On this early Friday morning of west coast rain, I first want to thank the many faithful readers and sprout question responders of Creative Potager. This new blog began on December 27, 2009 with “A Gown Remembered: A beginning.” Today’s submission makes 45 posts with 442 comments and 3,342 views. Thank you. Your engagement, encouragement, humour and insights are an integral part of what makes for an excellent creative potager.
I must be off to a writing group this morning. The underpainting is still drying on my oil canvas and it is Friday on the last Friday in February. I thought I would share a series of photos from my visit to Meadowmist Farm to see the sheep with their new lambs yesterday. The babies always make me laugh with their curious leaping and bouncing around.
Mama keeps an eye out as we wander around the yard looking at the babies.
Here is Fat and Sassy running across the top of the knoll beside us.
Now what are these three up to? They have mischief written all over them as the scuttle across the lawn.
Ah yes – a game of “let’s chase the cat.” Bridget Joyce’s lovely farm dog watches on to make sure nothing gets out of hand.
And finally, I take a first family portrait.
Thank you Joyce Kallweit for a delightful meander with this seasons new baby lambs. The best of the weekend everyone.
Sprout Question: How do you play or have fun when taking a break from creating?
© 2010 Terrill Welch, All rights reserved.
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Creative Potager – where imagination rules. Be inspired.
From Mayne Island, British Columbia, Canada
Creative Potager 
Oh my, how friggin’ cute are these sheep? Love them chasing kitty!!
There’s a lot I do when I’m not creative…. my boyfriend and I are avid outdoors people. He’s a sportsman, me a birdwatcher. I also am an equestrian and ride about every other weekend. I like to keep busy!! I think the nature part inspires some of my work and obviously the love of animals….
Christine, I know… the lambs just get me laughing. Thanks for your response.
I tend to love other peoples animals… and only a few. Though I grew up on a farm, I am not what you would call “a genuine animal lover” – I have my favourites and the rest I’m happy to leave be.
Awwwwe! They are SO cute!! 😀 Seems to be the time of sweet animal posts, as I just photographed the Beautiful birds, and my mom just covered farm animals. I think hopes for signs of Spring are at work! 🙂 hehe
I Love being in nature, and find inspiration and Joy there, when taking a break from Creating. Whether it be in the birds, trees, or watching the clouds or stars; nature is a gift for which I’m so Grateful. 🙂
Antonia, they are cute. I slipped by your latest post “All the Beautiful Birds” earlier today and will be back later for another browse. What great photos of colourful birds you have there. Thanks for coming by.
Terrill – Oh my gosh, laaaaaambs. The photographs remind me of the Highlands of Scotland. Thank you for nudging wonderful memories; they’re awake now and frolicking in my head.
Sprout Question: How do you play or have fun when taking a break from creating?
WEATHER PERMITTING
I’m out, Out, OUTside! Usually barefoot, grubbing around in the dirt or in a tree.
WEATHER NOT PERMITTING
I’m inside reading a good book by the woodburning stove.
Laurie, your welcome for the memory nudge and thanks for sharing it with us.
Your response to today’s sprout question reminds me of my partner and I when we have “a party night.” A party in our house consist of getting into p.j. before 7:00 pm, making a snack plate or fried egg sandwiches for supper (maybe with a glass of wine or sharing a beer) and then either watching a movie on one of our laptops in bed or just crawling under the covers with good books. I usually say at some point “its party time!” and David laughs a deep chortle because its true. We are having the best of times.
I was chuckling to myself over these photos and then the question: How do you have fun when taking a break from creating! Oh, that’s like asking a dancer what she does when she wants to take a break–why, dance, of course! (did you see The Curious Case of Benjamin Button? If so, you’ll get this joke.)
I read what all my beautiful friends have to say on their blogs when I take a break from creating!
I haven’t seen “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” Jessica but now I want too so I know the joke.
Jessica, like you, I sometime read friends blogs or look at their on-line art portfolios, or read their tweets when I’m taking short wee breaks and then need to get back at it. But when I’m out for some all out fun, I step away from the computer – a long way. I find that my on-line life has a particular kind of road map in my brain. I am using my ability to imagine places, people, cultures (that tend to be different between Gaia, Twitter, Facebook and each person’s blog). This requires a kind of surreal existence which I enjoy but can create a sense of displacement in my physical world unless I “unplug” periodically.
I wonder if this is experienced by others?
