):

Someday I'll wish upon a star, wake up where the clouds are far behind me

Where trouble melts like lemon drops

High above the chimney tops is where you'll find me

Somewhere over the rainbow bluebirds fly

And the dreams that you dare to, oh why, oh why can't I?

Israel had fought a battle with drugs, weight, and depression in his life. Yet, he always dared to dream of a world that was beautiful, and noble, and good. He claimed for himself the spirit of Louis Armstrong’s song, when he declared the world “wonderful.” I especially feel that in the verse about children, when he sang:

I hear babies cry and I watch them grow,

They'll learn much more than we'll know

And I think to myself, what a wonderful world.

For many, the spirit of aloha talks of a spirituality where people learn to live together in a spirit of brotherhood. When you’re in the Islands, you have many cousins, as you are part of the ohana of Whole Island. But Israel tried to take us a little deeper in his music. The spirit of aloha causes us to love ourselves also, and work to be a better person each day. We are only able to live aloha as we can first love and forgive ourselves, as our life journey leads us on.

Israel Kamakawiwo’ole will live on in his music. And his music will live on in me, as I live aloha everyday with my cousins everywhere.

Mahalo.
Ray Province
The Celtic Ozarkian
http://ping.fm/pmZOH