It's been a very busy week here, full of lovely things, new experiences, and routines. Our youngest leaves the security of primary education, to the whole new, big world of secondary school in September. This week has been transition week, in preparation for that change. We're been getting used to new routines, new environments, and new situations. Am I ready to have both my children in secondary school? Noooooooo!
I seem to have spent much of my week socialising, it's been lovely, tiring but lovely. I'm not sure what I'd do without my friends, they are so important to me. I'm at an age now, where I feel confident in the choices I make. One of those choices is to have friends who are genuine, honest, and who I can be myself with. It makes spending time with them fun. I like fun.
The weather has turned much cooler this week, I've been dodging the showers by retreating into my garden studio. It's a great place to watch the birds, especially the blackbird as he devours the red currants. We've finished one of our compost areas, I just need to pot up a few plants and it's all finished...it's great to complete another small area. Still a long way to go, but I'm enjoying the challenge very much.
I also wanted to share with you my thoughts on sponsored blog posts. I share with you products that I know, and love. I'm never sponsored for any of the reviews I do. From my own experience it's great to hear what others think of something, especially if you're thinking of buying something yourself, and so from that point of view they are very useful. There are lots of bloggers out there who have made a living from their blogs. They rely on sponsorship, and good on them, for turning something they love doing into a career.
I'm also feeling very emotional this week, thoughts are turning to this time last year. Summer 2014 was a very difficult one, saying goodbye to Mum was a long, painful, intense time. There was also a beautiful connection made too, between a mother, who had lost her memories, and her daughters, who loved her so much.
So there you have it, this week, bit random...welcome to my life! How's your week going? I'd love to hear all about it.
Amanda :) xxx
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I'm sorry it's a bit of a sad time around the anniversary of your mum's death, but you seem to have some lovely memories as well. The garden is looking lovely, so productive, you're doing so well with it. My eldest is leaving little school as well, it's a big moment isn't it. Even more for you, as it's your youngest. A bit of an end of an era. I'm looking forward to the summer holidays though, not long now! CJ xx
ReplyDeleteThanks CJ, it's going to seem very funny not going into primary school, saying that she's been walking to and from school for ages now all by herself, big changes but logistically it will be better them both in the same school! :) xxx
DeleteHi Amanda, your garden looks fab, I love your raised beds :) Great photos of everything else too! In your very first picture with the wildflowers in the jug it took me ages to work out what the green semicircle on the right was. A poster of an apple cut in half at a jaunty angle ? A half Apple somehow arranged into the flowers ? But how was it attached ? Of course then I had a lightbulb moment (do you see what I did there) and realised it was a lamp. Lol.
ReplyDeleteLots of hugs for you at this time of year too,
Jillxxx
This made me giggle Jill, I'm like that, can spend ages working out the obvious. One word, Specsavers! ;) xxx
DeleteThinking of you at this poignant anniversary.
ReplyDeleteYour garden and studio look lovely.
My little man is coming to the end of his first year at secondary school ... where did that year go??!
Have a great weekend. M x
I know, it flies by! :) xxx
DeleteFriends are by definition genuine. A friend isn't just someone you know, it is someone you like. It seems many people don't like their 'friends'. I find that weird, as if I don't like someone I don't consider them my friend. I like my friends, so therefore don't need to tell everyone what I don't like about them as it seems some people do. Have you noticed how often people gossip about their friends, usually people you have not met yourself, making them sound pretty awful? Well I do wonder why they are allegedly friends if they are so terrible.
ReplyDeleteI switch off from sponsored posts to be honest, and that includes many monetised blogs as they are just so dull that they don't hold my interest. I find blogs that now seem to consist only of sponsored giveaways also pointless. If I want it I will buy it and not line up to plead for the said item in a comment. The greed of people becomes so apparent in a giveaway, where people who never usually even acknowledge or say thank you, push themselves forward.
