2016: One Simple Word

Hello there! I hope that you are having a nice day.

Well, here we are into the New Year and I only now just decided to post about my word for the year. The last time I did this was in 2013. Yikes! Did three years already go by?

In any case, once again I decided to pick a word that I will live by this year. One that shouldn't present a challenge in and of itself, since I pretty much do this on a daily basis anyway. The word is:

LEARN

(to gain or acquire knowledge of, or skill in something

 by study, experience, or being taught)

The challenge was not to decide what I would REALLY like to learn to do, or do better, but to stick to it until I get it down. And we all know how that goes! So I got to thinking about what things I already love to do, and how I could make them better. 

I love cooking, flowers and gardening.

I love creating textile art.

So, how about taking vegetable skins, 

and flowers grown in my garden...

...and learn how to make natural dyes for the textiles

that I use in my art.

This is nothing new for others in the art world,

but it is certainly something new for me.

I bought these books last month,

and will give it a try!...

Then, I started thinking about my blog

and the photos that I take for it,

most often shot at close range,

and decided that I could make THOSE better too.

So I finally gave in to purchasing a macro lens for

my Canon ("real camera") with which I 

will attempt to learn how to take much 

better photos of the things I love for my blog...

The books are really good,

and hopefully will give me a start...

I didn't have much time to play with my lens

during the holidays,

but the day that it arrived

(bought used on eBay and in pristine condition)

I did fire off a few photos of the stuff

on my dining table.

Not great photos,

but fun to see the close-up detail

and the blurry background.

I concede that I have a long way to go!

All of the books shown above were purchased on abebooks.com,

or on Amazon. I usually compare the prices and condition of any given book

between the two sites.

Many times the books are new and a fraction of the cost of what

you would pay in bookstores which never provide very good discounts 

even on older books. 

And I have never been let down on the condition of any used book that I have bought.

***********************************

Of course,  Mr. Perch would likely tell you that my word of the year should have been

STOP

(as in stop buying books)

************************************

And yes, I do know that you can buy books to read on your iPad, but where is the fun in that?

Please do come back next year at this time and see how much I have accomplished with my word!!

What are your plans for the new year?

Along came a blog, and it was mine...

Hello friends!

During my absence from posting, I have given some thought as to what this blog should really be about, as I seemed to be all over the place with my posts. I became somewhat disillusioned not only by the fact that my computer lost its internet connectivity (finally remedied by our friend yesterday!), but by wonderful blogs that I aspired to be like, and could not. Blogs that feature professional grade photography, gorgeous homes both inside and out, beautiful step-by-step photos of meals being prepared, unbelievable art and DIY tutorials, and holiday decorations that changed each season and completely from one year to the next. Every time I read one of these blogs, I started to feel like I was watching another Martha Stewart Living in the works.

Then I came to the realization that many of the blogs that I love are heavily sponsored, loaded with advertisements, and written by gals that likely almost make blogging their careers and get paid for doing it. And there is certainly nothing wrong with that. But in some, the advertising has become overwhelming, the sidebars loaded with distractions, and there are often so many pictures that they take too much time to download. (Sometimes I feel that these blogs should fall into a new category that is somewhere between Blogs and Websites.) Even I tried Ad Sense for a while, but stopped it as I decided that showing ads on my blog wasn’t what I wanted to be about.

Many blogs also seem to gravitate towards certain trends, such as artwork that is all white, home décor that is all grey, all things French (I should mention here that the relative that I most resemble was my great grandmother, born in Paris, so I am part French). Not to mention burlap. Do you ever wonder how we suddenly started loving a material that is smelly and was once considered garbage? I started to worry that if my art was not done in shades of white, the color scheme in our home was not changed to grey, and I did not feature burlap creations with French writing on them, I would have no followers at all. (And though Birdsong Cottage is being done in “greige”, that’s been an experiment in decorating, and our “main” house looks nothing like this.) Then I thought, well, not everyone out there wants to look at the same thing over and over, so maybe there’s a place for me. And other bloggers who are less than perfect and want to march to a different beat. 

