My flower posies used to be a regular feature on the blog - a good way to show off what is flowering in the garden each month. But, of late, I have been rather distracted; neglectful of the blog and blogging; generally not putting in as much effort as I would like; letting things drift. I have a feeling of restlessness; of something missing that I can't quite put my finger on. It has been five years today that I began the blog, so running out of ideas to keep the blog fresh is no surprise.
Yet, I still enjoy my little space in blogland, and don't want to stop writing here; I am just struggling a little at the moment, which I am sure happens to the best of us at times.
So here I am with the old standby, the flower posy. Garden pinks, bluebells, columbine and forget-me-nots - my first picking from the garden this year. In previous years I have featured the early bulbs; daffodils and tulips - but I didn't even think of picking them this year - I guess I have had other things on my mind.
This week my time has been taken up with all the gardening chores that must be done at this time of year; it has been full steam ahead and I have had very little chance to think of anything other than what needs doing next.
The week before we had a wonderful thunderstorm.
The day was hot and humid. I planted nine tomato plants out in the ground and erected a tent cloche over them for protection. We dragged the patio table and chairs out of their winter storage, gave them a quick rub down with teak oil and I sat out under the umbrella reading 'The Orchardist' another of my favourite novels. Then the sky went as dark as a bruised plum; lightning forked and thunder rumbled and the rain came down; lightly at first, then in torrents. Wonderful. I stood at the open French windows watching and listening to the sound of the rain on the umbrella, watching the drips and pools it made on the pond. A summer storm is a fabulous thing.
And lastly, this is my pride and joy. An Auricula, grown from a cutting that a blogging friend sent me last year. I worried and fussed over the winter hoping that it would survive - and here is the proof that it did and is flowering beautifully.
"Every day of this wonderful season of growth seems precious. Most of us experience moments when we succumb to gloom about the prospects for our country, our children's and grandchildren's lives. But then a weekend such as this one shows off to perfection the awesome beauty of Britain, which triumphs over foreign enemies and politicians alike. A May morning amid sunshine and blossom feels as good as anything we could ask for." ~ Max Hastings (journalist)
Elaine
The colors of your posy are WONDERFUL! They lift my heart. Thank you for sharing. I ebb and flow in blog writing; I think we all do. I am glad you wrote this post however! I love the photo through the window of the rain coming down. I love that feeling of being safely tucked in at home as a thunderstorm rages.
ReplyDeleteI do love wandering round the garden seeing what is in flower for me to make my posies - it is such a simple pleasure. And yes I do love a thunderstorm even though it is a little scary - to be honest, I just wanted to go out and dance in the rain and get thoroughly soaked - but I didn't - an opportunity missed :)
DeleteA posy - I love that Elaine. My what gorgeous flowers in your garden. It is all good. Even your lack of posting new things. Like you, I don't post as much and try my best to come up with something interesting. It happens to all of us, I think. Lots of things going on leaves little time to be creative.
ReplyDeleteI agree Donna - I don't want to push myself too hard and blogging just has to take a back seat sometimes. I don't want the feeling that it is all becoming 'run of the mill' stuff - when things have quietened down here a bit I may feel a little more creative - hope so anyway.
DeleteSuch beautiful flowers. What a glorious garden you must have! I envy you the forget-me-nots. And the thunderstorm! How I love that kind of weather. Don't worry about the ebb in blogging, it happens to everyone and its better to get one heartfelt post than several dragged out by duty.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your encouraging words Sarah - when I sit at the computer sometimes I realise that you can't force a blog post. Sometimes I start one and delete it, then another. Then I shut the computer down and walk away till inspiration finds me, rather than the other way round.
DeleteWhat a gorgeous choice of flowers you have in your garden to make that charming posy. That's the lovely thing about gardens, you have enough flowers to be able to pick some for indoors!
ReplyDeleteI think it's normal that blog owners have their ups and downs and there are moments when we have more inspiration than others. Sometimes it's good to renew ourselves and to find different ways of keeping our blog interesting for us and to explore new avenues. I know the feeling!
An odd flower here and there is ok but I don't really have enough to make great big bouquets - small is beautiful.
