Blog Layout

My apologies if my blog layout is looking a bit weird on the left hand side this morning. I've tried several browsers (AOL, IE and Firefox) and the same problem - photobucket bandwidth exceeded - is showing on all of them. I think it's something to do with the 3 column blog template I'm using, but I've run out of time trying to fix it this morning.

I will try again on my return this evening. In the meantime, if you see anything other than the Photobucket bandwidth problem, or if the blog looks fine for you, or indeed if you have any ideas on how I can fix the problem, do leave me a Comment. Thanks.

I've pulled today's scheduled post - whilst the posting part of the template isn't affected, I'm sure you don't really want to view an untidy looking blog!

Update: As I suspected the message is to do with the Photobucket URLs I'm linking to which give me a 3-column template in Blogger. These are held on someone else's Photobucket account, so unless they upgrade their account or let me have the code they hold there, I won't be able to continue to use this template. I suspect neither of these will be happening, in the short term at least.

I think I have 3 other options at this point:
  1. Revert to a Blogger hosted 2 column template - they don't have any 3 column ones :(
  2. Find another 3-column template for Blogger - preferably one I can host myself
  3. Convert to WordPress and use one of their 3 column themes

Ideally I would like to take option 2, but I suspect it's going to take some time to find a suitably reliable template, so in the short term I'll be going back to a 2 column one :(

I've tried option 3 already and have decided WordPress isn't for me unless I also change my link-rich and widget based approach to blogging. I would prefer not to do that at this stage. There's also a longer term option 4 - to have my own website - but I don't think my HTML abilities are good enough to pursue this one at the moment.

Please bear with me whilst I make the necessary changes - normal service will be resumed as soon as possible. Any thoughts/help you have on all of this are welcome!

Update 2 (17:00 pm GMT): So, there I am checking out Happy Mouffetard's superb Out on the Streets post and how it's linking to my blog when I spot the problem's sorted itself out. It looks like the template's image providers have put another shilling in the meter over at Photobucket. In the meantime, I've been up to my eyes in HTML and I now understand a hell of a lot more about how Blogger templates work. You were saved from me putting this new found knowledge into practice in the nick of time. Probably just as well ;)

Many thanks for your supportive comments and suggestions today - especially Linda over at Crafty Gardener - whose link in the comments is to a website which has the best explanation of all of this kind of stuff I've seen so far.

Normal bloggage will resume tomorrow. In the meantime I'm in need of a quick lie-down followed by a curry with my mates.

Update 3: (9:15 am Sunday) Lord, it's back to being weird again - sorry folks. And yes, I thoroughly enjoyed my curry thank you :) Unfortunately I've chosen to amend a template with images in it, and it's these that are hosted on Photobucket. I have two choices - either chose another simpler Blogger template where the amendment to 3-column is pretty straightforward, or stick with this one, obtain the images for myself and set up an account to host them online for me. Either choice is going to take a while to set up and test before unleashing it to you all (and I also need to have a think about the pros, cons and risks of them), so please bear with me as all this has coincided with a particularly busy time. I'll be resuming my scheduled posts later on today as luckily the main part of the blog is unaffected by all of this.

Comments

  1. Carrie28 March 2009 at 11:52

    oh that's wick! but i'll gladly read the wonderful content you create and ignore the surroundings until something can be done. Bloody 'improvements', when it ain't broke - don't 'fix' it!!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Linda28 March 2009 at 13:08

    Check out this link as they offer 3 column templates for blogger. You get the code and enter it onto your own template so it isn't hosted anywhere.

    3 column templates

    ReplyDelete
  3. Susan Tomlinson28 March 2009 at 13:54

    Ah computers. Gotta love 'em, though.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Juliet28 March 2009 at 14:13

    Photobucket are a pain - I'm always having problems with them - I can't show my photo albums any more because of unnecessary changes they've made & I have trouble viewing other people's.

    I hope you get the problem fixed. Using Mozilla on a Linux machine, I'm used to web pages not looking quite right though, as most people set them up for IE, so I'd also be happy to read the blog without worrying what the sidebar looks like!

    I have the opposite problem with blogger - I can't work out how to remove one of my sidebar columns, as I only use one, and don't really want all that blank space on the left-hand side of my blog.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Soilman28 March 2009 at 14:51

    Widgets are an easy option in WP, too. Have another look. If you host the site yourself, WP is endlessly flexible - and there are now themes that will do anything you like. I switched to WP from Typepad and now wish I'd done it ages ago.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anna28 March 2009 at 19:38

    Can't offer any suggestions VP but fingers crossed that you come through the other side - I'm sure you will. Enjoy that curry !

    ReplyDelete
  7. Karen - An Artist's Garden28 March 2009 at 20:11

    Hi VP it is 8 pm - and your side bar still looks very messed up to me on my computer.

    While I am a big fan of wordpress, particularly a self hosted wordpress blog and would urge anyone to move there - I think you would loose a lot of google ranking if you did this - although you can re-direct things from blogger to self hosted blog via some HTML stuff which is way above my head and not lose your ranking.

