When Life Interferes with Blogging

Sohmor. It looks all idyllic, but this was one valley I would't hike again. They had some very interesting fossils though.

I am not really productive these days. Well, I am productive, but not on this blog. It is partially because I am also participating in a #365grateful project on Instagram, so that’s where some of my inspiration goes. I need to publish one picture a day that makes me grateful. And although I could publish many on most days, once it is out on the web, the desire to write about it has dissipated.

A horse I encountered on the road somewhere near Qaraoun

Another factor is that I have a new job, and I am really into this one. But as I am new to it, it requires a lot of preparation time. I work with a different group of clients: A much more responsive group, but also a group that requires more intensive groundwork.

I ran into some goats as well, on the road somewhere near Kubbeih

Besides that, I am busy with a number of projects outside work and blogging, so there’s goes part of my energy.  I have started a crochet course, for instance. Not that I will be a granny anytime soon, but I have always wanted to be able to crochet. My mother knew how, my grandmother knew how. But I did not. I have books, hooks and yarn, but never had the skill. So now I have found someone (a very lovely and hip gentleman, no less) who is teaching me the finer aspects of double crochet, slip stitches and waffle patterns. And I greatly enjoy it.

The weather is perfect for hiking

And I seem to be doing an awful lot of hiking these days, courtesy of hubbie, so the lounging on the couch (which greatly inspires blogging) is kind of over for the moment. Maybe in winter time again. The weather has not been exactly conducive to ‘couch sitting’. It is almost December, and I still haven’t gotten my winter clothes out of the closet.

Aregu Sisay Abateh, 3rd place on the half marathon 

It is not that I am not doing anything interesting either, quite the opposite. I did the marathon (well, 7 kilometers of it). Our housekeeper, Aregu Sisay, ran the 21 kilometers and won 3^rd place. Quite proud of that. And I’ve done road trips to the Beqaa valley, Laklouq, and Lake Qaroun, and visited some mysterious fossil field in a gorge of the Litani River (which, by the way, is horrendously polluted). I hike a lot. We’ve acquired a fifth dog (!) which has caused the old aunt that lives in our house to abandon us, as she hates animals. And then there’s friends that organize dinners. And my daughter's social life. Boy, don't get me started on that.

A different view from Beirut

And then I got a little boat. I should say ‘we’. I did not pay for it, nor did I do anything to restore it. But I sit on it now and then. And it is the most awesome little boat there is. It’s a boat from the sixties, it has this huge ‘French Riviera Alain Delon James Bond’ feel to it. 

And talking about the sixties, I just heard I have another project coming up; the restoration of an authentic Volkswagen Van (T2) from that era. I saw it on the road to Rashaya, you know the ones, they transport school children I it. My daughter and I have wanted one forever - she has decided she will become a hippie. Now we will have to complete fix it, restore the inside, and turn it into an original camper van. I intend to do it myself, so there goes what's left of my weekends.

A Pumpkin stand in the Beqaa Valley

And the bizarre fossils I found in Sohmor. If anyone can fill me in on this one, I'd be much obliged.

And my father is currently visiting. At the ripe age of 101. He was here in May, but hey, at the age of 101, time is of importance. I think he is also tired of his own cooking, and since one of my sisters in-law, the one that often cooks for him, is currently on a holiday, he figures he might as well eat in Beirut for a while. So he requires some time and attention.

And yet another dog has been added to the tribe

Now you know why I have not been posting that often at the moment. It is not that I am planning to quit. I’ve maintained this blog for 10 years (!) now, and intend to keep on going for many more years. It’s just that life has been interfering with my blogging.