Once upon a time I didn't think I would need any more teacups. I had a few pretty ones, enough for a tea party with friends but now I need more and I'm having to try and find room in my home for them but my cupboards are full and overflowing with china. A large dresser is needed and somewhere to house it. Another piece of furniture may have to be sacrificed, it is likely I will have to do some rearranging.
I already have a busy life - a family to raise, children to teach, a home and property to look after. Am I crazy adding in another activity - a business? Can I do it? In my own strength I cannot - only with God's help, guidance and direction. As I try to find room in my home for all the china I also need to find room in my life for the business and all its commitments. And one of the ideas that popped into my mind as I counted up those teacups was to take an inventory of my life and then begin to edit. Editing is something I really needed to do and one of the big areas for me was blogging and that is the first area I felt the Lord prompt me to edit which is why you do not hear from me as often as you used to. I am not giving up blogging but only doing it when I am able and only writing posts which will either contribute to the record of the life and adventures of this family or truly benefit another person.
I'm still working out how to fit in the writing of my blog so to make time for that I seriously needed to come up with a new approach to reading blogs. I hope that the method I have chosen may be useful to someone like me who used to be enthralled by blogs and did so much blog hopping it's a wonder I didn't grow webbed feet and start croaking!

So that's where I started - I stopped hopping. It was so tempting to look down a list knowing there would be like-minded people out there or more likely an interesting post would catch my eye. The 5 minutes I intended to spend catching up with a friend could soon become half an hour or more. I decided to stop looking at blogrolls and not open or stay around posts which advertised blog hops.
I have not stopped visiting my friends - those sweet and lovely gals I have met from different places in Australia, the US, Canada, Scotland and New Zealand. I'm just not always on the doorstep. So if a friend is reviewing a novel which does not interest me I don't visit that day but if she is sharing a recipe which sounds like one my family would enjoy I'll pop over and pin it. And if she has some family news to share I'll take the time to say congratulations or let her know I am praying for her. If she has just made something for her home which I think is just gorgeous I'll most definitely leave a compliment or a word of encouragement.
And then the are the blogs that offer so much advice and inspiration for your life - for Christian living, homemaking, homeschooling, gardening, reading cooking. If you are interested in it you can bet your bottom dollar there is a blog or multiple blogs for it. Many are hugely popular with large numbers of followers. Here is where I had to do lots of editing. I decided I would choose one or occasionally two blogs for each of the areas I was interested in. Inspiration for Christian living - that was easy. I stuck with a well known blog I have followed from the start which has always inspired me to be a wise woman and build my home. Can you guess which blog that is? Clue - button is on my sidebar!
Homesteading was a little harder - so many to choose from but there could only be one. That button is also on my sidebar but it's not my intention to send people blog hopping! I read one other Australian blog which focuses on simple living and homemaking for it's local content and gardening advice for my climate. I limited the recipe blogs to just two - I read Annabel Langbein's as I'm such a big fan of her recipes and fresh, simple approach to food and the other is a blog where I once guest posted and the author not only has great recipes but a beautiful heart for hospitality. Good food and hospitality go hand in hand!
And finally there are blogs which I treat more like a magazine. Some refer to them as the beautiful blogs. They usually have more pictures than words and those shots are usually styled. Lots of visual inspiration. I can think of one which belongs to a most gracious lady and grandmother. I don't know her and have never commented at her blog ( she already has a tonne of admirers) but her gorgeous tea tables have given me lots of inspiration for my business and I'm very grateful that she takes the time to do this - do take note I mentioned she is a grandmother. Her children have left home. There are seasons for blogging and what you can offer the world.
And this is all I can offer now. I hope you understand. I'm still editing my life. I've made adaptations and there are so many goals I have set and projects I would like to try but I have said two important words to lots of those activities. 'NOT NOW'!! Some things I have let go of all together and if I never make a quilt this side of heaven well that's fine. I can only keep stitching together the pieces of this life that lie in my lap right now. If I don't stitch those parts well and attempt to add in more pieces it's likely that the quilt (my life) will start to come apart at the seams. Maybe sometime I will tell you more about what I don't do and why.... it's quite a list!
The new school term starts next week. My adult daughter is in Thailand working at an orphanage, it is her second missions trip. I can't believe I just called her that - my adult daughter. She grew up so quickly! I have lots of preparations for next week. Need to get my house back in order and my girls are begging me to start their lessons now. They don't want to wait until next week! I am needed so I'm signing off.
I'll be back - just not sure when!
Enjoy the rest of your week.