I don't like having things pitched at me by bloggers who are earning money from what they talk about, when they don't tell you they are affiliated and will either earn money or benefit in some other way. I also dislike exploitative bloggers who lack integrity and use personal Facebook pages to conduct business and hardly have any communications with their readers apart from when they want to sell them something, those that ignore the questions unless they relate to a product. Bloggers who are very successful but who rarely offer comments to other bloggers or return the support offend me. I don't like it when readers who have supported bloggers for years are just treated as people to market the brand to. Often they don't start out like this but as they get popular, well I'm afraid some people get a sense of their own self importance over others.
The opposite kind of person really stands out too. I'm not mentioning any names in this comment but one lovely blogger who bothers to respond kindly to readers comments on her own blog, while regularly offering support interest and advice in other people's comment areas is so noticeable, sprinkling kindness and integrity about and is rather lovely. She doesn't sell anything but still has one of the blogs with a large number of followers; I would readily buy from her though, because she is a giving person who shows herself to make time for others in a busy world. I do like and support bloggers with integrity who have things to sell that they are responsible for creating and which they are upfront about and who remain interested in their readers and who voice thanks for their support.
I'm not interested in book reviews when they are only there because the reviewer got a freebie - it's always a good review because they wouldn't say if they didn't like it. When you make money in genuine ways with honest dealings or set up a business, then that is a wonderful thing. Too many people though treat their readers in really rather a shabby way, for instance ignoring them for months on end and then expecting us to come across with the cash to buy the new book. Some bloggers become just too high handed and holy than thou for me. A little success certainly goes to some people's heads and certainly some people are very comfortable on pedestals believing in their own hype. Others somehow manage to make the transition perfectly. There is actually a lot I no longer like about the blogging world, as it has certainly changed from just a few years ago.
Anyway, favourite blogs are those few around that have nothing to sell, but interesting things to say and pretty things to show. Sadly most of those blogs have gone and a few turned into those of the kind I don't like. Blogging it seems is a dying art. Pictures of animals but especially cats belong to the good type of blog - lovely to look at and a reminder that it isn't all about us. Enjoy your summer, your garden is gorgeous.
Louise
Thank you for all your comments Louise, I really do appreciate the time you've taken to leave them. Blogging has changed, certainly in the years I've been reading them. Some of those changes are for the good, some not so. I always hope to be a genuine blogger, not perfect by any means. There are many blogs I don't get time to read or comment on...if I did, I'd never be off my iPad! I've had contact with so many lovely souls on here, and I've gained so much comfort and support, I couldn't tell you how much. I'm honest about life, about the things I experience and I hope people read my blog because of that. I think those who go on to have very successful blogs must get very busy with promotions and such, that normal day to day contact must get very difficult. There's one thing though with blogging, we can choose to read, or not to read. Take care Sweetheart, keep reading what you enjoy, what makes you happy :) xxx
DeleteSounds like a good week, even if it was busy and tiring :) My two kids are in their last years of university and high school come September. That looming "unknown" for both of them is feeling a little like a black cloud. I like things settled. Your garden looks amazing with everything growing out and over the boundaries! I like your little compost bins too. First anniversaries of losing a loved one are sad, but I'm sure you feel your mom's closeness to you even so.
ReplyDeleteHugs to you Amanda :)
Wendy
Thank you Wendy, you always have such support to offer. Yes the big world is opening up for your two, exciting and scary in equal measure. They will find their own feet, we did, so will they! ;) xxx
DeleteMy youngest is leaving primary school next week too - it will be the end of a 15 year relationship with that school and has felt surprisingly emotional.
