Tuesday, February 27, 2018

Up for a walk? Wear comfy shoes, cause this is a doozy!


Hello everyone, it's been a while - again. I've missed you! I'm glad you're here - if you haven't completely abandoned me, already - since I'm not here as often as I used to be. But, more on that, later. Let's walk, shall we?


 We'll start from my house; that way,
 you'll know where it is, next time you come.

 

If you've visited me on Instagram, lately, you'll know 
that almond blossoms are everywhere, right now. 


Their sweet, honey-like scent fills 
the air with the promise of spring.


I never tire of this particular spot, near our home. I have taken its picture many times throughout my years of blogging, where bare grapevines take centre stage, while silver leaved trees beaded with olives and bobbles of oranges beaming from another, act as a chorus, harmoniously illustrating how a variety of very different produce thrives so well, in such close proximity to one another, on this island.


In contrast, white mustard, (yes, it's yellow!), has invaded winter vineyards, all on its own. The adorable flowers add cheery colour to the fruitless vines, and every time I walk by this one, I want to merrily run through it, like a little girl, without a care in the world. 


Heading out towards the next village, this beautiful branch
 of almond blossoms in the distance, beckoned me 
to bestow its allure from up close,

 
thus forcing me to take a new path, deeper into the 
Cretan countryside, one which I had never explored before.

 

Do you see where I'm going with all this? 

Fields of aloe vera, vineyards, fruit and olive groves form the width of the countryside surrounding our village, while the mountains in the background soar to magnificent heights.

There are many reasons, my friends, that have been keeping me from posting as often as I'd like, but  I won't bore you with what they are. Besides, we probably have a lot of them in common. Just like the rows upon rows of aloe vera in the pic above, most days, my long list of 'to dos' seems endless, so that the components of composing a blog post, i.e., writing a theme oriented (as I tend to do), piece of prose, photographing 'subjects', formatting its text and pics, editing, editing and editing,πŸ˜“ somehow, gets pushed to the bottom of the priority pile, and thus, days turn into weeks and weeks morph into months!πŸ—“πŸ˜² Anyway, it's not like there's a rule that dictates how often one should post, but if you're like me, and really need to reach your creativity quota every few days or so, you could have a problem.



Or not. Enter Instagram! It allows me to post random pics, (although I tend to do triplets with a bit of text), in a few minutes. I really appreciate the frequent interaction with my followers, too; even just popping by to say 'Hi!',😊 is always a sweet gesture! As I've pointed out in a previous blog post, Instagram will never replace my blog process, as I really enjoy being challenged by what a blog post involves, but it is more achievable, for me, for now, regarding time and effort.


Interestingly, this seems to be a timely topic, since recently, I've come across several bloggers who are dealing with similar questions as to why they, too, are not posting as often. Some have explained that they don't have anything to report, or no new pics to share, they are not feeling inspired, or are too bombarded by deadlines in the real world. All good and valid reasons, wouldn't you agree? 


Unfortunately, I've lost a few followers the last few months, which I assume is due to the inconsistency of my posts - driving readers away because I've become blasΓ© is too scary a thought! On the contrary, there are blogs that still grace my sidebar which haven't been updated in years, but that doesn't mean that they never will, and when they do, I will dash over to read them and say 'hello' to their authors and tell them how much I missed them and how happy I am that they're back. But if they don't ever appear at the top of my list, as blogs do when a new post is published, I will continue to keep their thumbnails there, like I do old photos, to remind me of their creators and their wonderful worlds.


Well, this blogger's all talked out 
and you are, no doubt, all walked out, 
so I'll say goodbye for now.  
But before we part ways, 
tell me, are you, too, 
going through a phase
 of unintentional delays, causing
 you 'blogger mystery' malaise?

As always, 
thanks for visiting!
xx
PoppyπŸ’Ÿ

31 comments:

  1. I'm always so happy to see a post...and to take a walk with you and see your beautiful part of the world. I don't post as often now but I still love blogging! Hugs!

    ReplyDelete
  2. My dear Poppy, I think of you often and wonder how you are. I have to agree with you, I am in the same spot as you. I don't have a lot to show or talk about. Time just seems to whiz by. I know because of my age it takes me longer to accomplish my daily chores, which I still do. I have to take little breaks here and there and I try to lay down for an hour a day.

    I am really tired with all this walking LOL Wish I could do that much walking, but unfortunately I can't. If I am going shopping in a department store I take my walker so I can shop.

    The walk is breath taking with all the beautiful blooms and fruit. Your country side is stunning.

    We have been having really cold weather, down to 39 at night. If it's not 70 I am COLD.

    I hope to do a post soon as I do have a few things to blog about. I am going to be writing a small story about a special memory that I never though I would ever see again.

    Take care my dear friend.
    Hugs,
    Mary

    ReplyDelete
  3. Just beautiful Poppy. Such lovely pictures.
    Kris

    ReplyDelete
  4. I would love to take a walk there...so green and sunny! Here we still have a frozing cold winter. Have a happy day now!
    Love from Titti

    ReplyDelete
  5. Indeed, there's no "rule that dictates how often one should post".

