Back to the Blogstone

I've been meaning to get back to writing ever since this pandemic thing started, there have just been a number of other pressing priorities:

• finding food sources that will deliver (I have asthma and Bill just turned 72)
• taking stock of what food we have and where it is
• tackling the gardens when weather permits
• convincing Bill to stay home
• learning Zoom and Whatsapp to communicate with WI Committee and Book Group
• finding new programmes on Netflix (Simon shared his code with us) that Bill will watch
• proofing my US tax return sent by the accountant (I think she used various and weird exchange rates on my British income and I'm completely unimpressed)
• putting together a craft email on how to make bunting for WI Craft Group
• having developed a toothache and the dentist won't see me so long as I can eat, sleep and don't have a fever (though once I have a fever, since I cough all the time, will he see me then?), I clean my teeth a lot, do salt water mouthwashes and rub on Colgate toothpaste for sensitive teeth. 
• wash my hands obsessively
• go for long walks to try to counteract all the food we're eating (Bill is still running)
• trying new recipes as a form of entertainment
• trying not to sit still for more than 30 minutes at a time (bad for your health to sit too long)

Who knew staying at home could be so exhausting?

It's always hard to start writing again after a pause, I seem to have to find my voice again. But I have started taking photos again and those always help me get started with the words.

Hope you'll join in with comments! I may find time to look up some of my old blogging buddies to see if they've picked up their blogs again.

(P.S. In addition to writing new posts, I'm going back and reviewing old drafts that never got published. For example, a couple about redecorating and rearranging my craft room:

The Great Sewing Room Reveal - Part I & Part II

Comments!!!!

O.M.G. The last comment I published here was in the Autumn of 2016. For some reason I didn't see any more comments "awaiting moderation" for ages. I figured either no one was reading or that Blogger had changed something that made it impossible for people to comment. I couldn't figure out how to fix it, if so. I felt for a long time that I was pretty much talking to myself here, except for the occasional mention from someone in real life who said they liked something here.

I haven't made this blog a priority for some time, using it more as a journal for myself or to put things on to share with a number of people. So it has slowly cranked to a near halt.

And just now I've found a whole slew of comments dating back for a couple of years! Sorry to have ignored you all this time!

10 Years Today!

It just occurred to me to check the date and, sure enough, it was 10 years ago that I started writing this blog. Naturally I am away in Harrogate with only my tablet...

There are so many blogs I have read and commented on (and whose writers have commented here) that are no more.  I am feeling a tiny bit smug at not having given up.

Long ago someone told me the way to stack up experience:  don't quit and don't die.

I shall do my best to follow that sage advice!

Happy Blogiversary to me!

August

Today is Wednesday, my designated writing day. Though I have a list of posts to write I find my heart isn't in it. I have enjoyed writing here and have done my best to approach it with some discipline. However, given the list of other things calling for my attention I'm no longer certain that blogging is a priority, at least for right now. 

Nachtmarket, Vienna, May 2015

I've decided to take August off of blogging. We'll see if I can return with more enthusiasm in September. 

A Couple of Misunderstandings

I've had some distance from this blog for a while now, though I have done 'remembrance' posts and I did finish the Veblen series {whew}. In looking back I see that I was a bit disillusioned but for erroneous reasons.

For one, I got a notice that Google wanted more money for my storage. It wasn't a lot, but I was annoyed at the time, thinking I wasn't using even a small portion of the allocated space. I later did a tiny bit of research and found that I was on an old plan and that the new ones gave a huge amount of space for free, or at least that's how I've interpreted it. So I've ignore the request for more money. Fingers crossed, this won't all disappear without further notice!

There was also a time a few months ago when my blog stats said no one had opened a page on my blog for an entire week. This happened when I had been working particularly hard on something and that information just shattered me. A few days later I got an email from Statcounter saying that their widget seems to have 'fallen off' my blog. No idea how that happened, but then when I looked at the Google stats, there was the same level of activity as usual. So I calmed down a bit.

The distancing has been good in that it has allowed me the time to explore other interests and I can't see myself trying to publish five days a week again anytime soon. On the other hand, I can see how this blog has become a journal for me, one that I enjoy going back and reading for myself. I've also found it a useful reference at times, especially when sharing recipes...no writing it all out again!  

