So life continues. The family were all here at the weekend: Daughter 2 was up from London with her bump (8 weeks to go); Son, Daughter-in-Law and the Unbloggable-But-Beautiful Baby came down, the Edinburgh family were around and we all celebrated Son's birthday. They set up an obstacle course in the garden, we went to a playpark, we ate cake and it was all very nice. The Baby is now one and she's walking very confidently so maybe she's turned into The Toddler.
And then they went away and yesterday I took Granddaughter-the-Elder to the Botanics. She rested on a bench at one point. On the way home, we were listening to Mendelssohn's violin concerto on the car radio. "That's a nice tune," she said.
"It was written about 200 years ago," I told her.
"When you were a little baby, Granny?" she enquired.
Well, yes. More or less.
The Festival is now over and Edinburgh has mercifully emptied, at least a bit. One can walk along the pavements in town without being stopped by crowds watching jugglers and without being offered fliers for shows one is unlikely to go to. Don't get me wrong - Festival time is quite fun, but does somewhat impede getting from A to B . (More than somewhat.) There are still lots of tourists but on the whole they're just tourists rather than people who come for three or four weeks every year and know their way around - or think they do.
Anyway. I have recently acquired my 60th apparent follower. I'm afraid I officially follow only 2 bloggers, I think - mainly because I don't really know how this following thing works. I list the blogs that I visit under "Favourites" on my computer and many of them hardly post any more, alas. I wonder if these 60 people actually read my blog, or are they historical, pre-grandchild, ex-readers? I can see that some of them are people I know - in the bloggy sense - but who are the others? The ones I've clicked on often don't have blogs so are just names. Are you really there, 60 people? I know you aren't the millions who follow glamorous young vloggers with names beginning with Z but I'm still curious about you.
Via via I came upon your website and I enjoy your stories about Edinburgh, your walking trips and family.
ReplyDeleteI'm Lian, I live in the Netherlands, 63 years old, mother of 2 daughters, oma of 3 grandchildren (7, 5 and 3) and widow since 7 years.
And I love quilting!
Sorry for any spelling mistakes, my English is not so good anymore.
Greetings, Lian.
I've been following you for quite a while, since your grandson was a baby. I'm always surprised how quickly they grow.
ReplyDeleteI live in coastal Georgia with my husband, I was a teacher and I love retirement.
No grandkids for us, our only child is happily living in Japan and is un married. So we have a cat.
Well yes, I am certainly here and enjoy your blog very much. You will note that I am 'blogless' but I do read a great many of them.
ReplyDeleteThe same thought has occurred to me about most of the followers - all 113 of them. They never comment!
ReplyDeleteHello! I am still reading your blog, although I never update my own any more, sadly. I do love your family updates and photos. Lisa xx
ReplyDelete*Waving*.......
ReplyDeleteSort of thinking about starting up the old blog again myself. Don't know if anything will come of that.
I don't even know how to find out how many followers I have. I do think more people read our blogs than comment. I loved your granddaughter's comment; that was very cute. Ouch. ;)
ReplyDeleteI enjoy your blog, love your garden, so different to mine here in South Australia.
ReplyDeleteWaving from across the pond in Boise, Idaho, USA. :D - I'm really here and I really read your posts. :) - Family time is so special and so important for the little ones. - Your flowers are beautiful. - Happy Friday, and keep on blogging. I enjoy your posts. :) - New follower.
ReplyDeleteI have enjoyed visiting for years = pre-retirement, pre-first grandchild....all the way from NC in the USA. Where I am emptying my nest slowly but surely and teaching all the waking hours of the day it seems.
ReplyDeleteVirginia, from Wellington, New Zealand here. You have 61 followers now - I'd never thought to push "Follow" but I do enjoy your blogging. I'm on a similar life trajectory to you - about to retire from part-time teaching. And one delightful 2yr 5m grandson who we mind one and a half days a week and has filled our lives with joy. Slowing down and enjoying the little things you can do with grandchildren is such a delight, and I get inspiration from the creative ways your children enjoy their time with you. Thank you for enriching my life too.
ReplyDeleteAnd now you have 62! I've been reading your blog regularly for a few years but I've never followed or commented previously. Always enjoy reading about your life on the other side of the world from where I live in Sydney, Australia :-)
ReplyDeleteRachael of Slow Lane Life sent me this link. It made me smile. Have you seen it?
ReplyDeletehttps://www.buzzfeed.com/hilarywardle/never-visit-these-scottish-places?utm_term=.sazVvQjGK#.qs5BOR6g1
I both read your blog and blog, since moving from Blogger as it wasn't updated by Apple on my iPad to Wordpress I have no idea if anyone reads my blog, few comment just a blogger who I have met in real life as she holds delightful lunch parties for her blogging friends.
ReplyDeleteI am a Londoner, knitter and crocheter based in Twickenham.
When I changed from Blogger to Wordpress, I lost many Followers (I seem to remember there were about 200, which always seemed unbelievable to me). Numbers didn't increase on Wordpress, and now that I'm back with Blogger, I have 24, and am grateful for every one of you! I suspect I attracted more interest when life was super-fraught, with dramas and tragedies - a peaceful, rather humdrum life isn't quite so appealing to readers, perhaps! But I'm sorry to have lost a lot of blogs that I used to follow, and seem unable to find many of them again.
ReplyDeleteI missed this post at first since I've been at Lake Chautauqua in western New York. I read and enjoy your blog and write my own blog where you've commented a few times...
ReplyDeleteI still enjoy reading your blog although I may not always comment. I keep intending to return to mine again, but life has been getting in the way!
ReplyDeleteI`m glad that your Granddaughter enjoyed Mendelssohn`s Violin Concerto. I love it too. DWx
I started following you years ago, before Grandson was born, when you commented on my (now defunct) blog a few times. I live in southeast Michigan, USA. I find your blog and your quiet sense of humor charming. You remind me of my late mother-in-law, who died ten years ago. If she had blogged, it would have been about the same kinds of things you blog about. I have two children, one now in his third year of a college, and a daughter who is just starting her last year of high school. This time next year we'll be sending her off to college, who knows where. She wants to go far away. You will be interested to know she is currently preparing a movement of Mendelssohn's violin concerto for a concerto competition. I will miss her violin as much as I miss her when she's gone next year.
ReplyDeleteInteresting thoughts on 'followers.' I'm sure that most of mine have never left a comment, and like you, wonder if there are many that actually read my posts. I too often read my favorites without leaving a comment. Always wonder what has happened when a favorite blogger simply disappears!
ReplyDeleteAh, you know I've been here for a good long while, and I always chime in to "ooh" and "ahhh" over your photos. So - Here I am, again! Still!
ReplyDeleteI'm afraid that I am only an "occasional blogger". I had intended for my blog to be more of a diary than anything else, but just as with a paper diary, I don't seem to stick with it with regularity. When I DO sit down to "blog", I almost always visit yours! I would like to follow your pattern... maybe if I put "Blog" in my calendar???
ReplyDelete