Posted on by Donna

A Bloom Day Anniversary

 

Man’s mind, once stretched by a new idea,
never regains its original dimensions.
~Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

The idea of starting a blog was a stretch for me as I had not even considered it a few years ago.  I had heard about blogs, but had no compunction to ever write one.  I wasn’t even really reading any.  But then I saw a few friends had started blogs and once I joined Facebook, I saw more and more blogs listed.  Circumstances led me to have a bit more time on my hands so I thought about starting my own blog.  And Gardens Eye View was born with the first post rolling off the presses on this day in 2010.

It is hard to believe it has already been two years and almost 150 posts.  I wasn’t sure how long I would be able to keep blogging, but I vowed that at least every Monday, I would publish a post.  And I have, even sending one (albeit brief) out when I was very ill.  And I continued to infuse new ideas into the blog while still keeping to my original idea of posting about the lessons I have learned from my garden; both gardening and life lessons.

Over the last 2 years, I have blogged a bit more about gardening while still imparting those life lessons since they are my core, the essence of this blog and why it was created.  And yes the blog design/template remains the same simple one I started with.  I have often thought about changing it, but I am not ready.  Besides, it is just the shell that holds the words and pictures which are the most important part of this blog.

Blogging for any length of time can be difficult trying to maintain the energy and creative ideas.  Am I just repeating myself?  Did I use that photograph before or that quote?   Do I have any original ideas left?  As writers and bloggers we have to fight the doldrums, the boredom, the rut of routine-of doing the same thing weekly.

So how do we fight this rut and keep going so we are fresh and interesting with our posts?  I have to give myself a “shot in the arm” of what I call blogergy juice-endless creative energy.  I do this by:

  1. Learning new things.  Maybe about photography, plants, garden design but always learning.  It has always kept me energized and moving forward.
  2. Reading blogs, stories on the web or books it doesn’t matter.  But I keep reading and finding new things that pique my interest.  This connects with #1 because I learn a lot by reading.  And these new ideas and topics give me ideas for writing posts.  Even a simple quotation I find can give the spark I need to write 1000 words.
  3. Spending time by myself to reflect especially in nature.  There is no better place to be re-energized than in nature where you are filled with life’s force.
  4. Immersing myself in artistic endeavors.   I find the creative arts like photography, painting and for me writing poetry keeps the innovative juices flowing, and helps unlock and dislodge any blocks.

I fully expect as I continue to grow and especially with my impending retirement in August of 2013, that there will be new and fresh ideas, a new design for the blog and maybe a new career path.  I hope you will continue to come along for the ride as long as you are enjoying yourself.  And if you find it is time to leave, I thank you for stopping by and spending some time with me in the garden.

As it is almost Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day hosted by Carol@May Dreams Gardens, I thought I would share some flowers that have decided to bloom after a brief shower this past weekend.  I also wanted to include some new quotes I found with these recent pictures as they both help to illustrate how I feel about life, the garden and my blog.

 

Apprentice yourself to nature.   Not a day will pass without her opening a new and wondrous world of experience to learn from and enjoy.  

~Richard W. Langer

 

 

 

The gardener who imagines that his work can be reduced to a set of rules and formulae,

followed and applied according to special days marked on the calendar,

is but preparing himself for a double disappointment.

Few things are so certain to be uncertain as the seasons and the weather; and these,

rather than a set of dates, even for a single locality,

form the signs which the real gardener follows.

That is the great trouble with much book and magazine gardening.
~Frederick Frye Rockwell, Around the Year in the Garden, 1917

Yes, I am a dreamer. For a dreamer is one who can find his way by moonlight, and see the dawn before the rest of the world.

~Oscar Wilde

 I cannot endure to waste anything as precious as autumn sunshine by staying in the house.
So I spend almost all the daylight hours in the open air. 
~Nathaniel Hawthorne 

Every flower about a house certifies to the refinement of somebody.
Every vine climbing and blossoming tells of love and joy.

