A bit of 'virtual' spring cleaning

2 January 2014


Happy New Year Peoples! Wow 2014 sounds so futuristic! (I say that every year).

To start the year off for my blog, I thought I'd share a bit of my thoughts on being a parent, writing a blog and such like...I hope you find it interesting (?)

I'll write it as a list of facts as I don't know how else to write it!

1,  For me being a parent is a complete blessing. It lasts a fraction of a milli second of our lives and then our kiddos are all grown up. It is hard sometimes, but I will NEVER complain about it. I know that one day soon I will feel so sad that I don't have to pick up her toys anymore, or wipe baked beans off her face or change her nappy.

2, I spend most of my days cleaning food off the floor, picking up toys and spending half an hour to put a nappy on. Her crying is like a having a metal skewer slowly pierce my brain through both of my ears. BUT. I am not complaining about it. I may not mention it in my blog very often, just because it goes without saying, she is a toddler after all!

3, I don't cook. I mean that, I don't really enjoy cooking or talking about food, and I find it a chore. If the ingredients are in the fridge and I am in the mood, I sometimes get on with it. My mister also does not find cooking a particularly pleasurable experience. The fact is, we are too lazy and we eat out a lot, or we buy things that require minimal oven contact.

4, I love to eat.

5, Me and my Mister (Nao) work together so we split the parenting duties equally. Although we are both there most of the time, we take it in turns to do the getting up in the night, baths, nappy changing and feeding. This works really well for us. We have so far not needed any childcare which is great. It also means that we can have every other day to either do our own projects, have a rest or go out for the day as a family. We are very lucky that it worked out like this. It so easily could have gone in the opposite direction and we would have had to use full time childcare.

6, My blog is like my diary so its a place where I write and record the things that I want to remember. I don't write blog post because it's what I think it's what others want to read. It's also not a place that I write sad or traumatic things that have happened in my life, I am not a secretive person, but somethings I don't want to remember or reflect on or share with the rest of the world, because they are in the past. Everyone has a story which we will probably never know.

7, The house is a mess 90% of the time, but it is not at this point that I relish whipping out the camera and posting it on my blog, you'll just have to take my word for it, that when I take photos of our house, its usually because I'm excited to have just cleaned it up. I wouldn't expect anyone to post photos of their dirty washing or dishes in the sink (I think there is a saying about that isn't there?). My blog is real because it IS my life and not someone else's.

8, Someone once said, after reading my posts about camping, that we have a luxury lifestyle. If three days in Dorset in a campsite is Luxury then I think it's something anyone can aim for and achieve!

9, I am very happy, but before I was about 30, I was very sad most of the time. Making things and being creative can only really happen if you are feeling happy and contented, otherwise it is very hard to get motivated...thats my opinion.

10, I love writing my blog and I will usually do it when our daughter is having a nap or with her Dad having a bath or something like that. I think that if you REALLY want to do something, you will make the time, somehow!

11, My daughters tantrums are brilliant and hilarious and all I can do is smile and laugh, we call her Pehrdinio because she is like an Italian Football player ( I hope I haven't offended any Italians, sorry!). However, I do lose my temper quite often, usually when she cries in the night and I am tired. It's not her fault, it is my fault.

12, I rarely read other blogs these days, but I always like reading More Tea Vicar and Seeds and Stitches, thems are my favourites ; )

13, Both me and Nao really struggle through the winter months. We are moody and have more arguments. I have just ordered a SAD lamp...hope that it helps a bit...otherwise we may have to move somewhere sunnier!

14, Apparently, the Isle of Wight is the sunniest place in Britain, we'll see.

So, I hope that cleared up a few little misconceptions about me!

I feel so honoured to have some lovely readers who I feel like I know! It's like having a huge family around the world. I have also noticed that many of them seem to have grown up kids and I find that very comforting and I get great advice if ever I need it. Writing a blog is quite a unique experience, its an odd thing to do when you think about it,....therefore I don't really think about it, I just do it!