There is a great little scene in Benjamin Button where the lead actress is a ballet dancer. She’s at an after performance party, and what is everyone doing? Dancing! Remember Dirty Dancing? The main characters are dance teachers. What do they do when they take a break from work? Dance. There are several other dance movies- I can’t remember the names- where the dancers, in their off-time, dance. All the time. That’s like being an artist. We’re all just creating all the time. If I’m not creating a drawing or painting, I’m creating a loaf of bread, or potato curry, or a memory of some sort for my children! Or I’m creating a web site, or creating value in another web site by maintaining it, or I can even create while resting (those wonderful dreams…)
Wonderful addition to your first post Jessica… now I know the joke – but I think I still might watch the movie.
I can sure agree with your conclusion that creative people often keep creating – for a break and some fun. I suppose my post is a good example of that. I took my camera with me to see the lambs… what did I do? I took photographs for fun – and brought back to share with you:) Many of my musicians friends have after gig gatherings to jam and have fun. Your observation is good point!
So who are we when we are not creating?
what i do for fun when i am on a break from painting is go out and see art try to attend more drawing workshops than usual and try and hit some shows and see some music.
I also try and go fishing whenever possible and cook wonderful food for friends
Jerry your reply seems to fit well “the dance story” that Jessica shared where creative people go to do more creative things when having a “fun break” from creating:)
Go fishing… that is something I haven’t done in a very long time. Well, actually I don’t really fish. I like to go along and spend my time – hummm – sketching. I also like reading jokes, out loud to whoever is fishing, from any issue of the Readers Digest (the older the better). I don’t read this magazine any other time and I most often never read the stories – just the jokes, out loud, while scrunch into the front of a river boat drifting from back eddy to back eddy with hot sun warming the marrow in my bones.
Terrill – I so resonate with your description of “party night.”
And yes, I definitely need to “unplug” periodically as well.
Hi Laurie, so glad you had a chance to pop by again. I have had people ask me how can I “unplug” and just not be online for 3 days or a week. The easiest way to be “unplugged” is to go where there is no “plug” to connect with. Mostly people are worried about being overwhelmed with the communication they haven’t dealt with while being off line. I have to admit, when I have come back to 150 or 300 emails… it is not always a pleasure. But this usually only happens if I am unprepared to be off line.
Here is a quick checklist for getting the most out of being unplugged:
1. Turn off all your notifications. (when I do this my email diminishes dramatically).
2. Stop replying on blogs and facebook statuses of friends two days before you unplug (this also keeps you from having so much to “check” when you return).
3. Tell your online community that you will be unplugged and when they can expect you to return. (this is extremely important in areas where you are active. I unexpectedly went off line for 10 days last summer. Members of my online Gaia community contacted the Executive Director for the community and said “something is wrong, Terrill hasn’t been on Gaia.” The Executive Director contacted me and even though I was under great pressure, I slipped on-line and “checked in” so people wouldn’t worry.
4. Trust that you can pick up where you are when you return. Just like your physical community, the world doesn’t stop when you are away. However, there is usually very little you need to historically revisit in their lives when you have been away. Hint: You DO NOT have to go back and read every blog, every forum discussion, every tweet, every facebook status of all of your online friends when you have been away.
5. If you are responsible for a discussion that will suffer when you are away – think about asking another member of that community to facilitate that discussion. It is a great opportunity for shared leadership and to strengthen community connections. For example, last summer when my partner was in the hospital I asked Laurie to “host” responses on MY Gaia blog post. If you follow the link you can see how well this worked. Laurie with 112 comments to that post, while under extreme pressure, I wouldn’t have been able to manage without you.
6. Know that the world can and will go on without you. Yes, you provide valuable contributions and at the same time – we all must leave sometime. Little breaks help us all to understand and face our transient status in this particular human form.
Does anyone else have other tips for being unplugged?
Terrill, Kids (not baby goats, though how appropriate) are where I get my inspiration and my down time relaxation. My own grandkids or those I read stories to, that’s where I like to go when I’m not writing.
Learn about Magda’s Mayne Island Mystery and Mayne Island Aliens at http://www.treewithroots.ca
Thank you Amber for coming by and offering a sprout. You offer another example of how our creativity and our fun connect.
Amber Harvey’s books are written eight eleven years old – a time when in our lives are often filled with friends, adventure and mystery. You can find out more about her books at the link she offers above. Amber also has a blog Treewithroots which provides a glimpse into some of her daily adventures. I met Amber through Leanne Dyck, another Mayne Island writer, at the Mayne Island Writers Group.
Many of you who have been a regular part of Creative Potager are aware of my interest in nurturing a creative community. I am committed to hosting blog posts with what I call “Sprout Questions” where we can share and support each other in our growth as artist, writers, and photographers. Because of my island life, and also because of my need to be home most of the time, I developed Creative Potager as one of my “windows” into a creative online community. However, Mayne Island does have a vibrant creative community. My next step is to enhance my Mayne Island community connections and then allow for cross pollination here. Thank you Amber for providing the first Mayne Island sprout response.
