I began this blog on November 22, 2006. I cannot believe it has been that long. Nine years before that day my children were 15 and 12, and now they are parents. It boggles my mind. Time is the strangest thing.
In a lot of ways this blog is a journal of our lives. I refer to it all the time. I check it for recipes, or for when something was planted. And I go back to old posts and read the comments. Sadly, a fair few are from people who have disappeared from my blogging life. Some have died, and others are just gone. I miss them.
Pretty much since our granddaughter was born, I haven’t been around as often as I would like. The reasons, of course, are very, very wonderful. Hazel, Campbell, and Indy. Gradually, slowly, I am making my way back to writing my letters and visiting your blogs more often.
Thank you all for staying around during these past years of writing just over 100 posts a year. Thank you for coming by even when I haven’t had the chance to visit you. Thank you for being my friends. Even though we’ve not met, I know you and care about you as I do anyone I know in my offline life. I am grateful beyond any words I can say.
I have thoroughly enjoyed your blog and continue to do so.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much. I feel the same, you know.
DeleteI always enjoy your posts, whenever they appear ~ and have found a few of my now favorite authors thanks to your book reviews!
ReplyDeleteI find it incredibly hard, quite often these days, to find a balance with all that needs to be done... and all that I want to do. There is simply not enough time to do it all, and I'm terrible at making decisions! :) Wishing you and yours a very Happy Thanksgiving! :)
Yes, balance. I gave up my Instagram account. I don't check Facebook too often. And I'm trying to put my online time here, and visiting. The soothing presence of my blogging friends. I smile whenever I see your picture, with those dogs!!
DeleteWhat a beautiful post, Nan. Thank you for writing these letters for the past nine years. I look forward to many more!
ReplyDeleteI never did write what I told you I would. Just didn't seem important. Thanks so much!
DeleteHappy Thanksgiving to all at Hill Farm. I too so much enjoy the virtual friendships through Blogging ... We all have times when it's harder to keep up ... And you have had the best and most wonderful excuse of all! No need to apologize. ( and I should have said ' reason ' not ' excuse'. .. You don't need an excuse at all ever!
ReplyDeleteYes, they are truly the best things ever!!! Thanks my dear Sallie.
DeleteHappy Blog Anniversary and Happy Thanksgiving, always enjoy your post though I don't comment a lot.
ReplyDeleteThank you!!
DeleteNine years sure is impressive. I am so happy I found your blog when I started blogging in 2008 and even though we've never met, I'm sure we'd be good friends if we lived close. What a gorgeous sunset!
ReplyDeleteYes!!!
Delete"It boggles my mind. Time is the strangest thing."
ReplyDeleteIsn't that the truth!
I'm so glad you made the leap to join the blogging world way back when. :) I love everything about your posts. Your family photos and daily life stories. Your recipes. Your music and movies and television recommendations. Your gardens. Your pets. Your cocktails. Oh, and of course, books. ;) No, we have never met in person, but we know each other as if we had lived next door to one another for a decade (well, for us, more like two decades!). Your a lifelong friend and I love you dearly.
Ta-ta.
:)
In the old days, we would be called pen pals (pen friends in England). Maybe we will meet one dayas Julia Child and Avis did! Thanks for your words, and the feeling is mutual, my dear.
DeleteWow, Nan; 9 years! Congratulations.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy each and every one of your posts, whether or not I comment, delight in your family, especially your grandchildren, have tried many of your recipes, music, quotes . . . and sit here having just now finished the introduction to "If You Lived Here, I'd Know Your Name", by Heather Lende, which I discovered from your book reports. Can't wait to chew on this gem tonight. Thanks, Nan.
And I feel the same way. This grandchildren thing we share is just the best!
DeleteI love your blog! I remember when you said you wanted to stop writing your blog and then...how sad it made me.
ReplyDeleteTHEN, you decided to keep it up, and how HAPPY it made me!
