I used to worry about it, that is, I used to worry about my lack of enthusiasm for gardening and how to reconcile it with my need for a pleasant, leafy outdoor space . I've long since stopped worrying about it. I'm just going with the garden's flow, it seems to know what it's doing. It's a pleasant place to be, there is a quince tree after all.
I've been worrying about this blog too. I've been worrying that I don't feel as inclined to blog as much as I once did. Why? I have no idea. I haven't run out of things to say or to photograph. I'm not overwhelmed by work, domestic crises, worry, ill health or any other valid reason for not blogging. Maybe the novelty of being a blogger has worn off, maybe I just can't be bothered.
Blogging should not be a chore and just at the moment it feels like a chore, just like the garden once did. So as with the garden, I'm going with the flow. I have no intention of abandoning this blog, I like it, like my garden it is a pleasant place to be even if I'm not there as often as I once was. Maybe I'll be back full of enthusiasm tomorrow, or maybe I won't blog again until next month, I'll just have to see where the flow takes me.
Blogging Without Obligation
I could have written this post...... but it's hard not to feel a little bit sad, isn't it?
ReplyDeleteNo matter the frequency with which you post I'll be visiting and reading. I find that a break of a few weeks can reinvigorate the urge. It's a good feeling when the enthusiasm returns. Like having been on a bit of a holiday.
ReplyDeleteOh and not to worry about your garden. I'm so glad you've reconciled yourself to the wildness. I embrace it nowadays. I let things be woolly. I think it's far more beautiful that way.
Writing is a creative act like other things. I do lots of creative type things, they all have their turn in the sun and I manically knit, crochet, sew or cook all the things. Then one day I turn away from that particular thing, maybe towards another or maybe just to go and read a book or have a walk in the park. I always return to the things I love or up the anti again if I get a new burst of energy. So I expect your lull in blogging may be similar. Sometimes I'm looking for a spark of something new, and one day it ignites and off I go. I don't blog but I can see how cycles would ebb and flow.
ReplyDeleteMy garden is a bit like yours, minus the gorgeous things in it. I.e. I let it go but only borage comes to rest in it. Well and the brambles which give me blackberries. Wherever I live I get the brambles follow me.
You're quite right Faye, this present blogging malaise is just part of the natural cycle of things. It will pass I am sure.
DeleteThe best gardens are left a little wild, plants tumbling into the next, and right now, verdant abundance everywhere.
ReplyDeleteYour blog is similarly rich; baking, books, knitting, flowers, photography, humour and more.
Though I don't have a blog, I can understand the peaks and troughs you probably go through.
Please don't let it worry you This is always a jolly nice place to come and sit for a bit, even if the posts become more infrequent (but you have been missed).
Love Niki
I find I just blog as and when I think of something to say. As you say go with the flow. Do not make blogging a chore it is something you do because you want to, not because you have to.
ReplyDeleteJulie
Tomorrow or next year? I will still be here to read whatever you want to say. And I've virtually given up posting as I don't really have the enthusiasm to photo, upload and write when I think that no one really reads it...
ReplyDeleteConcentrate on not gardening instead!
Ax
I read it Mrs Bean.
DeleteI've been having similar feelings - not helped by broadband problems on the blogging front and various obstacles to spending time on the garden. I've just vowed to cut myself some slack. The garden's doing fine without me and I'll blog when the muse strikes. As my mother used to say if she didn't feel like doing so particularly irksome household task "it'll still be there tomorrow". Today I cleaned the double oven and made Grandaughter a dress so I'm feeling good!
ReplyDeleteLove your photographs Sue. I too have waxed and waned a bit lately with my blog and decided to take a little break, life has been too busy recently, but I do hope to come back to it, perhaps after the Summer x
ReplyDeleteHi Sue - I think life ebbs and flows and so does our enthusiasm for certain things. I agree completely; just 'go with it'. Blogging because you feel obligated isn't a good thing and you'll end up resenting doing it.
ReplyDeleteI think you'll find a renewed enthusiasm for blogging at some point.
In the meantime, enjoy your garden, reading, whatever you do feel inclined to do... and, by the way, that jug of forget-me-nots and cow parsley is lovely.
Sarah.
Your garden looks perfect ..... just how one should be, nature doing it's thing and your photos are a delight.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry to hear your blog woes, I've felt similar in the past, I've found by stepping back for a while and taking a break, I then begin to miss it, in fact this happens over and over and over, I think it's my 'rhythm'!
Love Jooles x x x
Oh, Sue, I will miss your regular presence. (I know, I should talk, since I don't even blog. Fish or cut bait, right?) Obviously you must (and will and should) do what is best for you, but just know that you will be sorely missed.
ReplyDeleteThank you Kari. I don't think I'll be away long but I did feel I ought to say something, to give myself permission if you like, to take a break.
DeleteI can understand you wanting a break, Sue. Sad for us because we all love visiting here, but personally I would sooner you were out there enjoying life and telling us about it occasionally than feeling you have to post when you don't feel like it. The garden is lovely.
ReplyDeleteI have a "do or die" garden - i.e. it grows and thrives, or it doesn't. As you say, the garden seems to thrive best that way - and I love it, as do the birds and insects.
ReplyDeletex
I am a regular reader of your blog (although I do not comment very often); so if you do not come back until next month or so, I just want to thank you for April's reading tip. "An enchanged April" was a very pleasant read, thank you so much for that!
ReplyDeleteHats off to going with the flow. And how come the mess in my garden is so much less picturesque than yours?
ReplyDeleteBecause I've only shown a minute bit of it.
DeleteThis time of year calls for sitting in dappled shade listening to the bees...
ReplyDeleteYou are quite right Marge.
DeleteLove your blue and white posie..... gorgeous!!
ReplyDeleteI once visited Monet's garden in Giverny and loved it. It seemed wild, filled with flowers of a million different colours and types that looked very unarranged and unpretentious but somehow fit together nicely. I found that refreshing! A bit like his own art, a few colorful brushtrokes together that somehow form a unity and take shape.
I love visiting you here Sue and would miss you if you weren't any more. Sometimes is good to go with the flow and take breaks to recharge batteries.... I will definitely need a bit of that after my final exams soon. Take care and go with the flow, Pati x
I was screaming 'YES' as I read this - I agree absolutely - blog when you want to and have something to say, otherwise don't stress. If it's any consolation, practically all my favourite bloggers are the ones who come and go - it doesn't diminish the pleasure at all - quality after all beats quantity, and I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels this way.
ReplyDeleteJust finished 'An Enchanted April' after reading your review. It was 'enchanting' - thank you so much as I probably wouldn't have found it without you. I also really appreciate your recipes.
ReplyDeleteplanned wilderness. I like your style.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful photos Sue.
ReplyDeleteI too am a believer in taking a breather now and again. Nothing quells creativity more than 'ought'.
I wonder if you'll not be camping this year though? I love those posts.
Heather x
I will be not camping Heather, but I fear I will not be alone this year which will spoil my fun rather.
DeleteI love, love, love your photos, savor your recipes, am envious of your knitting, and enjoy your observations of family life and the rest of the world. No matter how infrequent, I will always relish reading your posts. Better to blog when the mood strikes you than post less interesting material on schedule out of a sense of obligation. I do believe there is an overabundance of that in the blogosphere, to say the least. Quality wins over quantity. Just as long as you don't abandon us completely. OK, maybe it's time for YOU to go "camping."
ReplyDeleteHi Sue
ReplyDeleteI totally support your flow. Imagine this..... I'm supporting you at the elbow and guiding you and your flow gently towards the kitchen.... I'm just enabling your flow to ebb and flow its way slowly back to the heart of the quince tree, to do what delights us all.......to cook, in all the inspiring ways that you cook and freeze and make do and bake.......... food for your family and then mine. Absolutely no pressure, just a friendly thank you for The Quince Tree....... best wishes Claire
Thank you for those sweet words Claire, I feel quite moved by them. It is really very humbling to hear how readers see my blog. I do believe you have given me the inspiration to refocus and come back refreshed and full of ideas.
DeleteLove your blog Sue.A less frequent Sue is better than no Sue.I wonder when the balance will tip and your husband goes camping on his own for peace and quiet and you have a house full!
ReplyDeleteIt's beginning to look that way! But I don't think Katie will ever want to 'not camp'.
DeleteIt is reassuring to hear someone else voice what I feel about my garden. I do like gardening but just don't have the time or enthusiasm to keep up with it and I used to feel guilty about neglecting it. But accepting it as it is and doing what I can as and when I feel like it seems a much better arrangement. It seems a sensible approach to blogging too.
ReplyDeleteWonderful to hear you are again 'not camping' though agree it is better alone. And going with the flow - you said it. My posts are less frequent and not only because of some heavy going on the daughterly duties at the moment. But once I get started I do enjoy the photo uploading and the writing - I still think in 'blog bites' often throughout the day. Enjoy the outdoors Sue and just flip us the occasional post when you feel like it!
ReplyDeleteJust tell me what you've eaten so I don't have to think. You could make boiled sock sound appetising.
ReplyDeleteEbbs and flows. I love gardening but have always been a spasmodic rather than a dutiful gardener. My gardens have always seemed to appreciate that. And we will be very appreciative of your spasmodic presence here. No pressure.
ReplyDeleteOops i pressed publish too early. I wanted to add that fortunately you have provided us with an extensive set of recipes to be going on with. thank you for them. I often consult these. And, what is the name of the lovely single rose in the photos?
ReplyDeleteThank you Sally. The rose is called frühlingsmorgen.
DeleteYou must pease yourself before everyone else, Sue, it would be wrong to see your blogging as a chore. I shall read whatever you decide to write and enjoy your pictures too.
ReplyDeleteMm, mine has vanished a bit too. Hope to see you back when you can, I would miss your posts, even though I don't always comment. Oh my, the garden, absolutely lovely, my idea of a perfect space!
ReplyDeleteHahaha--you sound just like me. I get too busy to blog and think--eh, I'll just live life. Then, I feel compelled to blog. And my garden--why do we spend so much time chopping things down that we think of as unsightly and then planting other things that don't grow? Me too--I gave that up too--and called it an "English garden." :-)
ReplyDeleteThe garden looks lovely :)
ReplyDeleteAs for feeling like you do about blogging - I've been on a break since January.... Too many things going on in my life that I really don't feel like sharing.
Best wishes
Rose H
x
Do make blogging a 'could' rather than a 'should'...love your blog and happy to wait while you have a well deserved breather!
ReplyDeleteI love your humour and gentle authority in the kitchen. Happy to read any and all posts, whenever!
ReplyDeleteYour blog has become one of my favourites, Sue, and I enjoy your writing, humour, warmth, photography and of course your recipes enormously. I hope this break is just what you need to come back refreshed. x
ReplyDeleteI love popping in to visit you and your blog Sue so I hope you don't abandon it. Blogging is quite odd in that complete strangers can feel comforted by a post or recipe even though they don't know you. I always look forward to your posts and want to thank you for the glimpses of your life, kitchen and thoughts that you have shared with us.
ReplyDeleteabso-bloody-lutely agree.
ReplyDeleteI too suffer the sporadic desire to just not blog, then the twinge of guilt for not doing so, then the feeling of 'bloody hell, it's supposed to be MY blog, for ME, and the whole point of it is for me....' but still, it's a good feeling to share and receive feedback, and the price for that is the effort involved.
sigh.
I love your blog, you have inspired me for a long time in the kitchen. Blog when you want to my love, it is yours after all.
x
Just love each of your posts Sue. Can understand that a pause may be necessary. (Not camping, even if not alone) will still be longed for!!!!! Fortify yourself and we will all be here when you choose to post. Kind regards.
ReplyDeleteMeant to sign off - Sheridan from Queensland.
ReplyDeleteI am not going away, I have just read your newest post. I so enjoy your blog, your a breath of fresh air and commonsense,in a world of Skippy happy over the rainbow bloggers.its what makes your blog so enjoyable,you have a different voice, its a good read, plus we get to eat the results of your recipes,so thankyou , I love the quince tree blog.
ReplyDeleteThank you, it's good to know that I'm not skippy.
Delete'Skippy happy over the rainbow' ... Anonymous I know just what you mean and think that is the perfect description!
Delete