“So who are we when we are not creating?” I suppose we just ARE. I AM. We can just BE. Especially when we do the work of self introspection to appreciate and love all aspects of ourselves; even the disowned parts. (hint I just heard an internet radio show between Elese Coit and Genpo Roshi at http://elesecoit.com where Genpo takes us through a guided meditation about just that–how to be happy with all aspects of ourselves and how to make peace with the overactive mind…
Jessica, thanks for coming back and answering the question I posed in my response to your previous comment. I slipped by the link you offered and was intrigued with the title “The Brain Doesn’t Care What You Think” and what a great rabbit hole that was to jump down. Great link with many possible connections to our creativity and our living.
Terrill – Thank you for this list; you bring EXCELLENT points to the table. I will be gone March 3-11 (Len and I are celebrating our 30th wedding anniversary on Eleuthera Island in the Bahamas). And while I intend to blog an island photo and thought each day, everyone will know in advance that I won’t be responding to comments.
As you suggested, I will turn off my notifications. My regular email has an auto-responder that will notify people that I am gone.
For those of you reading this who didn’t see the beautiful gift that I received from Terrill, you are cordially invited to stop by my blog and let your eyes feast http://holessence.wordpress.com/
Good to hear Laurie and on the note about my gift to you – all I can say is – you are an incorrigible abundance created!
Sometimes nature lends a hand, when the stormy winds blow and trees break the power lines. Then all our connections are temporarily severed, and we go back to writing with a pencil on paper.
Just one more practical tip, Terrill. When I’m writing non-stop and don’t want any interruptions, I go out and buy enough food until the project is finished. We still need to eat!
That is a great addition Amber… and I do know about those power outages you speak of. I am such a nervous Nellie in high winds I usually wake up in time to quickly post on the status of my on-line hangouts that we are having high winds and I may experience (forever the optimist) a power failure.
Terrill, it is an amazing accomplishment to get 3,342 views on wordpress in such a short time! It is a challenging feat to get so much readership in such a short time. I think you have connected with a topic–creativity–which interests and focuses and inspireds so many people.
Many blogs on wordpress might go one or two years without even seeing the 1,000 hit number.
Congratulations, and good luck on many, many, creative posts!
Kathy thank you. I had no idea that my number of views for the life of my blog is significant. By this measure then your Lake Superior Spirit blog with over 8,000 views for the same length of time doing outstanding! I love your blog and wander by to read regularly. Your photography and writings allow me to skip along with you through your day. I think of your style as one of the original blogging styles that invite others into your daily living. So I welcome you taking the time to come by and offer words of encouragement.
Do you have any tips Kathy that you can offer new blog writers to help them to increase their readership?
I know for me, my tweet friends regularly share my blog posts and respond to the Sprout Questions. Also facebook and Gaia friends come by as well. Other people seem to “find” me through searches.
Your hits are extremely signifcant, Terrill. I have tried to start anonymous blogs on wordpress to explore different facets of creativity–and, without publicizing, they were lucky to get a handful of hits per day. Lucky.
The only reason the Lake Superior blog has so many hits is that I developed a readership after writing for 365 days in a row, day in and day out, for over a year. The first month it averaged 28 hits a day. It takes patience and commitment to develop readership, I think. And also spreading the word on Facebook, Twitter, Gaia, any place possible. Linking blogs back & forth. A huge draw for readership is to start reading & commenting on other people’s blogs…and adding them to your blogroll. Then they add you to their blogroll and the ball starts rolling.
You have inspired me to write a blog some time this week offering new blog writers ways to increase readership. Thanks for the creative idea!! (I will point some readers back to you in thanks for this inspiration.)
That would be awesome Kathy! I will watch for it and make mention in my posts of the day. I like that you were able to build blog from your previous readership from the year before. That gives so much flexibility if want to shift our focus slightly (or greatly). I wasn’t able to do this with most of my email newsletter readership. They for the most part still happily wait for me to send them a newsletter email directing them to blog post which they then read and reply to me via email. I think part of it is that many of these individuals are not part of on-line communities and the whole idea is a tad scary to them. I have suggested that they subscribe to the blog to receive email notification. That has not happened. However, if I send out the email to the with the links, they do come and read. Maybe they just like to hear from me directly from time to time:)
Terrill – I agree with Kathy that you’ve hit the nail on the head with the topic creativity. But I think the item that really sets you apart is the Sprout Question of the day.
I, for one, wait for my email notification Mon through Fri — wondering what you’re going to share with words and photos, and then how you’re going to weave that into a question. I subscribe to the responses of others as well. Between you and the others, I have personally learned a lot.
