How Do You Manage Blogging?

It has been no secret that my winter and spring were eaten up like popcorn at a thriller movie this year from various interruptions. Some of it, of course, was my own poor management of time I am sure. But creativity and becoming lost in words does take time. Then there are blogs…like those famous potato chips, you can’t read just one!

I try to limit myself, but there are so many good blogs and newsletters out there that I can become derailed with some mighty good thoughts and opinions of others for a long while. Lately Becky over at Writer Searching for Bliss (http://beckypovich.blogspot.com) got so distracted by blog reading and writing she had to take a Blog Break! To quote Becky a bit, blogging “sure eats up a lot of time”.

I meant to limit by list of blogs that I would follow regularly, but mercy, that too has grown like Topsy. It is a job to read and comment on them all. I keep running onto more and more that are worthwhile. Some blogs are for pleasure and some for work. Several writing blogs challenge me to produce. I suppose one could do blogs like magazine subscriptions. Try it for a while and then drop it later, but too often I find the bloggers are such interesting people, that they become personal friends and who wants to drop their friends?

Today I signed up to follow a blog called The Dictionary Project. The idea of words, authors, books…ah, sounds good to me! You might want to check it out for yourself at http://thedictionaryprojectblog.com.

A recent blog I have been trying to tap into...and one I am way behind in reading….is Tend Your Inner Garden over at http://tendingyourinnergarden.com.This is a site for women searching to tap into their own inner guidance relying on the seasons as teachers...among many other topics.  Today I got the newsletter in my email and listen to what Deb Engle had to say:

"By cutting away what was no longer them, I revealed the beauty at their core. This is the process we do for ourselves when we tend our inner gardens and take time for spiritual practice. We consistently, little by little, let go of what is no longer us so we can reveal the beauty within."

Now the author was talking about looking for beauty in our own lives by showing how she trimmed her plants, but I saw this as writing advice as well. Don’t we often need to prune those wordy passages down and let go of things we “think” are vital only to see our writing become stronger and more lively?

This also reminds me of blogging again. How do you decide how much to blog, either reading or writing? Do you set limits for reading? Do you set goals for writing? Do you prune your blog list? How do YOU manage blogging, an informative and supportive activity for writers?

Alone Again

                                                  Will he eat that whole bag of Cheetos all by himself?


Red hair coating the carpets, the inside of the car also with furry coat. Wet smears on any window or glass door a coal black nose can reach. A few crumbs here and there. Storm has gone home again. It is lonely and quiet here again. Amazing how much love a dog can give!

She was happy all week. Bone tired at night, putting herself to bed and not making a peep until morning. She went to Sonic for the ice she loves and a gift from Sonic--ice cream in a Pup Cup. She rode shotgun to Joplin, waited briefly at the library, had Saturday breakfast at the lake where she ignored the ducks.

Yesterday about noon, she became restless. No longer wanted to be on the deck with us while we read. She wanted to sit in the front window. How did she know our son was on his way to get her? She watched and paced until he arrived an hour later. Last night she was happiest with us ALL in one room with her. Amazing.

                                                  Ah, I knew he was a nice guy! YUM!

Saturday Outing and the Grand Dog

We have always had a policy to stay off the roads for Memorial Day and Labor Day. After a long drive this Labor Day Saturday, I remember why! So many cars, trucks and boats on the road today. Many people heading for the lakes on a hot day, and many more were traveling to cemeteries to decorate graves. Despite traffic, the views were rich and verdant. Golden wheat, ready early this year, stretched out like golden carpets. Corn about a foot high looked green and strong.

Our destination was to get our grand dog for a week while our son works in Oklahoma. We met half way for both us on the edge of the Flint Hills. Before hitting the small town, DH and I stopped in Pittsburg to visit their Farmers' Market for the first time. It is relatively small but so loaded with diverse produce and bakery items. Due the heat today and being on the road, we were limited to what we could buy. I did get some huge radishes, lovely blueberries, two carrot-coconut-pineapple muffins, and a jar of jam before we hit the road again.

Once in Fredonia, a small Kansas berg, we picked up hamburgers and went to the local park which was on a huge mound. One could see for miles around, see the prairie reaching to the horizons. There were plenty of trees for shade and the breeze kept us comfortable until we would step out into the 90 degree sunshine!

Storm was excited to see us after six months. She was eager to get into our truck and visit Missouri for a week! Ah, the love of a dog!

Tea for One This Morning

I awoke at 5:30 this morning and faced a trade-off in my head. Did I keep my eyes shut a little longer or grab some precious minutes all alone in my garden before DH raced through doors, the neighbors ran noisy mowers, and city trucks lumbered down the street? I opted for a session where the only racket I heard was the songs of numerous birds greeting the dawn with melody.

