A TOUR THROUGH BLOGLAND~A SPECIAL FEATURE

I was so happy and honored when Doreen from House Honeys asked me to participate in this blog tour.  Doreen is one busy gal...recently retired, she and her husband moved into their second home, a log cabin in the woods.  Doreen is hard at work decorating and trying to squeeze 2 homes into one!  Visit her, you will just love her sense of humor and her decorating and craft ideas.   I had been reading other  posts on the Blog Tour and loving them and never thought that I would be telling my own story, answering these questions myself.  I hope you enjoy reading!

 I've been blogging since December of 2009.  That said, the first question on the tour is:

1)  What are you working on right now?

  

At  this time with it being summer, I am always outdoors and mainly involved in my gardening.  As you will soon find out, we have two homes...one in the city and one in the country.  I know it sounds ideal but multiply your work and obligations by two!!  But yeah, we have a lot fun.  I caught the gardening bug when I got married and for the first time had a home of my own.  I had a lot of influence from my sisters and never stopped learning and enjoying the joys of creating a beautiful landscape.  Right now I'm working on new and expanded perennial garden beds at both homes (sigh...)!  The Husband helps when he can but he KNOWS not to mess with my stuff!

 I'm also working on changing around our den in the city house.  It's gone through many transformations and right now I'm bringing it from a formal sort of 'sitting room' to a casual place to read or watch TV.  Wish me luck!  I'm taking baby steps because it's so much better to work on indoor projects when the  weather isn't so great and it's summer now!  Forget that!! Ha!

We did recently complete some changes in our master bedroom at the lakehouse.  I wanted a nice blue color on the walls to reflect the lake and sky outside the French doors and I fussed with pictures and bedding and rugs until no end.  It finally came together recently and I feel "at home" here even though it's been 23 years!!!

2)  Why do I create what I do?

This is serious business and I know my long time readers don't always see this side of me but I will try to be as honest as I can.  As much as I believe in honesty and truthfulness, I believe in privacy so I may  not be  "telling it all" in my posts.  Need I do that?  I'm not out to write a book about my life.  My blog started out as many of of yours did, as a creative outlet.  As the name of my blog illustrates, this is a journal.  My blog has very much replaced the hard cover, written and scribbled journals I've kept as far back as 14 years old  (which I still have!).  However, in those journals I wrote so much in an attempt to work things out, to pour my feelings into, to grasp the difficulties in whatever was occurring in that specific time of my life.  My blog has replaced these journals in such a positive way.  I've been able to share my life, express my feelings and put a spin on all of it in a happy and helpful way.  Of course I have a personal side to my life and experiences that I struggle with.  I have had major struggles in my life as many of you have had.  That's just not relative to what I want my blog to

be about.  So in answer to the question, I write to please myself and hopefully, entertain you!

 3)  How does your work differ from other genre's?

I believe that the biggest difference has to do with my shifting from city to country life.  I chronicle a myriad of different  occurrences and experiences in both places yet they all  accurately and affectionately  reflect my crazy life.   I never forget how lucky we have been to have our little place on the lake.  We welcome family and friends all the time and it keeps us all connected.  Our children grew up swimming and boating and water skiing, not to mention ice skating and downhill skiing in the winter.  Hey, the greatest snowball fights ever!! I thank The Husband for having the foresight in a great investment...a place to exhaust and rear our kids and a place to sit back and enjoy the slow life once they are on their own!  City life is equally exciting in it's own way.  We are more grounded here with extended family and friends.  Our children went to fantastic schools and we are part of a great community.  This will always be "home" to me.

So I think shifting from one very different place to another locale, with it's parallels but also very different activities and experiences makes for a different sort of post.  And I also believe that I can relate to many of my readers/followers/good friends because I'm honest and straightforward, even with a wry sense of humor and some sarcasm. 

 

My blog is ever changing with the things I love to do.  I'm quite the homebody sometimes and I love to cook and share recipes and do tablescapes on occasion.  It's been fun to meet other ladies who love to do this as well.

I love to decorate and share a few DIY projects once in awhile.  Before...

...and afters are quite fun.  I simply describe myself as having a "Lifestyle" blog.  I really don't fit in any category.  I may post about cooking or fashion,  gardening or a day at the lake.  Life is rich with experiences and I have a never ending curiosity!

In writing about my everyday life, my kids always play a large part in it.  We are a tightly woven family and they always seem to give me fodder to write about.  I actually think that a lot of the funnier posts I've written involve these kids and The Husband, of course.

And here we are.  We will celebrate 28 years of marriage in December.  We've been through thick and thin and I could never have asked for a better lifetime partner.  

And now the final question:

4)  How does your writing/creative process work?

I should have spent more time reading blogs and learning the ropes before I dived in, but I did get a lot of help from observing as I went along and also got advice from some very nice bloggers.  I basically start with a visual prompt by keeping a camera with me at almost all times.  I have a small digital camera with great settings that fits in my purse and I also invested in a Canon DSLR a few years ago and I use that for special events or occasions.  My IPhone camera is as good as a point and shoot and I can grab that in an instant.  Taking photos, especially still life pictures, has really made me notice the beauty in everyday life.  Every couple of days I download my pictures and I can see a story develop; where I had been, what I was doing  and then I mentally start piecing together a sort of account/story/essay (!) by stringing the events together and weaving the pictures in and out.  The mood or mindset I'm in plays a big role in the tone of my writing, and I write in "real time", it's easier for me and I like to be spontaneous. I aim to post at least twice a week but as I get busy, it's more like once a week and I'm bound and determined to change that.  

I hope you've enjoyed this special little post.  The questions were quite interesting.  I am supposed to pass the baton on to two bloggers as part of the tour.  I would love to see these two ladies participate:

Mary from A Breath of Fresh Air

Brenda from A Cozy Little House

Of course no one is obligated to do this, but I enjoyed it.  Thank you, Doreen!

XO,

Jane