re-freshing

All the windows are open; it's November twelfth. Next week it's going to be in the forties.

I came upon this image at the Tea with Mrs. Mourning Dove tumblr blog. It's from the blog Sweet Styled Home. I would love to make something like that. Got to get out all my fall-themed cookie cutters! 

Making something like this takes time, and attention. There are always other things which need to be done. That is the balance I'm always searching for, but my struggle is focusing on something creative and enjoyable and temporarily being able to forget about the other stuff, for a little while. 

A few days ago I noticed that my list of some of the blogs I follow was gone. Was this a blip of Blogger? I thought it might reappear but wasn't sure I wanted to wait. So last night I started re-doing my list, but can't seem get it where it used to be - I move the gadget down to the bottom, but it will not stay down there when I refresh. It insists on being at the top. Well, it's all free, so I suppose it's silly to complain.

When I first started blogging, there were free widgets online here and there for all sorts of things, and I got the one that would show two or three of your older posts below every new post you put up. It was a very nice idea, but now it's gone, and who's going to go back to read somebody's whole blog? It takes time. The reason I mention this is that I know I have to be careful to not repeat myself; when I re-read a book, it seems the same passages leap out at me. I want to quote them, but I know enough to search first, to make sure I haven't done it already. Except that, without those older posts appearing below, it may not matter anymore if I'm repeating myself - who's going to know? 

Anyway, I'm reading The Herb of Grace (Pilgrim's Inn) again:

"To get nicer and nicer you must love the sun and give good juice when you're bruised." 

                                                              - Elizabeth Goudge

There!