We have had a bit of shift-around and I would truly be so grateful for your input.
You may have noticed that for the last few weeks this little corner of the web had been redirected to my Seasons of Grace and Learning blog. I have found that I have had little engagement on there.
Initially I thought that it was down to the fact that I hadn't activated the comments but then once I did that, I was still finding traffic to be low and the only engagement I had was with blinking spammers leaving tiny url links!
A Little Rethink and Reorganising
So I have had a little rethink and a bit of reorganising... here is what I am thinking about:
1. Under An English Sky will continue to be my blogging home. Let's face it, it's been around for a quite a while and while the platform may be basic and rudimentary, it works.
I was hoping to make it all a bit more professional-looking on Seasons of Grace and Learning but perhaps that is not really what is needed. We just need a space where we can connect. I miss your comments and interacting with you. So I shall continue to use Under An English Sky as my blogging home.
2. Seasons of Grace and Learning is my YouTube Channel. I like the name and it is quite personal to me. You can read why I settled on that name in THIS POST. I have come full circle since our homeschooling journey ended with our youngest graduating in 2019 and I am learning how to give myself grace to embrace each new life season. I suspect that I will release the website blog of this same name - no point writing there. I am aiming to publish every 2 weeks all going well. It will likely take me a bit of time to find my recording rhythm but I am sure that I will get there.
3. Instagram - will remain as @seasonsofgraceandlearning as my heart is to build the community on my YouTube Channel. To be honest, I am moving away from IG. You will have noticed that I am less active there, you see, I'm just not a short-form kind of girl. I like to chat, connect on a deeper level. IG doesn't really do it for me. It's all so brief and hit n' miss I find.
4. Content - Back to what this blog used to all about - home, family, faith, seasons and creating.
Episode 2 Seasons of Grace and Learning
With that said, I am here to let you know that Episode 2 of my podcast is now live. Please do excuse my croaky voice but I have managed to pick up a cold and it went straight to my throat and ears.
In this episode I share about The Artists Way, a 12-week course that aims to reconnect the reader with the artist within. I have just started this and while there are certain things that I had to ignore, on the whole it is reconnecting me with my creative self which I am loving.
I take you along to the Antiques and Salvage Market that is held once a month in Cheshire. I was on a mission to find some interesting pieces for the coffee shop. I found going on my own a bit daunting at first, but once I started trusting my own purchasing decisions I found that the creative ideas began to flow. As the day went on, I trusted myself more and actually found that it was good overall.
I have also completed a craft project that has been on my To-Do list for nearly a year. I share a bit about that process and how you can make it yourself.
Finally, I share some books that I am reading at the moment and a literary society that I joined.
Please do pop on over and watch. Perhaps grab a cup of tea or coffee and your knitting or needlework to work on while you watch.
Well lovelies, I hope that you are all having a blessed Sunday. I'm off to grab my own cup of tea and knitting and enjoy watching a cosy afternoon episode of Poirot.
Blessings to you all, I will see you bake here very soon.
Hello lovelies! I hope that you are all well and enjoying the weekend.
Here in the Welsh hills, it is blustery and rainy with the occasional hail shower. We had wanted to visit Bodant Garden in Conwy today but I think that given the conditions, we may wait to visit in May.
Instead, I have spend the morning baking some lovely Blueberry-Lemon Buttermilk Muffins. The mixture yielded 12 muffins plus enough for a loaf, or you could do 24 muffins.
Make my Blueberry-Lemon Buttermilk Muffins
Here is my recipe if you would like to give them a try - they certainly are delicious!
Prep Time: 10 Minutes
Bake Time: 20-24 Minutes
Makes: 24
Ingredients
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon bicarbonate soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
2 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons lemon zest
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk
2 cups fresh blueberries
GLAZE
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon lemon zest
Steps
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C. Lightly grease two muffin pans or line with paper baking cups.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, bicarb powder, and salt. Set aside.
In a medium mixing bowl, cream the butter and the sugar. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Add the lemon juice, lemon zest, and vanilla and combine until smooth. Beat in the flour mixture and buttermilk, alternating the two, using about one-third of each for each addition. The mixture should be smooth and creamy. Fold in the blueberries, and mix until they are evenly distributed throughout the batter. Pour the batter into the muffin tins, filling each up about half-way.
Bake until the muffin tops are golden, 20-25 minutes. Allow to cool for about 5 minutes.
Make the Glaze: Stir the powdered sugar, lemon juice, and lemon zest until smooth. Brush the glaze over the muffin tops while the muffins are still warm.
Down the Spring Garden Path...
This is our first spring in our new home and it is a joy to watch the garden awakening this spring.
The garden is surrounded by a variety of trees, shrubs and hedges and most of them are in various stages of blossoming. It is so lovely to see colour creeping in to the far reaches of the garden.
While we have had clear blue skies on occasion, April is renowned for its turbulent nature, so to see these pops of colour helps us to remember that better days on most certainly on the way!
In the greenhouse, I have had mixed luck with my seeds. The problem is that I planted a lot of seeds who's sell by date had come and gone. I couldn't bring myself to throw them away, they had to be given the chance.
I have cosmos, lupins, poppies, rudbeckia, sweetpeas and sunflowers coming up. I bought some fresh seeds just this week so I will get those sown this weekend.
My YouTube Channel
I wanted to let you know about the trials and developments with my YouTube channel.
I spent hours and hours recording and editing my launch episode only to find that the program I used draws the various clips from a URL and does not store the content on its platform.
This is completely useless because it means that I need to keep the files on my own hard drive on cloud storage which takes up an immense amount of room. If the URL's are deleted, your uploaded video is destroyed.
So, back to the drawing board. I think I am just going to record again, not worry too much about making it a professionally edited production, and hope that people are happy to connect with me in a simple, unedited manner. Something is better than nothing right?
Midway through the cut - look at the difference!
You will note that I managed to figure out how to get the comments form visible on this new blog home - it's only taken me about 7 months! So if anyone has recommendations on editing software, I would love to hear from you!
Saturday Afternoon Reading
I picked up The Simple Things magazine yesterday so I am enjoying paging through April's copy this rainy afternoon.
I am also enjoying this little spring display that I put together for the coffee table in the conservatory. We got this gorgeous Easter card from a dear friend and I love it so much that I'm going to keep it for future spring displays. The little house was a gift from my daughter's recent visit to Copenhagen and I picked a few of the blooming dandelion flowers from my garden.
I've shared before how my husband can't stand them and how much I love them - they are a hallmark of spring! Fortunately, all the dandelions in our garden appear to be containing themselves to the far reaches of the garden and in the wild boarders, so in my view, they have every right to be there.
Anhyoo lovelies, that's about it from me this weekend. I hope that whatever you are doing you are enjoying a slower pace and will find some time this weekend to nurture your creativity and home.