And while I am on this roll, I must also point out that it seems that a lot of the blogs have gone the way of “linking up” with other blogs to such a degree that I feel like I am reading the same stuff over and over again. Now, I think that link parties are a great thing (I might even participate in one some time!), but there are some blogs that I used to love that I don’t read anymore because it seems that they have nothing of their own to talk about and only include photos of things posted by other bloggers. To each her own, but that’s not for me, either.

Lastly, I am often bothered by blogs that have so many ways to follow them on their sidebars that I am at a loss to know which, if any, means I want to use to follow that blog. Not to mention being asked to “like” someone on Facebook in order to win a giveaway. Heavens! Can’t posting a comment or signing up to get emails on new posts be enough? I guess that I would rather someone like me in person than on Facebook (by the way, I do not do Facebook, either for my blog, or on a personal level). Maybe it’s just my age.

So…going forward, here is what my blog will likely never be, and the truths of the matter:

·        A blog with professional-grade photography. Truth: I am at best an amateur photographer who loves taking photos, but that’s where it ends. Besides, how many views of a vase with flowers in it do you really need to see?

·        A blog showing my “gorgeous” home, both inside and out. Truth: On a good day my husband’s baseball caps clutter up the staircase post, there are dishes in the sink, and unread junk mail on the kitchen counter.  We can’t afford to redecorate everytime the trend changes from shabby chic white to grey or something else. (I wouldn’t paint over our cherry and old pine furniture anyway!) The garden often has lots of weeds in it, with the lawn needing mowing. And the flowers that I’ve posted about are now gone, with everything having taken a beating this summer while we were fixing up Birdsong Cottage.

·        A blog with beautiful step-by-step cooking photos. Truth: I love to cook and will share recipes. Only ones that work! But the best I will likely do is provide a scanned copy of the recipe that I used (or worse yet, one in my own funky handwriting!). After all, I imagine that you would be able to picture a piece of meat lying on a serving platter without seeing a photo of it, wouldn’t you?

·        A blog showing my beautiful artful creations. Truth: I love creating vintage collage art, but I am far from a great artist, and often have little time to create much. I will keep on trying and sharing anyway.

·        A blog that provides unbelievable DIY tutorials. Truth: I love DIY, but most of it has been shown on Pinterest a million times before. I will provide a few words and some minimal photos of things I work on, but frankly, when I am in the middle of working, I am too lazy or busy to take lots of photos, and quite honestly, my hubby thinks I’m a nut when I do so. He puts up with my many other quirks as it is!

·        A blog that shows magnificent seasonal décor, ever-changing from one year to the next. Truth: Like most real people, I use the same beloved decorations from one year to the next. The best I do is add a few new things here and there, and move old stuff to different places. Besides, how many of us can afford to make huge changes each season, anyway?

So there you have it! After much pondering these weeks over how I can make this blog better, I finally decided what it will still really be about.

Me.

That’s it. Pure and simple. Me. Me and my simple little everyday life. After all, that’s what the banner up at the top says. Right? “A simple view..." It will continue to be what it was. A little bit of this and a little bit of that. “Everyday living” in a simple way. I hope you don’t mind that.

So if you have read this far, I thank you so much for your time. The bottom line to all of this is that I love to post, and I love it even more when you read what I write about.

In forthcoming posts I will share what I learned to do while absent, and some pictures of the progress at Birdsong. Oh, and a small bit of creativity as well. A very small bit. 

I hope that you're having a great weekend!

Much love,

Sue 

Taking a break from blogging...

Hello!

 

 

The little boy in this picture is not the only one who is sad.

Unfortunately, a nasty virus seems to have taken hold 

of the computers in our house,

so I have not been able to post.

Due to this, life pulling me in some other directions,

and a recent nagging problem with my back,

 I will be taking a break from blogging for now.

And because it really bothers me when bloggers

just all-of-a-sudden stop posting without 

telling us why,

(especially on blogs that I love to read!),

I would not want to do that to you.

 

I guess all bloggers feel like this at times,

but lately I feel that posting has taken more

of my time than it should.

I am therefore going to assess the future of

Miss Phoebe's Perch,

think about where she and I are headed,

and determine exactly what I think this

blog should be about.

 

If you have any suggestions,

I would love to hear them!

 

Thanks for your support and friendship.

As ever, I'll be thinking of you!

 

 

Stay tuned for my little surprise...