My 100th Follower - another Blogger Milestone

As I start to write this post I see I have 99 loyal Blog Followers (I nearly wrote subjects but that's way too neo-colonial!) and I am curious to see who'll be the hundredth - it could be you as they say in Lotto-land. By the time this gets posted I may have passed the 100 mark.

I am pretty amazed at the speed I've accumulated followers today - I happened to chance on Karen G's Blogger BBQ where she invited people to increase their blog traffic by posting on her blog and then three of her commenters - which I did - and then a few others besides, that I liked the look of, and then I started getting comments from some of those I'd followed. It's fun as I never actually set out to acquire followers before and I never thought I'd get a response like this.

So if I was organised I'd have linked my 100th follower post with a giveaway or something nice like that - but as it's kinda sprung on me I haven't arranged anything you'll just have to wait for another milestone or a draw of some sort. I love that I won a prize once for being the 50th follower on Mimi's blog and she sent me some lovely chocolate!

This is only a short post as I have our granddaughter Sofia's Christening tomorrow and am in the middle of baking and organising for a little party after the church tomorrow evening. More on that event anon.

And thanks for dropping by, commenting and following. It's what makes blogging fun, I do enjoy reading the comments and blogs of my visitors and share in the global village that is the blogosphere.

And YES! I have just hit the 100 mark and it is Ann from Virginia who's the lucky follower - now I just have to tell her about her auspicious status - congrats and thanks to ALL my followers - I really appreciate your visits.

A Blogging Milestone: 50 followers - and counting!

Wheee! Today when I checked my blog I was delighted to see Edie had become my 50th follower - she came on board from the new Bloggers' Book Club that Lily started recently - my last post was the response to that initiative - A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini. Our next book is to be Brooklyn by Colm Tóibín, an acclaimed Irish writer who won the Man-Booker prize a few years ago for The Master. The Bloggers' Book Club is open to all those who are interested in reading and commenting on the selected book - just check over with Lily and put yourself on her list - so far there are about 16 members, which gives a nice assortment of opinion on the book.

I hope those of you who take the time to read my blog enjoy it - I really like to get your comments and feedback as it makes the blogging worthwhile, I don't think I'd enjoy it half as much if I was blogging into a vacuum! So keep the comments coming. I try to be diligent and reply to all commenters so be sure to enable notification of following comments when you post a comment on this or any blog - a handy tip! I do try to visit a few blogs I follow every day and leave a comment where I feel I have something to say.



I haven't really gone down the road of blog awards of a chain genre that require me to post them on to othe bloggers as I find them a bit intrusive - I see some of the bloggers I follow stay resolutely blog award free which is probably good blog etiquette - I just did one - the High Five (good things that happened in the past year) which was a nice one and didn't put too much strain on the nominees (I hope!). On the other hand it is nice to be recognised and given an award by a cyber friend, and perhaps I'm just being presumptuous that they would bug the recipients who'd feel compelled to do whatever steps are needed.



Of course my ego was deliciously massaged by the nomination for the Irish Blog Awards which got me to two shortlists - and even my son was suitably impressed - in a backhand compliment sort of way he said "You got to the shortlist? The final twenty-five from a longlist of over a hundred? Wow!" So I'm not sure that was flattering or he was in shock - but it encourages blogging - even if purists discount it as not being real writing. I enjoy it and that's the primary reason anyone should blog - for their own enjoyment - even if it's a polemic-type blog or a specialist one like cooking or gardening.


So keep on dropping by and leaving your comments - and invite your friends to join - I might even double the numbers in a year or two. I'm always amazed when I see blogs with hundreds of followers and post comments - and wonder how do the bloggers respond to them all. Perhaps they get impersonal at that stage! I feel I've made some lovely cyber-friends in the past year and a half, with common links like Africa, travel, reading, cooking, and knitting. Even if we never meet in the real world, there's a lot of fun to be had in the blogosphere - so hang in there!

Irish Blog Awards 2010 nominations!

