Claudia — Page 1187

Heading Toward 7: On The State of This Blog

January 8, 2015 at 9:48 am by Claudia

treereflection

Absolutely nothing to do with this post, except to tell you the tree is still up. We like it that way.

Some days, like today, I wake up and have no idea what the hell I’m going to write about. It happened a couple of days ago, as well. And I think to myself, for a split second, maybe it’s time to let it go and move on.

Just for a split second.

Trying to come up with new and original content every day is sometimes overwhelming. At other times, it’s a breeze. But it’s the days when nothing seems interesting or exciting or momentous in any way, where the internet itself gets to me, whether through hacked emails or hacking attempts on this blog or the sheer enormity of the internet juggernaut that seems to be careening out of control, or when I get tired of my own voice – those are the hard days.

I don’t pull content or photos from elsewhere on the web, though I suppose that might make things easier. But I’m an original content blogger. It’s just the way I’m wired. I’m all for adapting and change but that’s one change I cannot bring myself to make. I can’t do it any other way – this blog is my voice, my thoughts, my ‘brand’ if you will, no one else’s. It’s why I consistently turn down offers that come from writers or companies wanting to do guest posts. And, believe me, there are a lot of them in my inbox on any given day. No judgment here, just a sense of what is right for me.

Blogging has changed and change can be good. I recently read a great post from a well-known blogger, Tsh Oxenreider of The Art of Simple. Here’s the link if you’re interested. In the post she explores the way blogging has changed in the eight years she’s been at it and proceeds to clarify her blogging intentions.

It resonated with me because these are the things many of us wrestle with. I’ll admit it: I liked her conclusions.

What’s changed?

Comments are down – Yes, they are, though I am pleased to have a loyal group of readers who comment on a daily basis. But I only have to go back about a year ago to see that I used to get many more comments. The reasons cited? Lots more blogs out there, lots more social media that competes for a reader’s attention. I love the conversation that goes on here and I answer almost every comment. But I’ve been a less than constant commenter on other’s blogs. I need to work on that. Let me add that I appreciate that you read the blog whether you comment or not. Truly. Don’t feel you have to.

Threaded comments (which allow the back-and-forth conversations we have) are one of the best things to happen to this blog, in my humble opinion.

Attention spans are shorter – Oy. Don’t get me going on this one. It’s true. Many readers seem to want to read things in shorter doses. Or they prefer Instagram or Facebook. Or Twitter. I use all those platforms, but very sparingly indeed, because I’m all about the power of the written word here on this blog. Not captions under Instagram photos, though I certainly enjoy seeing them. Not whatever the word limit is on a tweet. And Facebook is nice, but if I have a choice to write here on the blog or post an update on MHC’s Facebook page, guess what’s going to win out?

If you have a short attention span, you’re probably not going to keep reading this blog. I don’t care that the conventional wisdom seems to be ‘write shorter posts.’ That ain’t me.

As for Pinterest, I constantly read how much traffic it drives to blogs and I know it’s true. It’s a fact. I use Pinterest, but not very often. And I find I use it because I feel I ‘should.’ That’s not a good reason to spend time there that I could be spending elsewhere in my life. So no more ‘shoulds’ for me. I’ll only be there when I want to be there. If I have less traffic, so be it.

Ad income is down – Yes, it is. Ads, especially banner ads like those on this blog, are not as good a source of income as they used to be. Advertisements on blogs are evolving. It’s troubling for those of us who count on ad income to help pay some bills, so many bloggers are doing more and more sponsored content and I totally understand that. I don’t do very much of it here, just the occasional post. These are all things I have to wrestle with as I move forward. I will explore other options as long as the integrity of this blog remains my first priority. I’m heading toward my seventh anniversary of blogging (on February 17th) and I’ve put in a lot of time and effort to bring the blog to where it is at this point in time. It must be my authentic (a word that is overused these days, sorry!) voice. There’s no other option.