DeleteHello Elaine,
ReplyDeleteI know exactly how you feel. I've just returned from a blogging break myself and hope to get back into the rhythm of things soon.
Your garden posy is utterly delightful, and I was pleased to read your Auricular made it through. A few years ago, a blogging friend of mine sent me a cutting of an antique geranium with quite a story behind it. I was so looking forward to fussing over it and taking care of a fully-sized plant but, alas, it soon withered away to my great sadness. We tried it one other time with the same result. Oh dear!
Hi CD
DeleteI wondered where you were - hope you enjoyed your blogging break, we all need one sometimes don't we.
Dear Elaine, I can share you feeling about blogging so deeply! (That's why escaped for a while to my other blog "Rise and Shine" - change is always interesting).
ReplyDeleteYour posies: so beautiful! The composition of colours, the possibility to look at them from a very near angle. An auricula like yours stands on the table on my balcony: very brave it is, coming again every year.
Thanks for the book-tip: I haven't read that but will now.
Like you I have another blog but I don't publicise it - on there I can write of different things than I do here - and use it as a kind of release. Glad you like the flowers. I do love auricula I hope I can keep them going - I have lost them before so the ones I have now will be carefully nurtured.
DeleteYou can never have too many posies. It is only right and proper that the more there is to do outside the less time there is to be sitting at a computer pushing out a post under duress.
ReplyDeleteMy thoughts exactly Lucille, these little bunches of flowers give me a great deal of pleasure and I would much rather be out in this fine weather enjoying the garden.
DeleteYou are the second blogger in a row that had used the phrase full steam ahead. Very apt as we were out trying to photograph steam trains yesterday. Disappointing for me (my interest is how photogenic they are) many were diesel substitute and most of the steam ones were facing backwards. Martyn said the diesels were special but to me they were ugly, boring and smelly.
ReplyDeleteAs for blogging ideas - most Bloggers repeat subjects and no-one minds and often doesn't notice as usually we write about the same subject in different ways.
I drafted one post recently and looked back to the same time last year and found I had used practically the same words and pictures (as least I am consistent) :)
DeleteLovely post and pictures. I've been blogging ten years so I dread to think how often I've repeated myself over that time. Flighty xx
ReplyDeleteThanks Flighty. I suppose it does become a problem after blogging for so long - I guess, if you stick to one subject it is bound to happen.
DeleteThe colours in your jam jar are so pretty - I like that sort of posy - much prefer them to formal showy displays.
ReplyDeleteYou have done very well to keep the Auricula flower going and also to have it come into flower. I know that they are very particular about the circumstances in which they will thrive.
Congratulations on five years blogging - there is bound to be a degree of repetition after doing it for so long - it is the same for us all.
I like small posies too Rosemary and usually pick one every week during the year but for some reason got out of the habit, perhaps because of the circumstances at home being a little unsettling. But I'm back on track now and am just taking the situation in my stride now - no point in letting it get me down - hopefully in a few weeks time everything will be back to normal and I will heave a sigh of relief.
DeleteBravo on your auricula! Your Spring colors are dreamy. I agree that a thunderstorm can awaken the senses! Here just miles from the Atlantic, we often feel the fury of a thunderstorm! Scary and wonderful at once! I often feel my blogging is tiresome, to me, and therefore to my readers, but I usually soon find something to be passionate about and feel the need to post. I hope when your struggle to get the house back to rights is way behind you, you will have something marvelous to report to us. I ALWAYS look forward to what you have to say and show!
ReplyDeleteThank you for your kind comment Jayne. I am sure inspiration will find me when I am not looking for it.I was so pleased that the auricula cutting started flowering - I know they can be temperamental if you don't keep your eye on them - so far, so good.
DeleteGracious Elaine your posts are always so lovely and your bouquets are beautiful. I so love to read about what is going on in your part of the world. Wow your Auricula is stunning. You certainly have a green thumb. Hope all is going well with your hi me repairs. Take care and have a great gardening week. Hugs!
ReplyDeleteThank you Debbie you are very kind. Things are moving ahead slowly with the repairs, we have kind of got used to the state of things and the situation can't be rushed - but we will get there in the end.
DeleteI have always like flowers in jam jars; it is something about seeing the stalks taking on a life of their own through the clear glass. I find blogging a very lonely place sometimes.