~Robert G.  Ingersoll

Tis the last rose of summer,

Left blooming alone;

All her lovely companions

Are faded and gone.
~Thomas Moore, The Last Rose of Summer, 1830


And I would love to share a bit of the foliage showing this September.  Notice there are some plants showing a bit of reblooming, and some where the foliage is already wearing its fall colors.  I am linking in with Pam@Diggingfor her Foliage Follow Up on the 16th, and Christina@Creating my own garden of the Hesperides for her Garden Bloggers Foliage Day on the 22nd as I share my foliage this September.

Texture and foliage keep a garden interesting through the season.
Flowers are just moments of gratification.
~Kevin Doyle

Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts.  There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature— the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after winter.
~Rachel Carson

 

 

This grand show is eternal.  It is always sunrise somewhere; the dew is never all dried at once; a shower is forever falling; vapor is ever rising.  Eternal sunrise, eternal sunset, eternal dawn and glowing, on sea and continues and islands, each in its turn, as the round earth rolls.
~John Muir

 

I leave you with these special words as I gaze upon my fall meadow still bursting with blooms.  You can see the names of the plants above by moving your cursor over the pictures.

“May the sun bring you new energy by day
May the moon restore you by night
May the rain wash away your worries
May the breeze blow new strength into your being
May you walk gently through the world
and know all its beauty
all the days of your life”
Apache Blessing
________________________________________________________________

Come Join Us:

I hope you will join me for my Seasonal Celebrations meme.  And it seems so appropriate to collaborate with Beth and her Garden Lessons Learned meme.  What lessons have you learned this past season of summer here in the North and winter in the South.  Then tell us about your wishes, desires and dreams for this new season.

The rules are simple.  Just create a post that talks about lessons learned and/or seasonal celebrations.  If you are joining in for both memes please leave a comment on both our blog posts.  Or if you are choosing to join only one meme, leave a comment on that blog post.  Make sure to include a link with your comment.

Beth and I will do a summary post of our respective memes on the equinox (around the 21st of September).  And we will keep those posts linked on a page on our blog.  Your post should be linked in the weekend before the equinox to give us enough time to include your post in our summary.  And if you link in a bit late, never fear we will include it on the special blog page (when I get it done that is).

The badges here can be used in your post.  So won’t you join in the celebration!!

____________________________________________________________________________

Next up on the blog:     This Monday it will be time to share another wonderful garden book.  Stay tuned for Seasonal Celebrations revealed on the 21st, and then at the end of the month I’ll share another favorite native wildflower.

As always, I’ll be joining Tootsie Time’s Fertilizer Friday.

I hope you will join me for my posts once a month on the 3rd Tuesday, at Beautiful Wildlife Garden. The next one will be on the 18th.

Please remember, to comment click on the title of the post and the page will reload with the comments section.

All original content is copyrighted and the sole property of Donna Donabella @ Gardens Eye View, 2010-2012.  Any reprints or use of content or photos is by permission only.

72 Replies to “A Bloom Day Anniversary”

  1. Congrats on two years, Donna. Your blogging ‘juices’ are a good way to keep the blog fresh and interesting. Being creative is a key.

    1. Thank you Donna. I think we seek that creativeness and are inspired by other bloggers as we see their expertise grow and realize what we can do as well.

  2. Thanks for sharing those lovely quotes, your pretty September blooms, and your thoughts on blogging. I feel very much the same about constantly reading and learning, but also reflecting in nature, which really does re-energize. And congratulations on two years! Your posts are always a joy to read Donna – written with a heart! I will certainly be following the coming year in your garden! 😀

    1. Cathy what a wonderful way to start my day. I thank you so much for letting me know how much you enjoy the Blog. I look forward to continuing to read your wonderful blog as well. Each post is wonderful and you blog daily. That is no small accomplishment!

  3. Greetings from Portland, Oregon,

    I just wanted to tell you how much I admire your site and your posts. For the past six months, I have been subscribing and enjoying the stories of gardening adventures on the East Coast. In particular, I love your quotes and detailed photography.

    Thank you for your wonderful site!

    Susan Troccolo

    1. Susan I am overwhelmed at your wonderful comment and praise for my blog…thank you and I hope year three is equally pleasing!!

  4. Hi Donna,

    Congrats on your anniversary! 🙂 It always shocks me when the years pass without realising the blog is yet another year older!

