Looking Back Sunday - Waayyyy Back - to 2006!

Oh, Happy Day!

Tuesday, May 7 is my 7th Blogoversary!  My walk down memory lane is looking back at spring (since I started in May)

I started my blog after a diagnosis of cancer - to be able to update my friends and family in one spot - The name "A Blip on the Radar" came from my sister, who said - "Hopefully this (the cancer) will be no more than A Blip on the Radar"  -  and a blog was born.  Then, when everything "sorted out" after surgery, etc. people began to say - "You're still going to blog, aren't you?"

Hmm - I kind of enjoyed having an outlet to write and post my pictures - "Sure," I said -

That spring (2006) we had 6 lambs - It is always so much fun to see them running out in the front pasture - I'm sure you've heard my whining about not having any lambs this year, but it's really been a blessing - The Shepherd has had colds all winter (but, thankfully no pneumonia this year) - and spending nights out in a cold barn would not have been good for him.  It has also gotten progressively harder to find good new homes for the sheep - so he just decided to take a break this year.  

On my blog header it says: "Stories of everyday life on our farm, featuring cats, our little flock of Shetland Sheep and garden life, plus a recipe to try every once in a while. Wait, now there is spinning and crocheting, don't forget spinning and crocheting all that Shetland wool... So, thanks for stopping by - who knows what you'll find!!" 

So that's what I've tried to deliver - just every day life - I've made some wonderful friends - we've met up in Eugene at the Black Sheep Gathering in June, or gone to visit in Arizona.  We have sheep friends, cat friends, dog friends, crocheting & spinning friends and other friends who also write of every day life. 

It has given us a chance to show off our handsome new little fellows

or show pretty things from The Shepherd's garden.  

 and his flock.

Our special little boy "HB" brought a lot of excitement into the neighborhood - a sheep that looked like a panda!   

I started a "sitemeter" a year or so after I started blogging - it shows I've had over 48,000 visitors so, if I extrapolate out - I figure I've had over 50,000 visits to my blog.  When Blogger started keeping tabs on "referring traffic sources" - it shows that the most visitors come over from Nancy K's old blog, A Shepherd's Voice - I understand that since she isn't farming any longer, she is mostly on Facebook (which I'm not), but she has a great blog roll, so I'm sure a lot of people visit her blog, just to go through her blog roll - I know I do...

 I also get a lot of jumps from Sharon's blog "In Stitches"  Sharon is a weaver of extraordinary talent - she's also a spinner, a crafter, and a wonderful grandmother.  Her blog is one of my favorites.  (she's one of the bloggers I've met at Black Sheep Gathering)

It's also fun to look back through my "Labels" section - "From the Garden" and "Neelix"  are hands down favorites - Neelix went to "The Bridge" in August 2008 - we miss him still - George and Gracie (and Bella) have filled the holes, but he was such a character, he left awful big paws to fill.

 My post that gets the most visits (according to Blogger) is my post on "Green corn tamale pie" that I did in August of 2006.  it says I've had 447 visits to that page.  Now, I don't mean to think badly of Blogger's stats, but it seems to me,if there have been 447 visits to that page, there would be more than 1 comment.  Don't ya think?

And why would "A view from the cat door" from January of 2012 be so interesting that it would come in second with 421 visits?  I don't have a lot of confidence in Blogger's stats page.

 And maybe I'm wrong but here's my audience:

United States  25,693

Russia    7051

Canada  1486

Germany 1133

South Korea  895

United Kingdom   830

France   629

Netherlands  576

Ukraine  442

Indonesia  379

South Korea and Indonesia???   What's with that? 

Unless they just like looking at the cutest darn Shetland lambs around...

Or the prettiest, serene-ist looking ewes -

As I say in my emails -  Marietta Shetlands, Bellingham, WA, where "the ewes are strong, the rams are good looking and all the lambs are above average."

 My "most viewed months" were June of 2010 with 1906 visits and September 2012 with 1910 visits.  In June 2010 I didn't have a lot of posts, but I had a big one about Black Sheep Gathering and I was participating in a blog hop called "The colors of (the month name here)" where you would take pictures during that month and link up with other bloggers who had done the same - wow, that was a fun meme - you really got to see a lot of the world -

One of my favorites was the lady from Australia (and I've lost her blog now) who had a picture of a pasture full of kangaroos.  Just like we would have a picture of a pasture of sheep or goats.  The photographer must have made some kind of noise because they were all "heads up" and looking at the camera - what a cool picture.  

My blog has been a place of solace in times sadness and a place to celebrate in times of gladness. 

I have met many many talented people and have gotten encouragement from them on my endeavors.  

 I've gotten to show off some of the more unusual fruits and vegetables that The Shepherd has in his garden (yes, this is PURPLE asparagus)

So, who knows how much longer I'll keep blogging - maybe in another 7 years I'll have that site meter up to 100,00 visits?

And I sure appreciate your comments -  Thanks for stopping by today.

Looking back Sunday

May 31, 2006

This beautiful peony was a gift from our friend Diane H. when I returned home from Seattle after my cancer surgery in May 2006 - three years ago! It seems like another place and another time.

We were so enthralled with this blossom that she graciously gave us a start of the plant. It has lived in a pot in the greenhouse for the past two years - last fall The Shepherd aka The Landscaper planted it by the corner of the house. It will bloom in a few days. I can't wait.

The rest of the peonies should be out soon too. One is an heirloom plant that I brought with me from my house in town when we moved out here. It smells like old fashioned roses and has 5-6 inch fuchsia colored blossoms.

I baked up 7 dozen cookies tonight for our church garage sale next week - they will have coffee & cookies for sale (health dept. OK'd) I'll freeze them until Thursday & take them to a friend who will be going up to Blaine for the sale -

Speaking of the sale, I've always wished I could find a nice keyboard for The Shepherd to putz around on - we don't really have room anyplace for a real piano, but I have occasionally looked at keyboards at Costco, etc., but the price ($400-800 for the ones I have seen) generally makes me decide we REALLY don't need one that bad. WELL, today, one of the fellows from church comes in after coffee hour with a CASIO CTK 591 keyboard, with the stand and the books! that he got last year at a garage sale for $20 - Does it work? I asked... Yeah, it works fine, he said, he just decided that he didn't have time or the inclination that he thought he'd have to learn how to play the piano. Turned it on - we touched a few keys - not too bad, I thought, and called The Shepherd aka The Minister of Music over to look at it. It does some pretty cool things - transposes, you can tune it up or down a little to play in tune with another instrument, it has 50 songs already programmed in - (we could have our own karaoke party, ha, ha, ha)

It wasn't exactly love at first sight, but I could tell by the look on his face, that if we took it home, that he would indeed play with it. So before anyone else had a chance to even know it was there, I pulled the checkbook out of my purse and wrote a check for $50 to the church. The lady in charge of the garage sale was delighted, I just looked on line and they are still for sale from anywhere from $150 (with the stand) to $200. I think we got a fine deal.