61 comments

  1. Love your list, I definitely agree with number 6, my blog is like my diary too, but I certainly don't share the ugly bits! Happy New Year, Emma x

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  2. Thanks for posting these! I absolutely agree that it's nicest to post the nice moments of life, not the messy and sad moments but it's also nice to hear that bloggers have 'bad' times, too. My fella and I both hate winter as well. I don't think a winter has passed without us almost breaking up! It's tough...

    Looking forward to all your posts in this new year. :) xx

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  3. Do you plan on having more children?

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    1. um, direct!...sorry we have no plans. x

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  4. Artemis, I always love reading your blog and seeing your beautiful photos. I'm an American Anglophile and I love reading about all your adventures around the English countryside and your trips to London. Thank you for sharing your life with us via your blog, I'm so appreciative that you take time to post things. I love your sense of style and design and you've given me lots of great ideas for my home. Thank you for creating your wonderful blog and happy New Year! :)

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  5. Hello!
    I read your blog for a long time, but I never dared comment ... Thank you for this beautiful heartfelt post: I will soon be a mom, and sometimes I panic at the thought of not being able to be perfect ... Your post reassures me: I will not be perfect, and that's good!
    Thank you for your wonderful blog, for these beautiful photos (I do not like more dirty dishes other than mine!) that inspire me greatly.
    Happy New Year to you and your family!
    Mathilde
    (sorry my bad english, I use google trad, I hope there are not too many quirks!)

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  6. Hi Artemis - I love your blog. I have a 16 month old and know how challenging - but ultimately rewarding - it is.
    Looking forward to more of your musings (and lovely photos) in 2014.
    Sarah :)

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  7. I love your blog! I am so happy to have found it. I have a little 21 month old little girl and toddler tantrums while exasperating are also extremely funny. They grow up so fast and already I can see the little person she is becoming. Thank you for sharing England with those of us who may never have a chance to visit (though I really, really, really want to!)

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  8. The happiest of New Years to you and your little family! I love seeing a new post and following Pehr's growth and changes you all are experiencing. I find it fascinating to share glimpses inside others' lives that we would never know of without this terrific world of blogging.

    The early years with children were hard to get thru at times but now that my two are 31 and almost 29 with grandchildren in the picture, those years were well worth it and so very short as you realize already. I was fortunate enough to be able to stay home with them and sometimes supplement our family income with child care and later with my passion-antique and vintage merchandise! It's wonderful that you are able to work with your husband and share the joy of your daughter daily!

    Hoping 2014 brings the world peace and joy!

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  9. I love your honesty and your blog! I think you have got a good balance of showing your life/keeping a lot quite private. Hope you enjoy writing your posts in 2014! I look forward to hearing more about your families adventures.. xx

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  10. Thanks for writing your blog. I always enjoy reading about your life and creativity.
    Happy 2014!!! HOW did it get to be 2014!??!!

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  11. Thanks for the post, Artemis. I am with you all the way, on all your points.

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  12. Normally i don't often leave comments on blogs but since yours is practically the one i always enjoy reading i want to say thank you for sharing a bit of your life on the world wide web…. your creativity, the outdoor camping (and especially your vw van ;-), and your look on things really inspire me. And as for your little one, she's adorable!
    Wishing you and your loved ones all the best for this new year from the Netherlands! And don't worry..before you know it spring is in the air!



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  13. I enjoyed reading this and finding out more about you. Your blog is one of my favourites. You have such a great way of writing and your photos are brilliant too. Happy 2014! x

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  15. Nice post hope the daylight bulbs work!

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  16. Artemis,
    Just wanted to wish you all a happy new year. Your blog inspires me. Thank you for sharing so much beauty!

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  17. awww lovely post. I always enjoy reading your blog, it has a brilliant balance of creative lovely things and quirky funny stories, but most of all helps me to remember that the simple things in life are the best! Happy 2014
    Sarah x

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  18. I love a certain amount of honesty in blogs, but as you say (number 6) what you leave out is as important as what you include. No one wants to read about a crap, miserable life, we all have unpleasant things to contend with. I follow people who inspire or motivate, you fall into the inspire category. Happy new year to you and you family.