ReplyDeleteYour garden is beautiful - and what a lovely place to sit and remember your mum. I am sure that when my time comes to go what you are going through I will find the garden very important - it s where I do all my best thinking. Much love to you x
It is emotional isn't it Karen, I've already told my husband he has to finish early on her last day so we can walk down and pick her up together, I'm going to be a gibbering reck! There's real solace spending time in the garden, I feel close to Mum there :) xxx
DeleteAnniversaries and the little things are hard, it's only natural you will feel emotional, I know from your posts that you have happy memories, your garden is looking good and I know being there makes you feel close to her. Spending time with friends is good, be kind to yourself. Hx
ReplyDeleteThank you H :) xxx
Deletehow time has flown Ada since you Mum passed away it takes time, I lost my Mum in 2006 and still miss her so so much. I smiled reading about your daughter about to go to senior school, if only we could turn the clocks back, my granddaughter is now 17 so you have a long way to go to catch up with me. Your veg plots seem to grow as I watch them on instagram and so so envious of you summer house. Found I can only leave a comment if I use the reply box!
DeleteMargaret, you're welcome to attach your comment to a reply anytime! ;) xxx
DeleteI too don't write sponsored posts. Just three times in four years of blogging I've accepted a book to review and give away because it was a book I thought I'd like - my next post will include one - but it always backfires on me. I'm struggling with the coming review because although I feel confident about the book's content being worth folks money there are things I don't like about the book's design. I certainly wouldn't see the point of sharing lots of pictures of it like you did with the book in your last post. How people who write sponsored posts regularly can do so without feeling they're losing a little bit of their soul I have no idea.
ReplyDeleteI like to share the stuff I like, I do sometimes read sponsored posts but only if it's something I'm interested in. I think that way I avoid feeling compromised in any way. Some blogs however are businesses, it's how they earn their salary, just the same as working for tesco (other supermarkets are available) they sell a product and get cash for it, simple really :) xxx
DeleteSome big changes for you, I hope all goes well. I have another year to wait before youngest takes that leap! It is such a blessing to have true friends, I'm glad you have had some happy times this week, some things are definitely worth the fatigue afterwards:-) It sounds as though your week hasn't been easy in other ways. All those long weeks must have been so hard. Last week was a year since my own dear Dad had a massive stroke and died. It was so out of the blue and it still seems unreal most of the time! Tomorrow would have been his 68th birthday. I am hoping all the anniversary days cwill get easier as the years go by. I hope you get through this time alright and are able to reflect on all the happy memories. Hugs, Sharon. Xx
ReplyDeleteHi Sharon, emotional time for you too, it must have been a big shock losing your Dad like that, and so young too. Take care xxx
DeleteI'm not really a fan of sponsored posts. I am turning art (and writing) into a career, but -particularly with the writing - have endeavoured to pursue freelancing opportunities and keep my blog as was originally intended: a journal of sorts, a compendium of thoughts and a celebration of little things which make me happy.
ReplyDeleteI too am feeling a sadness though. We lost my mum over the summer of 2014 and, like you, it was a long and heartbreaking process. It's almost exactly a year since she went into a hospice and (unbeknown to us then) would never come home again. I miss her every day.
Sending you love and best wishes.
S x
Oh Sarah, you've had such a lot of loss in your family. It's a sad time for you too, reflecting on last summer. I'm trying hard to remember what a good mum she was but feel an overwhelming sense of sadness with how she had to leave us, it's seems so unfair. But then life not fair, and you know that only too well...and we have to make the most of life! I'm glad you're turning your art and writing, your talents, into a living, well done :) xxx
DeleteThanks for this post. I found it very comforting after losing my dad 5 months ago and remembering his birthday last weekend. Your garden is fab. Love the raised beds and your studio. There's definitely change in the air regarding blogging and it's very interesting hearing what others think. I think all bloggers give a lot even if they write sponsored posts and the days of homespun blogs may be waning which is sad but realistic. Take care. Claire xo
ReplyDeleteI'm so sorry to hear about your Dad, Claire, we kind of always think they will be around don't we. Blogging is changing, I think there are still lots of homespun ones out there but I think other social media is putting the squeeze in blogging. We all only have a limited amount of time so it's inevitable things become diluted :) xxx
DeleteI love those metal white planters ,Gorgeousxxx
ReplyDelete