Today I celebrate another blogaversary. Ten years ago I inaugurated my commonweeder blog. As a reader and a gardener I enjoyed the little play on words as the commonWEEDER and opposed to Virginia Woolf’s CommonREADER books of essays. I had the most basic of ideas about what a blog was, but a good friend who knows more about such things said I needed a blog. I acknowledged in my first post that I did not know what was to come. I did intend the blog as an invitation to join me in my garden, and other gardens that I visited.
Certainly December does not seem like the most auspicious time of year to start a garden blog, but I always say (when I have forgotten a birthday or anniversary) that I am not a slave to the calendar – in any sense.
And so I began, with the brief post below. Already it suggests that there will be talk about books as well as about gardens.
Am I too old to Blog? We’ll find out, but in any event I thought that the Feast of Saint Nicholas would be the perfect day to inaugurate my blog. There isn’t anything going on in the garden outside so when the temperature is only 7 degrees above 0, as it was this morning, my only gardening desire is in books. I just picked up my old copy of Green Thoughts: A Writer in the Garden by Eleanor Perenyi. I’ve seen mention of this wonderful book which wanders through her garden and the gardens of history and literature from A to Z in several blogs lately and was reminded of its delights.
The J listing was James vs Benson, and if Eleanor Perenyi is new to younger gardeners it is even more likely that they are unfamiliar with E.F. Benson and his books about Lucia and Mapp, and his humorous description of British country life in the 1920s through the eyes of two outrageous ladies. Lucia and Mapp are another whole story (5 volumes actually) and I wouldn’t mention them here except that Perenyi has found descriptions of the same garden by Henry James and E.F. Benson. Both men lived in the same house, Benson after James, had the same outdoor space and very different views. Gardening is all about indulging our different views, but Benson got so much more pleasure out of his.
In fact I enjoyed Eleanor Perenyi’s book so much that I engaged in my own A to Z projects, most recently in April of 2016 when A began with Achillea and ended with Z is for Zinnia.
As I celebrate this 10th Blogaversary we live in Greenfield, but instead of green fields surrounding the house we have a small urban garden devoted to water loving shrubs and many pollinator plants. There is no snow today!
There are changes in the weather since 2007, changes in the gardens, and a change in me. I’m a GREAT-grandmother now. There have been many things to celebrate and I look forward to many years of new celebrations.
Congrats on the 10-year mark, Pat! I hope you continue to share your garden online for many years to come, and I look forward to seeing you in Austin next spring for the Fling!
Congratulations on your 10th year of blogging. I always enjoy all you write about. I am enjoying watching this new garden evolve. Cheers and celebrations.
A milestone for sure. I loved the first garden and I am sure the second is lovely as well. Keep on blogging.
Layanee – I’m such a fan of your Ledge and Garden blog and So glad to have you share my celebration. I’ll have to put up a photo of the new garden in bloom.
Lisa – You are always so appreciative and encouraging. Thank you for joining the celebration.
How wonderful! Keep it up. It is a great way to educate others and give them ideas about gardens and landscaping. Plus there are so many topics that it holds interest for a lot of different readers!
Pam Penick – I was so happy to meet you in Buffalo – my first Fling – and I will be there in Austin. I’ll be so happy to see everyone again. It’s wonderful that we can keep in touch through my blog and your Digging blog.
Bill – Thanks for the kind words. We both share a love of nature and concern about the natural world.
Congratulations! You proved you were not “too old!”
Congratulations to your blog anniversary! I noticed that you sent this email at 1:00 am. Maybe my clock was wrong.
Congratulations on your blog anniversary! Here’s to many more!
Peter – I’m so glad you joined the celebration. I enjoy your outlawgarden so much!
Yenna – Through the magic of blog technology I could write my post ahead of time and then schedule it to be published at whatever date and time I choose. Wonderful!
Jan – I love cooking as much and I love gardening. Your victualling blog is fantastic – all that history!
Congrats on ten years- it’s quite an accomplishment for a blog!
Congratulations, Pat! Keep on keeping on! Your new garden is coming along nicely!
Jeane -Thanks for visiting and helping me celebrate.
Kathy – You were the first person I turned to 10 years ago to help me figure out how to blog – and I have been thanking you ever since.