Fun Monday #89.... Remind me why I blog!!

I have been away and missed the last few FM's, so I'm pleased to be joining in this week. Bee Dancer is our hostess and she has set us this assignment. Here is what she says:

I'd really like to know WHY you blog. Tell me how you got started or why you got started and why you keep it up. Plus there's a photo requirement: Post a picture of the one person/place/thing that most symbolizes the town or area where you live.

Many of you will have read in previous posts why I started blogging so I shan't mind if you pass on by!

Way back in September 2006 in my very first blog post I explained why I was blogging. Back then, encouraged by my daughter Sam (living in San Francisco), it was to be a new hobby after I retired. My other daughter, Beccy (in Dublin), also started blogging at the same time, as did my grandchildren. So it was the ideal way of keeping in touch with them most days.

Since then things have changed: I'm sad to say my daughters spend less of their time blogging as they lead very busy lives. I on the other hand have found a lot of virtual friends and feel that I am privileged to share a little part of their lives. I enjoy sharing the highs, and feel the sorrow of the lows that we all experience in our lives. I also love seeing everyone's photos, and I'm sure you will agree, so many bloggers take brilliant photos. I also have a photo blog just the share everyday pictures that take my fancy and ones where I try and improve my photos through photoshop elements (not always successfully, as I'm still learning!).
The difficulty that I have with blogging is that it sometimes becomes impossible to comment on every blog that I read. I used to feel guilty but that is no longer the case, because I don't comment it doesn't mean that I no longer enjoy catching up on your news.

Now to the second part of the assignment:
I live in Bristol in the UK, (well on the outskirts actually), and this west country city has a lot of famous landmarks so if anyone is interested here is a link to several pages of lovely photos. I have used this for a past Fun Monday when in week 4 the topic was *Why I love where I live* so some of you may have already seen these pictures.
One famous land mark is the Clifton Suspension Bridge which spans the Avon Gorge and was designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel who started to build it in 1831 it finally got completed in 1864 after his death. You will see better photos via the links but here are a couple of mine, which don't actually show the whole bridge because they were taken from quite a distance.


I'll be visiting everyone over the next couple of days so see you soon.


Archives:
2007: Krenewek Teapot
Archives:
2006: Frosty Friday

Hooray for Integrity....

Lisa who in my opinion is not the least bit chaotic has given me an integrity award. I'm flattered that she thinks that I'm honest and have strong moral principles (dictionary definition). I think there are some members of my family who might disagree with this and say I am not always honest . I suppose there have been times when I have been economical with the truth, for example 'does this make me look fat' I would not necessarily be blunt and say 'yes' I would be more likely to say something like 'so and so suits you much better'.
However this week in the local shop when I was given too much change I did point it out to the girl on the check out~ something I have not always done in the past~so I think this award is having a good affect!
In my blogging what you see is what you get~this is me. I dabble in this and that and plod along, middle of the road, msaverage~ I think my blog report would read~tries hard but will never be a high achiever! I would be happy with this, especially when someone like Lisa, who takes such beautiful photos, gives me an award!
Now I know I should be passing this on but I'm going to keep it in the family! So I give this to my daughters~
Sam always maintains her integrity. Her love of good food and wine is evident to anyone who reads her posts. Her restaurant reviews are written honestly from her personal experience, even when she knows they will not be well received. She does no advertising on her blog and this prevents her being influenced in any way, shape or form. Also anyone who gives up their car to help reduce the carbon footprint needs rewarding!
Beccy keeps me up to date with the trials and tribulations of her busy life with three children, and she isn't afraid to let us know when disasters as well as good things happen!
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I wasn't exactly given the second award personally. Katie Her Indoors offered the Wonderful Women on the Web Award to all of us so I had to add one of these to my collection.
Both of these will be added to my gallery. Thank you my friends.

Archives:
2007: Good Neighbours

Fun Monday# 31

Lisa's Chaos is our host and she's want's to know more about us... is it wise to disclose too much I ask myself!! Lisa says...

"I’d like to know more about you, what makes you tick. I’d like to know how you started blogging. Did you keep a diary under lock and key safely hidden as a child? Do you still? Do you share the same things on your blog that you would have, or do, in your diary? Why did you start blogging and why do you continue? May as well throw in any roadblocks you have run into while blogging. If you still have your old diaries we’d love to see them".

I think I'll start with blogging because that's an easy one and really the answer is in my profile. I only started my blog last September before then I had been reading a lot of food blogs since my daughter Sam started Becks & Posh in May 2004. Seeing what she was doing somehow made me feel I was still involved with her life even though she was on another continent.
Once I had made the decision to retire I began to panic! Work had been the pivotal part of my life since I was forced to provide for my family back in 1973.

(I always wanted to be a stay at home mum but sadly this wasn't to be- I often wonder how things would have turned out if our lives hadn't changed so dramatically back then. I also wonder how much my having to work affected the way the girls developed and I don't necessarily mean this in a negative way. There are many things I would do differently if I could turn back the clock but my girls are kind, independent, talented individuals who make me very proud).

As usual I digressed so back to the main plot. Sam had been telling me to start a blog, one part of me was thinking to myself I could do that 'it's only a diary' the other part of me was saying but that's too technical for me as I'm not a clever writer and not a good photographer (I always manage to get something awful in the background). Anyway when people asked me at work 'what were my plans' I took the bull by the horns and said I was going to upgrade my home computer and start a blog, I was going to try my hand at painting and travel as much as I could afford. My blog was going to be a way of keeping in contact with the girls and any friends who cared to read it. I think you will see how I came up with the name as it was going to full of 'bits and pieces.

Once I told Beccy I was going to start a blog she followed suit (she might even have beaten me to the first post I can't quite remember). My grandchildren also have blogs and I started a second blog for random photographs a few months back. What I never ever imagined would be the enjoyment I have got from finding a whole new circle of friends, joining in the different swaps, sharing joys (I do a lot of laughing) and sorrows (I also cry quite a lot) and even getting to have a couple of great telephone conversations with one bluddy! Here I must pay tribute to Fun Monday because this been a very effective way of meeting even more people. I don't know about anyone else but I really love seeing houses being built, following pregnancies, hearing about children, pets and holidays. I am full of admiration for those who share some very personal stories and often it's about things that touch a chord, maybe I should try it one day as I know it can be very cathartic.

Now to diaries: I think as a teenager I did try writing a diary but do you know I never kept it up and I certainly would NOT have committed my innermost thought to paper. I could not have trusted my father not to read it and I was far too scared of him to write anything he would disaprove of- actually it might have done him good to read what I thought of his methods of discipline and the way he didn't trust me even though I had never given him any real cause to feel this way. But that's another story I may write about one day.

I think I will leave it there!! By the way I have done quite a bit of travelling in the past eleven months but have not even opened up the paints yet (just in case you comment Purpleworms- who is giving me a prod every now and then- I will get there!).

I must remember there is no Fun Monday next week but the following week September 10th Nikki is the host.