I met Sheila of NJ Playgrounds via Twitter (she’s njplaygrounds), and I enjoyed her posts on parks and playgrounds here in New Jersey. She also introduced me to the Atahualpa theme for WordPress, one that I recommend if you want a dynamic theme that will do a lot without creating your own. I admire her for starting a website business while raising small children. Enjoy the interview, and please click on the screenshot at the top of the post to visit her site.
1) How did you get the idea for NJ Playgrounds?
It was simmering for a while. I wanted to find a good meeting place for a bunch of moms from Union County that were posting about a playdate and was surprised to see that the internet didn’t have good information on playgrounds in general. I knew that playground information is helpful for me as a new mom, and thought why not share it when I get it?
2) What did you do before you had kids?
I had graduated from Stevens Institute of Technology with a B.E. in Chemical Engineering, but never practiced engineering per se. I began a career in explosives trace detection involved in everything from product support, training, sales, evaluations, and then right before 9-11, I took the position as the FAA Program Manager. The following years were incredibly active and had to travel quite a bit. I’m glad I was able to do this even though it was so busy, I missed my husband but I was able to work with such great people and it really helped me grow personally and professionally.
3) How would you like to see NJ Playgrounds grow? What ideas do you have for your site?
Ultimately I’d like to see NJ Playgrounds take on a life of its own, and be community driven. Making it easy for people to contribute, but also make sure that the information is what people are looking for. I think that there can be too much information, and filtering it, making it easy for the reader is one of the things I’m focusing on next. One of my pet projects for this fall/winter is getting a summary of all NJ Indoor Playgrounds, play areas, storytimes, children museums in one page but easily categorized. It has started, and we’ve got some great feedback already. Also, just started a Pioneer of the month to highlight the efforts of one person or organization that has transformed their community in NJ. Change isn’t easy and we support those who take it on.
I’m also in discussion with another playground maven who does the paper version of NJ playgrounds. She is an amazing person so I’m hoping our focus and goals line up so we can partner together. As most people can relate, doing everything yourself can limit you, especially when you have your own limits with time and money. I’m hoping to branch out a bit. Some advertising dollars wouldn’t hurt either.
4) Can you give advice to someone who wants to start a blog or website?
Ask yourself some questions first, like
Who is the blog for?
Who is your audience?
What is your purpose?
Are you passionate about it? If yes, write it down, focus, and then let it rip.
It helps to take on something that fills a void. There is nothing wrong with the tons of blogs out there already, but if you do want to stand out, you may want to find a void in a specific area, chances are other people feel that void too. I always think about how will my blog/website service others? And it can be anything, laughter, information, support, music, art, tips…
Once you get the idea, then you can start looking at the mechanics of a blog. Get dreamhost or Godaddy for hosting and domain name, check out wordpress.org, download it and then I just follow @leoraw for my wordpress tips. ๐
On a side note, I completely agree with Hannah’s assessment on WordPress, it truly has been a blessing. I get about 70% of my traffic via search engine. Can be a headache when you own your own site, but you have complete control. It’s been great.
Although I’ve left my work identity behind, I do truly enjoy working with adults and freelancing/blogging has allowed me to kinda stay in touch with the working world. It has helped me stay sane, and as I take my kids to new places, it’s like a bonus that I can share it with others. Raising my kids comes first but offering something that is helpful to other moms makes me feel like I’m contributing to society.
6) What are some of your favorite posts/articles?
Although playground posts are pretty dry, I’ve enjoyed a few biggest and best- highlighting our favorites:
Indoor playgrounds featuring a map that is edited as people send me suggestions.
7) How has Twitter helped your blog/website?
It really has helped me branch out and although I don’t get much traffic from twitter per se I’ve been able to network and meet people who lead me to some solutions and advice. I met my playground twin in CA, OCPlayParks, who I still want to chat with soon. She’s done a similar thing with Orange County Parks, in CA and is quite an amazing person. I learned about the mapping program through her and her site.
Ghost of Cape May on Lafayette Street
Boo! There are two ghost tours in Cape May, New Jersey. The one above is on Lafayette Street; the other, located in an inn on Beach Avenue, calls itself the “original” ghost tour. Unfortunately, we didn’t have the opportunity to go on either ghost tour (boo, hoo). My middle son, who typically likes getting scared, insisted that it would be too much history (both are walking tours). And for my daughter, who wanted to go, well, the next tour *started* at 9 pm, which is only 1/2 hour past her bedtime. And I’m afraid she *would* be scared.
