Why I've Been Away from Blue Rose Girls & A New Place to Live

 

I apologize for being absent from Blue Rose Girls so much in recent months. My life has changed since I became a nanny granny and began providing daycare for my granddaughter Julia three days a week. Because my daughter and son-in-law lived quite a distance from my house—a 60 to 90 minute drive depending on traffic—I have stayed with them half of every week. Because I’ve been so busy, I have found little time for writing, blogging, or visiting with family and friends. I am also quite tired when I am home—as I have to play catch-up on things around my own house.

A few months ago, my husband, daughter, son-in-law, and I decided that it would be a good idea to find a place where we could all live together. Then I’d always be at home—even when I’m caring for little Julia.

Well, in June, my daughter found a beautiful property: An antique house with a lovely in-law apartment (the former carriage house)—situated on a three-and-a-half-acre lot in a lovely neighborhood. We passed papers on the house a couple of weeks ago.

My husband and I haven't even put our house on the market yet. When I’ve been at my own home, I’ve been trying to clean house and throw stuff away that I no longer need in order to make our eventual move easier. We've also been taking things we don't need at this time and storing them in the barn on our new property. Yup, we have a big old barn that was built around 1850.

Alvina recently wrote about “the elusive work-life balance.” (I'm doing my best to help my daughter with her work-life balance.) I have to admit that I've experienced an elusive blog-life balance since I became a nanny granny. I do miss connecting with people via Blue Rose Girls and Wild Rose Reader—but I can’t seem to carve out enough time to do everything that I have to do AND that I want to do these days. I hope once I’m settled in at my new residence, I’ll find more time to blog, to write poetry, and to connect with my friends in the children’s literature community.

Here are some pictures that I took recently of the grounds around our "new" house:

 

 

Here are two pictures of one-year-old Julia enjoying her first taste of her Grampy’s fabulous homemade lasagna:

 

Here’s a picture that I took of her when we were on vacation in Maine in late August: