Saturday, October 24, 2015

Musings on Comments

Several of you commented to me that I've really been getting a lot done lately.  And I do think I have.  The main reason was that I stayed out of QBL for a week or so.  By that I mean I did post (4 that week I believe) but I didn't respond to the comments right away (some were 2 days later) and I didn't visit back the blogs right then either (those visits happened over the period of about a week, and I may have read a few posts in a row that I'd missed).  I've really been reflecting on this phenomenon.  We talked about trying to find a balance amongst the New Quilt Bloggers group I was a part of this past summer.  My good friend Julie of Pink Doxies recently wrote a great post on this subject and what she has done to find a better balance.

Here's my take, and do with it what you will.

What I did seemed to work for me.

Although I did have some angst about not being on top of the responses to your lovely and thoughtful comments, it was gone when I did respond.  I did not ignore one of you.  :-)  I visited you randomly and then I spent time visiting you these past 3 days in a purposeful manner.  Gosh that sounds rather like teacher jargon, but it's not meant to be.  It took me 2 hours just this morning to get completely caught up with visiting and commenting.  Okay, I spent about 10 minutes doing the banking thing I always do on Saturday mornings too!  Still. TWO hours.  Yesterday I spent many more, writing yesterday's post, and responding to all the comments from that Autumn-Coloured Glasses post, and getting my gmail inbox down to zero.

I've heard from several friends in QBL lately of varying degrees of angst regarding not posting enough, time taken away from sewing, not getting many comments, the volume of blogs they follow being out of control, stats of viewed posts, readership etc.

Here's the thing:
I don't really think about the number of comments I get, unless it spikes and then I think whoa, that resonated.  I don't expect each of you beloved commenters with whom I have a back and forth chatting by email/iMessage relationship to comment on each and every post.  If you miss a few, it's okay!  If you comment on a couple posts in one email or comment that's okay too!  If you don't comment on a few or several posts in a row that's also okay!  Life happens, as we all know.

So.

Here are two gifts from me to you:
In this week of firmly sticking to doing only what makes me happy and inspired, I want to tell you all to please, not feel you have to comment on every post. Start with this one.  Read it, if you do, and then leave.  It's okay.  I feel your reading vibrations here in lovely Kingsville anyhow. :-)
on the Chrysler Canada Greenway yesterday, the southernmost section of the Trans-Canada Trail

Don't be offended if I don't comment on every post you write either.  I am hereby giving myself permission to sometimes not.  It just means I'm finding ways to cut down on time taken from me and my Bernina. (cue "Me and My Shadow" song now in my head)

However, I do need to point out something I wholeheartedly and firmly believe:  comments do make the QBL go round.  That and only that is what has led me to form close relationships with, well, lots of you wonderful wonderful people.  You are my guild, my homies, lol.  I nearly put the exact number of my extra-special, in-my-heart blogger friends down, but no, we know who we are.  In all honesty, the number who I consider close friends is about a fifth of my bloglovin' followers. I'm not counting my friends and family in this group who rarely if ever comment! (Linda, you're the exception; you comment on each and every post, have done since Day 1, and I love you for it.)

I must say comments do increase the close relationships numbers, and I know that that number will most likely go higher because of them.  For example, I've recently met Janine Marie who blogs at Quilts From the Little House, through comments she made here and my visits to her blog.  We've discovered several things we have in common!

I rarely look at my stats pages more than oh, once a month.  I'm not doing this for the stats.  I just know I do love writing this blog, and it has taken off and improved my life in many ways, ways I could never have foreseen, and I am so grateful for all of the growth that has occurred and continues to occur through it.  I'm just tickled when I see how many people do read this blog, or how many followers I have on bloglovin'.

Therefore I want, make that I am going to always feel happy about my blog, about QBL and about the fabulously talented and interesting and warm and caring people I have met and continue to meet through mmm quilts.  Working this way, where I post, don't always immediately respond, and then visit blogs in chunks, actually has seemed to work a bit better.  I still spend too much time on here IMHO, but part of that is my own doing, as I (cough) tend to overthink things, and over-proofread and wordsmith my writing.

My second gift to you this morning (oops it's now this afternoon) is a terrific easy and so healthy recipe I made this week for company we had for dinner.
Roasted Beet Hummus
Happily displayed on a Thanksgiving runner I made circa 2002/2003 (no label, gasp, I know).  I know this because that fancy stitch was done on the Husqvarna I had for a few months before I traded it in on my beautiful Bernina.  Fabric pumpkins were made around that time too.

Roasted Beet Hummus
--taken from a great site that I've mentioned before, Blue Zones, you can find the recipe here.

