Why do you blog? There have been a few blogs that I read who lately have vowed to stop blogging due to lack of comments or change the direction of their blogging due to not wanting to cause others to stray from this or that.
I blog for ME! I blog about my day to day life and it is what it is. I love reading comments left by my blog readers. But, if for some reason — I never receive another comment, I will continue to blog. I will not change the way I blog in order to get more readers and comments. I don’t write to please others. I write for ME. I try to be sensitive to others and not write things that might cause hurt feelings but no way am I going to write just to please or impress someone else. I don’t think I have that in me anyway.
I don’t write to convince anyone to believe the way I believe or do the things I do. My belief is that if I’m constantly having to write about what I think, what I believe, how I live my life, then something is missing. I’ve always felt that people who know me, whether personally or via my blog, can basically tell what kind of person I am by the way I live my life — not by the way I SAY I live my life. I could tell you every day what a wonderful housekeeper I am but that would be a total lie! I am not a great housekeeper and it doesn’t bother me one bit. My house isn’t filthy – it’s cluttered. I could tell you that I’m a great cook but I think you see by the recipes I post and by the pictures of the food I share, that I’m a good cook. If that doesn’t convince you — look at us! 🙂 See what I’m saying? I live my life based on the way I think life should be lived and I don’t see the need to constantly be telling people how I live my life. You see it! I am an example of how I think life should be lived. No one else has to live their life based on how I think life should be lived and that’s fine! The world would be a boring place if we all lived our lives the exact same way.
I think it’s totally absurd to think that by showing pictures of my stash, someone is going to go out and run up credit card debt in order to have a stash that equals mine! I think it’s equally absurd to think that showing pictures of my home will cause someone to be unhappy with their own circumstances because their house is not as big as my house. I’ve lived in mobile homes, in apartments, in smaller houses, in larger houses. I find it pretty shallow of anyone to think any more or less of anyone (including themselves) based on the size of a house!
Back to the reason for blogging – I love to write (I also love to talk in case anyone hasn’t noticed). I am pretty easily entertained but I love going back to some of my older blog posts and reading what was going on in my life a year or so ago. I tend to forget little things and find pleasure in reading what I was thinking or doing over the years. Today I went back to some of my older posts and enjoyed visiting with my recent history.
I read comments left in 2005 and 2006 from readers who probably no longer read my blog. Does it bother me? No! There were blogs I used to love and because either they changed or my preferences changed, I no longer read those blogs. No harm done – blogging is something I do for fun. I owe no one anything and no one owes me anything.
Some of the highlights down Memory Lane via my older blog posts:
This purple and yellow quilt is from a Buggy Barn pattern that I did in probably early 2004 when I was teaching this class for Daviess County Community Education. Teaching those classes is where I met my dear friend, Becky. This quilt was later a gift to Chad’s homeroom teacher, Mrs. Whitmer. We were so lucky to have Mrs. Whitmer as a mentor to Chad.
At other places in my blog, I find lots of pictures of quilts I’ve made for Chad’s teachers. I enjoy seeing the old pictures and remembering the names of those teachers we loved and appreciated.
I came across this green quilt with the bright stars that I made for my friend, Vicky. She is the most generous person I know and several years ago, she sent me a packet of about 80 fat quarters. I surprised her by making this quilt for her, using some of those fat quarters. She lives near the Road to California quilt show so in 2005, we entered the quilt in the show and it was accepted. I had forgotten how pretty the quilt was but I remember how sweet Vicky is.
I found my entry about a Deputy Sheriff in Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana who was seriously injured in the line of duty just before Hurricane Rita hit there. During the process of rushing him to a hospital in a safe area, his very pregnant wife went into labor. I read about their story on a web page from a Lake Charles law firm. The wife worked for the law firm and they had set up a web page to try to keep their employees informed. The employees had scattered across the country fleeing the hurricane. I made a quilt for the baby and the mom. The baby’s quilt is a panel with borders added, but cute nonetheless.
My very first QOV from early 2005.
A quilt I designed while in Vermont in 2004 – a quilt I never made and had almost forgotten about but I would like to make it one day. The log cabins represented the little community of rental log cabins where we stayed. The pinwheels represented the hot, windy evenings we sat out on our porch. The trees represented well . . all the green that we saw in Vermont. The roads were just horrible — narrow, some dirt, winding roads and hence the snail’s trail border.
There’s the story about the children in the dentist office whose mom had died and I made quilts for those children.
There are pictures of bridges I hated and a beautiful wallhanging made by my friend, Eve. The wallhanging was supposed to help me cross bridges!
There are pictures of my tiny little kitchen at the house we had in town in Owensboro. The house now has a new owner and I hope she’s enjoying it as much as I did.
So, I will continue to blog. My blog may take on different tones or go in a different direction depending on what’s happening in my life but that’s exactly what my blog is — a diary of my life — not here to impress anyone, not here to corrupt anyone, not here to change the way anyone else lives their life.
Hopefully those of you who read it will take it for what it’s worth and continue to enjoy the blog and quilters will find inspiration and cooks will find recipes to try.
I appreciate all of you who read my blog and leave your comments.
