Walnuts n Pears

It certainly has been a while since that first blog post nearly nine years ago.  I started off strong and energized and a (younger) woman on a mission.  I wrote fairly regularly for the first couple of years. Then life happened.  A lot of changes took place, including having another child.

Today, I got a reminder that I need to renew my domain and it got me thinking about all of this.  I started thinking back to when I started the blog nine years ago.  Things were definitely different.  As progressive as things seemed at the time, having the ability to write and “publish” things, throwing ideas out to the world without the scrutiny of a publisher seemed so bold and freeing.  It seemed so current. But things have changed over the course of the past nine years.  A lot!

There’s now Instagram and Snapchat and TikTok and… you know where I’m going.  Things have moved past just putting a couple of pictures and the written word “out there”.  People are taking selfies, and selfies of their selfies, and video chatting and posting videos of themselves lipsyncing and dancing and doing ridiculous things to get “likes” and “followers”.  And it’s all instantaneous. It’s out there and there’s no looking back. But nobody seems to care.  What happens in one minute is forgotten the next.

So as I contemplated whether or not to renew this domain, nine years after starting it. I started to consider whether it’s still valid.  Does anybody even take the time to read a blog any more?  What will I do with it?  What can I do with it?  I know I haven’t put much out there the past few years, but I feel like maybe it could still be useful.  Maybe I’ll repurpose it like an old sweater.  Do something different with it. Give it new life.

The thought did cross my mind though… have blogs gone the way of mail and the daily delivery of the newspaper? Are they heading in the direction of becoming obsolete?

For a moment I thought about letting the domain go and deleting the website altogether, but then I realized that I like relics!  I like baking my own bread.  I like growing my own food.  I like canning.  I like repurposing things.  I like (urban) homesteading and old houses.  I like nostalgia.  So this blog is staying!!

And… I know I’ve said it before, but I really hope to find more and more windows of time to get back into the swing of things.  I hope to write more, more often. Or maybe write less, more often.

Anyway… I’m still here.  Still kicking.  And looking forward to the next nine. 🙂

‘Til next time,

Kate 🙂

Let me start by saying, this is not what I had planned for my day today. I had a list of things to do, none of which included writing a post. But, here I am.

I often wonder if talking about the weather is a normal thing or if it’s just a Minnesota thing. I’ve made assumptions that in Minnesota we talk about the weather in our daily conversations because at one point in time most of our state was farmland and it impacted the farmer’s lively hood (and still does for the farms that still exist.) But for the rest of us, who live in other more urban parts of the state, I assume that talking about the weather is one of those things that got handed down from previous generations like lopping-off the end of the ham before putting it in the pan only to find out years later that the only reason your mom lopped-off the end of the ham was because she didn’t have a pan that was big enough to fit the whole ham.

Or is it simply that living in Minnesota brings weather that makes you think a toddler is controlling the thermostat (85°, 45°, 75°, snowing!) and talking about it is like therapy.

Whatever the case, we tend to talk about the weather a lot in Minnesota, particularly during the change of seasons… or when it’s cold, or hot, or windy, or rainy. So basically every day.

Oh, and when a storm is brewing? “Weather” is coming. As if weather only comes on occasion, like an annoying relative you really prefer wouldn’t visit. Ever.

In the Twin Cities we’ve just had a beautiful, unseasonably warm, week of 75 degree days. It has been absolutely gorgeous! Tie that in with the peak fall colors and it really couldn’t have been any better. This season is so beautiful, it really is the primary reason I stay in the state. Seriously, if you’ve never been here in late September or early October, put it on your bucket list to visit. It’s also peak apple harvest, which makes it even better.

But as they say, all good things must come to an end. And it just so happens, I heard today that weather is coming. Yep. Not-so-great uncle Jack is making his way into town from Canada. And some of us, primarily from the Gardener side of the family, don’t really care so much for the Frost side of the family so we are less than excited about his arrival. But what’s worse than uncle frost is that I heard he might be bringing cousin Snow with him.

Seriously, I swear they were just here! I don’t know why they have to come back so soon. Why couldn’t they stay with North Dakota or Wisconsin this year?

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t hate them, per se, and not everyone in our state dislikes them as much as us Gardeners. My son, for example, who obviously got most of his genes from the Skiier side of the family, actually like Jack and Snow. He loves it when they are here. Not me. I’m good with a short stay and then they could continue on, but every single time they come they stay forever. They don’t know when to leave!

But I guess there is one good thing about them… at least they give us something to talk about.

Til next time,

Kate

I’ve been yearning to write again for a while. And by write, I mean here, on my blog. Or maybe a book, but that takes time. I don’t have much of that these days. I mean, we all have the same amount of time in a day, but the time I have to myself each day is very limited. When you have young kids that happens. My alarm clock says, “Momma!” and it goes off at very inconsistent times each day. Once I’m up, I have a little body with me at my side (or on my hip) nearly every minute of every day; while I dress, take a shower, even while I pee.

So when I say I don’t have much time alone, I really mean it. And to have time alone to write? Ha! Haha! Bwahaha!!! But wait.

No, it’s late.

But it’s quiet. Everyone is sleeping. I could write now, like I used to.

But you didn’t have to tend to a teen and a toddler when you used to write. Besides, being a night owl writer is no place for a Momma. Or is it the other way around? Okay, fine. You’ve got 23 minutes.

What could I possibly write in 23 minutes?

You won’t know until you try it. Let’s see what you can do.

Maybe there’s something to this though. Maybe if I could write for 23 minutes each day… who am I kidding, some days, one day(?!) a week I could dust off some of the cobwebs, loosen up the joints and work some of the rust out. Maybe, this becomes the 23 minute blog?

Maybe.

No seriously, maybe I could start to find that girl who used to write. She’s a little older now.

A little?!

Shut it. Yes, a little older. But the baby is nearly 3 and I just read that as a mom you should take 15 minutes a day for yourself to do something you enjoy. This would be an extra 8 minutes.

Over achiever.

Whatever. I think I might try this. 23 minutes. I might be a fun experiment. I’m sure some days will be thin. Some may have writers block. I’m going to try it. We’ll see where it takes us.

Til next time.

Kate