Blogland Tour

I have been invited to participate in the

 Blogland Tour 

by everyone's favorite Blog Fairy

Linda at Life and Linda.
She was so kind to think of me.
Thank you Linda!

Linda is so beautiful and talented and inspiring. When she wrote her Blogland Tour everything she wrote could have been about me.  I think we are kindred spirits!
You may have seen the Blogland Tour going around where a blogger is asked to answer four questions about their blogging experience and then nominate 2 to 3 other bloggers to participate.

(1.  What am I working on?) Of course with fall in the air  I am getting Halloween ideas swirling in my head, but also  finishing up the garden and gardening ideas.  I prefer to do my fall decorating after Halloween (although I will throw in a pumpkin here and there).  
I just love Halloween because the kiddies love it so much.   They go running through my house and if I didn't put up one of their favorite items, they get after me.  I get so much joy from watching them enjoy my holiday decorating and cooking.  My grandchildren really inspire me to be fun!!! Someday they will say, "Remember crazy Grandma Jackie?" Maybe they already do!!
I am ready to publish my 7th volume of my blog to preserve it for posterity and I make a copy for all five of my  children.  Twice my blog disappeared and the shock of it pushed me to print it on Blog2print.
I am also busy with creating books for my eight grandchildren.
Grandma is writing a "Book of Cute" for each one of them with pictures of  them, often with Grandma, and fun things they said or did.  I already have fun reading through them.  My computer crashed and that was the one thing they were not able to recover!! Fortunately about a month before, I was inspired to print their books off and put them in binders.  They weren't exactly laid out how I would have wanted them but I felt so fortunate that I listened to that still small voice and printed them or I would have had to start all over and that probably would never have happened.
In addition I have been invited to teach several holiday tablescaping classes to groups in the area.

(How does my work differ from others in its genre?)
Everything on my blog, well practically everything in my life, centers around my family.
I wanted to create a blog that covers all aspects of life from food to travel,  gardening to spiritual, fun, holidays,  beauty and anything inbetween.   Like Elphaba, I didn't want to be limited.
My family and creating for them and our friends is what I love in life.
I love beautiful things and I love to create beautiful spaces and I mostly love to give people beautiful experiences.

(Why do I write what I do?)

When I first started writing,

I wrote to capture my creative

expressions whether it was a 

beautiful dessert, a lovely garden,

or a beautiful table.

My husband commented after

awhile that my blog captured

our lives more than my journal

so now my writing is often to capture

our lives.

I also write to teach.  I am thrilled

with how the internet has become

a mostly free teaching tool. I love

to include step by step pictures so

that others can learn and have fun

creating too.

(How does my writing process work?)

Now I plan more in my writing

process than I did at first.  I also

take more time with my photography

(usually) and I am constantly inspired

by what I see around me.

I try to involve my friends and

family.  They all love to be featured

on a blog, to contribute an idea or

a recipe or have me photograph

a party.  I love that they are excited

about my blogging too.

I usually start by letting the

pictures tell the story.  How

blessed we are to have such

wonderful cameras and computers

to help in our writing process.  

My last post was taken all with my

Iphone camera.  A few years ago

bloggers would post a photo and

then apologize for the quality because

it was taken with their phone.  Now

look what our phones can do.  We

always have a camera on hand!

I think there should be one more

question

---

How much do I love blogging now?

I love it more and more and

hopefully I am getting better

and better at it, although sometimes

when I look back at a post, I marvel

that I could have created something

that beautiful!  It seems a waste to

have it lost in the archives of my blog.

Then Pinterest comes in where it 

can continue to circulate.  I just love that!

Life gets crazy and busy and I

love how understanding blogging

friends are about that.  I love that

they don't mind if you take a break

or slow down if life is just spinning

around you.  I hope to keep blogging

always.

I would like to nominate

two lovely ladies 

---

Joni at Red Couch Recipes,

of course since she was the

one who "forced" me to start

my own blog rather than be a

guest on hers.  Joni used to say she

wasn't creative and watching her now,

I realize she just didn't have an outlet

for it.  She is super creative.

I would also like to nominate

Rachel at A Little Cuppa Tea.

I have known Rachel since she

was a little girl and she was my

oldest daughter's friend growing up.

Rachel has so much talent, she just

explodes with it.  She is always so busy

creating beauty in other people's homes

and lives that she often doesn't have 

time to write it all down.  She also 

spends her life trotting the globe!  

She is one lucky lady and shares

it with us.

I love both of these women as people

but I love their blogs too.

Go and visit them and continue

the Blogland Tour.

Thanks again Linda for this

opportunity and for all of

the other great bloggers out there

who share so freely and beautifully.