Rosie Scribble

The art of the cover-up post

Several bloggers have told me that when they write a post that feels a little personal, and they wonder if perhaps they have exposed a little too much about themselves, they always cover it up with another post the very next day. That way the post concerned would be removed from its very obvious position at the top of their home page and it would no longer be the first thing people saw when they clicked over to their blog.

Occasionally this would mean writing something a little bit random or posting something rather unusual, but this would serve it's purpose even if it did seem a little out of place.

This is one of those cover-up posts.

We are busy packing for a weekend away and hoping to spend some quality time together, although it is more likely that one of us will drive the other a little bit mad.

Meanwhile, I offer you this*:

Happy Halloween!

*I don't own this obviously. Or the hat, for that matter.

Lifeline

I managed to do a quite a lot of thinking this week during the two whole days I managed to spend offline, about blogging, friendships and life in general.

It occured to me after a day off line, when I suddenly found myself logging on and replying to comments, just how important this blog is to me. The perks are nice, the small amount of income it generates is appreciated too, but it's not that. It's the connection it gives me with other people.

My feeling is that people blog for a variety of reasons, and we may not even be sure exactly what those reasons are. That is, until we log off for a while and discover there's a gaping hole left behind, which is how it felt for me earlier this week.

It is easy to suggest that's it is better to log off and live your life out there in the real world, but in the evenings it is just me. And you can't have a conversation when there is no-one else there.

I have met some warm and wonderful people through the world of blogging, and I missed them all this week.

I logged back on and discovered you were all still there, and thank goodness for that.

And I'll be honest. I started writing this post on Monday night when I was supposed to be 'off line' having realised how much better I felt when I saw people were coming over and commenting, and I just had to reply to them, because I wanted to say hello.

So next time I announce that I am logging off, come back the following day and you'll probably find I've updated my blog. If you've found a lifeline, why sever it?

Photo credit: Panoramadi

Pumpkin hunting amongst other things

After a couple of days out in the countryside we are happy, relaxed and motivated. (You didn't think I could stay offline longer than that did you?)

We've been busy hot air balloon chasing ...

Pumpkin hunting ...

Card making ...

And tractor spotting.

And now we're off to do some more!

I'm also loving this post by Muddy No Sugar. Proof that nothing stays bad for long.

Catch ya later.

Logging off

Sad as it may sound, I sometimes wake up with an idea for a blog post. It could be something IJ has said, a story she has relayed from school, something we have done during the week or some random thought.

This morning I woke up with the idea for this blog post. It has rattled round my head ever since, and it will continue to do so until I write it.

It’s a short post that says simply this:

The blogosphere was a horrible place to be last week, and waking up feeling sad and angry about the state of the mummy blogosphere is no way to start the week.

Thankfully there is an easy solution to this – simply log off.

So that is exactly what I am going to do this half-term holiday.

We have a number of exciting days out planned, and the rest of the time the two of us are going to enjoy some quality time together.

So I’m focussing on the important things this week and the things that really matter.

But I’m hoping that in the very near future I’ll want to share it all in a blog post, or two.

But not today.

Photo credit: michaelaw

An evening or three ..... with Mrs Stephen Fry

Having toured all 50 states of America with Stephen Fry only last week, I was more than a little excited to stumble across the diary of his long-suffering wife Edna in our local branch of Stresscos.

The diaries of Mrs Stephen Fry are the reason why I am likely to be spending a little less time online in this forthcoming week.

Oh, and the fact that it's the half term holidays.

I am reading with fascination and much hilarity about the ‘other’ life of esteemed writer and intellect Mr Stephen Fry – father to five, possibly more, children and local window cleaner turned taxi driver with a love of curry, vodka and karaoke.

The highlights so far, which give an insight into Stephen’s ‘other’ life as well as my own sense of humour, include:

Went to the garden centre this afternoon. We didn’t buy anything. We just like to pretend we’ve got a garden.

We told Stephen Junior that he’s adopted this evening. He isn’t, but there was nothing on TV.

Enjoyed a nice cuppa this morning with a HobNob and Jeremy Kyle. There was a woman on there who’d been married 16 years without realising her husband was gay. Extraordinary! Which reminds me, it’s our 16th anniversary in a few weeks. What a coincidence.

Tried to order a Domino’s pizza but they had no delivery boys available. Apparently one of them had an accident. He fell over, knocking another one over, who knocked another one over …

Insights into the family’s domestic life include recipes such as a time-saving two-in-one special – Spamoffee pie which can be served with a choice of custard or gravy.

So far, so thoroughly entertaining.

Call it women’s intuition or just the style of the writing, but something tells me this book was written by a man.

No offence Edna.