Quote du jour/Charles H. Spurgeon

 "Begin as you mean to go on, and go on as you began..."

Charles Spurgeon

I have often read these words in British books, or heard them on British television. And they have been spinning in my head as this new year arrived.

The past years have been pretty blogless for me. I haven't writtten much or read much. It's been an odd time, and I am going to begin on this day and go on. I miss writing. It is good for me. It takes me completely into what I am thinking about, rather like a meditation. But even more, I miss reading. I miss all the different voices of fellow bloggers. I miss reading about your lives, and gardens, and books. A blogging friend's father died and I didn't know for too long. That made me so sad, and pretty much brought about this new resolve. 

I am going to give myself the gift of sitting down each day in the study and either reading or writing or both. I love this room with its south and west windows, a computer desk, a writing desk for letters (which I am also working on doing more often) and paying bills (yes, I still pay as many as I can by check, which isn't a lot these days and I still check my checking account!). And the rest of the room is photographs, plants, books, and Tom's mother's dolls. It has two doors, so I can be quiet when I'm in here.

So, what brilliant topic will I write about on this first day of the year?  I thought I would tell you how much I love paper calendars. I have two. The one in the study, just to my left as I write this, is by a New Hampshire woman. 

 Cindy Hendrick does the most delightful drawings, and has created a whole little world of animals. Her website is here. 

The second calendar is in the kitchen. Susan Branch is probably very familiar to most of you. I've had her calendars for many years, and also have her address book and birthday book. I love her work, and all the wonderful quotes she has introduced to me. Actually, her newest book is one of quotes. I don't own it yet, but will before long.

I love this quote:

So, there you have it. A little blog entry to welcome in this new year, and as Mr. Lennon said, "Let's hope it's a good one, without any fear." That kind of says it all, doesn't it.

I don't write on either of these beauties. I have a desk engagement calendar I use for jotting down days we take care of the grandchildren, etc. And speaking of grandchildren, this is the 2022 Christmas card!

Campbell Walker, 8

Hazel Nina, 9

Indy Thomas, 7

Trouble with blog header photo

 If you are reading this, you will see that my blog header picture is all messed up. I can't say I wasn't warned because Kay at the Musings blog posted about her problem a couple days ago. 

So many of my fellow bloggers have complained about the changes blogger made months ago. I have had no trouble at all, except that I could no longer post a home video. 

We got a new computer last month, our first one in ten years, and now I can post a home video. Hooray. But there have been so many changes that Tom has spent days on the phone with tech people. 

I am wondering if it is the new technology that has caused me to have this problem with my blog header. Or is it blogger? Anyhow, it sure doesn't look pretty. The header picture was peonies but they have gone by and the hollyhocks are stars in the garden now so I thought they would make a good header photo. I knew I was taking a chance, but I thought because I hadn't had the troubles others had that I'd be okay. Nope.

As I told Kay in a comment, there are days I want to give it all up. No more computers or cell phones. Sometimes I want to live a life that is free of screens and connections. I am driven wild with this whole cloud thing. We didn't have any cloud with the old computer, but now the Apple hard drives are small and there isn't room for thousands of photos. I feel like we are all forced to join the crowd. This is all so different from the whole ethos of the hippie life, which was to do things for yourself, and live a private life if you wanted to. Now I feel like there is no freedom like that. No privacy. No quiet.

We are wooed by convenience and ease. The words from Pink Floyd come into my head, "comfortably numb". 

Alice's Restaurant - Original 1967 Recording

On November 22, 2006, I wrote my very first blog post. It is quite unbelievable to me that 14 years have gone by.To celebrate I am going to offer you a song for the season. It takes a few minutes to listen but is oh, so worth it!  

 

Blogging and me

The unexamined life is not worth living - Socrates

I have said that Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquility - William Wordsworth, preface to Lyrical Ballads

I am definitely not these fellows, but I do understand each of them with relation to blogging and me. I need to write down things that are swirling around in my head. Writing is very different from talking. Talking involves other people's thoughts and opinions, and mine can be lost or changed in conversation. This introvert needs the quiet of writing to sort out exactly what I think or feel about something. Even if I write only a few lines, or quote someone, or share a poem, it does me good. 