ReplyDeleteFunny, but I have all sorts, shapes and sizes of vases, but I always prefer a jam jar - a lot less formal! I don't know why you should think blogging is a lonely place as you have a good many faithful followers who hang on to your every word :)
DeleteI have many many blog friends like you Elaine but I also have a few blog enemies who make me feel very lonely sometimes.
DeleteBoth your posy and your aricula are very beautiful!
ReplyDeleteThank you Amy - glad you like them.
DeleteIt's hardly surprising that you're unsettled Elaine. It doesn't put us in a creative frame of mind at all. Thank goodness for gardens!
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely Jessica - it really has been a refuge for me this spring.
DeleteI remember as a child making Primrose posys from the railway banking and selling them for 2p, Now not as many Primrose and no child would be aloud to play next to the railway. I have a vase of Stock and it smells wonderful.
ReplyDeleteThe Auricula looks lovely.
Amanda xx
You rarely see wild primroses round here these days but when we go on holiday to Norfolk in early spring the roadside verges are full of them. I love the smell of stocks too.
DeleteThe posy looks beautiful, such a lovely mixture of blues and pinks. It's no wonder you've felt distracted recently with all the disruption. All I can say is I do enjoy reading all your posts and I hope you get through this difficult time soon x
ReplyDeleteThanks Wendy. Oh I am sure I will, disruption or not, you just have to keep putting one foot in front of the other :)
DeleteElaine, I would miss you very much if you stopped blogging. I like the posies from your garden. They make me smile since I still have snow.
ReplyDeleteDear Barb
DeleteHow kind of you to say so - hopefully I won't be stopping altogether just going a bit more slowly :)
You posy is delightful. I have a eggcup of daisies on my table courtesy of my daughter! I am not suprised that blogging is not coming easy, you must have many other thoughts on your mind.
ReplyDeleteThanks SM the simplest flowers in a simple arrangement, for me, are always the best. I am sure that once everything is back to normal I will be able to concentrate more on other things .
DeleteI love the colours in your posy and that Auricula is just great to see.
ReplyDeleteAll the best Jan
Thanks Jan. Auricula are lovely little flowers so I am delighted the ones I have have survived their first winter and will continue to do so.
DeleteThe flowers are gorgeous with such a variety of flowers. Everything is slow coming out this spring because it has been so cold. We have sun this morning. I understand how one can lose interest in the blog for a while. I removed my header to try a new one that I didn't like, but I have not time to replace it. You have been through a lot with the repairs to your home. Little wonder that you are restless. I hope your gorgeous flowers and lovely garden bring you cheer.
ReplyDeleteElaine your photos are so wonderful especially the posies they say a photo is worth a thousand words need I say more
ReplyDeleteThank you David
DeleteCongratulations of five years of blogging, here's to many, many more! Your lovely posts certainly don't reflect any signs of struggle, they always flow and are always an absolute pleasure to read, I genuinely mean that! You have had an awful lot on your mine....your home has been flooded, that's a big deal and horribly disruptive, go easy on yourself gal, you've been and still are, going through a very stressful situation!!!
ReplyDeleteI'm with you re thunderstorms, especially in summer, unbloomingbeatable they are.I'm glad your auricula is thriving. I had lots in pots and decided to plant them in the borders, I was amazed to see them all surviving and flowering, they are tough little cookies!xxx
Thanks Dina
DeleteWhere has the time gone - over 600 posts, what on earth have I found to write about - put them all together and it would make a good sized book I reckon! The home situation has been stressful and has put a strain on us both - we are now going through the throes of negotiating with the insurance company on costs for new carpets and furniture etc. They are quibbling over our hotel bill - I thought D was going to explode when they asked why we didn't move straight back in once the electricity has been restored. I would love them to go through it and see what it is like then they would perhaps be a little more understanding of the situation. D is going to build me an auricula theatre at some stage so I can display them properly.
Oh...you can certainly do without the haggling!!! Shame on them! I hope you win out and get your lovely home back together soon.xxx
DeleteOh...you can certainly do without the haggling!!! Shame on them! I hope you win out and get your lovely home back together soon.xxx
Delete