Truly the good life...a muffin, tea, a book, and a fresh morning.

One of my little buddies this morning. A Carolina wren just after his bath in the bird bath.

Mexican petunias...fresh in the morning but blooms will be gone by nightfall. Tomorrow morning, more fresh blooms will appear!

Nathan Boone...continued from yesterday

Nearly two hundred years old, the Nathan Boone home is amazing for what it has gone through during the years like the Civil War and 1937 tornado. The 1937 tornado took one chimney, but the house stood otherwise unharmed. However, all out buildings were destroyed at that time. The present barn was rebuilt after the storm and about 80 years old.

Looking from the front porch of the house, one can see the creek bed that was once much larger. Across the creek and up the rise (in the small group of trees) is one of the two springs on the property. This was the family water source and slaves carried water the distance to the dog trot cabin. Near that spring was a road that went to Springfield.

Several cut-aways appear in the cabin walls. Once can see the history of the house: wooden logs, lathe, plaster, etc.

A walking trail back to the park office takes visitors by the Boone family cemetery and by their slave cemetery.

After buying a few books at the park office, we headed back into town for a burger lunch. Then we did some flea markets and meandered home on back roads stopping at a garage sale or two. We all found some treasure for the day…DH found a drafting set to add to his collection, we all found some used books, I found some Limoges
berry cups! We came home tired, happy, and more knowledgeable about Nathan Boone!

Missouri's Nathan Boone

This has been a very busy week, but most of it has been social or pleasant. Tea parties, salads on the deck, a breakfast brunch on a friend’s porch, and today was really great as DH and I, along with friends, visited the Nathan Boone State Park. It was just grand!

The site is about an hour from us and is just outside the berg of Ash Grove, Missouri. The land in this area is positively gorgeous… rolling rich farm land that looks very much like parts of Kentucky. No wonder the Boones found it a good place to start a homestead.

Nathan Boone was the last of Daniel Boone’s ten children. He was a farmer, planter, army man who sired fourteen children of his own. This homestead was where he died after retiring from the military service at age 67. He married his wife Olive when she was 16 and who was a strong, noteworthy woman herself. I intend to read more about these two Missouri residents and to brush up on old Daniel as well!

We registered at the park office and opted for the guided tour which was a wise move. Dakota turned out to be a fascinating guide who knew his stuff. We followed a path through a small woods to the farm house that was about a quarter of a mile back on open prairie…totally beautiful place.

Dakota took us into the house, into the root cellar, and pointed out many spots in our view. The house was a traditional dog trot log cabin that in later years was enclosed to provide one more small room for living. Dakota opened the doors on either side of the house, the old dog trot, and a delightful and cooling breeze came up from the valley and through the house.

One of the most interesting features of the house was the shoe box. It was a practice to put two shoes in the walls and leave them there when building a house to ensure good luck. This tradition can be found as far back as the 1600’s, and when repairing and restoring the home, the workers in deed found shoes from the mid 1800’s.

Not many people know much about Nathan Boone, only the family name. This home and the homestead site are well worth the time to visit, to learn the history of, and to enjoy.

Tea in the Garden

    

                                       Painting by Dorothy Mundell...her own farm flower garden.

Two of the best things in life are tea and friends. This morning was a perfect example of an exquisite morning with both. It might be farfetched to call my deck a garden, but it is a garden to me. Years ago we had a vegetable garden for a while but never flowers. I grew up in a household where my dad was a tyrant about having any flowers or ornaments in the yard! Grass was meant for cutting, should  be evenly trimmed, and needed no interruptions to the mower.  When I had my own yard, I was busy rearing boys instead of raising blooms. I did keep pots on the deck though out of the way of soccer balls, imaginary wars with guns and hostlers, Tonka dozers through sand pits, and tree house traffic.

The weather is flawless this week for being outside. I took the chance to have a little tea party. Oh, the joy of sharing tea and good weather! Tastes were equally divided between hot tea and iced tea, but there was something for everyone. There was cinnamon orange, tropical, chocolate, and plain tea. Snacks were little cheesecakes, a breakfast cookie, chocolate chip, and a raspberry bar. But the real sweetness of the morning was seeing people relax, laugh, and enjoy themselves.

In the afternoon a couple brought burgers and we added chips, cookies, and of course, more tea. We caught up on their news. After lunch and a near naptime, they left and the day wound down. Tea and friends, all day long…ideal assets for a May day.