    I think we all wonder if we’re saying the same things/posting the same photos time and again. I guess it’s in the nature of a garden blog. Things move with the season and most gardens will be mature and so very little changes. Thankfully I don’t tend to have issues with repeating myself year in year out as I’m not much of a writer and the blog is mainly for photos. But certainly the photos are repetitive and now the garden is maturing, there are fewer changes so I will most likely hit a rut in the next year.

  5. Happy Second Blogaversary! Loved all the little quotes. I also liked reading about how you keep the creative juices flowing. It is always fun to know why people decided to start their blog. I always appreciate your life lessons as well as your garden lessons. I hope you have a wonderful third year of blogging.

  6. I have enjoyed reading your thoughts and quotes over the last couple years. Time sure speeds by doesn’t it? It is always interesting to see the thoughts behind the starting of a blog as HolleyGarden just said.
    Love the first quote by Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. Also agree with your first premise, learn!! I am amazed at how much I have learned through writing my blog as well as reading blogs by others. That and I love plants and photography.

    1. Janet I have enjoyed your comments over the years and have found I too have learned so much more from blogging than any book or class. Thank you for your support!

  9. Hello- coming over from Fertilizer Friday- your blog post is beautiful and thought provoking. Congratulations on your two years anniversary! I guess I’m at about 2 years myself with my blog! I think your blog looks great- no need to change it!

  10. I love the sophistication of your blog, your use of quotations, the beautiful photos, the soild prose. I’m most fond of the self-reflective ones. When I read them, it’s easy to imagine receiving them as personal notes or as part of an ongoing and meaningful conversation with garden-devoted friends. It seems the blogging experience has grown you in some ways, would that be true?

    1. Yes Cheryl I have continued to grow on my journey through writing the blog. I think I like writing the reflective posts the most and am glad folks really enjoy them. I cannot thank you enough for such wonderful praise for my blog posts.

  11. Hi Donna, you have a lot of things simultaneously going on. I wonder how you can manage all those at the same time. I blog ahead of you and sometimes i get the maybe ‘blog burn-out’, because when I don’t get more comments i am not inspired to post more. Blogging is time consuming, so when i feel that only a few come over to see them, or they don’t come unless i go to theirs first, i get a little sad, hehe. But after sometime i get the energies again and even if they don’t come to see my site, i still comment on them. This maybe is the nature of bloglife! But i learn a lot from people around the world and learn a lot of plants and creatures from here!

    1. I do get a bit tired and burnt out sometimes but those creative energies are replenished eventually. I know what you mean about getting discouraged when people do not visit and comment even after you faithfully visit and comment on their blogs. I think it may be the nature of blogs, but I prefer to try and visit others if they comment. It is hard sometimes and I may not get there regularly but even a few times is better than never. I will always visit your wonderful, interesting blogs!

    1. Oh Karin I am humbled to think I inspire people. So glad you have enjoyed the blog over the last two years and I thank you for continuing to support my blog.

  13. I appreciate the four comments you shared in this post regarding staying energized and creative… my mind travels similar paths and I find it disheartening that my body is having some trouble keeping up as I grow older and am having health concerns. I know there will come a time when my creative spirit will have to be satiated with exercises that aren’t quite as demanding on the body, but until then I find responding to inspiration to be one of the greatest endeavors in my life… great post… Larry

    1. Larry your comment means a lot as I am always inspired by your blog. I too think about trying to get my garden to be less work as the years go on and I cannot do all the work. But like you I will continue as long as my body allows. i actually am more pain free and healthier when in the garden.

  16. Congratulations, Donna, on your second year of blogging! I always enjoy your reflections and photos and the views of your garden. Hope those creative juices keep flowing and that year three is a good one of growth and bloom. (Personal and botanical, of course!)

    1. Stacy your beautiful blog has served as a heartfelt inspiration to me, keeping my creative juices engaged as I read your thought provoking posts. It means a lot that you have enjoyed my posts.

