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.
I hope that you are all well. I am here with some very exciting news...well I'm excited about it anyway...
It seems to me that blogs are no longer read or interacted with much anymore which is kind of sad. I have always thought them a great way to connect with people around the world and because I have been blogging for around 17 years, it is not something I really want to let go of, so this little space will remain here and I will continue to write even if it is just for my own record-keeping.
But, I do miss community. When I was homeschooling my daughters I had a natural community of like-minded people. But seasons change and my daughters have finished homeschooling and are now adulting rather well.
With the end of our homeschooling I endured the seasonal shift as I explored my "what's next", and it has been turbulent. I liken it to the seasonal storms that sweep across the Uk in autumn. I've felt tossed around like a fallen leaf as the wind tears across the landscape, leaping, swirling and jostling me along whether I want to go along or not.
But now that the storm has subsided and I can see a little more clearly, I feel I have found my bearings and can see clear skies ahead.
Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life
I've explored all sorts of things as I attempted to find my new purpose. Finally, I find myself settling into something that is aligned with who I am and have always been and which to a large extent is very much a continuation of the life I felt so comfortable in as I raised my children and kept my home.
I am settling into my continued role as keeper of the home, my husband's helpmeet and support as he embarks on a new business venture that seems to finally support the 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12 scripture that has been my guiding scripture for so many years:
"Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: you should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependant on anyone".
He is opening a coffee shop, a long-held dream. I am now pursuing my own long-held dream and accepting the value I bring as a wife, mother, homemaker and support to my husband. I'm looking forward to occasionally working in the coffee shop and continuing to host and organise my annual event, the North West Winter Wool Festival, but the biggest thing is that I finally have the time and space to write.
I am working on two book ideas that I have been brooding on for many years. I am not worrying about who will publish them for I have discovered many lovely books that were in fact self-published. So I am just going to get on with the business of writing and will likely self-publish the first few books.
The Exciting News: Building a Community
And so comes the exciting bit...now that I have weathered the storm and can see the way forward, I feel that I am finally at a place where I can be a bit more present here on my blog but I feel that I am finally in a place where I can build a community on my YouTube channel.
I am relaunching my YouTube Channel. I realised that we are all continuing to learn as we travel through life's seasons and so I have aptly named my channel "Seasons of Grace and Learning".
I love the idea that I can record bits of my day and chat to you as if we were visiting and having a good old chinwag. I know that some of you are already subscribed so I am looking forward to seeing you there! Please do leave comments so that we can engage with each other - it will be so lovely.
I will be blogging and YouTubing about all the things I have always held so closely to my heart... seasonal and everyday living, making, homekeeping and how I weave my Christian faith into all that I do.
Of course as a 'retired homeschooling mum' and a writer, books and nature are never far from my thoughts and activities so you will have bits of that too :)
Episode 1
After a huge amount of trial, error and frustration, I am very pleased to say that Episode 1 of Seasons of Grace and Learning is now live on my channel.
If you enjoy listening to such things while you are working on something or just in the background, please do consider listening to this episode.
It is a little rough and ready but honestly, I figured that if I don't just record and publish it would never get done. I'm hoping my skills will improve as I continue to create content on YouTube.
