Quoting the Isley Brothers 1969 hit: “It’s your thing… do what you wanna do.”
Everyone has their thing. Or maybe more than one thing. My ‘things’ that drive this blog are curiosity, learning from others, and sharing what I know. On a variety of subjects that pique and hold my interest, make me ponder, drive a need to know more or touch me.
In the Beginning, There were Recipes
The sharing here in the blog started with recipes, because I’ve long had a dream to publish a cookbook so that my family could recreate our comfort food favorites. You can read about that here in my first About page, which includes treasured memories of my kitchen mentor, my late Mom. It starts with: “I have been in a love affair with food and cooking my whole life.” So true! The blog’s first moniker was the Glover Gardens Cookbook.
Evolution was Immediate
But there was so much more to share! Entertaining, gardening, birding, nature in general, music, memories… and then grief, in waves, as loved ones died unexpectedly. I started writing poetry again, and memoirs, and then travelogues, adding my verse and fledgling photography. Wise people told me I should separate the topics and stay with a consistent POV (point of view), maintaining separate blogs, one for the recipes and food-related posts, and another for everything else. If this was a business, I’d probably have done it.
But it’s not a commercial effort. It’s just a labor of love, related to my things: curiosity, learning from others and sharing what I know. And maybe a lil’ bit of fun. So why try to artificially separate what is organically part of a whole? In other words, if all of these multifaceted interests and drivers exist within the whole of me, couldn’t they be relatable to the multifaceted interests and drivers within the whole of you?
A New Name Fits the Multifaceted Format
Realizing that Glover Gardens Cookbook would no longer suffice, I surveyed the blog’s readers for suggestions about a new name a few years ago, and the winning idea was simply Glover Gardens. Glover Gardens is the name of our home, established in 2008 when we married and created a blended family, which has flourished. And as such, it’s a fitting name for this blog, which reflects the myriad aspects of life from the Glover Gardens lens: the happenings, happiness, hopefulness and humor, and even sometimes harried times, hardships, horrors (like beets or hollandaise in a jar) and the occasional harshness of life. Sharing happens in multiple formats: stories, recipes, new learnings and old knowledge, poetry, photographs and even music (made by others).
About Me
The blog is driven by me, Kim Glover, with tons of input and content from others – inspired by them, written about them or even sometimes written by them as guest bloggers.
I’m easy to describe – a middle-aged renaissance person with a deep love for family, a myriad of interests and a love of the written word. I’ve got a very interesting corporate job running knowledge management for a global company, and this blog is one of my happiness hobbies.
What About You?
I know a little about you from your comments over the years, but would love to know more. Why did you visit Glover Gardens, and what did you find interesting here? What’s your thing?
Beets. What else is there to say? Hahahahaha. But, seriously musical miss made a tomato pie after asking her mom for her recipe for a friend. OMG twice.
If it is OMG twice, I need the recipe! I’ve never made tomato pie, in fact had never even heard of it until my aunt mentioned it a few years ago, and then, in one of those coincidences when you run into something new multiple times in a short span, I read an essay about it that made me almost cry, it sounded so good, and the writer was so nostalgic about it. And then I promptly forgot about it. Thanks for the reminder; we are going to embark on a tomato pie journey at Glover Gardens. If Musical Miss’ Mom’s recipe is a secret, I’ll reach out to my aunt. Actually, I’m going to ask for her recipe, too. How fun!
My Thing
Overall inspiration is really my thing,
When I get enough I feel like a king.
Inspired by you at a conference
Made me a little more whole ever since.
My thing is reciting poetry
And the love for poems I share with thee.
However my passion is not only reciting,
Remember that you got me back into writing?
The passion for words and language is mine,
Love to play with words and think of a rhyme.
German, English, French, Spanish and Dutch
Are the ones I speak well, a bit Chinese, but not much.
(You were asking. At the moment I’m learning Italian ;-))
Found back my love for cooking – my thing,
That’s where your blog hits another string.
And while I cook I like to dance and sing,
As said I miss Rueda, ’cause that is my thing!
(Rueda de Casino is Salsa in a circle with turn patterns)
So many facets, maybe one more “my thing”:
Knowlegde sharing is a never-ebbing spring.
Personal Growth Communities are my big passion,
I run them, write about them and will make them a fashion.
Your blog nurtures me and keeps us in touch,
This is great, you are awesome, thank you so much!
Jan
Jan, wow, I’m speechless! It is so humbling to hear how you’ve been touched by Glover Gardens, and that you are back in touch with so many of “your things”. I want to hear more! Thank you so much for the poem; I just read it aloud to The Grill-Meister and we both love it. It’s amazing to think you could translate it into 5 or 6 other languages.
It’s wonderful to have met another multifaceted creative type through our work, and makes me happy to have a friend across the world with whom I connect on so many topics and concepts. It was definitely a serendipity thing when you walked into our storytelling workshop, and we started sharing our stories.
I am planning to introduce your Personal Growth Communities at work, and hope to help make them “a fashion”. 😊
Let me know if you need support starting a PGC for your colleagues.
Jan, yes, I’d love to talk with you about starting a PGC! I was just speaking with a colleague this morning about you and that methodology that you have. I’m out of the office for the rest of the week but will be in touch with you early next week, if you are available.
Thank you!!!