Off to Greener Pastures

I'm not sure if anyone other than the rare visitor referred by a search engine ever even visits this blog, at this point.  It's always been primarily for my own benefit, to record the progress I've made and to enjoy the occasional browse of my favorite photos from the garden...

Well, if there is anyone out there reading-- and for the benefit of any casual visitor from the future-- you may have noticed that the photos are gone, replaced by error messages, and the whole blog looks absolutely hideous.  'Twasn't always thus. ;o)  No, before Flickr's new policy of allowing only 1,000 photos per free account, the blog was full of photos. 

When Flickr announced the policy change, I went through a period of what I can only think of as mild grieving for my old blogs, because over the course of years I'd foolishly embedded almost all my blog photos as links to my Flickr photostream-- and now there was no way to prevent all those photos from disappearing.  (No way short of paying a yearly fee ransom, which I refuse to do on principle as much as for any other reason. I'm not interested in dealing with Flickr ever again, after the way they've treated so many of their users.) 

I even went so far as to preemptively delete many of my photos myself, in a last-ditch effort to salvage the more recent photos on one of my other blogs (the craft blog).  So now those deleted garden photos link to nothing, leaving gaping holes in nearly every single post of what was always a photo-heavy blog.

The gist is that this blog is essentially broken for me, now.  The text is all there, of course, and I will leave the blog up for that reason (for my own reference, mostly)-- but rather than giving me joy, this shell of a blog now makes me sad (and a little angry at Flickr, still, to be completely honest), so I think it's time to seek out greener pastures. 

In my new blog, I'll use my own photo hosting so that (I hope) the photos will be there for the foreseeable future.  If there's anyone out there, please join me at my new garden blog address: A Southern Cottage Garden. 

I can promise a gazillion daylily photos (and yes, a few other plants, too), continued griping about weeds (d**n that torpedo grass!), and a glimpse into a fellow gardener's yearly struggles, quiet triumphs, and small joys.

Introductions

This is the blog's first post.  (The previous handful were written for an old, no longer active blog.) 

I decided to start a new blog with a focus on the garden (and a secondary focus on our home and life in general) because, well, I wanted a clean slate. 

This blog is meant to record the progress of our garden and home improvements-- something to look back on when I want to remember how far we've come-- a way to remember those things which inevitably fade with time. 

So it's primarily for myself, because I enjoy blogging, but it's also for any friends and family who want to keep up with our latest doings-- and it's possible that even a few complete strangers will stop by from time to time.  (Make yourself at home!) 

- - - - - - -

For any who don't really know us, we live in a coastal county of Alabama (thus the name of the blog).  We're not within walking distance of the actual coast-- more like a half-hour drive to the beach, about half that to Mobile Bay-- but we're close enough that our area is considered "coastal", I guess.  (Close enough that we need to pay attention during hurricane season, too.)

Our home is in a rural area of a county that is growing very rapidly.  There are both good and bad things about a growing population.  Since we can't do anything about it (short of moving away), we're better off focusing on the good things (when we can). 

I've lived in this area all my life, and in fact, our house is located within quick walking distance of my parents' new home and the home of my maternal grandfather.  My husband, Donald, on the other hand, moved here from Sweden in 2001-- totally different climate from what he grew up in, not to mention the language and cultural differences. 

Neither of us are expert gardeners, but we both grew up in rural surroundings, with family members who gardened (both flowers and vegetables)-- and you don't have to go back very far in either of our families to find farmers.

We're gradually shaping this patch of land to suit our needs and wishes. 

There are new raised vegetable beds (not yet planted), and I'm trying to create a cottage garden in part of our fenced yard.  Then there are the gravel paths/parking area, and a new mini patio off the back porch, and the trails we're clearing through the woods, and-- well, you get the idea.  We have a lot of plans-- some of which we may even carry out, at some point in the future.  ;o) 

Want to tag along and see how it works out?