Monday, August 27, 2018

I seem to have taken the summer off...



It wasn't intentional. It just happened. I wrote my last blog post about our Morocco trip in May and then I haven't written since. I don't know what has happened with my blog. It used to be a big part of my life, but in the last few years, not so much. I started writing it almost 13 years ago and I was mad for all the blogs out there. Now there is so much content on the internet it's hard to keep up and so many of the blogs I read and loved have disappeared. In the early years I spent a lot of time thinking about "blog fodder"—stories to tell, observations to make. It seemed nothing was too trivial to immortalize on my blog –"look! I got new glasses!"  It's a little embarrassing. At the same time it was a good record of my life, what I was thinking about,what I was working on, where I'd been. I don't feel so inclined to record and share it all these days. These are different times and I am reluctant to use my blog to air my complaints and general sadness about so many things that have changed in the past 13 years. BUT, I do want to continue blogging in some form. So here's, maybe, a new start. Not so often, not so trivial, more art?  So this morning I looked back at the pictures I've taken this summer to remind myself what we've been up to. 













I think I post nearly identical photos of flowers and garden every year, but that's what sings me through the summer. Ray works really hard in our garden. I don't, but I appreciate the heck out of it. It has been a record-breaking hot summer and the last two photos were taken last week when Portland had the second worst air quality of a a major city IN THE WORLD. ugh. And it's not over. See the chairs on the front porch? They are new. In 2009 I blogged about an old chair I dragged home from a yard sale (https://andsewitgoes.blogspot.com/2009/05/another-chair.html) It has been on the front porch since, but it has gotten tired and faded and in need of paint.  It needed some love and attention and I put it on my mental list to tackle. I put it off. It seemed like so much work. Then in a moment of clarity I asked Ray to drag it down to the end of the driveway. We put a "free" sign on it and went and bought two new chairs and a little table. The old chair was gone when we got home. This is the new, "mature" me. I'm not so up for big projects as I used to be. Am I getting old? Probably. 

There are more photos and more summer posts, so I think I'm back. I was going to hit you with the whole summer in this one post, but I've thought better of that. We'll just deal with one thing at a time. Don't give up on me, yet! 

One more photo—




14 comments:

  1. I'm glad your back! I miss seeing what you're working on and look forward to more quilts. And I love flower/garden pictures, IMO they're always beautiful to look at, no matter how much they look similar.

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  2. Have always enjoyed your blog.

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  3. So happy to see this... my blog has met the same intermittent fate. Tell Ray I appreciate his garden, too!

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  4. Welcome back! Missed you.

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  5. Thank you for this post Terry, particularly your paragraph about the chair project. I'm reaching a stage in my life when I have to think about downsizing and letting some projects go. A few years ago, this would have felt like defeat. However, this weekend, I put three unfinished projects on Freecycle for others to take and finish. All were taken with pleasure and excitement. That seemed more like joyous sharing, which we all need more of, than defeat. A good lesson for me, and spurring me on to let some other projects go to allow me to focus on those that I really love.

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  6. Your gardens are lovely!

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  7. Good to hear your thoughts again! Gardens seem to want photoing every summer, don't they? It is like it is all new again...and it is really. A new moment to look and enjoy in a different scene of our lives.
    Sandy in the UK

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  8. welcome back - I live in Vancouver, Wa and have suffered right along with you mainly with the heat. I don't have a blog - don't think my life is that interesting to share and I prefer to keep my views and thoughts on the national or world stage private so I understand your absence.

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  9. Anonymous5:07 AM

    Thought about checking the obituaries to see what happened to you!
    Glad you're back. Look forward to hearing more from you.
    Try not to feel we're under a dark cloud, things will become brighter.

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  10. Thank you for coming back. The blog'o'sphere does seem to be diminishing lately but I truly enjoy your art, your garden & definitely your thoughts. So, I'm happy you will continue to share some of world.

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  11. Always glad to see you resurface....

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  12. HURRAH! You are back. We will all enjoy whatever you have to post. What great pictures of your flowers, even with the drought you have had a blooming summer. Love, Del

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  13. Kathryn10:46 PM

    Thank you for posting your beautiful photos! I've missed you and am so glad you've decided to post again!


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  14. I have always enjoyed reading your blog!

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