Social media are mysterious things. The images we see on blogs, Pinterest and Twitter can make us gasp with delight and suddenly feel like taking up knitting needles or pliers. Creative inspiration can spread, joyfully. The sight of a posy of snowdrops on someone else’s kitchen table really can help to cheer a grey wintry Tuesday afternoon. New skills are learned and real, lasting cackle-inducing-texts-at-11pm friendships made. A photo of a needle felted owl knitting in a tree can lift mood. I speak from experience of all these things.
The last few years have been a mix of utter joy (two babies, creative endeavours) and great sadness for our family. In truth it has been difficult to weather some of the days and yet others have been truly wonderful. I’m beginning to think that this is how life is and Andy and I are relatively new to it. Perhaps the average yearly rate of tricky things has been exceeded. It’s impossible to know and pointless to analyse.
I do know that blogging has taught me that on the days that you wish would end as soon as they’ve begun, noticing tiny details can be a saviour. An emerging primrose, a beautiful skein of yarn, a message from a friend, a small daughter’s daft dance to a tune on the radio, a bl**dy good piece of cake. These are not inane, Polyanna-ish, homepsun pieces of nonsense, they are the good parts of life – to be held on to as tightly as you can.
I don’t wish to be mawkish and all four of us are well (five if you count the dog). I’ve sort of been next door, learning how to bake things without gluten and eating them (more on this another day), talking utter nonsense in the very mysterious land of Twitter and being taught by dear dear Dottycookie how to knit in the round (and it’s working. I’m gobsmacked).
I’ve missed the land of blog. Terribly. I was wondering if I could join back in? I miss the stories behind the crochet, the reason for casting on the new pair of socks and the impromptu trips to the teashop to eat a Chelsea bun. I miss the ability to savour photographs without a sort of Saturday afternoon football results (except its cats in cardboard boxes) tickertape going on at the same time. I promise I wont talk about sad things.
Here are some pictures from our newly decorated bedroom. It’s only taken us eighteen months to finish it. My dear friend Fleur made my wardrobe curtains from pieces of antique whitework I found in a junk shop in Suffolk. Andy painted the floorboards and put up my Shaker pegs. A crate that was once part of my jewellery stall is now a bedside table and I fetched in my favourite garden chair and an embroidered cushion I found at a carboot sale. These are the ranunculus A bought me for that day on Friday. Secretly I want a frock that looks like one of these. I want to wear it down Tesco’s with a tiara but they might usher me out.
The room seems now to be more than the sum of its parts. It’s a good place. As is this. So, a belated happy New Year, and onward…
One of the good things about blogging is that you can come to the party when you like and not if you don't. There will always be one or two of the old faithfuls there ready to welcome you back and as with real friends you can pick up where you lfet off telling it all or none of it as you see fit and joining back in just how you please. Yes life is a mix of good and bad times and there are times when the bad seems to outweigh the good but I have always found that just when you feel you can't take any more things seem to turn a corner in a mysterious way and a few good times come along to put the balance right again. Take care, take a little quiet time each day, and join in the fun when you feel like it! Lovely photos by the way – like something from one of those lovely coffee table books – eighteen months well spent I'd say and if I see you at Tesco in your pink dress and tiara I'll say Hello!
hello lovely you.. i sat and read this post and it was as if i could hear nothing else around me – how true and beautiful your thoughts and words are.
life is often a tricky path and for me there are more days that i would care to forget and that actually at times leave me gasping for air, and like you i tend to just go quiet as i have no idea if it is the correct thing to do to share on my blog.
i guess we all have these times and we all bumble through…
for me the joy of seeing other artists creations, homes, workspaces and animals takes me away from my day – your blog is one of the good places.. so nice to see you again xx
Beautiful room it looks so peaceful. Doesn't matter it has taken a while to complete it!
I agree it is great to notice and cherish the small details of life.
I wish I could think of wise words to say in response, but instead all I think of are flouncy dresses in Tesco! So I'll meet you there, in the ready meal isle ;0)
p.s. love the bedroom – crates rule!