Here’s the above ghost on Lafayette Street in her setting on the porch of Elaine’s Bed and Breakfast. Maybe this is Elaine?
We went into the office of original Cape May ghost tour at the Hotel Macomber, which was across the street from this dusk scene. The woman behind the counter assured my son that the tour was indeed scary, but my son didn’t take the bait.
We visited two great haunted houses when we were at Lake George a few years back. Do you have any memorable haunted house stories?
Plants at Edge of Pond at Howell Living History Farm, New Jersey
Beautiful flowery plants grow next to the pond at Howell Living History Farm in Mercer County, New Jersey. Can anyone identify these orange or fuchsia wildflowers? Kerry identified the orange ones as jewel weed.
Pond with Ducks at Howell Living History Farm
Creek at Howell Living History Farm, Fun for a Run in the Water
Isn’t this creek welcoming? Three little girls thought so; you can see one in the creek in last week’s post with watercolor effect applied.
Bridge over the Delaware River from Pennsylvania side to New Jersey
A few photos from our trip to Washington Crossing Historical Park in Washington Crossing, PA: lots of cars and vans cross this busy, narrow bridge over the Delaware River.
Watch out: the bridge may be icy (not a chance on this August day).
Here’s a sculpture of George Washington crossing the Delaware River with U.S. flags waving.
I was wondering if this red leaf signifies fall is coming? Or is it a sign of an unhealthy tree, that is turning red too soon?
For more photos with a little or a lot of red, visit Ruby Tuesday, hosted by Mary:
Chickens at Howell Living History Farm in Mercer County, New Jersey
Doorway Marked with a 12 at Howell Farm in New Jersey
Each area of the farm to visit was marked on a tourist map with a number, and in those areas there was a subtle number marking the spot.
Does anyone know what kind of vegetation this is? I don’t think it’s swiss chard; the stems don’t look as coarse. Update: I have been informed by some of my readers (thank you, EGWow, Carletta and Jim) that these are beets. Jim says they need some fertilizer. I guess the farm folks are paying more attention to the animals than the garden.
For more posts with a little red or a lot of red, visit Ruby Tuesday:
Washington Crossing, Pennsylvania, next to Delaware River
Today we went to Howell Living History Farm in Lambertville, New Jersey, and after enjoying the chickens, horses, a sleepy cat and a corn-fetching dog, we went to Washington Crossing Historic Park. There are two Washington Crossing parks, one on the New Jersey side and one on the Pennsylvania side. Today we went to the Pennsylvania park, with its historic houses (which were all closed, disappointing the girls we had taken), the park that borders the Delaware River. We got to watch the end of the last screening of the day of “George Washington Crossing the Delaware.”
Howell Living History Farm in Mercer County, New Jersey
I took over 200 pictures, so I’m sure some more will be showing up on the blog soon.
Last Sunday we went to Sandy Hook, a lovely beach with dunes at the top of the New Jersey Shore. There is a bay side and an ocean side to Sandy Hook.
Ocean, beach, and sky at Sandy Hook, New Jersey
In contrast to the golden sunset above, the sky was blue at the beach a few hours earlier.
Sky Watch Friday is a photo meme with photos of sunrises, sunsets, blue skies, gray skies, pink skies, dark skies and any other kind of sky posted by bloggers all over the planet.
Playing in the April water at Sandy Hook, New Jersey
We had exceptionally warm weather on Sunday, and so we traveled with the traffic to the top of the New Jersey shore to a wonderful beach called Sandy Hook. More Sandy Hook photos coming on Thursday, as part of Sky Watch.
Have you ever been to the Jersey Shore? Where did you go?
My daughter and I visited the circus in New York City last week. Here are four photos (of the 108 photos I took that day) that have some red. All can be enlarged by clicking. What is this person doing with his body?
My favorite part of the whole Barnum and Bailey Ringling Brothers Circus was the elephants.
These acrobats had dim lighting, but the reds attracted my eye.
One can understand why they call this the Greatest Show on Earth. Everywhere you look on stage, there is some action. One act is starting when the previous finishes its presentation. The dancers with the swinging skirts were marvelous.
For more posts with a lot or a little red, visit Ruby Tuesday:
