Friday, March 25, 2022

Backwards Post

I bulk loaded these photos through Blogger and they came in reverse-chronological order. I don't feel like rearranging them so here's a backwards post.

My farmer neighbor who runs the sunflower field across the street came over and tilled up my new garden area! It is 18x25 feet, and ultimately will contain 100 feet of flowers. I'm pretty excited to see what this looks like in July.


Spring has sprung and I got the first bunch of flowers out of the garden. I hardly planted any of these, the white daffodils were all over the garden when we moved in. I don't know if people actually want to buy daffodils since they are all over the place, and because I don't have my infrastructure quite ready yet they'll probably just come live in my house. I'm not mad about it.


I went to a library that is not my usual, and they have a huge section of graphic novels. I probably would have gotten more, but I didn't have a bag with me and I could only carry so many. You know how I feel about books with pictures! I will be back.


I was in TJ Maxx recently and I saw a picture printed on canvas that was cute. I snapped a picture on my phone, and ended up painting my own version. I really enjoy painting but with work and all my other projects I hardly have time for it. There were a few cold mornings where I didn't want to go out for a walk and painted instead. I'd love to incorporate more art into my life but there is only so much time. I have the curse of too many hobbies.


Reading: Son of the House was really good. Thanks to Nicole for the recommendation! I love books set all over the world, and I've only read a handful from Nigeria. The characters were both fascinating and there is a thread that brings them together in a really clever way. (More bathroom floor reading, this time I actually did read and not look at my phone!)


I'm nudging my girls to become readers as well (so far, so good), and here is Cora at our local library. I love the kids' section. The shelves are low, and there is only one entrance/exit, so the kids can't escape.


A freak snowstorm in March - although we usually do get the last snow around St. Patrick's Day. This one was a proper blizzard, with sub-freezing temperatures and snow blowing sideways. Cora did not last long outside.


I finally took the plunge and got some of my content off the internet and into physical form. I had this blog printed through Pixxibook since it had the best looking layout of all of the blog printing services I could find. The pages are really thick and it looks beautiful. It is pricey, but worth it because anything on the internet is impermanent. Google likes to get rid of services so I won't be surprised if they shut down blogger some day. I also had an Instagram account that I closed, so I printed all the photos from that into a book too. This one was from Shutterfly, and was really cheap (around $8) since I got a softcover and had a promo code.


Happy Spring everyone, and I hope it's even just a little warmer and brighter where you are.

16 comments:

  1. Well... I was enthralled by your daffodils, and delighted with the prospect of your 100 feet of flowers.
    But! Google axing Blogger has left me shuddering. I know you aren't wrong. They really don't seem to care one way or another about Blogger. Oh, dread. Did you print text and photos from your blog? Good grief, the prospect, for me, is more than I can fathom. Both covers look beautiful! Thank you for sharing the links and your experience.

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    1. I printed both the text and photos; really the only thing that made it not completely out of the question was that I have only 38 posts on this blog. You CAN export your blog as XML though so at least you'll have the data if something happens. I'm going to investigate some cheaper options for the future so I'll keep you posted if I find some good ones.

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  2. I loved Son of the House and I'm so glad you did too!
    I have been thinking so much that one of these days, I should print out my blog. I mean, I have 14 years of stuff on my blog! It could totally disappear! The longer I wait the more onerous it will be to deal with it.
    The daffodils are gorgeous!

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    1. I'm not sure what platform you use, but look into exporting your blog at least into a file so that you have the data in case anything catastrophic happens. The blog I had before this one goes back to 2005 and that was way too costly to print out. Thanks again for the book recommendations, I think we have similar tastes so I'm just going to copy you.

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  3. Libraries are just brilliant aren't they, I've spent many happy hours there with my urchins. Also looking forward to seeing your flower plot in July.

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    1. Libraries are one of the few free places (besides outside) that you can take kids, I love them! Plus my mom was a children's librarian before retiring, so she has a whole house filled with kids' books and storytimes. It's pretty much the perfect profession for a grandma!

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  4. I have never seen white daffodils they look really pretty. I love that you have printed your blog out, I have often wondered about doing that, I have over 800 posts though so it might get a little expensive. I think I will look into how I can keep the words if blogger closes.

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    1. Wow, 800 posts! I imagine you’d have many volumes if you printed that out. I recently read part of my husband’s grandmother’s diary, written in 1936. I am glad my kids will be able to have my blog in some form many years from now.

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  5. I LOVE libraries. You're looks lovely.
    I had no idea you were such an accomplished artist. That painting is phenomenal; I would frame that for my wall any day.
    I love sunflowers - happy sigh.
    I do back up the text to my blog every few months, but am debating printing it off. I'll keep this company in mind; I should see if Blurb - the company I use for annual photobooks - does anything like this?

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    1. Thank you! Honestly I struggle to call myself an artist because I hardly ever create anything of my own. I mostly copy other paintings, which does take some skill but not a lot of creativity! Libraries are the best! I know many people who don’t visit libraries and I don’t know how they survive.

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  6. Your painting is very cute and you are very talented.
    Love the handful of Spring daffodils, a change from the yellow ones we mostly see.

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    1. Thank you! I love the white ones too - they start out with pale yellow centers, but eventually fade to pure white after being picked.

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  7. I love your painting! Our daffodils are coming up now too. I have some beautiful, cream & light orange that are frilly that I put in last year. Something like that might sell.

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    1. That's a good point - there are a lot of yellow ones around, but the doubles or unique colors are more rare. I do have a few of those planted and am looking forward to them multiplying over the years.

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  8. I'm feeling very nostalgic right now- I'm remembering the days when my kids were little and we went to the library ALL THE TIME. Our library had a weekly storytime and various other activities (like music and crafts) for little kids. Sometimes we would just sit there and do puzzles. I still use my library a lot, and often look longingly towards the kids' section. Sigh.
    I love how we're all getting out book recommendations from Nicole! She definitely reads some great books.
    I can't wait to see your flower garden when it blooms!

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    1. I used to take my older daughter to lots of library events, but sadly since the pandemic most of them have moved online (not fun for a kid) and haven't started up in person yet. I hope they do have in person events soon!

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