I am learning a lot as well Laurie. The question in each post usually comes from something I am asking myself. I have had readers tell me that the Sprout Question gives them a way into the conversation – like a bridge between the thoughts I have posted and the comment they would like to make.
Right now creativity is my sincere focus so I’m very happy that others are interested. I also find the creative community curious, generous and inspiring. People are happy to share their thoughts and ideas and my thoughts and ideas with others. I love that about Creative Potager – even if my idea started out kind of fuzzy to me, by the time I have replied to the last sprout, I have new insights to carry forward.
Thanks for the feedback Laurie – it is nice to know “why” something is working.
awww, how precious. I love your photos Terrill – and you’re right, it’s impossible to look at lambs and not giggle watching them. I love them.
Great question – what do I do for fun? usually head out with my daughters “somewhere” – no plans, just spontaneous walkabout to the woods or the lake, or wherever draws us. There’s always a lot of laughter, chats, and being ‘in the moment’. When it’s time to take a break – it just seems to happen for me, and I ‘walk’ away from everything, work, the laptop, the phone, paperwork etc. I remind myself of the days when I didn’t have internet connections, letters were handwritten, and there was no voice mail… and how well I survived 😉
now I want to go hug a lamb!
xo
la
Thanks for your sprout Leigh-Anne. Yes, I’m reminded every time the power goes out for two or three days:) We do manage… and rather well. I must admit to being attached to hot water and refrigeration though.
Hugging lambs is the best… I mostly just rub their ears while Joyce holds one up for me. They are the sweetest babies.
So glad you stopped in:)
Kathy – I appreciate the blog tips that you provided and am looking forward to your up-and-coming blog on increasing readership — I won’t miss it because I subscribe to your blog(s). As a result of your comments here, just this morning I added Lake Superior Spirit, Simply Here, and Creative Potager to my Blog Roll.
I will be adding you as well Laurie to my Blog Roll. I was waiting for you to get a few posts up so that it would be a nice cushy spot to land. (you are now on my blog roll:)
Lovely pictures, and the sheep are beauties.
But is the farm right there on the island, or did you travel to the mainland?
Congratulations on the relatively-spectacular performance of the blog, which is amazing considering its brief longevity!
Sam, not only is the farm on Mayne Island it is directly below us – we share a property boundary at the bottom of our south slope. So I look out my window and often see sheep and goats munching away. Or on the odd occasion the peacock or the tame geese wander up our way.
And thank you for your feedback on Creative Potager. I know that your mention in Monday Morning Diary at Wonders In The Dark has been a contributing factor. By the way, we have SHUTTER ISLAND on order through Zip. Not sure when it will come it but follow up after we watch it.
Pingback: Monday Morning Diary (March 1) « Wonders in the Dark
Congrats on your blog’s success–you are very creative.
Thank you Slamdunk. Part of its success is connecting with bloggers like yourself. Creative Potager is a labour of love. Though the blog is new – creativity has been central to my way of being for as long as I can remember. This blog gives me a chance to formalize my connection to other creative beings like yourself.
Well dear readers Kathy over at Lake Superior Spirit has done it! We now have her words of advice for blogging excellence in her new post “How to write a WordPress blog & get a zillion hits” Thank you Kathy for your elegant response to my request.
Oh, I am so happy I took a trip down your lane (blog) to see these precious pictures. Thanks so much for sharing them
Welcome to Creative Potager Maron. I am so glad you enjoyed your visit with the baby lambs. I took a moment and slipped by your blog “The Artful Codger” and see that you also participate in Leah’s Creative Every Day 2010. Wonderful to connect!
I was just there, read it and “tweeted” it — FABULOUS!
And you Laurie, with your “infant blog (born Feb 21, 2010) — Speaking from the Heart — has 492 hits” Congratulations:)
Terrill & Laurie–It was so FUN writing that post. Thank you for the question that prompted it. And congrats, Laurie, on your almost-500! Way to go!
I was just over to your post Kathy and has been very well received with many comments adding to the advice and encouragement to blog. Way to go!
Thanks, Terrill! Hope you’ve found your share of new visitors today, as well. They will discover a wonderful creative blog here.
Well Kathy, my number of visitors was nothing like your crowd but I did have my best day so far with 162 views. Like say, a person has to be patient and just keep writing what you are passionate about.
162 views are awesome! On most days I’d be delighted to get 162 views. What you’ve said is so true. Write from our passion…and it is our passion which will bear fruit. So happy for you.
Thanks Kathy… it has been a pleasure working with on the “hits” question. I hope that a zillion bloggers find your post filled with its wisdom and the shared space you have provided for other to add their comment with ideas.