    Crete is beautiful and your immediate surroundings - a little paradise with exquisite fruit and flowers.
    The picture with the cats on the staire is just priceless!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Poppy!
    I miss your blog. you have not written for a long time. Your region has come in spring, but we are still winter. Trees are naked, the air is too cold.we are looking forward to the spring. keep beautiful photos from us and always write please.
    Hugs and kisses from Turkey :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. whenever you post PoppyKathleen dearest bean! it's like a little ray of sunshine. but I too love Instagram. and I can see it's pull for busy people!
    but I always love your walks with us.
    to look out upon such beauty is so glorious. even if I have to do it through a computer screen. LOL!
    for most people ... the world is too much with us. finding the lightness in simply 'being' is difficult these days. but friendships made in this world of internet connectedness are treasures. and I'm so glad to have found you.
    I loved our walk! and it has made me hungry. LOLOL! XO
    (the aloe fields are fascinating and to think about them being harvested!)

    ReplyDelete
  8. That was en enjoyabale walk with you Poppy! Seeing plants flowering is such a joy and I can hardly wait for that to happen hear (a little ways off yet). I have seen others comment about blogging struggles too. I go up and down with it- I just go at it when I feel like it. I keep forgetting to go over to Instagram- and you are right- the responses are pretty swift by a lot of bloggers! It’s good to be busy and to have your days full- enjoy!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Dear Poppy, It doesn't matter how many vacations you take from blogging. You will always find me eagerly looking for another of your beautiful posts.
    I don't post as often as I used to. I'm hoping that some of my older blog posts will fill the spaces. I feel like I have almost told everything there is to tell. Maybe not.

    ReplyDelete
  10. If I lived in Crete, I dare say I would never want to die even if I knew I were going to heaven (fat chance for that one lol). How could anything, even heaven, be that beautiful?

    xxx

    ReplyDelete
  11. Poppy, Once again you are reading my mind and writing my thoughts. I just posted for the first time since the first of the month! Yes, we've been traveling and settling back into Greece and I have a new computer, but the real reason for my absence was that I need to get my thoughts together. While I'd like to think I was missed, I certainly don't have people writing to see where I am! :-) So I think we all look forward to posts and this one -- as yours often do - taught me more about Greece. I had no idea that carpet of gold in the groves was WHITE mustard! Keep 'em coming when you have the time! xxx Jackie

    ReplyDelete
  12. Hello Poppy, always good to see a post from you on your blog even though I follow you on IG. You wrote my exact thoughts...those are the reasons I don't blog often and I do think that a lot of bloggers have left blogging for the IG world instead. Like you said, it's so much easier to post a photo here and there and not have to worry about writing an entire story. I do still blog - but I go through phases where it's more of a worry (not posting enough/not interesting/no time) and I think about giving it up. I'm still plugging away though and I do still love reading the blogs I have on my sidebar - including yours! Lovely walk, by the way. So much prettier than my neighborhood. ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  13. Poppy, that gate is fabulous! I have a thing for gates, don't you? And shutters. And you know that I also have a thing for your annual romance with almonds blossoms, what a glorious sight that is! Topped only by their scent--is there a perfume with that as the top note?

    And to think that the friendly yellow blooms of mustard appeared every year at Valley View too, I miss that sight and wonder if it was white mustard too.

    Poppy, you're exploring a new path, huh? Well, good for you! That's the only way we grow and stretch ourselves but it is also the only way we can find our true self, for each stage of our life. You know I have more than my share of nostalgia leanings but a wise woman knows when to look forward to a future that can bring blessings, if we but watch for it.

    Blogging has changed so much, and I've only been in it since 2012. Like you, I still have daily creative urges. I even write the posts, stacks of them never used. But the ingredient of blogging that has become very scarce in my life and keeps me from hitting publish is the precious commodity of time. Again, a wise woman contemplates this, especially when God may be using life circumstance after life circumstance to suggest that she treasure time more and more. As happened to me this past week and I dare not ignore it.

    I am thankful that you find IG a way to combat the malaise of blogging, and I love your photos on it. I am a non-IGer myself, but I do love seeing those that you post to FB. And I applaud your kindness in keeping old friends on your blogroll, one of mine lingered at the bottom of your blogroll for quite a while. I have many on the bottom of mine who stopped blogging years ago too. When I see them there I like to think that they have found a better use of their time and feel happy for them but wish they could have maybe dropped in once a quarter or every year just to give us an annual update on their lives. And if they do, you and I will know about it, won't we?