It also helps me enjoy our travels more, from a strictly selfish point of view. As I go back through photos I remember the good experiences and in writing posts I'm required to research odd facts that I wondered about at the time but hadn't a reference. Our journeys home have sometimes been fraught for any number of reasons:  bad weather, delayed flights, obnoxious immigration officials, misbehaving sat-navs, driver errors, mechanical difficulties, general exhaustion, to name a few. Though after a long period away I'm usually pleased to be returning home, these difficult journeys can almost obscure the happier experiences and that seems a real shame. 

Cat-sitting in Nice for Cousin Ben

I've always been rather put off by blogs that seem focused on 'look how many Hermes scarves I own' or 'see all my Chanel lipsticks', designer luggage, you name it. I've worried that my blog might come across as 'look at all the marvelous travelling we do'. If I'm honest, part of me does enjoy thumbing my nose at some of the more unpleasant people I used to work with, still slaving while I get to enjoy early retirement. But that absolutely doesn't apply to everyone else!  

So, I hope to share some of our experiences of our past few weeks in France, and perhaps even to go back to the earlier part of the summer because that was wondrous for me as well...

Grandpa's Birthday

I think about Grandpa fairly often lately, particularly about how orderly and frugal he was, though I don't think he considered himself to be anything other than fulfilling his responsibility.  He spent his money carefully but I remember trips to buy ice cream or a hamburger at McDonald's (long before the advent of happy meals).   His and Grandma's little two-bedroom house had everything they needed. They didn't hoard anything 'just in case'.  I don't even remember them stocking up during the sales. They bought what they needed as they needed it.  Things that could be mended were repaired; those that couldn't be mended or re-used were discarded.  Everything had a designated place.  They didn't have the latest technology, but what they had worked fine.  The closets weren't crammed, the car fit into the garage, there was nothing in the attic.  I didn't even know they had an attic until I was moving to Utah and we were clearing the house in preparation to rent it.  It was a loft space accessible only from the garage.  

I know some people who are frugal and I know a (very) few people who are tidy and organised, but I'm not sure I know many people who could live so nicely on as little as they did.  

Happy Birthday, Grandpa.

Unhooking

Sometimes it is the clicking together of two ideas that takes me down a new path.  Like having a curiosity about something together with meeting someone with a passion for it; a divorce coming about the same time as a job offer in another country; 

recognising the vast number of hours I spend writing each post and stumbling across this post. 

Today I have errands to run to do with a crafting project, obligations to the running club's race sub-committee, a WI meeting to attend and we're launching a craft group.

Bill and I have been away from home for weeks at a time since his birthday trip to Cockermouth: to France; to the Making of Harry Potter museum near London; to Devon and Cornwall to support a 100-mile walk and to find the homes of his ancestors; to Manchester to visit granddaughter Charlotte, to Allendale fair with the running club.  I'd love to tell you all about all that.  However, the house and gardens are desperate for some TLC.  I need to remember how to exercise.  There are craft and sewing projects no longer willing to be put off.

Initially I blogged five days a week, then three.  I've blogged ahead for the weeks we would be away in order to keep that commitment.  Last Friday's absence was accidental.  I had written Veblen posts ahead but left that Friday open as it was my birthday.  I thought I might post something about that, but then forgot all about it in the mad rush of just returning home and having other places to go.  I hope to finish the last chapters of Veblen, just to have the satisfaction of completing something I started.  However, I am now releasing myself from regular posting.

I'm not planning to quit altogether, just to make it a less onerous job.  I've really loved 'meeting' the people who have commented here and whose blogs I have visited over the years.  I notice that most folks seem to run out eventually.  I don't think we run out of ideas (and I certainly haven't run out of photos) but for many of us real life has a way of taking over, of reminding us of our actual priorities.  I'm fortunate in that it's not any difficult circumstance that has forced me to change.  It's not turning 57 that has suddenly altered my outlook.  I've known for some time that I was going to have to make some choices, to act on the knowledge that I can do just about anything I want, but not everything I want.

