Stumbling over words

I’m stumbling over words. Straining to capture and chronicle.

Summer has seen a struggle. A struggle to document. Be it growth and development. Changes. Successes and failures. Festivities and feasts. Bright blousy beauties and hidden gems. Frustrations and slugs. Or should that read frustrating slugs?

Weeks have gone by without taking a single photo or jotting down a few words.

So please excuse these stumbling fumblings. As Autumn’s cool damp digs in and I step back into sharing and expressing myself.  As I tentatively explore what it is that I want to say. What I want to create here. While I try to find my words and images.

Cosmos_10_10_13 (1)

I took this photo today. The Cosmos grown from seed is now horizontal. Flushed bright acid pink petals frothy green leaves and deep yellow centres at their hearts. Bent over, escaping its moorings. Almost stopping me from stepping down into the garden. Almost blocking my way.

Almost.

___________________

48 comments

  • A refreshing post Claire! It’s more than OK to take a break from sharing on the internet. We will wait for you to harvest your autumn thoughts!

    • You as well! My photos this summer, when I did bother were appalling !! Just dreadful – no eye, no context, no shaping, no life, just bleurgh! I hope that it comes back. Fingers crossed for us x

  • I have some verbena that is also growing almost horizontally across the path… and I love it! Your cosmos is a gorgeous shade of pink. Good to hear from you Claire. 😀

  • I totally get what you’re saying. Sometimes the capturing and chronicling just takes too much out of us and we need a break. I was thinking about that just today.

    • I’m glad my words resonated with you, sometimes we just need to look and absorb instead of wondering and worrying about the words and images. I guess that’s called living 🙂 Hope you have a super weekend x

  • People suffer from writer’s block … why should photography/blogging block be unknown? With the picture of these delicate cosmo blossoms with their vibrant colour you may be returning with fresh energy to your previous posting schedule. 🙂

    • Thank you my friend, it’s good to find some initial words and a photo! It’s been a busy gardening summer – in the garden and I want to get around to writing about it……. time will tell!!

  • Sometimes the blogging process is easy and organic, other times it feels like a slog. Go with whatever works, Claire! It’s always a joy to touch base with you, but sometimes just a beautiful photo like this one is all we need to reassure ourselves that you’re well and happy. 🙂

    • Thank you Celia, I was sitting on the back doorstep and suddenly saw the photo I wanted to take…… the rest is here 🙂 Hope you have a super week x

  • If we didn’t stumble and fall ocassionally we couldn’t pick ourselves up again, dust off our scabby knees and be stronger for the whole experience, See you soon I hope!

  • Claire, what a beautifully expressed, poignant post. We all go through that at times, but you put it into words and emotions everyone can identify with, along with that single, exquisite picture… thank you.

  • Hello old friend! 🙂
    so nice to see an entry from you…I can’t believe it’s almost two whole years I’ve been learning from you about blogging, cooking, and growing!
    I hope this fall season has only good things ahead for you!

  • They all said it already. We love what you do here, and there’s no law that says you can’t do it entirely at your own leisure and whim. All the more, then, able to produce what you want, when you want, and renew our joy in knowing the true you, Claire. Be content! And thank you for letting us take part in this colloquy with you when you’re around to tell your tales and share your images in photos and words. All so lovely! Happy autumn, dear friend.
    Kathryn

  • I’m glad you posted this. Lately, I feel much the same way. I think blogging presents its own share of pressure: to post, to share, to keep followers entertained and informed — and to maintain balance with your non-blogging life. I know we’ve never met, but I feel I know you (an odd off-shoot of blogging) — and from your blog, I think you like to give your all to everything you do, and that can be exhausting. I’m glad you stepped into your garden to breathe. We all need to do that — more often than we’d like to admit. Is that your crushed shell path behind the cosmos? It’s lovely.

  • Sometimes we get so busy living life, we don’t have time or energy to reflect on it in words or pictures. That’s not a bad thing…in fact, wonderful when life is so engaging that it’s enough on its own. So nice to hear from you, though!

