The thing with blogging is that it is a true commitment, you start and you have to keep it going. One often sees bloggers feeling just a little bit guilty if they do not blog regularly....and we all admire Nancy Medina and Kelley MacDonald and all those busy little bees who will post every day as sure as the sun rises!
Back at the ranch, being away and having illness in the family, spring cleaning and gardening gets in the way of posting. But "even when nothing happens", things do happen and here are a few for your amazement and amusement:
- My "blog book" arrived, beautifully printed with the first 160 posts. How does one feel when you unpack it? I thought that I felt fairly flat, like a student who made a nice little assignment and now what? Send me an e-mail if you would like to page through it online!
The little sapling of Sutherlandia (see previous post) had so much rain, and as I went out this morning this tiny plant had flower buds all over, so we may be drinking a health brew in future!
We visited my children in Durban for 10 days and spend a weekend caring for the menegary of 3 dogs, 5 hamsters and 8 rabbits. What fun! The black rabbit, Benjamin, stays in the girls' room in the day and goes out in the garden at night, being nocturnal! Snowball, very white, is the mom of 5 girls. They live with Dad Peter in the enclosed and sheltered rabbit garden. My daughter was happy about the female rabbits, as sterilizing males are very expensive ! I painted some bunnies in watercolour.
My friend Tatyana Binovskaya has been wanting to paint me for a long time. The end result was a wonderful surprise! Tatyana is so talented!
There is an oil painting of boats on my easel.....if one cannot travel, there are always older photos to work from! So the next post will be about the real West Coast again!
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Enjoyed your post Marie!Looking forward to your boat painting.
ReplyDeleteHi Marie, Yes I would love to flip through your internet blog book!
ReplyDeleteVery interesting plant. I'm happy to hear yours is doing so well after the rain. Don't beat yourself up about not posting regularly. Life happens, but the blog waits patiently here for us. It was always suppose to be a fun thing.
Thank you Giselle, the boat is coming on!
ReplyDeleteHow kind of you, Susan. I will send a link for paging through. If I get clever, I may work out how to post the link here on my blog. Yes, blogs are fun and I often find myself conversing with the friends out there and itching to get going again!
I always enjoy your posts and do miss them when you've been away. I'm finding these days that there is so much out there to read and so much art to enjoy that I'm spending less time painting and so not posting. I think though it's not bad to take a little break. And I'd love to see your internet blog book!
ReplyDeleteMarie you live a charmed life! I love the bunnies and the painting is wonderful! I am visiting mom at the farm today so wont be blogging tonight. The pugs and I send you hugs from across the world.
ReplyDeleteYOU are inspiring, Marie! Thank you for the mention - and I so admire your talent and your verve! Imagine - a blog book! I think it's a fabulous idea! Good for you! The bunny painting is just adorable! And how lucky are you to have such a talented friend as Tatiana!!!
ReplyDeleteA lot of interesting titbits in this post Marie,enjoyed much.. Loved Tatiana's painting!
ReplyDeleteYeah,I also enjoyed this post Marie, taking a look into the daily goings-ons of a fellow artist! And you're right, many people don't realise the 'commitment' part of blogging, it takes true dedication to post regularly! When I started my art blog, I posted EVERY day for the first two years and now, due to other commitments, it has slowed down to about one post a week! lol! But that's it, life happens!
ReplyDeleteThank you Barb, yes how addicted we are to our computers, forgetting to paint or get outdoors for walks! Will e-mail the link!
ReplyDeleteThank you Nancy, and send hugs to your mom!
Kelley, thanks for all those lovely words! Actually the blog books are made in the US! You design it online (very easy)and then wait for the mail to arrive!
Thank you padmaja, yes we are all very delighted with Tatyana's paintings, she has started painting more of my family members!
ReplyDeleteMaree, thanks for the visit, I know hoiw busy you are. To blog once a week is excellent and my aim is to do that!
Thank you for a very enjoyable visit, Marie!
ReplyDeleteI loved it all...From blogging to books to bunnies to plants to portraits!! :)
Thank you Dean, this was a bag of tricks I used to get something on the blog!
ReplyDeleteso how did you get your blog into a book? I would like to see it. These bunnies are too cute. Your painting of them is great. Your portrait is lovely--what a nice gift! I am someone who blogs nearly every day...I think my blog book would be too thick!
ReplyDeleteYou have been very busy. I've had to tell myself that posting a few times a week is okay and I must admit that I don't visit a huge number of blogs due to other commitments. I enjoy my chosen few, though, like yours. I will send you an e-mail about reading your book online.
ReplyDeleteMy gosh Marie, you've been busy, but at least you blog more than I do! Thank you for always visiting me and I so enjoy your posts - love the bunnies.
ReplyDeleteMarie, this is great and an inspiration to us bloggers. I may just look into a book as my goal for 2012. I love reading your blog, even if not on a regular basis. Keep writing....please!
ReplyDeleteRosie
Hi Celeste, I think you received my blog book links. Thanks for reading my blog! Yes I was so very pleased to receive this large portrait! Thank for the comments about the bunny painting!
ReplyDeleteMary, I am so happy that you make time for my blog! I still owe you the link, I will check it out!
Thank you Liz, yes we all are so much more busy than a year or two ago!
Rosie, how kind of you! I will paint and write, that is what I do (smile)!