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  19. I also love your blog, who doesn't ? You are so wise to realise how short those childhood days are and to make sure that you love them. Wishing you all a wonderful 2014 and continued happy adventures x

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  20. A very refreshing blog post. Keeping it real. I have been reading you for ages and I think my 15 year old son is in love with Pehr! So cute.
    Cheers for the new year.

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  21. very nice post! I haven't been a reader for long, but i really love your blog. I feel about mine the way you do about yours. It is a diary for me and i post what I want to talk about or remember. these kind of personal blogs are my favorite! looking forward to following you in 2014!

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  22. Your writing is a joy to read! Thank you. So pleased that the sadness has been left behind...I can relate to this. Re the weather, we're in the middle of a hot summer here in Australia and don't have the long dark winters that you have in the northern hemisphere...I don't think I would cope well with them! It'll be interesting to see how the lamp goes.

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  23. Knowing from experience how time consuming it can be to put a post together, I want to thank you so much for taking the time to blog. I don't usually comment, but this post made me realise a thank you is long overdue! Your blog is one of my all time favourites, it gives me so much inspiration. I always get a little spark of happiness when I see one of your posts pop up in my feed! A very Happy New Year to yourself and Nao and Pehr, I can't wait to read about more of your adventures in 2014!

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  24. Gorgeous post. Love More tea vicar, too. xx

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  25. Thanks so much for this - really lovely. I love reading your blog, as it inspires me but in a way that feels achievable (in the best possible way). I really admire your talent and ambition, and the fact that you have used these to make a wonderful life and family, all on your own steam. E x

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  26. A great post and I agree with so many points here. I really enjoy reading your blog and what amazing photos. I am trying to read and learn from other blogs in a hope to improve on my own. I have listed you down as inspiring. Katy x

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  27. I never comment here but I have to say: your blog is the best one I follow. I love the photos, especially of your home and of your camping expeditions :)

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  28. I wanted to write that this is the best blog post I've read this entire year, but then I remembered we're only three days in. Well, last year AND this year then! I absolutely love your honesty and randomness. Yours are one of my favourite blogs and I read it often. Keep inspiring! xo Kat

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  29. I loved reading this. Thank you.

    I live in Finland, and our days are really short right now because of winter. We just invested in a wake-up light which is a great help for waking up in the morning. Hope your lamp helps you as well!

    Happy new year to you, your hubby and the little one. She has the cutest cheeks!

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  30. Love reading your blog and thanks for sharing many things about you with us. Your blog gave me many inspirations and motivate me in many way, especially nothing is impossible as long as you want to do it. Haaaa. Thank you Artemis.

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  31. Your blog is one of my favs. Pretty bits of life as just as real as the less than pretty bits -and what we want to see to inspire us anyway. Thanks so much for sharing.
    Dannyelle @ www.lifeisaparty.ca

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  32. Pilar C. said...
    Hi Artemis and hi everybody.

    I´m from Spain (so, excuse me if I make some mistakes when I´m writting). Despite I´ve been reading your blog for several years, I´ve never commented any post until now. I would like to tell you I completely agree with the feelings you describe in your post, as I´ve have two childrens too, so I can understand you perfectly.

    In spite of the fact that everybody thinks that here, in Spain is always sunny, this is not always true. In fact, it has been raining for more than a week and besides, today it is strong winds. The days are much more shorts too, and we are needing sunny days the sooner, the better.

    Happy new year to you and your sweet family from Spain.

    Pilar C.

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  33. Thanks for this post! Please let us know how you get on with the SAD lamp, I'm considering one myself.

