Can you really get paid to do that ??? Swagbucks, Douhiring, Podcoin, FetchRewards, Reciept Pal, Dabbl, Blogging...

I'm one of those people who scrolls through Facebook Alot and you always see these ads to try out this app and you can make money.  There are also people who write blog post about side hustles that can help you make extra cash.  They always list doing surveys on Swagbucks or Survey Junkie. 
They also talk about joining Ibotta.  So I decided to sign up for a few of these apps and join a few of the different websites and see if you really can make money. 
The ones that I am trying are :
Swagbucks:  You can do this online and you can also download an app.  The App is pretty much surveys, the website you can do surveys, you can watch shows, you can play some free games. 
Douhiring:  This is an App that on facebook made it seem like in a couple of weeks you could have an extra $700.00 just by testing apps for three minutes.  Hmmm is this too good to be true?  I'm going to find out.
PodCoin:  This is an App that allows you to earn point for listening to podcast.  It doesn't boast big pay outs and I think what you can earn is Amazon gift cards (Who doesn't want an amazon gift card?).  I will tell you what I think of this one soon.
FetchRewards and ReceiptPal:  These are Apps that you take photos of your receipts and earn points and then can choose a different type of gift card as a reward.   FetchRewards only does grocery stores Reciepts and ReceiptPal does pretty much any receipt except you have to have the store name and date on your receipt so if the store doesn't print these then you don't get points.  So far I've earned the most gift cards with these two Apps. 
Dabbl: This is an App where you watch ads and rate them for points.  I'm not sure what you get because you have to earn 5000 points before you get a reward.  I've been doing this one for a few days now and I have about 2000 points.
Blogging:  Obviously I do a blog, and when I began blogging years ago the buzz was it would help you get a good job.  Now there are people who can make a living and more just by blogging.
I'm just not that good people.  I know one thing is that I'm a scattered blogger.  You need to have a focus and you need to have an audience.  I just don't have that.  So I am making no money. Plus blogging takes a huge amount of time, for my flower blog post just getting the photos ready to put in a post takes a couple of hours.  I blog as a way to be creative and to share my photography.  I'm not sure if I have many viewers, but if you happen along this blog I hope you enjoy it.
Over the next year I will write about these different websites and Apps and let you know just how much I've made in Amazon gift cards, and what I have learned.  I unlike many other bloggers am not getting paid by any of these Apps to rate them or to advertise for them.  So you will be able to trust my opinion.
Do you do any online side hustles?  What do you do?
G.G.

Flowers and Poetry. Dandelion.

DANDYTIME

His gift to me,

the long-forgotten tempo

of a boy's life

as we stop

then start our way

along the old railway

snapping stalks, altering fates

as we go.  Not a single clock

will be passed without being blown.

Roy Marshall (1966-)

THE SONG OF THE DANDELION FAIRY

Here's the Dandelions's Rhyme:

See my leaves with tooth-like edges;

Blow my clocks to tell the time;

see me flaunting by the hedges,

in the meadow, in the lane,

Gay and naughty in the garden;

Pull me up- I grow again,

Asking neither leave nor pardon.

Sillies, what are you about

with your spades and hoes of iron?

You can never drive me out-

Me, the dauntless Dandelion!

Cicely Mary Barker  (1895-1973)

My mother and I were talking today and she said to me "I know why you like 

Dandelions, you grew up in Vermont.  Every lawn where we live right now has Dandelions growing

in it."  

I said " yes you are right.  We always had a lawn with Dandelions and all other types of plants

growing in it.  We never had a perfect grass lawn."

I don't understand the need to spray chemicals and only have grass.  I like a lawn with character.

my lawn is probably 99% weed and 1% grass.  But I known that I'm not spraying chemicals and killing everything.

The top poem came from the book "THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS poems"

The bottom poem came from the book "The COMPLETE BOOK OF THE FLOWER FAIRIES."

By Cicely Mary Barker.  

I have been enjoying reading both of these books and finding the flowers that go with the poems.

The Dandelion fairy picture is from the fairy book noted above.  If you have young children

and want to teach them about flowers in a magical way this is a book you should have.

There was another dandelion poem that I really liked but it was too long.

Look for  "TO THE DANDELION"   By James Russell Lowell (1819-91)

Day Date 2. Schedule time to relax, Farmington Bay, Bird watcing date.

My husband and I are starting our weekly dates again.

The weather has been warming up and I have been finding new places I want to 

explore.  If you feel like life is zipping away and you don't do anything but work,

you need to schedule time to relax.  That is what I do now.  I schedule time to 

go and do something out doors.  

This week we found Farmington Bay in Utah.

The above photo is of a Cinnamon Teal Duck.

This a a place you can visit that is free.  There are trails around different 

water ways and there are tons of different birds.  

There is a learning center with taxidermy birds.  The people in the learning

center are very nice and they let you barrow binoculars and bird books.

We walked on a few of the trails and saw quiet a few new

birds.  I think I could become a bird watcher.

An American Avocet and a Black-Necked Stilt.

A Killdeer.   It must have a nest near by as it kept pretending it was hurt.

