What price paradise?

I discovered the truth in the phrase “Life is what happens when you are making other plans" by Allen Saunders,1957, following my retirement from full-time work more than a year ago.

I had so many plans to declutter my life and write regular blogs, but I soon discovered that living at Towerwater is a full-time occupation. I realised that I could write regular blogs because in Cape Town I could distance myself from the daily activity that is Towerwater. Distance gave me perspective, and thinking about a place brings an element of charm that can easily be put into words.

At Towerwater the realities of life happen apace, and the garden demands constant attention. As Keith remarked, while we were looking at the orchard coming into blossom, we planted a productive garden. That means that every year we have a new garden. There is no part of the garden that we can just allow to grow and let Mother Nature take her course season in and season out. 95% of the plants on the property need individual attention in pruning, spraying and protecting them from pests and diseases on a seasonal basis. A more demanding garden arrangement is hard to contemplate.

Walking around with more blog posts in my head than on paper, I felt guilty. Luckily, most of my blog posts are timeless. My readers and followers interact with me on a regular basis regarding a subject raised in a blog that they find interesting. I was not surprised when a company offered to help me monetise the blog, but I was surprised when a company informed me that they had a buyer for the blog.

I have been approached several times to monetise the blog, and with an average of 500 pageviews a day, I can understand why. Maybe I am wrong in not grabbing the opportunity, but the blog is personal to me. Although it is now written for a wider audience, it started as personal narratives for Keith to allow him to share in the activities of Towerwater and stay connected while working in Pretoria for six years.

Personally, I do not enjoy a blog where every paragraph is interrupted by an advertisement. The pop-up advertisements that one needs to close constantly before one can carry on reading, make me exit a post even though I would have liked to have read it. The blog for Towerwater Aan De Breede might seem dated, but I hope that my readers enjoy the fact that they can read the text and look at the images uninterrupted.

The offer to buy the blog was a surprise because it is a personal blog describing daily activities in our lives at Towerwater. Would the blog be frozen in time after I sold it? Or would I still need to write posts on demand by the new owner who would surely sell the advertising space on it?

Clearly there is money to be made from the blog with more than 300 000 pageviews to date, but I am not prepared to sell the joy of writing and reading an advertisement-free blog.

Because the posts on the blog have been sparse over this last year, I decided to explore how the wider public sees it. My mind was blown with what AI can write about Towerwater when asked certain questions.

I asked what Towerwater aan de Breede is, as well as several other questions involving the name of the property. I discovered that  AI is remarkable with the information that it provides in response. I found that about 90% of the information is spot on, but there is some information that left me perplexed. Trying to find the source for the perplexing information made me realise that writing for online consumption is not as straightforward as it used to be.

One needs to write with AI in mind. It helps to ensure that facts are substantiated, and that the correct information is clearly recorded. These are precursors to allow AI to find and accurately disseminate the information.

I could not put a price on my intellectual property. I decided not to commercialise the blog. What price can one put on paradise?

I have herded words for 11 years to record treasured traditions and new discoveries. I enjoy writing the posts and I hope that the more than 300 000 people that read the posts have enjoyed it as much as I have enjoyed writing them. Happy birthday blog!

Previous birthday posts,

Packing up yesterday - 2024
Days like this - 2023
Our marmalade malady - 2022
Still life with oranges - 2021
Almond trees in August -2020
Of birthdays and blossoms - 2019
A life imagined - 2018
Looking back to the future - 2017
Reflections - 2016
Happy birthday blog - 2015
Heading for spring -2014