I saw during the week that my blog visitor traffic has increased in recent weeks and I haven't really a clue why that is - except that I am listed on a few blog directories here and there that may have increased traffic. It's nice to see that a few more people are visiting the site, and even though there aren't any new followers or comments, I don't mind as I write it mostly for enjoyment, not as a major ego trip!

If anyone thinks this blog is worthy of entry to the Irish Blog Awards then please follow the nomination procedure from the link. It has a number of different categories so mine is probably the broader personal rather than the political or any specific category. Closing date is 5th February 2010.


Thanks in advance to anyone who nominates me - indeed thanks for visiting my blog over the past year and to those who left comments - I hope I responded to all of you as I think that's the least you deserve for making the time and effort to comment!

I will also nominate some of my fellow-Irish followers whose blogs I enjoy. Who? I hear you ask! That would be telling so I'll keep shtum for now - I don't do secrecy well so I'll probably divulge later. Oh, and you can nominate yourself if you fit the bill (blogging from Ireland!) so I might do that too - just to ensure a nomination of one!

Have fun selecting your nominees - I think anyone from anywhere else in the world can nominate eligible Irish Blogs in any appropriate category so it could be an eclectic selection!

Reflections on a Forgotten First Anniversary

Hard to believe until I checked back that I missed the first anniversary of my blog entirely - that was on 22nd December and in the run-up to Christmas it went completely unnoticed. So now I am saying belated congrats to myself - and to all of you out there in the blogosphere who read and/or commented on the blog over the past year - thanks a lot! I really enjoy reading your comments and responding to them and at the same time I feel I don't devote a lot of time to the blog compared to some of you more diligent bloggers.

At the same time I am delighted to have had a chance to vent steam on issues that annoyed me over the year, as well as sharing some good times and events with you, and also posting recipes in what I hope was a user-friendly format for those of you into baking. I know I tend to use it myself when I am baking as it is as handy and accessible as a cookbook!

Some stats - I posted 70 times in the past year, and have 37 followers. My profile page has been viewed 820 times and the blog's been viewed 3694 times according to one counter and 4353 by another - who to believe? I don't really mind their accuracy as I don't want to start obsessing on my blog's popularity - it's good enough for me that people read and enjoy it and most of the comments have been positive. I have a listing on Irish Blogs and Blogarama -which might increase exposure, though they are a bit like vanity publishing - you apply to be on these listings - and I am following 48 blogs. This isn't a lot but as I find it hard to get round to reading all the posts these generate on my dashboard it's probably more than enough.

What do I like about blogging? It's relaxing; it brings me into other people's lives which is heaven for the innate curiosity I have about people without feeling intrusive (satisfying my nosiness some would say!)and it gives me a random record of my year which I would never get around to committing to paper. It is a format for musing or ranting/commenting on current affairs which exercise me, and a nice way to archive photos and videoclips that I have enjoyed or those I have made and shared via YouTube. I get to read recipes from around the world and try them out, and get a buzz from knowing some of you have tried and tested my recipes - and enjoyed them!

I have been a guest blogger on Niamh's Writer on the Way Home blog, and I have enjoyed interacting with all those who have commented on my blog or on whose blog I have commented. Some are incredibly talented and entertaining and if I was competitive there's plenty out there to aspire to! Lynda's blog from Tanzania was the first I followed as it spoke to me so personally - having lived in Tanzania for years I could identify with a lot of her posts and it was a great nostalgia buzz for me. There were many more that dipped in and out of my blogging life during the year and they showed me how we are all global citizens and if anything positive could ensue from blogging it would be to unite the world, unlike so many of our politicians and governments who seem to thrive on conflict and division.

Blogging feedback is generally polite and respectful - I don't really like the sometimes confrontational debate that ensues on some boards or chatrooms especially where contentious issues are debated, as it can quickly descend into abuse. Facebook is preferable for the hot topic debate where there are groups to opt into if the mood takes me.

So that sums up a few reflections on this relatively new hobby - one I never imagined doing a few years ago but which has given no end of enjoyment - long may it so continue.

Here are some of our Christmas Day photos -family and presents, the garden dusted in frost, and the Crib which is over 50 years old from my late father.

Happy New Year and Happy Blogging for 2010 to all.