So, you'll be figuring out what you want to do with that time you normally spent here, eh?  

Bored with Belgium...or Is It Blogging?

On one hand, spending hours sifting through photos and putting together posts is a way of getting more value out of our travels.  I rarely tire of looking at photos of beautiful things.  On the other, photo-rich posts are time consuming and require concentration, which strangely for me involves a fair amount of energy, due to frustration, perhaps.  I have several other ideas for such posts, but I think I will leave them for later and get back to blogging about 'real life'.   Or perhaps, I just need to get back to living my real life.

Blogging hasn't been quite the pleasure for me lately that it was before.  This is in part because of the time of year and all the busyness associated with it.  When I'm blogging, I feel I should be doing something else and vice versa.   Also, though I am aware that there are faithful readers, comments have been few and far between of late.  I expect everyone else is also busy and this has never much bothered me because I could look at my stats for encouragement. 

However, some new gimmick has arisen in the blog world and programmes written to hit on blogs for the sole purpose of appearing as sources listed in their blog stats, which then causes bloggers to visit the programmer's website and thus bring traffic to their sites.  I'm guessing this might then generate potential income from advertising or whatever.  If this is happening to your blog - do not visit their website!  Google may or may not find a way to block these hits but I doubt they will manage to restore people's stats and so this has removed one of the external rewards I had for blogging.

I don't expect I will stop blogging, as I do enjoy it so much.  I may just scale back.  I haven't decided yet.  For now, I will show you Gravensteen.  The name means 'castle of the count'.  It has been there in Ghent since the 11th century, but rebuilt to an extent that it is probably no longer very authentic. 

Bill and I were perplexed by the spiral stairs. They were backwards, giving the advantage to right-handed, sword-wielding attackers ascending the stairs.   They should spiral in the other direction in order help defend the castle. 

The views from the roof were good, though.

I did have an awakening moment on this visit.  When Bill went to pay our entrance fee, he asked for two seniors tickets.  I found it strange that he would cheat, this not being like him at all, but I tried not to give him away.  Then I looked up at the information board and made a shocking discovery, whereupon I had to say, "OMG, I really am a senior!"  I've not encountered another place where being 55 entitled me to a senior's discount.  Like ticking the last age box on surveys, it's just one of those reminders that time is passing. 




So I need to use it well.

May in Retrospect, or 3 Years: 3 Words

Gosh, I nearly forgot to do a review post for May and that would have been a shame, if I do say so myself.


2008
A vintage year (month?) if there ever will be one.  In which I began telling about and showing you my


Obsession with Frugality
Family in Manchester
Love of Words
Ignorance of Gardening
Fun with Photography
Sharing Traditional Recipes
Experiencing a Ceilidh
Grandma's Covered Hangers
Cycling with Men (well, it's 3 words)
Home Hair Cut


2009
Another very good year (Can you tell the WI meeting last night was a wine tasting session?) in which I told you about the


First of May
Shower Bill Built
Scenic Coastal Run
Historic Mariners' Home
Dalry, Ayrshire, Scotland
English Social History


2010
When I learned how to make use of watching the telly, amongst other things, including:


Khayyam and FitzGerald
French and Food 
Teddy Bears' Picnic
Beautiful Red Kitchen!
Crisp or Crumble?
Sage and Shipley


That was fun!

April in Retrospect

I don't suppose we can have a post about April without a picture of flowers.  The saying may talk about flowers in May, but they definitely start here in April, if not earlier.

OK.  We have that out of the way.  Now we can talk about

2008

• I seem to have had my own version of a Happiness Project before I discovered that of Gretchen Rubin.  If you've never made a Happy List, I highly recommend it for several reasons, mostly listed there.
• We'd practically starve in this house without rice dish.  Thirty-minutes from start to table is about as fast as food gets, warm food anyhow.  That and a bowl of chopped fruit with yoghurt and we have fruit, veg, carbs, protein.  Perfect.
• I've never yet made it back to Colchester, or to Essex, even.  (But I'm still wearing and loving the clothes I thrifted there!)
• I told you everything I knew about my Dad.  I had no idea then what I didn't know.
• We started our Square Foot Gardening, such as it was.  Bill was never very impressed with it to start with, then the brick layers tramped through and now Bill is in charge of growing food and will likely redesign the beds anyhow.  Still, it worked reasonably well for me at the time and made gardening seem almost manageable.