    I dont have a solution for you - but there is so much more flexibility if you self host

    ReplyDelete
  8. Juliet28 March 2009 at 21:00

    9pm and sidebar still messed up for me as well - sorry :(

    ReplyDelete
  9. Gail28 March 2009 at 21:19

    I want to update my blog, too...make it wider with larger photos and it seems daunting! We will all figure this out together won't we! gail

    ReplyDelete
  10. Mr. McGregor's Daughter28 March 2009 at 21:32

    It's back to being weird. It's better to just customize your template through the html code stuff on Blogger. There's a way to do a 3-column blog, but I've forgotten where I saw the info when I redid mine last year. I'll look for my notes. I hope you get it resolved without having to play with code. Have you downloaded your template to your computer?

    ReplyDelete
  11. petoskystone29 March 2009 at 13:20

    photobucket must be on a roll. this is the second blog-site to be messed with. the first one dumped photobucket completely & re-did thier site. that's frustration!

    ReplyDelete
  12. F Cameron29 March 2009 at 13:21

    Are you trying to post images from Photobucket in the left side bar (which is messed up)?

    Try selecting a smaller size image and use that html code. If it is images that you are posting and they are too wide for the space, you'll get error messages.

    Cameron

    ReplyDelete
  13. Frances29 March 2009 at 15:54

    Hi VP, you have my deepest sympathies for dealing with this. Some people love this kind of challenge. Others, like me despise it but muddle through somehow. My long term goal is the self hosted blog too, but I am not ready for that kind of project, may never be in fact. I did purchase my domain name and feel good about that. Good luck and we will keep viewing no matter what you decide. :-)
    Frances

    ReplyDelete
  14. VP30 March 2009 at 08:24

    Thanks for your support and help everyone - as you can see, the problem's fixed now :D

    I'll be revisiting the way foward with my blog later on in the year, so your advice re web hosting etc. won't be lost I assure you!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

I love hearing from you and welcome thoughtful conversations :)

Comments aiming to link back and give credence to commercial websites will be composted!

Your essential reads

That blue flower: A spring spotter's guide

Image
Spring is a prime time for blue flowers and my daily walks currently have several from the same plant family* lining the local footpaths. As I walked past the Donkey Field the other day, I overheard some children ask their parents** what the pictured blue flower was. It reminded me it's often mistaken for those other familial blues and this time was no different, as they said it was forget-me-not, instead of the green alkanet it actually is. As well as similar flowers, most of these plants are hairy in their nature, flower around the same time, and favour damp, shady places. Many of them are great for pollinators too, especially bees and this week's warm weather has certainly drawn them to these flowers. This makes it even more likely for these plants to be mistaken for each other and it's a great opportunity for me to put together a spotter's guide in case you find the same flowers on your outings. Staying with green alkanet, the key features which set it
Read more

Jack Go To Bed At Noon

Image
Last year this rather exotic looking flower appeared on mine and several other allotments for the first time. Having been stumped (again) by Mr Allotment Warden as to its identity, I rushed home to find out what it was. It's salsify, aka the marvellous Jack Go To Bed At Noon - named as such because its flowers always close by midday. Here you can see both open and closed flowers - making it seem even more exotic and alien than in the first picture. I think this must be the cultivated version because the flower in my Francis Rose Wild Flower Key looks exactly the same in form, but is bright yellow in colour and called meadow salsify . Its other common name is Goatsbeard, which must be a nod to the fantastic dandelion-like clock which forms the seed head. With 'parachutes' like those shown above, who knows how far our plotted plants came from. I rather like the photographic dissection of the seedhead found in this link . Salsify is edible: its lateral shoots and fl
Read more

Red Nose Day - Gardening Jokes Anyone?

Image
The nation goes ever so slightly bonkers on Red Nose Day - hurrah! Previously, it's been very easy to join in - usually via a dress down day at work plus lots of people up to mad things at the station and in the office. Everyone smiling for once - it's a real feel good day and all in a good cause. This year's different - every day's a dress down day for me now - my friend L suggested yesterday that perhaps I could have a dress up day instead and whilst that's a good idea, I confess that ballgowns and tiaras don't really feature in my wardrobe: scruffy student's always been my favourite look. So my Red Nose Day contribution for this year is to compile a list of gardening related jokes. For each one (clean ones only please) you leave in the comments below, I'll make a donation of 50p to the cause. Here's a few for starters just to get you warmed up: Q Why do potatoes make good detectives? A Because they keep their eyes peeled. Q What did the grape
Read more

Salad Days: Mastering Lettuce

Image
I've decided one of my salad challenges for this year is to grow as many lettuce varieties as I can, ready for the publication of my planned Factsheet* later on. The idea is to grow as many of the Tried and Trusted lettuce varieties last year's Salad Challengers helped compile, then provide a visual guide and as many lettuce facts as I can muster. So far I've found around half of those listed**. Then naturally whilst I was out searching - because such is the way with seeds - a number of other varieties found their way home too ;) A couple of weeks ago I sowed 22 varieties***. Just the simple act of sowing them has me intrigued. Why are some lettuce seeds black and others white****? They split into about half white to half black in my sample and as far as I can tell it's nothing to do with whether they're a type of cos, iceberg, or whatever. I sowed them indoors and popped them into a propagator on the windowsill. The soil's too cold outside for sowing
Read more

