Tag: animals

Interview: Pamela Breitberg captures nature’s beauty and shares it on a blog

Posted on by Team Blookup

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so imagine a blog full of photographs! Today we have the chance of interviewing Pamela Breitberg who is going to tell us about her blog and her passion for photography!

– Tell us a little bit about yourself : You, your passions, your hobbies, your projects…
I am recently retired from teaching. I am a National Board Certified Teacher (NBCT) who taught science lab to 1st through 8th grade elementary students in the inner city of Chicago. Prior to that I was a professional portrait and wedding photography.

My “hobbies” are being outdoors: walking and biking, and photography: micro, portrait style and candid all which reinforce my appetite for learning. My passionate hobby is nature photography which I share through this blog and various books. The blog is a way for me to share the wonders and beauty of being outdoors observing nature. I am an avid reader as well. My blog has stimulated desire to research while I try to include some scientific or folk information on species in my images.

Projects, at the moment, are on hold while I continue photography as a method to stop and reflect on God’s gifts and wonders. The past few years have been stressful with health issues and passing of both my parents; being outdoors and photography has been a blessed self-therapy. Giving is the best therapy, it has been said, and so my blog is my venue for giving. I am touched each time someone “likes” or comments on one of my posts.

Copyright 2017 Pamela Breitberg

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– What is your blog about and why did you want to address this subject when starting it?
My blog is photography, primarily of plants and animals in the United States’ Midwest. I now spend some of the year along the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, so I’ve begun to include images of that nature. My writing includes scientific information, folklore and personal observations and experiences. Occasionally I add photography tips as well.

I originally began my blog to share my photography with my parents who lived 300 miles away. It has been a surprising thrill to discover that my blog is read worldwide. Now that my parents are no longer reading the blog I continue to share my images and thoughts with the many followers of my blog; what a wonderful vehicle to share my passions. I feel as though I know some of my followers as I read their blogs and we share common interests in nature and photography. It is sharing that gives back indeed.

Copyright 2017 Pamela Breitberg

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– Why did you want to turn your blog into a book?
BlookUp intrigued me because it was an EASY way to turn my blog into book format and have a hard copy of my work. It’s always nice to physically hold a book and browse through it. The hard copy is for myself. I took advantage of the e-book format for sale because it’s affordable for readers and is more environmentally friendly (less use of paper).

Copyright 2017 Pamela Breitberg

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– How did you find out about BlookUp? What did you think about the making process of your blook?
I saw the ads for BlookUp while on WordPress, reading others’ blogs.  The process of making the books via BlookUp were painless and straight forward. I made two volumes to make each book more manageable in size. It was very easy for me edit out any posts that I did not want to include.

Pamela-holding-her-blooks
A happy blook owner!

Thank you so much Pamela for this interview! Don’t forget to check out her blog to see more gorgeous photos!

Sarah printed the book of her cottage’s every day life!

Posted on by Team Blookup

Sarah of the blog wetandwindycottage.wordpress.com decided to print the book of her blog, where she describes her life between her job and her cosy house surrounded by fields, flowers, and animals.

As we never shared any story of this kind before, we wanted to make you discover this quiet and lovely universe ! Make yourself at home and enjoy the story of her blog and her blook!

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First, tell us about yourself : You, your passions, your hobbies, your projects…

I am a qualified lawyer, I fell into the job really as a means of earning a reasonable wage and being able to live in the lake district where pay is low as the majority of jobs are in the leisure industry.

That said I love my job, I can make a difference to peoples days. I am in civil litigation and education law.

I am married, we haven’t been able to have children, but I have 2 horses, a donkey, 2 cats, a nearly grown up puppy 2 ducks and lots of chickens. I live in a beautiful house in the middle of fields with views all around,

sarah-chicks
Aren’t those cutties?

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I know I am so lucky but even when everything is beautiful but sometimes it is still difficult to stay positive.

In winter I am up at 6 to feed muck out horses sort out the chicken, ducks and dog, then be clean and not smelling of poo by 8am to drive off to work, I then get home from work at 6 and start again with the horses etc, in the middle of this is keeping a house a garden reasonably tidy.

We moved into the house 4 years ago, there was a small garden only but we had been able to buy the fields around, we were successful in obtaining planning permission which allowed us to build the barn and stables, extend the garden and convert a small barn into more living accommodation.

