Tag: 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.