Emma, I'm donning my tiara as I type. See you in a mo xxx
It's good to see you again Emma. I was just thinking about you the other day when Pinterest took me to a link about Ely and Jackie's blog, that day we all met up at the tea shop. Do you remember? I always say, 'Blogging Without Obligation' which is just as well as I am very erratic in my blogging lately. Pop in when you feel like it, that's what I say. Your bedroom curtains are exquisite and the whole room looks a haven of peace. Beautiful!
Love the room. Looks like it belongs in one of those 'home & garden' magazines. 🙂 Helen
I'm so glad to see you back on your blog emma 🙂 it is one of my favourites. Your decorated bedroom is beautiful, truly, a peaceful serene space. I'm sorry to hear life has had it's ups and downs these last few years for you and your family, but your definatly not alone. My life is far from perfect in many respects but like you I really enjoy and am grateful for the little delightful things, sewing, cooking and my family all make it worth it. I hope your days are looking bright at the moment 🙂 love safxxx p.s. I am gluten intolerant too and suffer from IBS so am also learning to cook without gluten products, still getting the hang of it!
Dear Emma, it's lovely to see you here and I really relate your words. I've found my blog has been a great comfort when things are difficult, and I love being able to look back on those fleeting happy moments which wouldn't otherwise have been recorded.
I'm sure you would be an embellishment in Tesco dressed in Ranunculus pink(aren't they exquisite?) and a Silverpebble tiara. Your bedroom looks like a serene and dreamy place to be. Here's to the coming spring and uplifting moments xxx
Welcome back! I too have been rather silent of late, preferring to deal with some tricky times within my immediate family. That said blogland often feels like an extended family and I love being able to still take something from it even when I feel I have nothing to give.
Just watching the 'cat and budgie' advert as I type 😀 have you seen it yet?
Lovely to have you back Emma! 🙂
The photos of your beautiful bedroom are exactly the joy spreading ones you describe!
V x
P.S. I've been wearing your gorgeous necklace this weekend!
I don't particularly want to read a long line of woe is me tweets, but I would also like the opportunity to brighten someone's day if I can. Life is hard : I am continually surprised by how hard. Just when you think you are in calm waters life throws you yet another hurricane. I find it best to do as you say – focus on the blessings and the beauty that is always there.
I adore your bedroom photos – they have brightened my day. My room has a very similar colour pallette and I find it a soothing and relaxing place to escape into.
Hi Emma I enjoy reading your blog and seeing your dreamy pictures. I am afraid that life really is a journey and that journey often takes us to places we do not wish to go to. I always keep the motto seize the day close to my heart. No one wants to read negativity on a blog so I do agree that spreading a little joy is always a great thing to aspire too. Take care and look forward to the spring, the sun is out today…life feels good but change is always certain xx
But we were here all the time, lounging about in your comment box, drinking tea, eating cake and laughing with you at your life enhancing twitter observations. That is what friends do.
The social media world is so rich now that you can go from one platform to another as circumstances permit and the mood takes you. Each of them offer different creative opportunities and are suitable for different times in our lives.
Hello! I'm also currentlyin a reduced-gluten, reduced- blogging world… and it is lovely to find you here from time to time, whenever it feels right for you.
Your words speak so much truth for me and most likely also to many others. Thanks for sharing, it is a good reminder to take notice of the little things around us that makes us happy. Thats what blogging has taught me and I will always hold tight to that. Your bedroom looks so gorgeous, a safe haven to curl into and read a good book 🙂 Congrats on finishing it.
-Birgitta
Lovely to see you on here again Emma. Your bedroom makeover looks so fresh and I love those cut roses. I gather they are not from the garden after all those gales we have had!! Keep safe and warm x
Good to have you back! My experience is that events tend to cluster. So does quiet. Enjoy quiet and creativity while you can!
Welcome back, and with such a beautiful, thoughtful post.
I'm partial to a sparkly tiara too, and would be more than happy to join you when you wear your Ranunculus frock. Not Tesco's, I have a bit of a thing against them and haven't shopped there for over six years, but make it Sainburys, Waitrose, Lidl's or Morrison's, and I'll be there!