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  34. That was a great post and very honest. Life is not always perfect for anyone, but we take the good with the bad and just keep on trucking. I wish you guys a Happy and fruitful 2014 and look forward to reading your posts throughout the year. Unfortunately, I didn't have children even though it was my wish, but it's lovely to see little Pehr on your blog and as I'm an aunty, I still get to have a child in my life. All the best, Ruth in Dublin

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  35. Happy New Year to you and your lovely family. I too love reading your blog and am always excited when I see you have a new update. Have you thought about making it into a book??I live in Bournemouth, which is also supposed to be blessed with sunny weather... Stay warm xx

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  36. I love your post and that you share your life with us here on your blog. I like your campingposts, they remind me of when we go camping and we have everything we need, even though we have almost nothing compared to when we´re at home in our house. I also like when you share pictures of your house, you inspired me to get a corner of our bedroom together: I placed one of our sofas there, sewed up som pillowcases and got a rug, now both me and one of our cats love it there. I love how you make do with what you have, make it yourself and put your money on things you love/ Cattis from Sweden

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  37. Anonymous4.1.14

    Today my little miss came home after a 3 day visit with her Nanny and Pop. She helped me take the decorations off the tree, and when we told her it was time to put them away she threw a huge fit and went into the tv room screaming and hollering and wouldn't let either of us near her. I felt so so bad because she was so upset to say goodbye to christmas, but I also had to stifle the laughter because she was so upset about decorations!

    Anyways, I know I've told you before, but I really do love your blog so much. It is my absolute favourite of all the blogs on the internet. I look forward to your posts so much! I admire your style and your skills and it really does come through your blog that you are REAL. And thanks for not posting pictures of your messy home--I've got enough mess to look at around here with an almost 3 year old, and another one on the way.

    Happiest of New Year's to you. xxxox

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  38. I absolutely adore your blog and me and my daughter Holly, aged 10, always get very excited when we see a new post. We are a mixed English/New Zealand family, I'm a kiwi and David is English, kids are a mix of both! We currently live in New Zealand but have spent many years living in London and have been back and forth a few times. We also get very grumpy in dark bad weather so now live permanently in sunny Devonport, Auckland NZ.....come here, it's gorgeous! As I write this I am sitting in a little room which was inspired by your lovely 'creative sewing shed'. It is a combined laundry creative room we did ourselves taking inspiration from your blog and using lots of things we found in skips and painted etc. In this little room I sew, make and mend.......oh and also study/work as it's harder to hear the children misbehaving out here! So to sign off I just wanted to say a HUGE thanks to you for writing your blog and sharing your life, it's so inspiring and although I love the sun here I do miss so many things about England so love to see your images of the countryside and all of England's gorgeousness. Have a super start to 2014. Ruth x

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  39. Happy 2014! Being a parent of a toddler Pehr's age (born end of October) I can relate to some of your experiences of toddlerhood. We are also taking it slow with her because we are so aware of how time flies. We can't imagine our lives without this little person in our house. We had no idea how much love we would feel even while wiping down messes or picking up toys or waking at 3 am, even though I want to bury my head under the pillow most nights for that last one. I love the simplicity and beauty of the photo glimpses into your lives.

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  40. Love the list and the photo too. I agree that being a parent is a blessing and it doesn't stop when they fly the nest! I know what you mean about cooking too, although I find making soup quite therapeutic. It must be all the little piles of vegetables. Thank you for sharing all your ideas and the little glimpses of your life. I think the dark winter months and grumpy moods make us appreciate the sunshine when it finally arrives (but I might buy a lamp too!)

    Happy New Year!

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  41. Number nine stands out for me x

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  42. Thank you for reminding me how precious the time is with our children! Sometimes when the house is a tip and I seem to be the only one to see it I can occasionally forget! Have always loved your blog and I blog for exactly the same reasons x

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  43. Happy, happy, happy New Year 2014!!!

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  44. Great post. I have a toddler and a 4 year old, and we both work at home too... Now that they are growing up, I feel like it's going so fast as well. But on the other hand: it would be very boring to take care of a baby for years (I always tell myself, anyway). Love your blog!

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  45. Artemis, your blog is great, it's one of the few I come back to again and again because your photos and the stuff you make is so inspiring! And your writing and honesty are simple and refreshing. It sounds like you've had a lot of judgy reactions to your blog and I can only imagine they are coming from bitter, unhappy people who spend their time criticising others instead of getting on with doing what they really want to do! Happy New Yeeeear!!