I haven't written nearly as much in later years. Well, duh! Three grandchildren came along in quick succession. And my emotions have been coming fast and furious without much time to "recollect" them in any sort of peaceful moments. But now the children are older, and though we still see Hazel many days, we don't see the boys as often because of distance, the busyness of the family, the virus. 

So I would like my compensation for their getting older and starting school to be  writing my "letters from a hill farm". A part of this is also spending more of my time at your blogs. I have visited as often as I could but not nearly as often as I wanted to. Reading another person's words and taking the time to respond is another kind of recollecting. I can take my time thinking over what they have said and then write back if I feel I have anything to contribute.

I am quite happy about my resolve to do this. I have really missed the connections, and have missed taking the time to write about even the small things. It is good for me. It clears my head and helps me to notice things I might not have in the bustle of the day. 

New blogspot or blogger, whatever it is called

This is a question for any of my readers who use Blogger. Did you see the change that is about to happen? My fear is that it will be great for phones but no longer peaceful and pretty on a computer. I may be the only one who uses a computer for blogging. I just find my phone to be too small for using the internet or my blog. I do Instagram there because, well, it was made for phones. Photos with quick write-ups.

I guess I am going to make the switch, because I have no choice. They will do it for me anyhow, but I'm still nervous about the change. A thoughtful reader told me the other day that my blog header photos were his favorite. I fear they won't show up anymore.

Addendum: I just did it, and can't see that it looks a bit different. Does it to you??



The notice follows:

A better Blogger experience on the web

May 20, 2020

Since 1999, millions of people have expressed themselves on Blogger. From detailed posts about almost every apple variety you could ever imagine to a blog dedicated to the art of blogging itself, the ability to easily share, publish and express oneself on the web is at the core of Blogger’s mission. As the web constantly evolves, we want to ensure anyone using Blogger has an easy and intuitive experience publishing their content to the web.  

That’s why we’ve been slowly introducing an improved web experience for Blogger. Give the fresh interface a spin by clicking “Try the New Blogger” in the left-hand navigation pane. 

     

 Click the “Try the New Blogger” button to see Blogger’s refreshed look and feel.

In addition to a fresh feel, Blogger is now responsive on the web, making it easier to use on mobile devices. By investing in an improved web platform, it allows the potential for new features in the future. 

Blogger’s new responsive design makes it easy to manage your blog on-the-go.

Learn more about the page-specific updates we’ve released to make your Blogger experience even better: 

Stats

The redesigned Stats page helps you focus on the most important data from your blog by highlighting your most recent post.    

Comments

A fresh Comments page helps you connect with readers more easily by surfacing areas that need your attention, like comment moderation.  

Posts

We’ve improved support for Search Operators on the Posts page to help you filter your Blogger posts and page search results more easily. 

Editor

The newly enhanced Editor page introduces table support, enables better transliteration, and includes an improved image/video upload experience. 

Reading List 

Even if you don’t create from your phone, it’s now easier than ever to read blogs from other creators while you’re on the go.

Settings 

We’ve streamlined the Settings page to help you manage all your controls from one place.  

We’ll be moving everyone to the new interface over the coming months. Starting in late June, many Blogger creators will see the new interface become their default, though they can revert to the old interface by clicking “Revert to legacy Blogger” in the left-hand navigation. By late July, creators will no longer be able to revert to the legacy Blogger interface.  

We recommend getting ahead of the transition by opting into the experience today. Be sure to let us know what you think about the new design by tapping the Help icon in the top navigation bar. We can’t wait to see how Blogger creators use the latest updates to share their voice with the world.

Thirteen years

This is the same view that was on my first blog post November 22, 2006.

My beloved maple is gone. The little crabapple is now quite large. There's a forsythia tucked in there. The house is a different color. The fence has been moved a bit. Other than that, it all looks pretty much the same. Kind of like me. There are some changes, but I am pretty much the same.