Not only do I love your blog but I also feel as if I know you from your letters and your photos.
With love and appreciation,
Kay
As I do you. Thanks so much.
DeleteAnd, of course, that should read:
ReplyDeleteYou're a lifelong friend
I knew you'd pick that up! haha
DeleteWoo hoo Happy Anniversary!!!!
ReplyDeleteThanks, dearie!
DeleteNine years already! Congratulations!
ReplyDeleteMy blog serves a very similar purpose, although that was not why or how I originally started it. These days, I use it as much for reference (to know where I've been when, whether I have read other books by the same author, looking up a recipe or just finding out what the weather was like at a particular time) as for maintaining friendships with those who have come to be my friends here over the years.
Like you, I miss those who have dropped off the blogosphere for various reasons. And like you, I have periods when I can read and write more and others when I hardly seem to find the time.
Thank you for keeping your blog going - it is a very special blog for me, and I think yours was one of the first I discovered and began to follow when I was still new in blogland (started in 2008)!
Thank you! I use mine in all those ways, as well. 2008! Impossible.
DeleteI'm so glad you're still writing your 'letters', Nan - I love reading them and your photos too, oh and your recipes. Thank you for the pleasure your letters bring.
ReplyDeleteAnd I thank you for saying this. It means so much.
DeleteNan, congratulations and Happy Blog Anniversary! I like the idea of a blog being "a journal of our lives." Yours has certainly been one.
ReplyDeleteThank you. You are always so kind.
DeleteI don't know how/when I found your blog, but it is one of not very many that I constantly return to. I loved the idea that there you were in New England, and here I was in "old" England, but our views were much the same. I was really sad when you decided to stop a couple of years ago; and very cheery indeed when I found that you had decided to come back. And here you still are! ........Here's to another nine or so, Nan x
ReplyDeleteI think I am more English than American, to tell the truth. I'm in heaven with Tunnelbear. I watch the BBC and itv as if I were living there! Thanks for your nice words, and by the way, I can't leave comments on your blog anymore. Up pops google+ which I am not part of.
DeleteCongrats on 9 years of blogging! I've really enjoyed getting to know you and your family here. :)
ReplyDeleteThank you! And I enjoy your blog. It is completely unique, and I mean to spend a lot more time there.
DeleteCongratulations on blogging for 9 years! Not many have done it, especially as well as you have, Nan. I enjoy your posts! Blessings, Debra
ReplyDeleteWow, such a nice thing to say. Thank you.
DeleteI think your blog was the first one that showed me how to play music clips - it was a revelation. That was on a old computer and even though it fell in and out I loved it. Now of course it's so easy.
ReplyDeleteI also love pictures of your lovely grandchildren, scenic New England, recipes and your book reviews. Being introduced to many poets I had never heard of has been a bonus - my favourite was The Things by Donald Hall.
Thank you and a big pat to Lucy.
Radio blog club, I think it was called. I remember being so thrilled that I could share music. Way before youtube! I love The Things, too. He's still going strong. I read his Essays at Eighty, and liked them enormously!
DeleteThank you for your kind words. Lucy thanks you for the pat I just gave her. :<)
Yours remains one of my favorite blogs, and I'm so appreciative that you are still posting as you can with all the delightful distractions. I've dropped the ball a bit on mine so I know how easily that happens, but I plan to do better in 2016. As it now stands, I'm retiring from even my part-time job so there will be no good excuses. Have a wonderful thanksgiving with your family.
ReplyDeleteI started mine in 2007. I am so glad you continue. I too have periods when i am more and less present but I love to come back both to the writing and the reading. It is odd to have a record over such a long time. Good in many ways but a reminder of mortality.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations, Nan! You started with a blog of great variety and interest - not to mention quality - and it's just as good as it ever was. My heart skips a beat, however, when I remember the time you thought about dropping it. I'm SO glad you went on, hard work as it can sometimes be. Thank you!
ReplyDelete