    Love to you and see you on our many future paths,
    Dewena

    ReplyDelete
  14. Hello Poppy, oh what a wonderful walk you took us all on! It is so pretty there in Greece. I can understand completely about blogging. It take up a lot of time as you said. I too find it a lot easier to posting photos on IG. :0)
    Take care and all the best to you.
    Hugs, julie xo

    ReplyDelete
  15. Lovely blog with beautiful pictures!
    Thank you, Phyllis

    ReplyDelete
  16. As a matter of fact, yes I am!! And your post has made me feel so much better knowing that I am in your great company and other bloggers also. I have been very uninspired to write anything. I love Instagram but have been missing from there too until just the last few days. Life is very busy right now and there should be lots to write about but I will wait until inspiration (or Spring) hits me! Your pictures are so gorgeous....send that beautifulness over across the ocean!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Hello sweet Poppy! It was great to see a post in my mailbox. What a gorgeous place to take a walk! Your photos always blow me away...as much as I enjoy them on Instagram (although I'm not on much) I do say that I miss your lovely, descriptive blog posts. Thanks for inviting us along on your walk. Man, are my feet tired!! :D

    ReplyDelete
  18. I don't post so regularly myself, so I totally get that, Poppy. It's great though to see a posting from you. The landscape on your island is so gorgeous and I always enjoy such beautiful views. Your daffodil picture is a piece of art and the kitties certainly make me smile.
    Have a wonderful weekend! :)
    Hugs,
    Julia

    ReplyDelete
  19. Oh Poppy your photos are really making me homesick. I love the smell of the almond blooms this time of the year. And also the way the streets smell so sweet when all the flowers are blooming. I too went through a phase where I didn't want to blog but I had a bunch of blog hops to do. Nothing like a deadline to kick your creativity into gear. I hope you are well and I will always be here and on Insta to enjoy and be inspired by your photos.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Enjoyed meeting you thru this walk!! I love the almond blossoms! I live in Japan and am in love with the cherry blossoms, and the earlier blossoming plum blossoms. Similar to almond blossoms, and I also love the almond blossoms references like to Aaron`s rod and beautiful references in scripture!! Best wishes with your blogging dilemma, I hope you will overcome any blocks and just continue to share what is on your heart and the beauty all around you!! Blessings and Peace to you!!PS I came here via Duta`s blog!

    ReplyDelete
  21. Amazing views, Poppy. I'm definitely coming for a walk, wait for me!
    Amalia
    xo

    ReplyDelete
  22. Oh precious Poppy, here I am, I am not gone, just very slow these days it seems to get anything accomplished in a timely manner. Even when I am not on here I think about you and others and wonder how you are doing. The images you have shared here, so fresh and glorious makes me want to cram myself onto a plane and fly to your island and explore and yet alas, that is just a dream. My three daughters are all on Instagram. In fact I am as well, but I just don't use it hardly ever, EVER. I have been on Facebook for 8 years and have so many friends there as well and I also have my blog attached to a page on there and so rather than hit Facebook, Instagram and my blog, I had to leave Instagram as my least to visit. I would not even know how to find most of my friends on there. I don't have enough hours to comment the way that I want to and even in retirement, it just is never as you planned your day to be. I have missed you and wondered about you. Hugs from afar~

    ReplyDelete
  23. Love, love, love seeing your photographs.
    Take Care

    All the best Jan

    ReplyDelete
  24. I have never even seen a picture of aloe vera fields before - thank you for that!

    I feel the same way about the challenge of writing a blog post that is pulled together in my style, maybe as you say, with a theme... Anyway, whatever that special something IS, it's not easy to come by, though as others have said, I have lots of ideas and drafts, but it takes a lot of time to do anything with them.

    And the older I get, the shorter life is, and I feel that I should be *doing* more while I still can. Maybe I can write more about it when I'm yet older and more decrepit!

    ReplyDelete
  25. Hello sweet Poppy, well as you can see by the lateness of my comment that I too am struggling to keep up with the demands of blogging in a busy world. It really is a most enjoyable way to share your heart with other ladies, but it does involve a great amount of time as well to visit other blogs, to comment, and to compose a blog post. And like you, I've migrated to Instagram where I can share snippets of my day instantly, and commenting/visiting process goes much more quickly. I still enjoy the interaction of blogging, however, and don't have any plans to quit any time soon, but my posts have been a bit farther apart.

    Now about that walk you had... oh how I'd absolutely LOVE to stroll along with you! Oh the delights and the joys to experience! I just soak up the beauty of your pictures of spring, as we are still a bit in the throes of winter here. So thank you dear friend for taking the time to share the beauties of your world with us, and your thoughts too... always so poetic and beautiful! Even if you only post a great once in a while, I will eventually get to read your post :) Hugs to you sweet friend!

    ReplyDelete
  26. Beautiful pictures. Happy Easter Poppy.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Simply STUNNING. oh. my. word. whether you post once a week or once a year they are worth the wait! thank-you. this line is surreal to a Canadian Girl...beaded with olives and bobbles of oranges. LOVE it. Happy Easter!

    ReplyDelete
  28. So, why is it called white mustard? Do you know?

    ReplyDelete
  29. Whoa, its all I can say.. Each photo more beautiful then the next!

    ReplyDelete
  30. I see you are beautifully fluent in the language of the universe --Nature. Glad I found your exquisitely crafted site, Poppy. I'm following on GFC.

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to comment. I really appreciate hearing from all of you! Have a great day!