Tsh says, “As for me, I’m all over old-fashioned blogging.” Me, too. That, for me, means original content, longer posts, posts where my voice is the one you’re hearing, not that of a sponsor (unless it’s something I really believe in and even then, you’ll hear my voice.) I post every day. That may change, it may not. If there’s a day where I simply can’t come up with anything, I’ll take it as an indication that I just might need a day off.

I used to post about blogging more often. I used to post tips about photo editing and all sorts of things related to blogging. I even had plans to start a blogging-help-kind-of-blog. But two things made me stop doing that. Number one: There’s already a lot of content out there about blogging, lots and lots of blogging advice. I also realized that I’ve grown averse to giving advice because there are as many ways to blog as there are bloggers. My way is most likely not your way, nor should it be.

But here’s the other thing: A lot of my readers don’t blog. They like reading blogs but don’t really care about they whys and hows of blogging.

So, my friends, posts like this one will be few and far between.

I’m in a reflective stage as I head toward my blogging anniversary on February 17th. Seven years. Who’d have thunk it? It has been a joy and a challenge. It has been very hard and effortless. But above all, it has been a tremendously rewarding creative outlet for my thoughts and ideas. It has been the writing discipline that I needed. It has taught me the joy of the camera. It has brought you into my life.

So thanks for your patience as I sort through and clarify my feelings about this blog and blogging in general.

I’m still here.

Happy Thursday.

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Small House Living: Finding Room for a Desk

January 7, 2015 at 9:57 am by Claudia

When you live in a small house and have an even smaller budget, you have to be, shall we say, “creative” with your solutions. Case in point: both Don and I freelance, therefore, all of our work related materials live here. We don’t leave the house and ‘go to an office.’ In my case, I write two blogs here, have tons of reference materials (including books) for my coaching work and my book reviews, all receipts for both the blog and my work away from home are kept here, along with a lot of the other paperwork that goes along with paying household bills.

We have the guest bedroom/office/Don’s studio, where there are two file cabinets – one for me, one for Don. Mine holds dialect research and other ‘must save’ information. Don uses the desk in that room for his work. But the rest of the room is filled with a bed, a linen cabinet, a fax machine, and all of Don’s guitars and music paraphernalia. It can’t simply be an office/studio space. It also has to function as a guest room.

Then I have the ‘studio’ in the upstairs hallway – but that’s where the sewing machines live. (I sometimes fantasize about storing the machines and using that worktop as a desk. We’ll see.)

A few years back, Don came home with a freebie he found on the curb. It was an ugly computer desk. My first response was, “Take it back.” But then I accepted Don’s challenge and reimagined it with paint and vintage fabric. To read more about that, click here. For a while, it sat in the den, but I decided I wanted a separate place to go when I had to do paperwork.

Where is there any extra space in this little cottage? Well, we have a little cupboard under the stairs where we store things that we don’t need to get to very often, which means that most of the time it’s wasted space. So why not put the desk there?

SHL-desk

You can see the little closet behind the desk. When I need to access it, I move the desk away from the wall. It’s a bit of a pain, but this is the kind of thing you do when you live in a small space. You compromise.

The chair, by the way, is one of the chairs I am longing to get rid of. Soon.

Monday dawned and I knew I had to tackle this area, which had boxes stacked on top of the desk and baskets overflowing with paperwork. I sat on the floor, pulled out the baskets and sorted like a madwoman.

SHL-underneathdesk

On the shelves beneath the desk: the wire basket holds all our paid bills, the stack to the right of it holds old agendas and notebooks, the basket on the left on the lower shelf holds all my receipts and paperwork for both the blog and my coaching work, the one on the right holds chargers, cords and my beloved Blackwings. The paint brushes in the cup are used for work on the dollhouse.

2014 paid bills/receipts have been gathered together with a giant rubber band and are now sitting in the big white cupboard in the living room. Everything else has been sorted, rearranged or dumped in the trash.