Ingredients
2 medium beets (or 1 large)
1 16-oz can chickpeas (unsalted; I rinsed mine first)
1/4 c lemon juice
3 cloves garlic
3 Tbsp Tahini
1/4 c olive oil
sea salt and pepper to taste

Directions
1.  Rub beets with a small amount of olive oil, wrap in foil and roast (about an hour) at 375F until very soft.
2.  Cool the beets, slice and put in food processor (I used my blender).
3.  Add remaining ingredients and blend to desired texture.
4.  Serve drizzled with a little olive oil. (I added a sprig of parsley for decoration.)

We've had it with crackers, but it would be great on a wrap too.  Hey! It's after 12 noon, so that is what I am going to go and do this very minute (once I proofread this only once, wink) and then spend the rest of this rainy afternoon sewing.

Happy Saturday and weekend to everyone. <<Mwah!>> to you all.




12 comments:

  1. know the feeling , i spend to much time on the computer

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  2. I have thought about this too, I spend time to blog, and read blogs, so I don't sew or what ever. so then I don't read blogs and don't blog and I feel cut off in my real life sewing wold. Like yourself, I have some people who I feel I have become proper friends with through blogging (which is brilliant) and then there are those who I leave comments on and more rarely they me and we pass through the night (that's ok too). But maybe I'm maybe over thinking it. I'll blog when I feel like it not when I don't. Right now I'm off to write my book review

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  3. Oh, but see, I need to comment on this one because it resonates perfectly! Maybe I'll try your new schedule and see if it works for me. I've haven't managed my time well since I went to work part-time earlier this fall. I'm turning off the computer now and heading off to play with gorgeous fall fabrics :)

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  4. I hear you hon. I set myself 30 mins a day to visit blogland and answer emails and so far it works for me. I do try and leave comments, especially on those blogs who I claim as friends. As for blogging I try and do 3 posts a week. I'm lucky that I don't work so I have lots of time to waste. I do feel though that once we get caught up in QBL we start t feel guilty when we don't post/leave comments often. It's a female thing probably. What we have to remember is that it's our blog to do with what we want, and it's our time we are using. If we spend too much time on the computer we'll have nothing to blog about. Right I'm off now to do the washing up. All other comments will be transmitted by thought transference only xxx

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  5. As you know I have other things going on in my life and I don't always leave as many blog posts as I used to. I still read the blogs I follow but on my time and yes sometimes a few days later. I have given myself permission to try and find a balance with life and blog reading/posting.

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  6. Well, you have to find your balance and stick to it. Yours will be different than anyone else's. It all depends on the REASON you blog. I am what I call a social blogger and my thoughts on getting and receiving comments are the same as yours.

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  7. I totally agree with everything you wrote in your post. When I broke my wrist I could only type with one hand so I got so far behind on responding to comments and I felt stressed and guilty. I finally figured that people would not mind me taking an extra day (or 3) to respond.

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  8. Sandra, you are dealing with the same questions I struggle with. Your solution sounds intriguing. I've tried a few things but have been so inconsistent lately that I can't say what works for me. I feel very guilty when I don't keep up with my blogging buddies and I also miss reading what is going on in their lives. You (and I) are a relatively new at blogging, so it seems only natural that it will take awhile to find what works best. It might be a constant process of tweaking and changing, depending upon what else is going on in our lives.

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  9. Well said! My goal is one post per week. If I do more, that's great. But I don't stress about it. Life is too short, and I'd rather sew. Good luck with your new philosophy.

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  10. Well, aren't you sweet! : ) You've stated the blog/comment/sew conundrum so well! (Maybe that's too strong a word for it--but maybe not.) I'm sort of like "Squirrel!" when it comes to deciding to follow blogs. I see something I like, and yup, that one ends up on my list. Or someone comments on my blog and I just have to add them. And then I joined a blog reading service because I figured a little organization might help me, but it gets away from me really fast. Suddenly there are oodles of blogs to read. I used to read/comment only right after I posted which is usually once or twice a week (and an extra on Friday if I have the good fortune to finish something.) But now with the blog reader, I am reading blogs more consistently. So here's what I've decided: I'll still comment more right after I post something and link it up, but just keep up reading in between and comment a little less. We'll see what happens. Oh, and I really had to laugh about the proofreading. I think I'm on my third read-through of just this comment, and there's probably still something to change.

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  11. I love you too my dear sister and I will continue to read and comment on every single post of yours! I love your blog (and am so happy that I strongly encouraged - pushed lol - you to go for it!) Not saying I deserve credit; sometimes we all just need that extra push! :)

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  12. That sounds soooo good. Too bad my beets didn't grow this year. And I liked your perspective on balance.

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I wholeheartedly appreciate you taking the time to leave a comment, as they make my day! I answer every one by personal email. :-) Unless... you are a "no-reply" blogger, which can occur for a few reasons. You can get around that by writing out your email within your comment so that I can answer you.