Blogging

Have you seen today's post about canning, preserving and a weekly menu? Last week when I scheduled it to publish this morning I made a small error that resulted in Google reader picking up the post a whole three days early. Ie: if you read blogs through Google reader the post would of showed up on Friday, not today which was the intended publish day. I caught the mistake right away and changed the publish day so that it didn't show up on the blog till today but the RSS "damage" was done. 

All of that to say I fear that today's post got lost in the people's weekend RSS reading.

So I'm just pointing your attention to today's post, in case you visit FIMBY via Google reader. Sorry for the mix up. Scheduling posts can be a pain but is very necessary at this point of busy-ness in my writing, homemaking and homeschooling schedule. Thanks for your patience.

A sweet thing happened to me last week which gave me inspiration for this last Friday's Flowers. I was asked for a sidebar button from Kathie at Two Frog Home. Kathie is familiar with some of my long term blogging goals (which includes building readership) and offered this to me as a complimentary advertising opportunity. Free advertising, well, why not.

itty bitty button
I'm no graphic designer but it works

In turn (on my own accord, not because she asked) I am letting you all know that she has just signed a book contract for a cookbook she's written. I'm terribly pleased for her. These successes are shared joys for all of us bloggers and writers who are finding ways to maybe earn some money from our writing efforts. Congratulations Kathie!

So all of that to say that Kathie asked me for a button so I needed to make one. It wasn't hard where to start, my FIMBY flower of course.

Three years ago I took a photo of my backyard Rudbeckia. When I got serious about blogging during the following spring I cropped that photo to a tidy square to be used as my avatar, url icon (if you're reading this on the web you'll see my little flower in the url bar) and overall FIMBY web symbol.

Another year later, spring 2009, I had a local friend and graphic designer create me a FIMBY logo to further "brand" my blog. But it all started with a simple garden photo, taken on the little digital point and shoot I used for years before getting my current D-SLR.

I love flowers. I put flowers in my soap, cross-stitched flowers (gifts from family) hang on my walls, I take photos of flowers and of course I garden for the beauty of flowers. A flower symbol is an honest expession of something I truly appreciate.

I don't want to be presumptuous and say I'm like a flower but there are qualities of Rudbeckia in particular that I'd like to think could be used to describe me. Rudbeckia is a very hardy, no-fuss perennial. It blooms wherever it's planted but it really does love the sunshine. The blossoms last for a long time and although it fits in well with it's surroundings it makes a statement in the garden. And of course it's beautiful (blush).

I wasn't thinking all this when I choose that photo two years ago to use for my blog. It was a practical matter of being one of my nicest flower photos-to-date. Even though I've taken hundreds of flower photos since on my new camera I'm sticking with the original.

This time of summer Rudbeckia features prominently in my bouquets, and this week's bouquet is a handful of Rudbeckia on it's own. Simple and beautiful.

~~~

Today is the last Friday's Flowers. Thanks for joining in. I'll draw a name later this month for a bar of my soap. Use the linky feature below to share your bouquet blossoms.

If you're just visiting today and want to know what's going on please read this post.

Pick some flowers, arrange 'em pretty, take a photo, post it to your blog, link to Friday's Flowers and share it with us. 

I've been putting off this semi-regular Sweet Stuff link post. I find they are a lot of work to pull together and I'm not sure how helpful they are for readers. I'm thinking of ways to make linking to blogs both fun for me to write and interesting and relevant for people to read.

If you want to know what I recommend for reading on the net you can see my list of Internet Reads on FIMBY's front page. I update this list daily and I although I know doing things this way is hopelessly out of date, what with smart phones and twitter and everything, I just can't bring myself to join that party.

So this time around instead of linking to particular posts or articles I'm sharing thirteen of FIMBY's favorite blogs (in no particular order).

• which name? -  I've been reading Nicola's blog for about a year and I have enjoyed following her family's journey of creatively living light on less. Getting to know Nicola, in both public and private space has been a pleasure. I love Nicola's truly creative, frugal and eco-friendly perspective.  
• Steady Mom - What can I say, Jamie's my editor at Simple Homeschool so I have to say nice things about her right? But she's not just a great editor she's also a like minded blogging friend. Steady Mom is all about intentional, professional motherhood and that's my gig.
• exhale. return to center. - Erin is a real world community gal. She doesn't just live on her computer, she works on a farm, teaches classes and dances with a rolling pin. And she's not afraid to share the struggles of thoughtful, intentional living. Well maybe she is afraid but she does it with such honesty and I really appreciate that about her.
• Small Notebook - I have been reading Rachel's blog for a long time. I was privileged to guest post there early last year. Rachel's the real deal and it just shines through her words. I love small and I love simple and I just love Small Notebook for a Simple Home (who doesn't?).
• Simple Savvy -  As Christine describes it her blog is about "organizing and going green" but I feel that description doesn't do it justice. Simple Savvy challenges me to think deeper about a more ecological everyday living and she's not a mother (the only non-mommy blogger on this list) and I appreciate that change in viewpoint. 
• Old Recipe for a New Generation - Kyce is currently taking a summer blogging break and I do miss her desert photos and thoughtful writing. Her family went without plastic for 4 months this year and I find that inspiring. They also travel in a old VW van. What's not to love?
• 5 Orange Potatoes - Part homeschooling, part craft, part herbs, part nature study, all good. Lisa blogs about a variety of topics many of which I identify with. I love it especially when she shares her herbal/outdoorsy knowledge.
• Fat Free Vegan Kitchen - My favorite recipe source on the web.  I know there are probably other great food blogs out there but trust me not many for they way our family likes to eat.
• Clean. - A blog about natural family living written by Rachel who, like me, is a soap maker, but unlike me does this for a family livelihood. A couple months ago I had a giveaway of her LuSa Organics Soap. Clean often hosts interesting giveaways for stuff other than wooden baby toys and fabric - neither of which I need. Cool family. Cool blog.
• infinitely learning - Hillary and her family are (in her words) "on a journey towards mindful family living, self-sufficiency and financial independence". Good stuff. She also just had a baby so things are slow right now but that's true and right for just having a newborn. I admire that about her blog, it's honest.
• Simple Homeschool - I know I write for this blog so it's bit like tooting my own horn but I really do like so many of the posts that show up here. I think this is a great resource for homeschoolers and those thinking about it and I'm really thrilled to be a part of it.
• fuoriborgo - It's a blog about rural/small village family life in Italy. Francesca takes beautiful photos and shares her thoughts on homemaking, gardening, stitching and art. Each post is beautiful and feels exotic to someone like me who has never traveled beyond Canada and the US. And no, I don't know what fuoriborgo means. 
• The Organic Sister - is traveling the United States with her husband and son looking for a place to settle down and call home. Tara writes about "Mindful Parenting. Organic Living. Learning Without School. And Life On The Road." I find her posts very thought provoking and interesting

My only fear in writing a post like this is that I have no doubt left someone out who feels they deserved to be mentioned. My apologies for not including every blog I read and comment at.

By the way, that's my homemade raspberry ice "cream" pictured at the top. It was even more delicious than it looks. The recipe can be found in the Vice Cream cookbook.

What are your favorite blogs to read? Please leave links in the comments.