2009

• I showed you some spring flowers in my neighbourhood.
• This Coffin Company has since relocated and is now a betting shop or bookies.  Not a place I've ever been or envision going, but a major part of British culture all the same (betting shops, that is).
• Sure enough, Bob's never returned to Dubai.  I' don't think he's even left the country since!
• I took you to Tynemouth Village.  
• If you want a lot of hits on your blog, write about a popular shop.  This post about the Raspberry Bazaar has the second highest number of hits in my whole blog.  The first highest?  Find an image that applies to Boxing Day.  Isn't blogging weird sometimes?
• More than you probably want to know about fashion history, but I'm thinking of re-reading that book and looking for other textbooks, actually.  I was fascinated.
• I took you to Washington Old Hall.

2010

• We toured the Royal Yacht Britannia. (OK, this series started on the 31st of March, but then we spent a couple of weeks in April on board.  I've just linked you to the first post in April).
• We noted the Queen's birthday.  I believe she turns 85 this year.
• I introduced myself to Josephine Baker; you had probably already met her.  Actually, I have since found a series of six videos that are brilliant.  They skip over some of the more scandalous bits, but there's plenty of great stuff left!
• Remember this bathmat I made?  It didn't survive its first washing very well.  Two of the squares disintegrated.  I started to replace them, but then lost interest and put it in the recycling bin.  Takes care of loads of guilt, you know, being able to recycle fabric as well as plastic, paper and metal...

March in Retrospect

March has always been a busy month for us.  By this time of year I've usually been pretty much fed up with winter and with no guarantee of a real summer, in our richer days, we zoomed off to warmer localities.  Lately we've tended to wait until summer, particularly for our 'big' (Australia or US) holidays.  March is also when Bill's birthday comes around and as it turns out, two years ago now, when his mother passed away.  It also seems that in the first March of this blog  I finally found my writing stride, so I can point you to some posts for

2008:

• I shared my pantry list, an integral part of our frugal lifestyle and what allowed us to average about £107 per month for food in 2010.
• Bill gathered his family in Kettlewell to celebrate the date of his 60th birthday, but a larger party was planned for the summer.
• I discovered the fun of photography and captured the first of many images that, even if they don't do anything for me, speak to me.

2009:

• I was still enthusing about our trip to Prague, showing you the historical fashion exhibit and art nouveau / art deco furniture that absolutely bowled me over.
• I accompanied Bill on a business trip to Hull.  Not England's vacation paradise, but with its very own history.
• I showed you what excites a British male.
• I reported Ella's passing and found comfort in appreciating the nice surroundings she enjoyed in her latter years.  Her Quaker funeral was an interesting experience, too.
• Bill's family being gathered for the funeral, they were also there for his birthday and we all went to Craster and Alnwick, both in Northumberland for the day.  (By the way the daughter of the Duke of Northumberland got married recently, just in case you missed it.)
• After Ella's funeral service, I decided I wanted to know more about the Quakers.
• I shared from a book I have on 'How to Visit a Museum'.  (Jg might enjoy this one, given his recent post about museums.)

2010:

• I discovered the first Duchess of Marlborough at my local library.  Others will tell you about the second, another American, named Gladys.  I like my Consuelo better, in part because I discovered her myself, but also because - unlike Gladys - she managed to move on and make a happier life for herself.
• Helen and Martin moved into their new house, whilst Bill and I slid around in the mud.
• Vivien and I had an excellent day out in Newcastle.
• We drove up to see Sarah in Edinburgh and I managed to show you most of what I knew about the place at the time, things like Jenners, Armstrongs and Deacon's House.  Sarah took us to see the Royal Yacht Britannia, where I spent a good part of April...but of course that's next month.

