I have been absent for over a year from this site. I had only planned to be away for a few weeks.

Thank you for some of you who regularly checked on me.

Thank you for those of you who continued to write and inspire me.

I’m still reading some blogs, especially ShimonZ through his blog the human picture. In ShimonZ’s writing and through his lenses, I see Jerusalem, the everyday life of the people and animals, and ponder over some terribly sad episodes over the last year.

It’s wonderful to know Tilly still enjoys writing and reciting poems. She cried over her son leaving home, watched her son performing, and even decorated her room, in her blog dedicated to sharing the laughter: The Laughing Housewife.

I’m so proud that Nicki Chen successfully published her gripping novel, Tiger Tail Soup. I’ve read the book and would highly recommend it to you. In the past year, Nicki’s blog Behind the Story never fails to entertain (lots of food), and carry me with her on her fascinating recollections of the past, from the East to the West.

My new year writing commitment

Today, I’m pleased to make a new commitment to come back to take care of this blog. To start with, I would commit a post per week, so that I won’t feel overwhelmed.

You may be clearly aware that blogging involves a clear focus. What should I write? To stay focused this year, I think I would consider two points in this blog:

1) Write about my community in where I live. I live in the south of England. I’ll take you to some local places that I’ve been and share with you the people that I’ve met. For the past 2 years, I spent time building a local non-commercial community site called Chandler’s Ford Today. It has been hard work but now this site is thriving, and we have a small team of people (many of them have retired) writing about our community in the Borough of Eastleigh and learning about our local history. I’ve made new friends through the process – real friends who could meet up for coffee and we could hold each other’s hands. I would like to share some of my local stories with you, and how my life intertwined with that of others in the community.

2) Give you a brief report on my new WordPress challenge. I’ve just signed up to take part in Lorelle’s WordPress School. The one and only Lorelle VanFossen encouraged me to write and molded me for over a year on using WordPress in my Blog exercises in 2013 (Yes, it was that long ago!). Lorelle has now established a new one-year project and it has attracted many people (from WordPress newbies to developers, programmers…) to take part to explore WordPress together. I have a feeling that this project is going to be fun, with a bit of tears too.

Welcome to Lorelle’s WordPress School, a year-long project to help you learn WordPress from the ground up, inside out, focusing first on content, then on the paint.

From Lorelle VanFossen, Welcome to Lorelle’s WordPress School

Thank you my friends and readers for your patience in my absence. Now I’ve spelled out my intention for the new year in 2015, I’ll keep writing, for me, and, for you.