To my longtime readers and friends, I say thank you so very much for still being here. And to those new readers, welcome. Each of you is more important to me than you can ever know.

How I Spent My 12th Blog Anniversary/Thanksgiving

November 22, 2006 was the first day of Letters from a Hill Farm. I had been getting advice from my friend Les and her husband Rod about how to start a blog, she having started hers some months earlier. My internet connection was slow and I got frustrated thinking it would never work. I remember saying I could just read my Gladys Taber without writing about her! But finally, it was all sorted out, and here I still am, a dozen years later. A dozen years back from that first day was 1994. That puts some perspective on ol' father time, doesn't it!!

We expected to be home just having a regular day, as we often do on Thanksgiving, but a day or two before, Estée, our daughter-in-law told us a story. She said they had been talking to the boys about being thankful, and explained they were going to her parents' house for Thanksgiving and that they were all thankful for them. Campbell Walker said, "are Pop and Nana going to be there, because I am thankful for them." Well, that's all it took, of course! Actually, we had been invited, a sort of open invitation every year, but we hadn't been before.

It was a lovely, lovely day.They are renovating an old house.They have two dogs, Hamish the Bernese Mountain dog, and Angus the Golden Retriever. And there is little Indy Thomas!

There was great food, and tons to eat for the vegetarians! My pictures from the day are mostly in-motion shots, and quite blurry, like the above. There was lots of good conversation and after dinner lots of music and dancing. Here is a little bit of Campbell Walker. I love his expressions!

When we went around and said what we were thankful for, I said, "family."

Caught up!

Just wanted to pop in and say that I've just caught up with all your comments, so if you are interested you can go back and check!

Eleven years

I just wanted to note that it has been 11 years since I began writing this blog. Things in the world and in my world have changed in ways I never, ever could have imagined. I was still in my fifties and now I am 3 months away from 70. How is that even possible?!

Since that day, there have been two marriages, three grandchildren, a child building a house on our land. Animals have died, and new ones have come into our lives. Thankfully, so very thankfully, the family is doing well. Nina (Tom's mother) will turn 90 the day before I turn 70. Her husband is now 94. My 'babies' who were 24 and 21 when I began the blog are now 35 and 32.

My immediate hopes for the blog are to write more often, and a bit more in depth. I kind of miss writing about the books I've read. I want to write more about gardening and cooking, and the little ones, Hazel Nina, Campbell Walker, and Indy Thomas.

Thank you to all my readers who are still here. I write a post and before I can blink you have taken the time to write back. I am encouraged by you and warmed by your caring. I don't get to visit any of you nearly as often as I think of you, and yet you still stop by and read any letters I have the chance to write.

I'll leave you with a photo from yesterday of the yard off the kitchen. I think my favorite time of day at Windy Poplars Farm is between 9 and 10 in the morning. The light is so wonderful.

Hooray! Problem Solved

Today Margaret was here and decided to pay a bill via her bank's site on our computer. She couldn't sign in using Chrome. There was a pop-up message that said the problem was with cookies. Tom went into Chrome preferences, and saw that the "block third party cookies and site data" was checked so he unchecked it, and voila, Margaret could get into her account, and I am now signed into my blog via Chrome.

So, here is what had happened. About a month ago, we started getting weird spam in our email inbox. Tom thought maybe it had to do with cookies so he went into Chrome and checked the box that said: "block third party cookies and site data." This is what made it impossible for me to post on my blog via Chrome. So now, I'm all set.

I posted to a Google forum the other day about the problem, and I got an email back that I hadn't had a chance to read yet. I just did so, and it said to try to "enable third party cookies."

I thank you all for your responses to my post about maybe switching to Wordpress. I still may do so, but for now will just stay here.

Moving??

I know that some of you have left Blogspot and moved to Wordpress.

I have so many concerns - the main one being will all my content come with me, including comments and photographs? This blog is a record of the past ten years of my life, and I would be so upset to lose it.

I know that some people leave the old blog up, and just start a new one, but I don't want to do that.

I haven't had any particular problems with blogspot over the years. But now, I can use only Safari to write posts and leave comments. Overnight I wasn't signed in on Chrome. I've never been able to sign in via Firefox.

