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| Introducing a new friend! |
Well! Here I am, quarantining myself at home–what better opportunity to get back to blogging. As services shut down, appointments cancel, and the clamour of outside demands subsides, the slower pace is welcome.
My goal is to use this time to catch up on a lot of things, especially crochet and blogging, and I would love to have you along if you will join me.
Blog posts have been sporadic over the past two years. Unavoidable life pressures sent Lupey Loops towards the bottom of my priority list. I had plenty of things to share but not the capacity to sit at the computer and do it.
After seven years of blogging, it is time to re-evaluate Lupey Loops:
I do want to keep it! I want it to be a happy, welcoming place where one can enjoy the community–that's you and your good company!
Even though I have been dealing with disability access issues recently, and there have been some profound events, I assure you that there is more crochet to come!
Good news! The bureaucracy that was holding me hostage is slowly being sorted and I am desperately hoping to do more crafty things and share more fun stuff with you.
It feels like my life has been 'on hold' since 2017. I hoped 2020 would be the year everything would be resolved and I would be able to move forward again.
At New Year, when I contemplated 2020 would be a year for 'change' and 'renewal', my heart also felt 'upheaval' but I had no idea it would be this extreme!
So if you are one of those who likes to choose a word to represent the year, I have settled on:
"UPHEAVAL"
First bushfires and now a pandemic. If you are looking for a blissful escape, I hope to make Loopy Loops as free as possible from stressful topics like these.
I must confess that I had sought to escape social media ('the socials') and I apologise for any concerns about my absence. Partly due to lack of time, energy and focus, and partly to manage my mental health, I needed to retreat for a while. All the 'noise' in the media and serious issues affecting people in my circles were so completely overwhelming that I had no words.
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| "A friend is someone who understands your past, believes in your future, and accepts you today the way you are."* |
How can I blog with no words? What can I say that hasn't already been said? Why would I want to add to the noise? These were the questions.
The answer: I want to maintain our online connections in a positive way–bypassing 'the socials' when possible and limiting online time to specific, purposeful interactions. Lupey Loops is a channel for creating a safe online space to do that.
Truth be told, however, I cannot promise to never mention difficult, life-changing events but will endeavour to keep any 'heavy' stuff separate from the happy stuff and place warnings early on so you can skip those sorts of posts if you are wanting to avoid them.
Today's 'happy stuff' is a pair of bouncy kangaroos–Joey and Mother–bringing you greetings from Australia!
They have their own story to tell–a topic for the next post.
Please know that I have been thinking of you even though I have been away from blogland. My plan is to catch up on your news soon and share more of mine, including some of the little sayings that enrich daily life.
Do you have a favourite proverb?
What makes you happy?
Wishing you joy in every day!
xxx
*quote attributed to Bernard Meltzer, but often listed as anonymous. If you could verify the attribution of this quote, please let me know!
References
AZQuotes "Bernard Meltzer", accessed 3 April 2020: https://www.azquotes.com/author/9957-Bernard_Meltzer
Wikipedia, "Bernard Meltzer", accessed 3 April 2020: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard_Meltzer
Related Posts on Lupey Loops
"Battling Bureaucracy", 3 November 2017: https://lupeyloops.blogspot.com/2017/11/battling-bureaucracy.html
"Four-letter Words!", 31 December 2019: https://lupeyloops.blogspot.com/2019/12/four-letter-words.html
Glad you are well and back in blogland. It was a joy to see your creations, loved them both. Take care.
ReplyDeleteThank you Lorraine. I am glad that you are safe and sound too. I will provide more details about these kangaroos in my next blog entry. Here's to some crafty productivity in the next few weeks and months...
DeleteI'm sure that writing and blogging are ways that many will pass the time while trying to stay home. Glad to see you back. Your little crocheted friends are just too cute for words! Thanks for stopping by my blog.
ReplyDeleteIt is a blessing to have this time. Glad to be reconnecting!
DeleteWhat beautiful kangaroos you have made.
ReplyDeleteI love them.
Take care of yourself and stay healthy.
Best regards Irma
Dank U wel, Irma! The kangaroos are much bigger than expected. The pattern did not provide a scale. As for staying healthy, I am doing everything I possibly can under the circumstances. May we all survive this thing together.
DeleteSo lovely to see you again. I lost my blogging mojo too, too many life-bumps in the road. Perhaps now is the time to start again. I would love to spread some happy thoughts too. Love your cangaroos! They are awsome! Blessings, Pam xxx
ReplyDeleteIt's wonderful to hear from you too, Pam. I often revisit your blog to check in. I hope you are as well as can be and that the life-bumps are just that - little bumps - and not mountains. Keep smiling! xx
DeleteThanks for your nice comment on my blog today....take care....love Ria ❤️🙏🍀
ReplyDeleteDank U wel Ria. Thank you for visiting Lupey Loops even though you have had some difficult times. I hope you can find some smiles from some of the colourful crocheted projects here. Take care.
DeleteFirst of all, thank you for coming to my blog and making such a thoughtful comment about Anne Frank and our current situation. It's always nice to meet new bloggers. The photo of your crocheted kangaroos give me great cheer this morning. Thank you for that as well. Please stay well.
