The Taeko Mackenzie Blog

Sorry, I haven’t been updating the blog. I have been very busy of building new site.

Willie and I decided to start new business which we have been doing for part time. As you can see from the title, we design and make hardwood furniture. The timber we use is sustainble and grown in Scotland where we are based.
We do only commissions and supply limited edition furnitre. That is because we care for people want to own unique and original pieces. Although many of our designs are contemporary, we love to indulge in the traditional and explore many different styles and methods of construction. Finishes are done using organic oils and natural wax so the natural beauty of the wood can be fully appreciated. Our furniture is as enviromentaly friendly as possible and will cover the needs of the whole family to enhance a better quality life for everyone.

The site isn’t quite completed yet though you could have a good look. Online shopping facility will be available very soon.

http://www.morikenzie.com

I know some people may say that I’m too late to discover how good Jack Johnson is.
When my sister visited me last June, his new album “In between dreams” was promoting on TV. As soon as I heard one of his songs from the album, I thought “he’s cool! who’s that guy? Jack Johnson? I don’t know him…. My sister told me his name and where he’s from. She also likes his music. Untill then I never heard of his songs and names. I was totally blind. I should’ve taken his name on my notepad or paper at that point.
Today, suddenlly I remembered him and wanted to check his new album out though I forgot his and album name. I knew something “John”. I tried a couple searches in Amazon and iTunes and found his name! I was very happy to find him again. So I listened to his album in iTunes and fell in love with his songs.

Isn’t he great?

Jack Johnson website

I’m still new to WordPress and php files and hardly understand any. Most of simple tasks I probably couldn’t do yet.

However, today I managed to add Google Adsense in the sidebar after hours of research. Afterall, it is very easy to do and I felt why I was taking a lot of time to achieve this task.
Hope I could help people who are suffering this problem now.

OK, you could do either in the build-in editor with WordPress or text editor such as Dreamweaver. If you do build-in editor with WordPress, simply go to Manage, select Files and choose Sidebar Template. Paste your Google Adsense code wherever you want. Make sure you add “ul” and “li” tags begining of the code, “/ul” and “/li” tags after the code so that the ad will fit nicely in the sidebar. And save the changes. (you need to replace “” to <>)

The problem I had with using this method is that I couldn’t find any button for save the changes! I still don’t know where….. Anyway I went to plan B which was using a text editor.

The file you paste the Google Adsense code on is sidebar.php which is located under the “wp-content” and “theme” folders. Choose your theme you are using for your wordpress. If you’re using default theme, select default folder. You will find sidebar.php file. Download the file from your server to your computer to open the file in your text editor and paste your Google Adsense code. Make sure you paste the code before tag which you will find the last line. Save the file and upload to your server again.

View site. If you still can’t see the Google Adsense in the side bar, try reload the page and see what happen.

Hope this helps.

On Thursday 7 July 2005, four explosions occurred across central London. More than 700 people are injured and 50 people are killed. More details, click here to read.

Some people are still missing and their families and friends continuing desparate searches. Read more at BBC news website, Search for bomb missing continues

Like everybody else, I am still in shock by these attacks and feel depressed and helpless. I pray for all the victims and their families and friends.

If you’re like me, beginner of caravan, why don’t you consider joining The Caravan Club?

I joined recently and had holiday in the caravan club site which was amazing. That was the first time that we used club site though, we have no regret to pay small fee to join.

Ok, I can tell you what benefit you could get by joining the club.

• Advanced booking service including online system
• Free UK and Ireland site directory and map
• Free site collection brochure
• Exclusive member offer deals
• Overseas travel service
• Free monthly magazine
• Free searchable Certificated Locations database
• Expert caravanning advice - All FREE OF CHARGE to members!
• Free Theftcheck registration
• Free Legal Helpline
• Free membership of a local Club Centre

Moreover, when you join the club, you will receive Welcome Pack containing membership cards, UK Location Map, The Site Collection booklet which has over 200 quality sites in Brittain and Ireland, The Sites Directory and Handbook which has thousands of great places to stay and visit, Explore Britain and Ireland booklet which is members exclusive offers and a lot of helpful information.

The big advantage for me to get the site and directory map is that I can plan in advance. Wherever and whenever you are, you could daydream your holiday with those fantastic booklets.

Just do it!

Trial run.

We decided not to go that far as we never know what is waiting for us. After a few hours from home (usually takes 1 hour by car), we safely arrived the caravan and camping site, Ardgartan in Arrochar, Argyll, Scotland.

The Ardgartan site is fantastic place surrounded by magnificent mountain scenery and Loch Long view. There are lots of things to do around this area such as watersports, fishing, walking, cycling, golf, hourse riding and more! Famous Loch Lomond is just around the corner too.

We noticed how classic our caravan is! The caravan technology is faster than we thought just like anything else. Most of people set up TV aerials or dishes and awnings attached to their caravans. They are all prepared very well. All the small things amazed us and there are a lot to learn to become a caravan expert.

First night we couldn’t be comfortable to sleep. Second day was rain. Quickly we learned there was enough condensation in the caravan after repeat of in and out. We realised how useful awnings would be and started thinking about getting one. By turning on the gas heater solved the dumpness in the caravan. Another valuable lesson was the noice which rain could make on the caravan. It was loud enough and wind shook our caravan a bit during the night.

Final day, we cleaned up and checked everything before we went again. Our van was straggling to tow the caravan though we came back home safely.

Overall, we didn’t have good sleep but we would say the trial run was success.
Harray!

For people hasn’t read Part I, please visit my old blog site.
http://www.taekomackenzie.com/blogger

After having our caravan during winter 2004, we started desparetly wanting to go out with caravan for spring and summer 2005. We needed to do miner repair jobs and check up before the trial…..

Things we needed to repair in order of priority were the heater ( because it’s Scotland) and brakes which were handy to have. We checked everything workind alright and the trip commenced!

To be continued……

Welcome to WordPress. This is the first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!