I can't control my fonts now and it drives me crazy. The look, the presentation of my blog is very important to me.

I gather there are two Wordpresses - one is free, and one you pay for. As it is now, I pay Google $20 per year. Also, there is something to do with my own domain. I think that means that the content would be mine. With Blogspot, they have the power to delete my blog. I don't mind paying if it means it is mine.

I would so appreciate any help you can give me.

A decade

Ten years ago today when I began this blog, I wrote: 

Actually, I am a big fan of November. This is the month when the landscape opens up. We can see lights in the distance which were hidden throughout the summer. I’m sure that in past times, the families who lived on these isolated hill farms were happy to see the neighboring lights. When there wasn’t easy communication between people even a mile away, they must have brought great comfort in the winter season.

And now the lights I see down the hill, that I haven’t seen all summer belong to my daughter and her family. 

This is the photo I posted that day

Here is the same view of the house today

It isn't really slanted. ;<))  The old maple is gone, and the small trees have grown up. There is one young dog living in the house, not the three that were here in 2006. 

The ‘folks who live on the hill’ - see this post - are still going along. Older, yes. Slower, yes. Happier, yes. Our daughter living so close, our son only an hour away, and their partners, and the grandchildren give us life and hope and such joy. 

I am very grateful to the readers of my blog, both old and new. I am especially thankful that you drop by and take the time to leave a note even when I haven’t had a chance to visit your blogs in a while. There is such generosity of spirit among bloggers.

And so, I celebrate ten years of blogging.

Nine years and a day

I began this blog on November 22, 2006. I cannot believe it has been that long. Nine years before that day my children were 15 and 12, and now they are parents. It boggles my mind. Time is the strangest thing. 

In a lot of ways this blog is a journal of our lives. I refer to it all the time. I check it for recipes, or for when something was planted. And I go back to old posts and read the comments. Sadly, a fair few are from people who have disappeared from my blogging life. Some have died, and others are just gone. I miss them. 

Pretty much since our granddaughter was born, I haven’t been around as often as I would like. The reasons, of course, are very, very wonderful. Hazel, Campbell, and Indy. Gradually, slowly, I am making my way back to writing my letters and visiting your blogs more often. 

Thank you all for staying around during these past years of writing just over 100 posts a year. Thank you for coming by even when I haven’t had the chance to visit you. Thank you for being my friends. Even though we’ve not met, I know you and care about you as I do anyone I know in my offline life. I am grateful beyond any words I can say.

I’ll end this with a picture of last evening’s sunset and one of Lucy waiting for Tom in the car. Both photos taken by him.

For the fans of dogs!

If you are like me and you see a dog in a movie, you immediately want to know if the dog is going to be okay. I don't want to watch anything where a dog dies. And now there is a website for dog lovers called Does The Dog Die.

And here is a great graph, which I perhaps shared here another time, for book and dog lovers.

A thank you note to my readers!

I want to say thank you to each of my readers for still coming to read my very infrequent letters, and for your patience and understanding when I don't get to visit your blogs as often as I used to. You all know the reasons: 

We take care of Hazel Nina each week Tuesday-Friday while Margaret works, and we see Campbell Walker as often as possible. I am full of letter ideas but simply do not have the time (and energy some days!) to post them. I think of each one of my blogging friends often and try to keep up with your lives, and I so appreciate you coming by here. Thank you!

Very strange

This is very, very strange. I am working on a blog post and plan to offer a link to a book report I wrote years ago on a Rick Bragg book. While I read over the book report, I decided the quotes should be a different color from what I originally used so they would stand out better. So I went into the post and did so. But when I clicked 'update' the post showed up as being written NOW. Weird, weird, weird.

As the world turns

When I was a little girl, my mother and I always watched an afternoon television soap opera called As The World Turns. The phrase came into my mind today after I read that Mia in Norway was thinking of giving up her blog. You may read her words and all 153! (so far) comments here. She has brought up a subject the world is talking about these days - does blogging have a future in light of all the new ways to communicate. I was recently told by a twenty-something friend that blogs were old school, and that I should get an Instagram account. I quietly defended my choice to stay with blogging. 