I'm so glad you did this. xoxo
It's easy to blog during the good times and incredibly difficult during the bad times. I look back at some of my cheery blog posts from certain times in my life, and all I can see is the misery that was going on behind the scenes. It's a constant quandary to know how much to share. My blog is my stiff upper lip! I'm sorry to hear you've been facing your own challenges. Yes, life can be very hard, especially as we get older, I find. But we are taught to cherish the good times more.
How lovely to see you again; how beautiful your bedroom too.
My blogging mantra has always been 'blog when you like and about what you like'. Your blog is always an inspiration Emma and I shall be using it later to persuade my husband to decorate our bedroom.
Psst! Lidls is where its "at"…….. you can wear a tiara AND a necklace made of bottletops threaded on liquorice and nobody will turn a hair……… :O))))))))))x
HELLO! I'm off to Lidl
Dear Emma,
Welcome back! Sorry to hear you had, are still having a difficult time. I do know what you mean that little things you see or read can lift your spirit. It was/is the same for me. Hope better times will come for you and your family. Take every day the way it is. When it's good…enjoy! That's what I try to do as well.
Take care!
Madelief x
Have missed you… see you in Lidl's with a bottle tops and licorice necklace?
I always have the impression that you are really good at noticing the details with all your wonderful photography. Your new room looks wonderful…..Fleur is a fab seamstress. I hope good times flow. xx
Look at how many comments! You are so welcome back. And you can share whats bad as well as good. Thats why we're here.Love
x
Oh lovely Emma! It's so wonderful to see you! We will always be here for the good and the bad times of life. Personally I have had the greatest support on my blog when I have shared the harder times – it's a wonderful, caring community xx
P.s your bedroom looks absolutely amazing! How I'd love to live in your house!! Xx
Hello! We missed you x
I've recently taken the opposite approach to you … things got tough here, Twitter and Instagram got ditched, my blog lost it's sparkle … I'm working on it, but you're right I think, sometimes silence is the better option. But I'm so pleased you've found your voice again 🙂
(PS I have bedroom envy … lovely job you've done there! )
Tough times often call for a spot of retreating into one's shell. But the good thing about blogs is the ease at which they can be put down and picked up. And look, here we all still are, waiting to share in the pleasure of the small things. Or, indeed, any things. Good, bad, difficult, only half the story – all received with thanks. It is good to see you back here.
So glad to read a post from you, but sorry that times have been difficult. Some hard days here too, and I know exactly what you mean about enjoying the little things. Holding on to good moments. Your bedroom is lovely, so beautifully put together. Wishing you all the very best Emma.
Would that I lived near as I would join you in your Tesco Tiara Takeover. Yes to blogging about difficulty. And beauty in difficulty. Yes to all of it. Really enjoy your work. And your writing. Keep it up!
Hi Emma
Hello again. When I try to explain to a non-blogger why I do it they stare at me confused. It fulfills so many aspects in all of our lives which is why we keep on doing it. All the same it's not always easy to be brutally honest about who we are and how we're feeling in this space.
I think dancing anywhere you want in the fanciest of things would liven up most people's days. Go for it.
I love your bedroom I really wish I could do your style but somehow I end up filling the space with tons of stuff.
X
Such a tranquil new room you have created it's beautiful, like you I wonder about letting the bad stuff into my blog,living with a chronic illness, when I first strated the blog I used to try not to let it into my happy blogging space. But sometimes it does and that fine as I've found nothing but kindness and support from other, sometimes honesty about life and the bad can be refreshing.
Clare xx
Of course you can come back – any time at all – and we will always be very glad to see you. That is the beauty of Blogland.
Such a succession of lovely photographs – each one worthy of a post of its own. What a beautiful space you have made.