  17. congrats on the anniversary!!! great post and beautiful photos…I just love blue morning glory!!!
    shared this post to tootsie time facebook page!!!
    thanks for linking in again this week!
    hugs from Alberta Canada!
    (¯`v´¯)
    `*.¸.*´Glenda/Tootsie
    ¸.•´¸.•*¨) ¸.•*¨)
    (¸.•´ (¸.•´ .•´ ¸¸.•¨¯`•.
    http://www.tootsietime.com

  18. Happy blogaversary donna, I love following your blog and find much of interest in the posts. I’m so pleased you included catmint among your images. (lol) P.S. I want to be a dreamer too like Oscar Wilde.

    1. Oh Karen say it isn’t so…the Frost word…uggh! My garden is almost finished although if we get some more rain, I bet it will revive a bit. I actually have one dahlia finally blooming even with night time temps in the 40s. Thank you Karen for your kind words.

  21. Congrats on 2 years, Donna. You’re doing a wonderful job on your blog. As you look towards next year’s retirement, I hope you’ll find it a time to enjoy reflecting and creating an even more enjoyable future.

    1. Grace I cannot thank you enough for all your wonderful support and friendship…I am glad we have gotten to know each other and hope we will meet someday…I am looking forward to that retirement and a brand new start onto something new and exciting.

    1. Carolyn how wonderful to have gotten to this mark and still having friends like you popping in weekly with your wonderful comments and thoughts. I am so thankful for all my readers but especially you! You have been a wonderful model of what a great blog is.

  23. Congratulations on your two year blogoversary! I still remember when I discovered your blog and how much i enjoyed it. As always, I love your quotes, this time especially the Oscar Wilde one. I also am still using the same template I started with, and it is about as simple as they come. I like simple, and I think a lot of other readers do, too!

    1. Thanks Deb for finding my blog as I have enjoyed your visits. If I change my template it will still be simple…here is to another year!

  24. Happy two years of blogging! I love your insights and reflections. Your blog reflects how passionate you are about gardening and I will continue to enjoy your posts.

  26. Congrats on your two-year blogging anniversary! I just discovered your blog from your Foliage Followup post at Digging. I try to keep learning and trying new things too, it’s a good way to find material for my blog. Love the quotes, especially that first one. You have some very pretty flowers and foliage!

    1. My goodness Michelle 5 years…what a milestone. You have many things keeping your mind elsewhere right now but I would be lost without your wonderful blog full of lovely nature and gardens. I am so glad we have gotten to know each other through our blogs, and that you have enjoyed yourself.

  30. Congratulations on two years of blogging! Your posts are heartfelt and educational, and well illustrated. I enjoy reading your blog – I think it’s one of the best garden blogs out there! Also wanted to say your anemone and pink mums are really pretty.

    1. Beth wow I am so touched to be thought of as one of the best….I truly thank you and glad you like the blog. It was nice to finally see some pink in my garden.

  31. Happy bloom anniversary! Lovely photos as always. The last rose of summer was particularly evocative. Thank you for sharing tips on how to keep a blog fresh and interesting! 🙂

    1. Loredana I particularly liked “The Last Rose” as well. It seems to mean so much more than what is on the surface. Thank you for your lovely comment and for visiting.

  32. Congratulations on two years, Donna! My, how time flies. I am glad you are in the garden blogging community, and it is always a joy to come here and read your posts. Here is to many more years of blogging!

    1. Oh Michelle how so very kind of you to say so…I am glad as well and that I found you here too. I am not planning on giving up anytime soon…it just is such a pleasurable habit, that I could not see myself blogging and writing!

  33. Congratulations to you! Not only did I thoroughly enjoy my tour through your garden of lovely blooms, I adored the quotes. I especially enjoyed, though, your advice for blogging. It is a challenge to maintain a blog, but I thoroughly agree with you–reading always inspires me, as does some quiet time in nature. I’m so thankful for memes like GBBD–so that I can find wonderful blogs like yours! Cheers to many more years of blogging success!

    1. Julie what a pleasure to have you visit. I am so glad you liked your tour and I thank you for your kind comment. I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to your blog too! How lucky GBBD brought us together.

  36. A very belated Happy Blogaversary. I love both your blog and all your beautiful blooms. I’m looking forward to more of both!

    1. Oh thank you Jean…it means a lot as you know how grateful I continue to be for your recognizing my blog 2 years ago and giving me a thumbs up!! Here’s to many more years.

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