  • love how the cosmos are leaning out across the path … we lean out in our words and images to connect with each other … sharing our gardens, frustrations and slugs … whoops … and our inspirations (sounds better!) with each other around the world … so good to hear your voice again dear Claire, the coming and going is all part of great cycle 🙂

  • OMG! You read my mind but wrote it much more beautifully and simply than I’ve been thinking! I actually re-read this post as it spoke so strongly to me. I agree with one of the other commenters that blogging, although fun and a bit of a personal pick me up, comes with it’s own set of subtle pressures. Funny thing is that I don’t struggle to get out and observe, care for and spend time with my plants but getting to the point of sharing it all in the electronic world has become harder. One thing for you to know… I always like to see/read your posts and think of you at times, realizing I haven’t seen anything from you in awhile. I think that says something…when someone actually “misses” your sharing. 🙂

  • Perhaps we all are simply ‘entitled’ to be human . . . whenever, wherever . . .and gently hope that there is someone at the end of the line . . . when we stretch our hand and use our voice . . .?

  • Oh goody, thought it was just me who suffered these things. We are all ready to read when you are ready to write Claire.
    BHave a happy weekend.
    🙂 Mandy xo

  • It’s just lovely to hear from you when you are ready. Too much “written diarrhoea” (think I spelt that wrong) can be tedious. Love the colour of Cosmos. Here in sub-tropical Oz all is very very dry with bush fires lurking and the smell of smoke hanging in the air. Autumn in the UK is a most beautiful time.

    • You’re right about the verbal garbage, It’s about writing when you have something to say and share isn’t it?
      I heard about the heat in Oz, friends of mine in Sydney keep posting about the temperatures there! And you are right autumn is a magical time. Hope you have a super weekend

  • It’s always good to hear from you, Claire, and I think if you’re finding it hard to find the time to share regularly, then just don’t worry about that at all. I hope you’ll just pop in from time to time even if it’s just to say, “hi, I’m still here,” and then move on to what you need to do! I am so much more concerned about bloggers burning out entirely and disappearing. I would miss you! 🙂

  • My cosmos flops about rather charmingly too and creates welcome blobs of colour. Look forward to the things you’ll share with us again 😉

  • Claire, it will all be back with you … and what a wonderful and beautiful way to tell us about your “blockage” – will be here waiting. Blogging shouldn’t be full of MUSTS for neither bloggers or readers. Your photo is so delicate. *smile … let life come easy to you.

  • I think it would take far more than a befallen cosmos to keep you from strolling through your garden, Claire. Life has a way of getting in the way of blogging, even if it is to direct us to other interests. As Debra mentioned, just let us know that all’s well. We’ll surely be here for you.

  • Dear Claire. I felt your absence here this summer, as I felt my own. One of the things I love about coming to your garden spot here is that what I always find is sincerity, nothing straining to be what it isn’t. What else i find here is your eye, with its special way of seeing, showing me what i might have missed., and your voice that seems, to me, to always find its way. even as it did here today. i love that you share where you are. That to me is fresh air and food. (And your cosmos, lying where and how it is, is simply gorgeous.)

  • I have had a few encounters with slugs… around the tomatoes, I remember. Glad that despite the difficult summer, we’re still able to enjoy your account.

  • I haven’t had a flower garden for a good few years, and those wily cosmos made me smile. So vibrant and lovely (and pushy!). Letting pictures do the talking for a bit isn’t a bad strategy; sometimes, it’s enough. It’s usually pretty healthy for life to take precedence over blogging. 🙂

  • Struggling some myself lately too (that’s why my last post consisted entirely of photos). Sometimes that’s just how it goes. Miss you though–perhaps fall will rejuvenate.

  • Your blog post is a wonderful short reflection on the last few months. But it seems your garden is a running thread/growth in your life that has wound its tendrils carefully around your heart.

    Best wishes for some great plantings ahead.

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