One year ago today ...

One year ago today I pressed the Blogger "publish" button for the first time and entered blog world. It seems like just yesterday but also a lifetime ago. I had been fiddling with various formats and names for about a week but suddenly it felt right and the button was clicked. I have never regretted that click.

I had two reasons to blog - one was to create a record for myself and my family of what Hanno and I were doing, the other was the hope of sharing what I knew and encouraging others to simplify. I have definitely created the record of a year's living that I wanted, it is up to others to judge whether encouragement fell where it was needed.

So this is my 565th post. It didn't occur to me to connect a counter until my second month of blogging but in the first month I had the counter attached there were 1705 visitors, last month that number was 44,473. Incredible!

I've had a lot of emails asking what makes a successful blog and I still don't know. Some days I write something I think is good and I'm quite happy with, but it will get few reactions. Another day a bit of flimsy that falls easily from my brain will create a lot of comments. Who knows what the formula is. I try to write honestly to give an accurate account of our days here, and those personal accounts are sprinkled with more formal (for want of a better word) posts that I hope will encourage and support readers in their own simple journey.

I have resisted the many people who've asked to advertise here and those who asked me to "review" their books and products. I have used an Amazon box though when I was writing about my favourite books and to my surprise I scored enough points from that to get two free books. To all those people who supported that, I am truly grateful. I would really like John Seymour's last book so I might try the Amazon box for a short time again in the future.

Reading blogs has changed me. When I discovered the blog world I was absolutely amazed at all the bloggers who were using this technology to bypass mainstream media to get their message out. This is people power at it's best - uncensored by governments, unfiltered by advertising and real. Sure, there are blogs that come no where near that definition, but you can easily steer clear of those and stay within the millions that are clever, insightful and inspiring. It has been a great encouragement to me to read about the ordinary days of other women and men who wish to live to their true potential and who show, by example, their own particular way of doing that. And in this age of overindulgence and keeping up with the Joneses, I needed to know all of you like-minded people were there, happily working away on your own lives, and that Hanno and I were not alone. I know it sounds cliched and silly but I really believe we have built a little community here. I have made real friends too and even if I stopped blogging tomorrow, I know those friendships would endure.

I haven't done a give away for a while and this seems to be a good time to remedy that. To celebrate this milestone, I will draw names from a hat to see who I'll post this little fabric picture to. It is one of my designs and is made up of applique, stitchery and patchwork. If you'd like to be in the draw, please leave your name with a comment.

Thank you for your visits here.