There is life after celiac – I don't have it myself but literally half my family does. (I'm assuming from what you said that it has shown up in your family too?) It means a lot of changes, a lot of label reading, a lot of discipline, and a whole new vocabulary. But the benefits are decidedly worth the effort it takes to go gf. Hang in there and remember that most good chocolate is gluten-free. 🙂
I love your blog and had missed you, so glad you are back and I love the re decorated bedroom and crate. I cant join you at Tescos, sont know what it is and too far away if I did, but even at my age would be there in spirit.
I haven't read all of the comments above me, but I am sure that they all say that you should write and share exactly what you want to. If it is sad, happy or inbetween, if you want to say it, then say it. If you would prefer to escape in your bloggy space and talk about happy things only, then that is fine too. It is your space to do with as you wish or not. I am sure that your readers miss you when you are gone, but will be there when you return. Speaking from experience I have had some ups and downs in life and with my blogging, but my faithful lovely friendly kind readers are still there sticking with me and I am sure that yours will be too. Just make sure to take care of yourself, and treasure yourself a little during what seems to be a difficult time for you right now from what you have said. I hope that things come good very soon. xx
You cannot control what life throws at you but you can control what you throw at your blog. There is always a place for you in blogland silly…especially when you share such beautiful spaces xx
What a lovely bedroom, well worth the wait I think. It is nice to see you are back. Andrea x
You are so right about the little things that can lift the spirits and inspire others. Thank you for sharing the photos of your redecorated bedroom. It looks so tranquil and calm.
How wonderful to see you back Sweet Emma — you've been missed! I can't quite adjust to twitter and IG for just the reasons you mentioned — I want to hear the stories behind all the pictures. Your bedroom is BEAUTIFUL and I certainly hope that you're at least wearing your tiara there!
Emma, it is so good to see this new post from you. As always, you are showing us beautiful images, and expressing yourself so very well in words.
I guess that I am another one who refrains (mostly) from including not so pleasant bits in my blogging. When certain parts of life are not going so well, I am lucky to have non-blogging local friends who I can sort of lean on, as friends do.
Since ideally my blogs allow me to share reasons why I enjoy my New York City life, I mostly am able to keep that focus in the posts. Sometimes the intervals between posts lengthen, due to what's going on away from the laptop. Sometimes these goings on are good!
The colors of those flowers are luscious! I see a multi-layered skirt or some sort of sheer fabric. Perfect for twirling in those market aisles.
xo
You have completely converted me to crates full of books, by bringing me a crate.
And the sad things? I am full of them. I won't blog them though; but neither can I, as you know, completely embrace the whimsy. The whisky, yes. I can do that.
Happy new year to you too! And welcome back. I speak as one who fell out of love with blogging for quite a while last year. My reasons were probably different from yours — I just felt an overwhelming need to retreat, and I'm still not sure why. But I'm so glad I've returned.
I'm sorry that you've had such a tough time recently, and I do hope things ease up for you. Your blog has always been an inspiring place to visit, so I'm glad you're back and, I hope, feeling better.
Waving back…well done!
waving some gluten free baking in your direction. x happy new year Emma x
Hello Emma
Nice to see you. I know what you mean, over the last 2 years I have dealt with some massively awful situations that could not have been predicted. I din't blog about them as they involved others and tbh I wanted to use my blog as an escape.
Saying that though, the lovely little things in life and my fab family have definitely helped me to keep jogging on
Twiggy x
Hello Emma
Nice to see you. I know what you mean, over the last 2 years I have dealt with some massively awful situations that could not have been predicted. I din't blog about them as they involved others and tbh I wanted to use my blog as an escape.
Saying that though, the lovely little things in life and my fab family have definitely helped me to keep jogging on
Twiggy x
Oops I posted twice 🙂
Hi Emma, sorry to hear things have veen a little tough for you. To be honest I've been away from blogging too – a whole year – and have only just returned to the fold. I thought your absence was due to a very busy work diary so I do hope things are better now.
Your room is lovely – very serene and restful. Take care my lovely.
Jeanne
x
PS Thank you for popping over to say hello at mine.
Welcome back! I think that life isn't perfect, bad things happen and if you want to mention it on your blog, you should be able to without worrying what other people think. Equally you should be able to take a break, deal with life and come back without having explain.
Take care, x