Fate of My Blog and Other Musings

  Container plantings, and my supervisor, out on the deck.

I'm happy to say that this week I finally got some containers planted while it was sunny and at one point  in almost summer-like weather. I've been absent from this blog and have not been spending much time outside, planting, shopping at nurseries or even weeding. It's pretty ironic that over a month ago I was counting down to the first day of spring and then got caught up in a frantic month of hospitals, family, and new work projects.

April just disappeared and I missed blogging, but had to question why I do it and for whom. Other bloggers I follow are either apologizing for not writing as often or just stating that they will not be in the future. I commented to one blogger that she should suit herself. I've decided to take my own advice here.

I've been writing this blog for over 2 years as a gardening journal. While I've gathered a few readers here and there I've never accumulated a real 'following'. A following is necessary in order to produce a website, write articles, offer DIY tips and eventually earn an income from it. One person I've seen do this successfully over the last 2 years is Amy at Get Busy Gardening. 

When I first started to blog it was for the fun of it, sort of like a craft project. But, my blog is a stand alone - not connected to a website or product. I follow other bloggers either for their personality (Kiss My Aster) or the creative content they provide (Funky Junk Interiors). I follow blogs in the same way I read a favorite magazine, I like the content and the way it's presented.

All that said, I think my days of garden journaling may be coming to an end. That or the way I use my blog may change. We are now looking at moving from this townhouse to a house with a yard - for me and the dog. Having a yard to work in again could provide a blog-worthy challenge.

Maybe a format change is in order. Last fall I took some online courses learning how to use Wordpress. During those classes it became obvious to me the advantages of having a Wordpress blog and web site. I'm still toying with the idea of converting All-Purpose Flower to Wordpress. It would be fun to set up and would allow for a little diversification, more than blogging.

The one thing that has not happened on this blog:  writing about bigger topics that interest me. Topics like rain gardens, universal design, drought tolerant plants. I've been completely flummoxed as to how to write articles and use photos or images without getting bogged down by copyright infringement. I like photos, and I don't want a page of text with nothing but links to other images or topics. Those are the pages I skip over.

So for now, occasional garden journaling and a decision as to which direction to move in.

Someone took a bite of this just after I took the photo.

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Gratitude, my word for the year.

Back in January I had no idea how hard this word would be for me.

I'm not grateful on a daily basis, using this blog was the only way for me to stick with it.

The month of April was hard for me and my family. One thing I'm grateful for is that we continually encounter decent, caring, intelligent people who care for my dad, and my mom.