We have build the barn and stables, started on the garden but don’t yet have the funds to convert the barn into more living.

sarah-garden
A little glimpse of Sarah’s garden

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What is your blog about and why did you want to address this subject when starting it?
I started my blog as a new years resolution to be more positive and do something for myself. The aim was to treat it like a diary of what was happening in and around me and mainly my home. As one of the aims was to be positive, I don’t really focus on the negatives which can make life look idyllic, but that I admit to that so I think it is ok. I am not pretending life is perfect, I am choosing just to show the good bits.

I made areas I was going to cover such as garden, polytunnel monthly update to keep me focused.

The areas have changed as I have done different things, I make more reference to walks now as I take Ellie my springer spaniel on walks in and around the lakes.

I also cover more cooking that I thought I would, but this again makes me more creative.

Also if I see something, like a birds nest in an artificial Christmas tree (a post from this year), I like to tell myself about it when I re-read when I am sat in a rocking chair in my 80’s trying to remember what I did.

choc-chip-cookies
Yummy chocolate chip coooookieeeees!

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What contents (articles, illustrations) are you the most proud of?

I am not a skilled writer or photographer, my first posts were really just practice runs on what to do, from last December so 12 months in I did a post on starling murmurations, I love the photographs.

To be honest I didn’t think of “proud” of what I had done, I hadn’t advertised, few of my friends or family know about it, it really was just for me.

But I bought myself for Christmas the Blook of my first years blog, and was really chuffed at how it looked; especially as that had not be the aim.

What moment of your blogger life was the most memorable for you so far?

As above, getting my blook through the post and thinking really, I did that!!

choc-chip-ingredients
I couldn’t show you Chocolate Chip cookies without showing you their ingredients, could I? Click on the image to see the whole recipe!

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Why did you want to turn your blog into a book?

I didn’t know I did, I saw the advert around Christmas and in previous years I have produced picture books of our progress at the cottage for my husband and thought actually I might like this as a present for me.

 How did you find out about BlookUp?
I think Blookup “liked” one of my posts and as I don’t get many likes I always look to see who they are and realised it was an advertisement.

blook-sarah-front-cover

What are the positive and negative points of the making of your blook?

It highlights spelling mistakes, which being a lawyer I shouldn’t do, but apart from that is a physical record of the good bits in the year.

blook-sarah-inner-layout

Do you enjoy the final result? What does your family and friends think about your blook?

My husband(!!) has shown it to a few friends and family who have visited, they didn’t know about my blog and are really supportive

Would you recommend BlookUp?

Yes, it is a great physical memento of a lot of hard work, I plan to get one done every January, again it keeps me focused on blogging.

Dogs and Humans finding trust and confidence by reading

Posted on by Team Blookup

We already know that reading for ourselves has several beneficial effects. Escaping to other universes brings us solace, discovering other cultures opens our mind, we can learn, imagine, travel, ease our mind.

 But we don’t often read to others and communicate those feelings. Thus making reading a solitary hobby and, above all, a very “human” hobby.

But can reading be used to both build confidence in children and help abandonned dogs to trust humans again?

This strange-sounding question is what started the Shelter Buddies Reading Program, created by the Humane Society of Missouri.

Helping Dogs Relax !

The idea is to ask children and young people (between 6 and 15 years-old) to volunteer at the shelter in order to practice their reading and public speaking skills by reading one (or more!) book(s) to lonely dogs waiting in their kennel.

They freely decide which book(s) to read and the dog they want to read it to, they sit in front of him or her and initiate the first contact.

Girl sitting on the floor reading to a dog

Jo Ellyn Klepacki, assistant director of the Missouri Humane Society explains that the goal of the program is to get the dogs to move from the back of the kennel to the front, as dogs staying near the front of their kennel get adopted more quickly than the others. Knowing this, it’s easy to understand how slowly adjusting them to the presence of kind humans can help them trust people again and find a new loving home faster.

Boy sitting on the floor reading to a dog

“We started this for two reasons”, Klepacki adds, “Dogs in a shelter environment exhibit a lot of signs of anxiety and show stress signals, so we wanted to do something to comfort them. We have a lot of children in our area who are really engaged and they ask, ‘How can I help?’” 

Children sitting in front of dog kennels reading to them

The program benefits both dogs and the young volunteers, who are able to practice their aloud-reading skills in a safe and nonjudgmental environment. Thus also helping to tame their fear of audiences. The shelter encourages them to generally interact with the dogs as well, by talking to them and by passing them treats if they make their way to the front of the glass.

The program is a success, and you can still become a Reading Buddy now if you want to help!

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Source – Photos credits: Humane Society of Missouri, abcnews and twistedsifter