Great Blue Heron. 

I think this is a Black-crowned Night-Heron.

Snowy Egret.

Eared Grebe.

Yellow Headed Black Bird.

The area is just beautiful.  It's so nice to feel so far away

from the city.  At times though you can be surrounded by

a lot of little bugs, but they don't bite.

It's lovely to go out and see birds in their natural habitat.  Please if

you go to these places don't disturb the birds.  They told us that someone came

in and took a birds nest and all the eggs.  That is just wrong. 

I have a very good zoom lens on my camera.  I was never very close to any of these

birds.  Even this little Killdeer was actually very far from me. 

I'm so thankful for my time away from the crazy work week.

What do you like to do on your days off to rest and relax?

G.G.

Farmington Bay 

Eccels Wildlife Center 

My Garden Walk Week 7. The Tulips are still blooming!

It's week 7 of walking the gardens and it's amazing that the Tulips are 

still looking really good.  I think it may be because we have had

a very cool and wet spring.  I'm actually getting

tired of rain and I never thought I would say that living in Utah.

There are a lot of English Daisies in the gardens right now.

This walk way is just so welcoming and beautiful. 

This I believe is a Primrose plant.

I like this doorway photo going into the secret garden.

The clematis are about to bloom.

This flower is actually on a tree. I have to learn what all the trees are.

The view from the bottom of the Italian gardens.

This almost looks like a little creature with its mouth open.

It's another flowering tree though.

A Strawberry flower.

I think this is a Mormon Metalmark on an Allium flower.

I love the color of this Tulip.

Blue Bells.

These are my favorite tulips.  I just like the pink and green .

Don't you just want to jump into this photo and sit and relax for awhile.

Well I hope you enjoyed the photos from my weekly walk. 

I try to pick just my favorites.  I take a ton of photos.  

Do you like photography?  What do you like to photograph?

G.G.

On Losing My Cat to Cancer. In the journey of grief, 4 months of missing my fur baby.

Last night I went to bed weeping.  Oh how I miss my sweet cat.  Then upon looking at the calendar I realized it has been 4 months since we said goodbye to my sweet cat.  I wish many nights before falling to sleep that my cat would visit me in my dreams.  I guess heaven is so wonderful that coming and visiting me is not on the schedule. 

Perhaps though I am just not in tune enough to the world of spirits and she is there

watching over me and I am just not able to notice.  I still find her cat hair in places

where I think how could this be here.  Each time I find a little cat hair or 

see her photo on her memorial chair I think of all our wonderful years together. 

My heart still aches for her.

She was such a character.  We go back and forth about getting a new cat.

I sometimes feel that I failed her, that I made wrong choices.

I worry I will fail again.  I want to be a good care taker of Gods innocent creations.

We are thinking of adopting a new kitten.  Not to replace this lovely cat who

gave us so much joy, but to rescue another animal who just needs love and a 

safe place to live.  

I will love you forever Amber.

G.G.

Mom of a Returned Missionary. Reflecting on it all.

My son has been home from his mission for over a month now.  This past month has been busy with doctor appointments to make sure he didn't have any hidden illness from being in a foreign country for two years.  Visiting the college he will attend in the fall.  There are lots of things to figure out with that.  He is back working and so we have the daily drive to work and back.  I am also trying to get him driving more.  My kids are not the type of kids that have a grand desire to drive.  But we are getting there.

We have been catching up with each other and sharing about what happened in our lives over the last two years.  I've enjoyed trying some of the new foods that he fell in love with in Mexico.  This is a mango.  It's really good.  We have enjoyed listening to his stories of the things he did in Mexico.
I have to say there are some things that I'm glad I did not know about while he was away.

My son said the other day he was glad he was home.  I am glad to have him home.

There is more laughter in our house now.  My husband is less stressed too. 

There is a balance that was missing when he was away. It's amazing how each of us

contributes to our family circle.

It's wonderful to watch my children reconnect.  I'm glad that they are close to each other.

There is one thing that I have thought recently, it sometimes feels as if he was never away.

Those two years seem to have floated away in the mist of my mind. It makes me wonder about

the life to come when we graduate from this life and enter our eternal life.

Are there spirits on the other side waiting our return, do they remember a time when we

were with them.  When we pass to the other side after a few weeks of being back

will it feel as if we had never left.  I read books about the other side and it says there really is 

no time there.  It's very hard for my mortal brain to understand the timelessness of eternity.

As I have reflected on my sons mission there have been many occasions where it seems to parallel our own missions here on earth.  We leave the presence of our Heavenly Father to come here on our

"Earthly Mission", we live here and are tested and learn and then

we graduate and return to our "Eternal Life".  In each stage there is preparation and learning there is leaving and returning.  I think that there are spirits that are waiting for us, watching over us and planning a big celebration at our return.  Just like the journey our missionary son took.  I think probably once we graduate this life, all the pain, sorrow and hard times will float away from our memory and we will feel like this life was just a small part of a much bigger plan.  We will look back and see all we learned and accomplished and realize that it was worth it, but also be very glad to be back to that eternal world.

What do you think?

G.G.