I'll be back...

Two years ago, as my life changed drastically when I moved back to the 'homeland', Finland, after 26 years as an ex-pat I had no idea what was waiting for me back in my childhood home town. The naive plan was to help my aging and ailing parents while I continue my life as it was in Norway: cooking, baking, reading, and blogging in between long walks in nature to take care of myself...  Well, that didn't work out so well, as you might have sensed, if you are a long time follower. 

I struggled to manage my time and my resources and strength, both at home with my own disability and illness, with my parents both having serious health issues and needing more help than even they knew themselves, being part of the extended family that I had managed to 'escape' while living overseas. Finding my place in the new town, new community, new church family, 'new' language as I hadn't spoken Finnish actively fulltime in years - it all took a toll on me requiring time, energy, and attention, all things I felt I had limited supply of as I faced the challenges of adjusting to the new life in Finland. 

Next month it has been two years since I came back to Seinäjoki.  And I had to admit - nothing has changed. Life is and has been a chaotic mess in one way or the other, and many of you might relate to this statement, at least when it comes to 2020. Yikes, the challenges we all have faced this year. 
During the Corona quarantine here in Finland my mom fell while home alone and broke her hip. Due to complications, she ended up being in a hospital for 7 weeks after the emergency surgery. While mom was in a hospital and dad now in a nursing home, I volunteered to help with a local food aid distribution during the crisis, and on my way there,  fell with my bicycle and broke three bones in my right foot. It is still in a cast as I write this. Then a  couple of weeks ago my dad was taken to the hospital from the nursing home, he had pneumonia that developed into a blood poisoning. I was at home stuck with a broken leg, mom at her home learning to walk again, and dad in dire straits in a hospital fighting for his fragile life. 
And right then, that was the breaking point when my overloaded brain and exhausted body said to myself - now calm your mind, you know there is a one way to escape the chaos, the pain, the mayhem happening around me and in the world - and I started to binge read again after what felt like forever with a too-busy mind to concentrate to a story. 

There are many levels of blogging, and I admit there was a time when I was almost addicted to it, wanting to post daily, sometimes even seven times a day, and getting all the frills to the website that cost that extra money. 
Now as I re-start this adventure the website will be more simplistic, the posts will be published more on a weekly basis instead of daily, I will partake only on very selected tour events, and at least in the beginning focusing on the book reviews.  
I have been posting book reviews on social media this year, but haven' been able to build and promote blog posts. You can find them all on my Goodreads page. 

How Spoons will come to be active again, that is still under construction, as running a weekly food blog could be a fulltime volunteer job, if time, energy, and finances allowed. 

I have never shared this much of my personal life since I started the blog in July 2014, yet I want to let the followers know why I chilled the website for so long and how I am slowly but surely coming back  with Books & Spoons. 
I still love reading romance novels, mainly romantic suspense, and I still cook and bake as my disability allows, now also making ready-to-heat meals to my mom's freezer in small portion containers.
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I love connecting with readers, writers, eaters, and creators. 
So, as August rolls in I will start to build blog posts again, hoping that y'all come around and we can share our love for reading romance novels and good eats.