Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Why do we Blog?

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:: A few of my favorite bloggers have been wrestling with whether to continue blogging. In one case, a popular blogger has decided to close her blog. She eloquently wrote about her reasons and I think each one of us who read the post understood and sympathized with her dilemma. Reading her post and reading all the comments got me thinking again about why we blog and maybe offer some advice from my perspective.

Blogging can be time consuming. Coming up with posts, taking photos, reading and commenting on other blogs – all of it takes time and can become overwhelming. I think each of us has to decide how much time we are willing to devote to our blogs – whether we post daily, once a week, or less often. We read other blogs. It is very easy to start reading and commenting on posts and suddenly discover that a few hours have passed.  I love reading other blogs and do my best to visit often and leave a comment. Some days I am successful, some days I’m not. I try my best to respond to everyone, but I’m sure I’ve been remiss in the past and will be in the future. As with anything in our busy lives, we have to set priorities. We do the best we can.

Here’s what I don’t like: when people assume that those who post daily and visit and comment on many blogs have no life. I read a few comments that said as much on the previously mentioned post. I would say in response to those comments: No, that person doesn’t have your life or your priorities. She has her life, with her priorities. And I bet her life is as full as yours. I see bloggers out there with children and full-time jobs who post all the time. I see others in the same situation who post infrequently. Then there’s those of us with no children and demanding jobs or with grown children and demanding jobs or who have part-time jobs or who are enjoying retirement – we run the same gamut. It is totally individual. It’s a choice. There’s room for all of us in this blogging world. There is a space for the infrequent blogger, for the daily blogger, for the lurker, for the power blogger, for the professional blogger, for those who enjoy reading blogs but have no desire to start a blog.

There are cliques out there in blogland,  there are bloggers who get hundreds of comments and never return the favor, there are blogs that lose their charm and intimacy and become more of a business.  We’ve all seen it. Just like you did in high school, I guess you have to learn who you want to hang out with and who wants to hang out with you.

As for followers, I’ve written about that before. I am honored and grateful for each and every one of my followers. But, and this is a big but, that followers number is misleading and even more, is not an indicator of how many people visit your blog. Lots of people visit this blog who are not followers, and I’m sure many of my followers no longer read this blog. In fact, out of curiosity, I recently looked at my list of followers and there are many, many who I never hear from. Who knows if they even read my posts anymore? People change, tastes change.

Many bloggers require you to become a follower to take part in a giveaway, consequently, their numbers increase. Theoretically, someone can become a follower to be entered in a giveaway and never read that blog again. That little box is not a true indicator of your blog’s readership. So when that feeling of not having thousands of followers like so-and-so arises or that ‘she’s more popular, what am I doing wrong’ feeling you had in high school suddenly reappears, let it go. You didn’t do anything wrong. It’s not a competition. Stay true to your style, to your reason for becoming a blogger in the first place.

You have to decide how much time you’ll spend at your computer on any given day. You have to set your priorities. Only you can put pressure on yourself. I’ve seen plenty of bloggers take an extended break from blogging. Sometimes it’s because they aren’t inspired, sometimes it’s because of illness or the demands of life. It’s your blog – you can do whatever you want. If you are no longer getting any pleasure or joy from blogging, then take a break. Stop, breathe and let go for a while. Those who read your blog regularly will understand.

I think it is important to remember why you blog and what it gives you in return. I started my blog to share my passions: for my home, my husband, my dogs, my collections, my garden, my adventures. I have always loved to write and through blogging, have grown to love photography. My life has been enriched beyond measure by the friends I’ve made. I’ve been challenged to learn more, grow more and expand my horizons. Through this sharing, I’ve found kindred spirits everywhere. That’s why I blog. Remember why you blog and don’t let all the so-called competition affect you. If you read this blog, you know I’m nothing if not honest. It’s taken many years, but I am who I am.  Be who you are – and your blog will be all the richer for it.

I’d love to hear your thoughts, my friends.