Sunshine & Substance

It's funny to think that before I retired I'd never read a blog in my life, though they'd been around for almost ten years by then.  I'd no idea about all the tricks of the trade:  giveaways, links, Search Engine Optimisation, memes and awards, all geared towards increasing traffic on one's blog.  I do link to other blogs, but only because I like them enough to share them with you.  I comment on other blogs because it's an opportunity to air my opinions!  As for giveaways, I have enough stuff, thank you.  I only vaguely understand the principles of SEO, and I enjoy playing around with my blog titles such that they amuse me but often give no clue as to the content of the post.  Memes and awards, if you like them, are a form of playing 'tag, you're it'; if you don't like them, they are akin to the infamous chain letter. I think it's the latter connotation that has made me keep my blog awards a secret.  Until now.

I've been honoured with two awards:  the Sunshine Award, from A Femme d'Un Certain Age (Tish), and A Blog of Substance Award, from Fatscribe.com (Jg).   I've given you the links so you can check that I've not made this up!  Strictly speaking, I've not followed the rules as I've not passed these on, though I thought about it quite a bit.  Most of the blogs I read don't seem to fit neatly into any category, being either too serious to be called 'sunshine' or too frivolous to be 'substance', too big to care they got any awards, too personal to be bothered with playing tag...  I finally took the decision that in the same way that I don't do chain letters/emails, I could take the same stance with awards, except for different reasons.  On the other hand, I'm not insulted when I get the things - chain emails - it means someone thought of me, which is better than being completely ignored, you know.  And in the case of the awards, someone thought well of me, which is even better.

Tish was just saying thank you for my comments and encouragement during the early days of her increasingly successful blog.  Jg's more recent award still has me a bit bewildered, but polishing my nails on my lapel and admiring the shine.  Here's a man who takes his writing seriously and labels his comments as pithy (there is a story I have attached to that word, but that's another post).  I'm still beyond flattered that he shows up here regularly...


Anyhow, I decided that the combination of these two awards stacked up to about the nicest compliment I could ever hope to achieve and I wanted to say 'Thank you.'

Also, they call to mind two things said to me by people who have passed on.  Though they relate to appearance, I think my own form of sunshine is more about attitude, and that I learned from my Mom:

"You look like your Mom, but you think and talk like your Dad."
Grandmother

 "It's important to be useful as well as decorative."

Daddy

So, soon as I figure out how to pin them on my blog, it will wear these awards with both pleasure!  Thanks again, Tish & Jg!!!

February in Retrospect

I'm aware that I'm not exactly on top of writing these days, for a number of reasons:

1. I missed my third blogiversary, not that it matters, but I'm still amazed.  Not so much that I've kept going, more how freaking fast the last three years have evaporated! 
2. I managed to publish Part III of the 'cars I've loved' series before Part II (this is a function of writing drafts and forgetting to change the date);
3. I see I wrote about January in retrospect and included posts from February.

[sigh]

Be that as it may, I thought I'd have another go at reviewing what I wrote a couple of years ago.  I still enjoy re-reading a lot of my posts, which I hope isn't too narcissistic; then again, some of them make me cringe.  In February 2008 I was still trying to work out what to write about.  This has turned out to be anything that catches my fancy, but leans towards a frugal life in England and some of the hobbies that entertain me cheaply; at least I think that's what it is.  So, allowing for some practice sessions, we'll start with 

2009, in which I:

• confessed to my magazine addiction;  I keep thinking I will add a 'magazine' section to my bloglist, but as I'm semi-paralyzed with sloth blog-reading, perhaps better not
• showed you the oldest thing in the house
• gardened on an antique card table as opposed to a plant stand (I guess that's what it is)
• took nice photos of snow on the beach and a glorious sunset
• took you shopping for fleas

Then just last year I

• was Loving Food, Hating Waste (as we are again presently)
• took you to Britain's National Glass Museum  (I think it's time for a return visit - their current exhibit is called 'Waste Not Want Not'!!!)
• showed you Bill's red car
• talked about corking (you know what this is, even if you don't think you do)
• told you about The Settler's Cookbook and did my own autobiographical cooking review, which was surprisingly fun to write
• compared our food costs with the USDA 'thrifty plan'.  In 2010, we averaged £107 ($165)  per month for food, compared with the $300 (£195) allowed us for our gender, age and thrift...  Bill says food is not subsidized in Britain, but I'm beginning to wonder about that)
• showed you the lovely place I did bookbinding

You know what?  I think I'm having a really good life!  Hope you are, too.