In my comment to Mia, I said

It is clear from all your comments that many, many people love your blog. It is a meaningful oasis in this busy, busy internet world. All the things you mentioned FB, Twitter, etc. are flash, are quick, are easy. But they aren't deep. Blogging is for the deeper life- the thoughtful, slow approach. There is a place for both in the world, and it will sadden me if bloggers give up their blogs. There is so much clutter on the internet, and blogs such as yours offer a refuge. A quiet place of beauty. I do not read blogs on a reader so can't comment on that. I just come over as if I were visiting a friend. Sometimes I leave a note, often I don't. But I am refreshed and renewed when I see your photos and read your words.

The blogs that I read, and there are a lot of them, are works of art. Really. They are also works of passion. Sometimes that passion is about gardening. Sometimes it is about old mysteries. Sometimes it is about food or family or knitting. Whatever the blog is about, it is written with care. The reader can tell that thought and time has been put into the writing.

There's a place for a quick picture, and heaven knows I have lots of posts with just a photo or two, but there's also a place for considered writing. Thoughts that come out after being pondered for a while. I like the deliberate pace of a blog. I like slow food, and I like slow living. I may be out of step with a world that is becoming increasing frenetic but I think that perhaps readers, introverts, alternative people are never quite in step. Ever since the world began there have been books or songs bemoaning the fast pace of that current world. I get great solace from old songs and novels because I often see how very little life has changed. There is always a new thing. There is always a flashier car or house to covet. I see maturity as the ability to accept the new without necessarily giving up the old. I'm no Luddite but I don't embrace every new technology that comes along. I guess what I should say is that I may embrace it, but I don't let go of the old simply because it isn't new. I do have a smart phone which I adore. I do not have an iPod. I listen to my music on CDs or burned CDs from my iTunes or on my turntable. I have a computer but not a laptop or iPad. I have Apple TV but no 'regular' TV anymore. I love my Kindle and my print books. I don't like an either/or world. People may be on Facebook and Instagram and also keep a blog. There is room for it all, and it is up to the individual which gets the most emphasis. 

I'd love to hear your feelings about this subject.

Today's song/Goin' Back - The Byrds; and the last post on Letters from a Hill Farm

I have been mulling over the prospect of letting my blog go for quite some time. I've talked to Tom, I've thought long and carefully, and I've written out some 'last post' drafts, but honestly, this song says it all. It is time for me to 'go back.' To live my life without writing about my life. 'A little bit of courage' is right. It isn't easy to stop something that has been part of my life for six years. But the time has come. I've closed the comments. I'll leave the blog up on the internet because it has been a chronicle of my life since November 22, 2006.

Before I go I want to thank all my readers for caring so much about my letters. I have loved our conversations. Nothing is wrong. Really. It is just time.




Goin' Back -  The Byrds

Written by Carole King and Gerry Goffin

I think I'm goin' back
To the things I learned so well in my youth
I think I'm returning to
Those days when I was young enough to know the truth
Now there are no games
To only pass the time
No more electric trains
No more trees to climb
But thinking young and growing older is no sin
And I can play the game of life to win

I can recall a time
When I wasn't ashamed to reach out to a friend
Now I think I've got
A lot more than just my toys to lend
Now there's more to do
Than watch my sailboat glide
But every day can be
A magic carpet ride
A little bit of courage is all we lack
So catch me if you can, I'm goin' back

La la la la la, etc.
Now there's more to do
Than watch my sailboat glide
But every day can be
A magic carpet ride
A little bit of courage is all we lack
So catch me if you can, I'm goin' back

The winner of Miss Lady Bird's Wildflowers is...

... Kay G.! You will so love this book.

Last chance to sign up for giveaway

Today is the last day to enter your name in tomorrow's drawing for a copy of Miss Lady Bird's Wildflowers. You may read more about it here. The book will be sent to the winner by the publisher, and their stipulation is that you must be in the US or Canada. This would make a wonderful present for a young child in your life, or for yourself!