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  46. I really like number 7, I do the same with my home. I take a photograph when I get it looking how I want it and imagine it could always as perfect if I were more organized. 90% of time it is a creative pickle.

    Venice

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  47. Anonymous7.1.14

    Artemis I smiled when I read your post, because many of the subjects on your list were the exact same things I wrote about a few weeks ago. I guess every blogger gets asked the same questions at some point :-)
    Happy New Year - I love your blog!

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  48. Cool list : ) Have a wonderful year

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  49. Love it! A great dose of frankness and blunt honesty served up beautifully with a side order of inspirational authenticity! Artemis I just love your blog (as you know) and it's for all of these reasons that I (WE) do… it's a wonderful mix of real life and creative ideas, and love and gorgeous edible toddler and vintage loveliness and style and Blighty countryside and… and… did I mention I LUUUURVE your blog?? PS - Best photo! ♥♥♥

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  50. Aww shucks, thanks so much for the mention! I love your blog too. and thanks for the refreshingly honest post.

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  51. I really enjoy your blog, both your writing and your photos. I think it's wonderful that you can make beautiful scenes in your photos, whether they represent reality or not, and share on your blog. I have a daughter who is almost ten and my husband and I never used a baby sitter. Of course, she attended nursery school and preschool. We just loved being with her when she was little even if it was very very hard to bear at the time.

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  52. I love your list! I think you should add a link to it on your FAQ page so people can read it easily in the future. Happy New Year to you and Nao and Pehr. xo

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  53. your blog is one of my most favorite :)

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  54. I love your blog! I started reading last year after searching for inspiration on where to go in our own campervan. I am now hooked! I love reading about your adventures, creations and vintage finds. We took our camper to Dorset last summer and it was fantastic, best holiday in Britain yet. This year we have our own little one to take camping with us, your posts on camping with Pehr give me the hope that this isn't such a crazy dream..... All the best to you and your family for the new year and I look forward to reading your blog in 2014.x

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  55. I love your blog! I started reading last year after searching for inspiration on where to go in our own campervan. I am now hooked! I love reading about your adventures, creations and vintage finds. We took our camper to Dorset last summer and it was fantastic, best holiday in Britain yet. This year we have our own little one to take camping with us, your posts on camping with Pehr give me the hope that this isn't such a crazy dream..... All the best to you and your family for the new year and I look forward to reading your blog in 2014.x

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  56. someone might've already mentioned it, but vitamin d3 is so important to help you feel better in the winter months. even if there's sun outside you're probably still deficient. at least 2000ius/day is what my naturopath recommends (i take 4000 since i'm a nursing mom). but the lamp should definitely help as well. thanks for the lovely post!

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  57. this was great to read! i am a mother of two, still young and rambunctious boys, 6 and 3. they are the light of my life, but it isn't always a sunny day in parenthood! truly, it is one day at a time, sometimes just one moment at a time. they give me great purpose and fill my heart with wonder so often. i feel like i am not the mother i thought i would be, but then i realize that being a mother pushes me to be better than i would have been otherwise, so i consider that i'm making progress! thanks for your honest words. i write a blog, too, mostly about my artwork, but there are times when my family makes their way in. keep writing though, because it inspires a lot of us to remember to go slow, stay simple, keep close to nature, and enjoy the beauty in objects, people, and the world all around us! thanks!

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  58. i just realized that i posted my last comment under my husband's name, Peter, oops:) so, this is Erin instead!

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  59. Anonymous25.7.14

    Hi there,
    I just wanted to comment to say hello and how much I enjoy your posts. Such beauty. I also have a Japanese husband and one little girl. It seems like only yesterday she was the size of your little one, but now she is already seven! Time does go by so quickly when your child is small. Especially since my daughter is my only one, I appreciate every minute I get to spend with her. I think you have the right attitude about that. Anyway, thank you for all of the beautiful pictures and words that you share with us. xoxo

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