January in Retrospect

Several blogs that I read make a practice of pulling up posts from their archives and I often find material I missed the first time around.  So I thought I'd give it a go.  Rather than call myself 'copying' I'm referring to this as re-using a good idea and re-cycling material; this blog is nothing if not green (get it?).

In 2009:

• I wrote about Living with the Cold.  I still use most of these ideas.  Now that Bill is finally retired and inhabiting the house with me most days, I find he's pretty tough about not turning on the heat until late afternoon.  He thinks it's his job to keep moving to stay warm until the sun goes down.  I find that if he's not going to turn on the heat, well neither am I.  You may be thinking about that saying that couples company and misery, but actually, I'm getting a lot more done, always a good thing.

• I attempted to publish my first blogroll without adding to the clutter of the main page.  I really like the thingie that tells you about when a new post appears (when it's not stuck).  This saves time wasted looking at what's already been read.  For lack of better IT skills, I started another blog, called ShelleysList, that I visit when I want to look at my current reading list, much changed from the original. 

• We had a long weekend in Liverpool and I managed to post more days about the place than we were actually there: 
• Back from Beatle-land 
• Liverpool - Day One   
• Liverpool - Day Two 
• Liverpool - Day Two-and-a-Half 
• Liverpool - Day Three (see, I can count)  
• Last Day
• Positively the Last Damned Post about Liverpool

In 2010:

• We visited Simon in Middlewich.  Simon now lives in  Chester, only a single train stop or a short bike ride from his new-ish job.  I understand he also has a new-ish woman in his life; we've yet to meet her.   His work regularly takes him (business class) to France, Germany and the U.S., and he seems far happier in this position, so I'm very pleased for him.  He asks me if he can bring me anything from my homeland, but I've yet to think of what to trouble him with. 

• I wrote about the handmade gifts I made for Christmas.  I can't write about this year's gifts yet because not everyone has received theirs yet.  Yes, I know, they're kinda late.  I think of it like one of the bloggers who wrote that she saves back a gift to give the kids after all the holidays are over and they are a bit deflated.  She calls it the gift that Santa 'forgot' to deliver Christmas Eve.  I think of my very late boxes as kind of like that, OK?

• I posted some snow pictures back when I still thought snow was pretty...

• We spent a long weekend in Bath:  
• Bean to Bawth end Beck 
• Bath Fashion Museum 
• Bath's Baths
• The Pump Room 
• Jane Austen Centre 
• Walcott Walk 
• Bunns of Bath 
• Leaving Bath

Enjoy!

Blog Protection

I got an email the other day from the husband of a dear friend, Joanne. Rick, a fellow blogger, wrote:

I've always wondered what would happen if Blogger decided to go away or they had a crash of their server. Previously, when I was on AOL, I had a couple of webpages set up, one for me and one for the dogs. Without notice AOL decided to discontinue this service and everything on those sites was lost.

Anyway, a RV friend that I keep track of came up with a website that will convert the blogs to either written form or to .pdf files that you can store. Of course, this is for a fee. Here is what Rod sent:

"We have often wondered what would happen in all of a sudden the provider of our blog would disappear along with our blog. We would sure hate to lose almost five years of our adventure blogs.

"Have been looking at ways to simply archive our blog. We found this site http://blog2print.sharedbook.com/blogworld/printmyblog/index.html

"The site will print out your blog for a healthy price but an option is to create a PDF file for a very reasonable price of $7.95

"Took the plunge and got a PDF file of this summer's Alaska trip. Was well pleased and now will get a file for all our blogs. The file for the three months was 144 pages long and 47MB so is a big file to download.

"If interested you can go to the website and do a trial run. The result can be put in first to last or last to first, pictures appear as they appear in the blog and can not be enlarged, pictures don't appear in exactly the position as when viewed in blog format, can add cover photos, title, introductions."

