Cybermummy 2011 – Blogger to Blogger Inspiration

I’d love to pepper this post with photographs from this year’s Cybermummy 11 blogging conference, but unfortunately before my talk I was too nervous to take any, and afterwards I left the conference for a quick refreshment break with Hannah, Emily and the lovely (yes, it’s a pseudonym) Bumbling. The refreshments were rather, er, refreshing. And the evening photographs are rather, er, interesting.

I have to confess that the conference was more a chance for me to meet up again with some of the slightly deranged lovely friends I’ve made through twitter and blogging, and less a chance to learn about the mechanics of writing a blog (I think I’ve got that bit worked out – or at least this is as good as it’s going to get. Ha ha). So I can’t really review the conference itself. But I did love Jay’s photography workshop and I’m going to be stopping, dropping, and angling all my photos from now on. As well as figuring out ISO and, um, the other one I can’t remember the name of.

If anyone would like a write up of the talk, you can find it here thanks to WitWitWoo who live blogged the session with me, Tara from Sticky Fingers, Maggy from Red Ted Art and Claire and Lucy from Crumbs.

For those of you thinking I was really posh, having my notes on my iPad, a little confession: I had some written that tied in with the slides, but unfortunately I left them at home. The ones I used were cobbled together at the last minute on the train. I think I just about got away with it. Shh, don’t tell.

It was really lovely to meet so many people who read the blog over the weekend. If you’re new, you can add me as a friend on Facebook and also like Tales from the Village on Facebook for extra photographs, ramblings and chat, and you can also follow me on Twitter. And if you do all of the above, you deserve a medal. Hope you had a lovely weekend.

another weekend in London

Going to London again, this time to talk at the UK conference for bloggers. Exciting stuff. I’m going to be talking about how writing my blog helped my book to reach the top of the Authonomy chart for unpublished writers and how Twitter, blogging and Facebook help to get your name out there as a writer, and the 10 things I learned whilst writing a book.

If you want to look out for me, you will find me pulling faces, hiding behind things to avoid having my photo taken (not sure what to use as I can’t take the dog with me) and probably doing quite a lot of cackling as I catch up with old friends and some new ones. And as ever, taking notes.

And when I get home, I’m going to finish the edits and rewrites I have been procrastinating about for ages, and send the book off to the publisher who has expressed an interest. I forgot to mention that bit, didn’t I? Hooray.

Have a good weekend, everyone.

bittersweet

Sitting in the garden, reading about Canadian culture. We’re going to be living there, so I want to know everything I can about the place. I know right now there are several people I love reading this and rolling their eyes. Yes, I know.

I ordered some books for the children today. Not because I’m obsessing over our new life in Canada, but because they’re a bit all over the place at the moment, and I really think it’ll help to be able to sit down with a book and talk about things. For them, and for us.

We don’t learn much Canadian history at school (for which read none at all). I’m conscious that I don’t want them arriving at school in September with gaps in their knowledge, so I’m hoping we can spend the summer learning about our new country.

I could ramble on for hours about Canadian stuff, but you’ll all fall asleep. Houses, schools, how to move to a new country with four children – I’m going to set up a new expat in Canada category on here so I can keep everything in one place. Hopefully it’ll be helpful for people in the same position. There aren’t many British Expat in Canada blogs out there, but Frostbite and Sunburn is a lovely one.

Remember the border which was patchy? The one I said would fill out? Well, here it is. Yes, it is a bit clashing.

And the gooseberry bush is laden with fruit this year. Finally. Yum.

The redcurrants are so perfectly ripe that they taste delicious straight from the bush – I sat on the grass today and ate them, listening to the birds, wondering what birdsong sounds like in Calgary. Oops, Canada again. It’s never far from my mind.

silent sunday

June in the garden

It’s another cup of tea post.

It’s a very British thing, weather. A drought was announced, causing huge problems for farmers across the south of England, and it then proceeded to pour with rain for ages, so the garden has gone all jungly but it’s too wet to cut the grass. And the whole of yesterday was so winter-ish that I spent it in bed, writing and drinking tea. Mainly drinking tea, actually, but don’t tell.

We had a little moment of summer this morning after the rain. There’s a recipe for redcurrant jelly here if yours are getting ripe too – not quite sure what you do when you’re leaving the country. I suppose I could just make it all, and give it to friends as something to remember me by? Summer without making jam seems like a strange idea.

Not much chance of making jam with the strawberry harvest. That’s it, so far. The red one was delicious.

Not as delicious as the tiny little wild strawberries we have in a pot, though.

Borage flowers. How something so pretty can grow from such a thuggish plant amazes me. One of them has elbowed its way into the border, shoving my demure little chives out of the way, and telling a rose bush to budge up.

Jungle path. If I was a child, I’d love this. I love it anyway.

The garden in June. You can compare it with the garden at Easter. Funny how things grow when you’re not looking. Like children.

I’ve been so busy that I’ve forgotten to do about a million things this week. This is one of them:

You can vote for me here if you are feeling kind.