15 Minutes of Fame

I have the lemon tart post coming up, but I had to take a pause at this juncture and share a lovely thing that happened to me yesterday. My sister rang in great excitement just as there was a deluge of children home starving (are they ever any other way?!) from karate, to tell me that this wee little blog had been reviewed on Eumom.ie!

(Cue: delighted dancing around the room!!)

It was a very kind, lovely review, so much so that, halfway through reading it I was a bit like: “who is this about again?”! I am so thrilled, I am so honoured to have been reviewed like that, and it has been such a validation of my wittering away here…!

 I’ll copy and paste what was written here, thank you Eumom!!!

Posted on 24th January 2013 by eumom

 Blogging has become a bit of a national obsession. In not so distant times, the world of blogging was reserved for IT geeks and those who really felt they needed to share their opinions on the world with everyone they had ever met. However, blogging is now the domain of interiors, fashion, parenting and art. A blog can be set up by anyone in minutes, giving them the potential audience of the whole Internet world. While blogs may be numerous (allegedly in the region of 6.7 million worldwide) and varied, only a blog of quality and interest can command the attention of it readers and hold onto its fans. This is the case with The Nest.

The Nest is written by a mother of five, Emily, from East Galway in Ireland. Most mothers would profess to being multi-talented but this inspiring lady is a homoeopath, artist, home-schooling mamma and all-round craft wizard! The first thing that grabs you when you go to the blog is the homely and personal feel, without the added saccharine and patronisation that is all too common in motherly blogs.

Because of the author’s artistic flair, there are craft project tutorials galore, ranging from ideas for the less craftily minded, such as decorated paper baubles and no-sew fleece blankets, to inspiration for the glue gun pros, like a paper cut church and all-in- one crochet cushion cover. There are also wonderful recipes and links to the author’s other, purely art-based blog and online shop.

But a blog is more than just instructions for the modern upcycler; it is an insight into the life of the author; a glimpse into someone else’s reality. The Nest seamlessly combines information with snippets of everyday life of the family. Photos of their garden projects and chicken-keeping successes give the blog a warm and cosy aura. Following the daily stream of events captured on camera and wittily narrated gives the reader a sense of belonging and a feeling of personal involvement in this family’s lives. It may sound twee, but after checking in each day to catch the latest instalment, it isn’t long before you start taking a real interest in whether the chickens will survive another visit from Mr. Fox and how the family will manage to use up the glut of tomatoes from their garden!

I can imagine critics wondering why the obsession with someone else’s life, but reading a blog is a bit like watching a soap opera or reality TV, except this is real life in miniature, and you can be picky about what interests should feature in your programme. Sometimes it is comforting to know that there are others out there plodding the same road as you, and at others it is great to seek inspiration from someone who has managed to get things a little more sorted out than yourself. Whatever your motivation, The Nest is a high quality blog that nurtures all that is good in the blogging world and is definitely worth a peek by all mothers, wannabe craft goddesses and lovers of the good life.

• Eu mom,
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• The Nest