The top of the desk has been cleaned off and is ready for 2015.

SHL-tins

My tins. The green one holds business cards that I want to hang on to.

SHL-coaster

The coaster was actually a rug made by someone for that mini swap. But it’s out of scale and too thick for the dollhouse, so I thought I’d repurpose it as a coaster. (My watch needs a new battery, that’s why it’s sitting there.)

SHL-lamp

My lamp find from the Country Living Fair with its temporary lampshade solution. Note to self: get on that. The little cottage with the two birds wall pocket was a gift from Judy.

SHL-notes

Instead of trying to fit some sort of pin board in here, at least until I find one that works, I tied some thick trim I had to one of the spindles. Then I used oversized clothespins (I think I found them in the $1 bin at Target) to hold notes, one of which is my upcoming book review schedule. That photo is of Don and I on the beach in San Diego.

The wind chill today is below zero. I’m thinking I’d like to be back on that beach.

The doorstop was an auction find.

SHL-bag

And my new tote bag lives on the chair.

No, the desk isn’t elegant. It’s sort of funky. It was free. Total cost? $0. The paint I had on hand, the vintage fabric was in my stash. I’d say you can’t beat the price.

I’ve taken a rarely used space and made it into a work area for a girl with several irons in the fire.

That would be me.

Happy Wednesday.

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A Tale of Two Chairs

January 6, 2015 at 9:23 am by Claudia

On Sunday, which was our little girl’s birthday, we headed to the town-next-door to buy some dog treats at a specialty pet store, which happens to be in the same complex as our local antique center. This antique barn/market is the one I go to most often, simply because it’s so close to our home. After a week of day trips to towns across the Hudson River in search of some chairs for our kitchen table, wouldn’t you know it? We found two of them just down the road from our cottage.

I spied this one first.

CHAIRS-greenchair

I fell in love. It looks like it should be sitting in a Swiss Chalet somewhere in the Alps, along with Heidi and her grandfather. It’s chippy and well-loved-and-used and I knew I wouldn’t see another one like it.

CHAIRS-greenchairtopdetail

It needs a bit of light sanding and some clear coat. I cleaned it up yesterday (after I took these photos.)

CHAIRS-greenchairlegdetail

Chippy isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but to us, it’s a sweet brew. There’s a story to these well-worn pieces, isn’t there? Where has this chair been? Who sat on it? Was it part of a set? Was it loved?

Once I get it sanded and have applied a few coats of clear coat, those chips will be protected. In the meantime, it’s too cold outside to be doing that sort of thing, so it will exist as is for a bit.

CHAIRS-backofgreenchair

I’m in love.

So, back to the Antique barn – we took the chair downstairs for them to hold and went back upstairs to look around some more and what did I see?

CHAIRS-brownchair

This chair. With flower stencils. This isn’t a theme we were looking for. It just happened. (And we will probably confine the flowers to these two chairs.) But it seemed quite serendipitous.

CHAIRS-brownchairattable

CHAIRS-brownchairattable2

Both chairs are well made and very sturdy. I made Don sit in them as the final test. They were also very inexpensive, so if we end up finding others we like better down the road…no big deal.

We like old. We like used. We like formerly loved. We like weathered and chippy and timeless and, heaven knows, we like a good story.

There you have it. Two new additions to the cottage.

By the way, our other chairs, while lovely to look at, were rickety and kept coming apart. We could have had them professionally re-glued but the expense wasn’t worth it to us. They ended up being a big pain in the tush (literally and figuratively.) I still use one of them at the desk, and another is still in use at the table for the time being. Both of them will be replaced at some point. Pretty doesn’t always equal practical.

I’ve entered my cleaning and sorting and purging phase. Yesterday I tackled the little desk near the stairs. More on that tomorrow.

Happy Tuesday.

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Heading Toward 7: On The State of This Blog

Small House Living: Finding Room for a Desk

A Tale of Two Chairs

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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