The Headboard Story

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A little back story (as they say in the movie biz): When husband and I first moved out East from California, we rented a tiny little cottage on the property of a much bigger house. It had two small bedrooms upstairs. We used one as an office/studio. Our landlady was a lovely person who didn’t mind that we had dogs – believe me, that was a rarity. Anyway, after about a year of living there, our landlady had to sell the house. She worked for Enron…need I say more? We were unsettled by this news, of course. One day she came over to our cottage to explain that try as she might, the town powers-that-be were insisting she take down the wall that separated the two bedrooms – also the doorways – and it had to be done before she could sell the property. Something about no record of a permit, blah, blah, blah. We were very upset, needless to say, because now we would have no place to put the dogs if we needed them out of the way for say, a repairman. We also would no longer have two separate rooms and the privacy that brings – or a way to shut out the noise from downstairs if either of us was sleeping in or sick. The contractor came and tore down the wall and the doors. All of this was happening while our dog, Winston, was suddenly critically ill and had to be put down. A terrible time.

Since I wanted to keep one area of the now large room for the computer, etc. and one for the bedroom and there was no longer a wall to place the bed against, I made a headboard. Using some two by fours and a big piece of plywood, I hammered away. The plywood was padded and covered with some fabric that coordinated with the quilt we were using at the time.

And this is the way the headboard has looked for quite a few years now, even though I’m tired of the check and it really doesn’t go with my pale blue coverlet. But then again, the bedroom sorely needs some decorating.

Fast forward to yesterday. I seem to have two methods of getting through the day. Either I’m a slug or I’m at full throttle. Yesterday was full throttle. I decided to mow. I’ve mentioned before that we have lots and lots of lawn to mow and we don’t have a rider mower. I have to do it in sections over the course of a few days. You can see where this is going; I mowed like a crazy woman, did way too much which resulted in sore legs and aching back.  No sooner had I taken a shower and had a bite to eat – exhausted, by the way – when I started to obsess about the headboard.  I remembered this vintage fabric that I bought last year:

I had a sneaking feeling there was enough to cover the headboard and there was. Husband was consulted – did he like this potential new look? Yes.

Here is where it gets ugly.  We have the type of attic bedroom with eaves and sloping ceilings. The bed can only be placed against one of the low ceilings. It backs up to the sloping ceiling, creating a space between the bed and the lower portion of the wall. Does that make sense? Since we are sadly lacking in storage space, I stash our luggage back there. Let me add that the bed is difficult, make that impossible to move. Working back there in that minuscule area requires crouching and the ability to contort one’s body into the shape of a pretzel. So there I was, staple gun in hand, yelling for husband’s help as I tossed out pieces of luggage and crawled around like I was in a fox hole. Every time I had to crawl back out for something annoying like loading more staples, my body cried out in pain. I had just taken a shower and was now sweating like a pig. I would shout out to my husband – who was downstairs by this time, no doubt trying to escape me – from my position behind the headboard that I needed more staples, I needed a hammer, please bring up the vacuum!

I was obsessed and determined. Husband has been through this with me before. I finally finished and duck-walked my way out from behind the headboard. Much painful straightening of my back.  Vacuuming ensued, luggage was put back. Here is the transformation:


I obviously didn’t style this shot – just threw the pillows back on the bed – and no, I don’t iron my pillowcases. I need some new throw pillows, but you get the idea. It really brightens the room. I’m sore, but happy. Here’s a view that gives you an idea of the placement of the bed against the sloping wall. And our tiny windows. And my yet-to-be-painted walls.

By the way, back at the rental: our new landlords graciously agreed to re-build the wall and put in the doors. Several months later, we had our two rooms back and all was well. And we got a headboard in the bargain.

I’m linking to:


Pottery, Stitching & Corn

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I found this funky little pitcher today while out and about. It’s not my usual style (though I love the color) but look closer.  Sure looks like ‘CH’ to me. Since those are my initials, how could I resist? The marking on the bottom says ‘Caribe, Puerto Rico.’

I’m slowly working on my sampler – I manage to get a bit done each evening.

There’s a lot to do yet, but I really enjoy the process and don’t want to rush through it.

We’re eating some of this tonight:

This stand has the best sweet corn I have ever had the pleasure of eating. I have to tell you that any other corn-on-the-cob pales in comparison. Did I ever tell you that when I was a college student, in the days when dorm food was basically starch, I used to have magazine photos of a baked potato smothered in butter and buttery corn-on-the-cob on my bulletin board? If I had added a photo of broccoli, I would have had my favorite meal. If you had been forced to eat that food, you would have done the same thing!

While at the farm stand, I snapped this:

If you don’t already know about it, I have a new photography blog: Through a Lens Daily. I’d love it if you stopped by. The link is on my sidebar.

Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

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