This is me (Rick) again. Being on the cheap side I decided I can do this myself. Last night I was able to go in and pull up each blog from the past three years and print them out. I now have them in a loose leaf notebook where I can add to them. Additionally, I have a copy of Adobe that allows me to make my own .pdf files. In the next couple of weeks I'm going to convert each blog entry to a .pdf file and then store them on a flash drive.

Not that my ramblings are all that earth shattering but I have put a lot of work into them over the past three years and have found it interesting to go back and re-read them on the different trips we've taken. I'm sure you probably feel the same about your blogs so I'd thought I pass this information on.

This me (Shelley): I do treasure my blog, strangely, and enjoy re-reading what I've written even if it wasn't that long ago. I've attempted backing the blog up just calling up a month's worth of posts, highlighting it all and copying it into Word documents. This is what has allowed me to replace pictures that have been accidentally deleted.

Now that other bloggers are beginning to come by for a visit, I just thought I'd ask:

How do you back up your blog?

Named & Shamed!

One of my favourite blogs is written by a British woman who lives in France (lucky woman). She writes about living frugally but also has an interest in all things girly: fashion, vanity, etc., but with a sensible approach for those of us no longer spring chickens.

I'm envious of her sewing skills and commented that I didn't see how a sew-er could be bored with their clothes. She responded with a lesson in how to dye clothing for a new look. And there is more to come...

Blogiversary

I think someone stole January and I've obviously mislaid large parts of February -- I just don't know where the time goes. I've been writing this blog for a whole year now and I can't quite believe it.

I've had very modest success -- which apparently peaked in October. I believe this may be due to a glitch that redirects people from something about caravan sites in the UK to one of my posts about Square Foot Gardening. Also, I'm guessing a lot of people got covered hangers for Christmas as there seemed to be a fair amount of interest in my post about that; I'd no idea the economic climate was quite that grim.

You wouldn't believe the gyrations I went through to get this graph for you: pull data off statcounter, save as excel spreadsheet, do printscreen into word, copy the picture into Paint; edit and save. Open in picture viewer and crop... Actually I love making graphs -- I used to do it for a living way back when -- and messing around like this is a big part of the fun, I think.

I would recommend blogging to anyone who enjoys writing even half as much as I do; please let me know if you decide to launch a blog! The pleasure I've had from fiddling with this is what really makes me count it a success. In addition, many of my family and friends keep up with our doings via the blog and it is principally for that audience that I write.

I haven't actually met my goals as yet, however. I set myself the target of posting 20 times per month and I've only achieved that on 2 occasions. Also, all that money I plan to make on advertising, etc.....right.

Finally Paying Attention...

Well now. I had a thought cross my mind the other day about all the space Blogger said my photos were taking up. I mis-load a lot of pictures and delete them as I write the posts and I wondered if the deleted photos were removed from the Picassa albums.

Nope, they are not. Any picture I ever put into a post has remained to take up space in those albums. I have somehow acquired 7 albums containing anywhere from 1 to 500 pictures, even though I've never done anything with Picasa other than to look at Simon's photos there. Very strange.

It will be tedious, but I think I will spend some time clearing out what I can without tearing apart the blog pages. I wonder how many people start paying for storage before they really need to...

Repairs Complete

Well, it took most of yesterday evening, but fortunately I was able to recreate what was there before, or pretty close to it. I learned just how valuable it was to have the blog archived (I just used Word) with the pictures to save me trying to remember what picture went where. If anyone sees a post wtih an empty narrow box, where a picture used to be, let me know and I'll try to fix it.

Thanks very much, Rick, for the suggestion. I'll go look at Photobucket. And I might try reading the instructions first...

"£$*&~~@ Picasa!!!

'Scuse my language, but I just accidentally deleted a ton of pictures from this weblog in trying to use Picasa to share other pictures instead. Fortunately, I still have all the pictures I used saved in a folder, but it will take a while to find and replace the pictures, if I can remember which ones went where. I should know better than to try to do anything new when I'm tired, never mind try to do it quickly.

I've been scanning a bunch of family photographs and wanted to share them using Picasa, but apparently it will insist on linking to this weblog (again, my fault for using this name) and using up my space allocation with these photos, which is a waste.

So, back to the drawing board and now I have some repair work to do...