VPs VIPs: Derry Watkins of Special Plants

Image
Last week I had the pleasure of visiting Derry Watkins at her home, garden and nursery - the acclaimed Special Plants - just a few miles along the road from me. I first met Derry at one of her open garden days last year and was keen to find out more about her wonderful garden and running an independent nursery. She specialises in tender perennials and regularly goes on plant hunting trips to find new treasures, particularly in South Africa. As well as running Special Plants and opening her garden under the NGS scheme , Derry holds day courses at her nursery, hosts Special Tuesdays from April until September, lectures and has written a couple of books. How did you find your way from Connecticut to the UK? I'd started a biodynamic vegetable garden in Connecticut and we used to have people come along at weekends to help out. A particular young man turned up: he returned many times and at the end of the summer I married him. So it was all down to love? Isn't that the
Read more

#mygardenrightnow: heading into summer with the Chelsea Fringe

Image
Ahhhhhh, that's better! I love walking through dewy grass in bare feet, not that there's much in the way of grass on my back lawn this weekend. My wild and woolly lawn has morphed into meadow of sorts this month, which even NAH admits looks attractive*. It's also proved a great source for my Flowers for mum project so far, yielding self-sown perennial cornflowers, lamb's ears, and lemon balm in addition to the blooms you can see. These originated from elsewhere in the garden, the ox-eye daisies must have blown in from the A350 nearby. * = he got very stroppy about the weeds aka self-sown foxgloves in the lawn one year, so he's come along a bit since then. Skimble's demanding to say hello to you too. He does enjoy the patio when it warms up. If the embedded video doesn't work try this link instead. The Nectaroscordum are a revelation. I planted the bulbs around 2 years ago, but it's only this year they've bloomed properly. The bee
Read more

The Resilient Garden

Image
  Part of Tom Massey's Resilient Garden at RHS Hampton Court I've been pondering VP Gardens a lot lately. Last year's drought conditions set me off initially, then our harsher than usual winter combined with this summer's flip and flop weather means the thinking continues. It's a huge topic which I freely admit I'm struggling to get my head around. Tom Massey's Resilient Garden  at Hampton Court recently  tackled this topic brilliantly and was a timely interlude which gave me much food for thought. There he encapsulated the detailed research he'd found which informed both his show garden and book of the same name. I think it's one of the most important show gardens I've ever seen. It's clear the way I garden needs to change so that I have my own resilient garden. I haven't worked out the exact details yet, but Tom's book plus a couple of others (see below), alongside the rainwater management handout from the show garden's  sponso
Read more

Testing Times: Tomatoes

Image
  I've run a couple of tomato trials this year. The first is a revisit of the biochar trial with Oxford University I attempted some years ago (with a different organisation this time), and the second is a trial of a water gadget called Plantsurge which I was given to try at Malvern Spring Show earlier this year. Most of you have probably heard of biochar already and the claim that this inert, carbon-rich material can help soil fertility and plant health. The RHS information in the above link says results can be mixed, with reduced effects found in alkaline soils. This may help to explain the lack of difference I found in my previous trial as VP Gardens is on a lime-rich soil. Plantsurge is a different beast altogether. It's a strong magnet which is attached to a hosepipe as shown in the photo above. It's claimed that it softens water, with the result more like watering with rainwater. The higher nitrogen found in rainwater is thought to be beneficial to plants. Gardener
Read more

Chelsea Fringe 2014: Shows of Hands - Episode I

Image
The gloves NAH used to build the raised bed . The effects are L to R, top to bottom:  Original photo, Warhol, HDR, Green tint, B&W, Posterize, Boost, Cross process and Sepia Welcome to Shows of Hands - my Chelsea Fringe project for 2014! As you can see I've been having a bit of a play around in Pic Monkey for my first contribution. You're welcome to join in between now and 8th June 2014. The idea behind this year's project is to highlight the tool most precious to a gardener: their hands. How do I take part? It's simple. All you need to do is take a photo of hand(s) in a gardening context and then share it via your blog or other social media (such as Twitter or Facebook), then make sure I know you've done so. I've set up Mr Linky below for your blog contributions. The Chelsea Fringe photo on the right sidebar links to this post, so you can easily find it again when you're ready to add your contribution. If you share your photo on Twitter,
Read more

Make Use of Mildew

Image
On my garden patrol this morning I spotted some powdery mildew on a couple of my new Verbena bonariensis plants. I suppose it was almost inevitable as I prefer to grow my plants hard - this means no water for them unless they look absolutely desperate. This approach means plants root themselves more deeply and have a better chance of survival during spells of dry weather like we've had lately. However, it also means I run the risk of problems like today's, especially with any garden newbies planted late in the season. We've had a good drop of rain overnight, so this should help my plants survive. I'll mulch them later today to help lock in the moisture as it's water stress which encourages the mildew to take hold. I've also removed the infected leaves and sprayed the rest with a milky drink.* I'm also pleased to find there's a use for my infected leaves. Oliver Ellingham at Reading University has started a PhD - sponsored by the RHS - researchi
Read more