ReplyDeleteLikewise Jeanie! I enjoy meeting new bloggers also except I hadn't had much opportunity for some time. I enjoyed your photographs from your travels and your post left me deep in thought. If you are looking for more cheer, you may enjoy my Bizzy Beez post from July 2019. Their smiley faces always cheer me up. Watch this space for more of the kangaroos. May you find fun in every day.
DeleteThey look so cute!
ReplyDeleteDank U wel Sushy! In volgender keer zal ik meer over de kangoeroes vertellen. Zij waren een goed 'stashbuster' - een project voor kliekjes.
DeleteHoe gaat he met jouw groene sokken?
Thank you! I will tell more about the kangaroos next time. How are you going with your green socks?
Thanks for your comment! :-)
I have two favourite proverbs, well, maybe three. My mom would say "This too shall pass" and my daughter has that tattooed on her arm. I love the line from the Best Exotic Marigold hotel "It will be alright in the end. If it is not alright, it is not the end" and lastly "If wishes were horses then beggars would ride". I am so thankful for you and for our blogging friendship. I am not so good these days and getting to my blogs to read them, or to read comments on mine, but I saw you had posted a number of comments to me lately and it was just so damn good to hear from you. I am glad your things are getting sorted for you. It has been quite the year and we are barely past the first quarter. My love to you and your family and all who care. I care. I am here. And now I have become an uber crocheter I am sure you will continue to inspire me with your posts and patterns and FOs.
ReplyDeleteSo pleased you came to visit Mary-Anne and thank you for your great proverb contributions. I find solace in "This too shall pass". My mantras are variations on that: "nothing lasts forever" and "everything has a beginning, a middle and an end."
DeleteI love the humour in your second saying but the last one "If wishes were horses..." I had never heard before despite discovering that it is hundreds of years old. You're still teaching!
You have been on my mind through all of the crazy things going on in the world, especially when I think of your heart and everyone else with health issues to manage. I hope your shoulder is holding up to its responsibilities now that you are an 'uber crocheter'! (I love that expression) :-) I am missing the pool etc. but ready to throw myself back into blogging. Thank you for your kind sentiments and friendship. Meet you back here in blogland soon. xx
Jodie, my dear friend I can assure you that you have been missed. I hope that things continue to get sorted for you. It is never ending and I feel that way with the things I have to sort out for Little Buddy. So much constantly on my mind with him and now with online school, well that is a whole other level of worries and things to deal with. I try to be lighter on my blog, but there are things in my life that are not light and I will mention them and have lost followers because of it. Not that I am ever worried about that, I am who I am and you get a bit of all of me on my blog. I wish you peace and health as we travel this tough time together. Stay safe my friend and stay in!
ReplyDeleteI miss you too and get a little concerned when there is too much time between posts of yours but at the same time, I totally understand how life gets in the way. I can't imagine the stresses you must be under at the moment and it is ok to include the difficult stuff as well as the light stuff. It's real life. Also, if we want to make real connections through our blogs, we need to be real ourselves - not a curated contrivance of a fantasy life. Mind you, I never ever fantasised about a housebound life but I can reassure you, I have been preparing since January and isolating since February (three months of this now...). I am all safe and good. Praying the same for you and yours (and everyone in our blogging community). Hang in there! xx
DeleteWelkom terug. Want een leuke dingen heb je gehaakt. Ik hou van Joey en zijn moeder :-) Zo grappig. Ik ben blij dat je terug ben.
ReplyDeleteDank je wel, Aritha! Ik ben ook blij om terug te zijn! Ik been ook een beetje teleurgesteld dat het zo lang duurde om nog een bericht te publiceren. Nu heb it een nieuw post over de kangoeroes met een video link ook. Ze zijn totaal grappig! Ik hoop dat je ze echte kangoeroes ook leuk vindt.
DeleteHello,
ReplyDeleteWhat a funny creation. So great how you've made this.
Funny to see him with the other big kangaroo. Very nice!!
Best regards,
Marco
Thank you Marco and welcome! They are funny caricatures but not a lot like real life kangaroos - that's because the designer is European and not Australian. The joey is actually a female joey because she has a pouch. She has no name because that will be the honour of her new owner. She will be travelling to Europe so wouldn't it be funny if you happened to see these kangaroos in your travels somewhere. They are definitely unique - no mistaking them! ;-)
DeleteSo nice to see you blogging again and to meet your new softie friends. They are adorable. I've been doing a lot of crafting as well, it is a sane and safe place.
ReplyDeleteFavorite proverb - I'd rather be gobbled up by alligators than nibbled to death by ducks.
Amalia
xo
Haha Amalia! I love your proverb. I had never heard that one before but I 'get' it! Me too. I'm all about 'ripping off the bandaid' rather than a slow agonising peel! I'm trying to do more crafting - not getting as much crochet done as I would like this week but I made up for it by making some pajama pants with the sewing machine. If I'm not going anywhere and hanging around the house in my pajamas, I might as well make some new, better-looking PJs for daytime. (I think that's becoming a mainstream 'lockdown' thing now and not just a 'chronic illness housebound' thing ... daytime PJs and night-time PJs.) I reckon fashion will take a turn towards 'loungewear' in the coming season! Stay safe, sane and have fun crafting. xx
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