It’s a beautiful day. We went to Jean’s for breakfast and skipped the farmer’s market. I got a couple of new flowers from Judy Page at the Moses Market. We sat out quietly on the back chairs for an hour. She’s on the porch blogging; I’m in my office blogging. The still is so beautiful.
Judy Page is one of the people I respect and admire and am coming to love. She is gifted, kind, empathetic, and generous. And she grows some lovely flowers. Her work and gardening skill inspires me; her flowers are all over my garden beds.
I love taking her portrait. You can’t take a bad picture of someone you like.
For a couple of years now, Judy Page, an artist and flower genius, has been selling me many flowers that have made my garden work and helped me make good choices about what I have and want to photograph.
Judy’s day job is as a salesperson at the famous and popular Moses Vegetable and Garden stand in Eagle Bridge, 13 miles from us. I’ve known her for several years, and we have become good friends; we talk easily with one another, and I am always eager to see what flowers she brings to the Moses stand (Moses as in Grandma, her family runs and owns it, their sweet corn is the best anywhere).
In addition to her painting, Judy has recently become serious about growing and selling flowers and vegetables. Her flowers are among the best that I have seen anywhere. She is considering selling some of the things she grows online or marketing her flowers.
She hasn’t published a blog or website yet; her e-mail is [email protected]. Whenever she puts it online, it will be an excellent opportunity for flower and garden lovers to see a gifted gardener at work and learn from her, as I have. She loves helping people.
Like many talented artists, Judy is shy about tooting her own horn. I’m harassing her to write a blog to prepare for next year. She deserves to rise and meet her dreams.
I’ve put up a few flowers she brings to the stand and sells. I am lucky to have her around.
I’m earning that it really helps to get locally grown flowers. They definitely grow better and more quickly than flowers that are shipped in from elsewhere.
You really need to stop urging people to start blogs–it’s very poor advice in this online climate, and it shows that you’re really mired in the past. It’s nice that your blog is so successful, but blog readership as a whole has declined sharply over the last five or so years. Starting a new blog now just isn’t worth anyone’s time or financial investment–it’s extremely unlikely that it would pick up enough readership to make it worth it. Much better to start a substack, which comes with a built-in readership–same idea, much more flexible platform. Do some research before you give people what amounts to terrible marketing advice.
I’ll make sure Judy knows your opinion, Brian. Then I’ll urge her to start a blog immediately. It fits her goals for now, which you know nothing aobut, of course. Substack is very often the best option for people coming online now, I almost switched myself a few months ago. My tech advisers talked me out of it they are not know it alls, bless them.. I’m sure she will make a good decision for herself,even without your unsought counsel or mine. Please stop sending presumptuous and unwanted messages like this, thanks…it causes agita…You need to work on your tone, Brian, too God like for a tech geek. My geek friends guide me all the way, and I love them for it. They seem to think knowing me matters.
They never try to talk like God…I wish I could, but I can’t do it either.Do some homework before you blow smoke out of your ass…and give terrible advice.
P.S. Brian after I read your didactic and insulting message, I happened to have a Zoom Meeting with an Internet consultant I pay and work with to develop my blog and keep it up to date. He was a specialist at Apple before moving on to set up his own consulting firm. Every year or so I check in with him to see if there is anything I can do to make the blog better and relevant. He is a genius with wonderful experience and I can’t thank him enough for the guidance he has given me, a book writer with few technical skills. I showed him your message and he said it was important that I point out that it is ridiculous. There are all kinds of platforms available now, he said, that did not exist when I started the blog, and much competition that is new and revolutionary. But it isn’t a football game with competition. We are all different and have different needs, something nobody told you. Just look at Tim-Tok or sub stack itself. He pointed out that platforms are not all about squeezing the most money out of readers. There are all kinds of ways to generate payment, I choose the voluntary path, I want the blog to be free to people with or without money. Those blogs, he said, are often successful depending on the needs or ambitions of the different and diverse individuals who use them. A local florist, for example, would do much better with a blog or website than someone with a substack plan of payment and growth. It is important I wrote this, he said, as social media is overrun by “experts” who love to tell strangers what they need or should do. People have no way of knowing who they should listen to. That’s why I pay him rather than listen to people like you. My blog does not come with a “built-in” readership. That’s why I like it. I have to earn. it. And that’s one major reason my blog has been successful for more than a decade.
The Lisianthus are definitely your *friend*, Jon. In your capture always…..and just in their own perfection.
Susan M