Don’t expect an extraordinary blog post from me today, that title is about other bloggers who I follow.

A recent photo on latvianmom.com

First, a blog which has become one of my favourites is celebrating its first birthday today. I didn’t find it one year ago, more like nine months, nor is it one I might be expected to follow – a daily run-down of life as a wife, mum of three delightful little girls and, more recently, a ‘rescued’ kitten. Nor is it because the mum is blogging in English from Latvia, a country I knew little about though I had visited it once, briefly, many years ago, though it has been fascinating to learn a little more. The blog has no particular theme unless you say that family life is the theme; it ranges from ‘what we’re having for dinner’ (sometimes with recipes), that mum’s amazing excursions into ‘do-it-yourself’ (eg, building a kitchen from scratch), creation of wonderful Christmas cards among other crafts, a rare ‘night out’ with her husband, some enticing photography in the ‘forest’ amid which she lives, how to pick wild fungi, or the antics of the three little ones, or, or, or … … . All delivered with an openness and not a little love, which is so refreshing. You’ll find the birthday post at:

https://latvianmom.com/2018/01/09/my-newbie-blog-1-year-old-already/

The second blog I was delighted to see ‘reappear’ today after close on a year, another which I enjoyed so much because of the openness, was begun by a 16 year old young lady living on the coast of Wales. I really enjoyed her insights into the life of an English teenage ‘girl’ and, not insignificant, how well it was written. Then she ‘disappeared’. As some of you know I had some serious health problems and when I was back into blogging she had ‘gone’. This week, now rather older than 16, she commented on my Sunday post and said she was about to get back into blogging and, today, there was her first post in a long time. Of course I went back to her posts written when I was in and out of hospital and found she also had been seriously ill. However, she’d done some amazing things in the time since she’d recovered, not least jump-starting her education with spectacular results. You can see her recent post at.

https://typingandthinking.wordpress.com/2018/01/09/how-things-have-changed/

I cannot leave this without mentioning another teenager’s blog, a Romanian posting in both English and Romanian, a similar age to the second blogger above but again much younger when she started. Again she hasn’t posted much recently, not since before Christmas, being tied up with ensuring progress of her education but if I say she’s entrepreneurial and ambitious (she has an ambition to be an airline pilot) you might gather why it’s been a pleasure to follow her for quite a time now. I’ve bought her two books, one of haiku (which you’ll know I try to write) and that on being a teenager. Well worth a visit:

https://lookaround99.wordpress.com

So, a 1st birthday, rebirth of a blog prompting memories of another great blogger.

Is it any wonder that all three are keen photographers, like me, though they don’t blog specifically on photography?

That’s why it’s “An extraordinary blogging day”.