To celebrate our reconnection to the outside world, it seems appropriate to inflict upon that same world my 100th post. J The BT engineer turned up soon after breakfast and worked doggedly all morning to track down the fault we knew was there, even though it had taken the faults service so long to diagnose. The problem section of wire was almost a quarter of a mile from the house, by the phone box at the top of the lane down to the village. Once the cherry-picker had been summoned and the wire replaced, everything worked perfectly and DH and I are happy bunnies once more.
One hundred posts. Even just writing the words amazes me. I could never have imagined as I published my first post that I would persevere to write my hundredth. That was 15 months ago and since then I have discovered so many superb blogs, and met (both online and in person) so many kind, thoughtful and interesting people, that my life has changed quite remarkably.
Every day I am entertained, challenged and moved by what I read. My knowledge of geography has come on by leaps and bounds as I locate where my followers and my favourite bloggers live. I continue to be amazed and humbled by the number of visitors to my blog and the total of page-views they have made.
Unexpectedly, but very satisfyingly, I have discovered new skills and talents in myself at an age at which, in the past, I might have been expected to slow down and stop learning. I have even learned to understand, if not love, Blogger and have tentatively put a toe into the pond called WordPress.
Above all it has been fun, so much fun. I enjoy it all: the reading, the writing, the commenting and interaction, the sense of being part of something worldwide and so worthwhile. Reaching my century is simply an invitation to continue. You can’t get rid of me as easily as that…
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Hello Perpetua:
ReplyDeleteMany, many congratulations on your 100th. post. This is surely a great achievement and one of which you must feel enormous pride. Indeed, it makes us feel very laggardly and we doubt very much that we shall reach our centenary. Certainly a long way to go.
You write here of the interaction which you enjoy with fellow bloggers. This is in no small measure to the time which you commit to blogging, the care which you take over your posts, the trouble which you take to answer in full all your commentators and the way in which you so generously support others.
We very much look forward to the next 100 posts of 'Perpetually in Transit'.
Thanks so much, Jane and Lance. I'm blushing here to read such kind words. It's having followers like you, who comment so faithfully and thoughtfully, that makes the blogging conversation so very worthwhile and enjoyable. To me commenting and responding distinguishes this form of publication from any other and I find it very satisfying.
DeleteThe other wonderful thing about blogs is their sheer variety. No two are the same and there is something there for every taste and mood. It's wonderful!
Just think like Geoffrey Boycott...you have 100, now go for 200...
ReplyDeleteYour blog and the blogs I have found through your blog have both enlightened and entertained me - and your help with both Blogger and Wordpress have helped to demystify both!
I echo Lance and Jane Hattatt - your commitment to communication is much appreciated and your posts are eagerly anticipated.
LOL, Fly! I thought Boycott might get a mention, though I doubt I can begin to emulate his achievements. :-)
DeleteThe wonderful serendipity of discovering blogs and bloggers never ceases to charm me. Blog-rolls are a great invention. I owe you a big debt of gratitude for being one of my main inspirations for starting a blog of my own and for coming along for the ride. I have a very long way to go to catch up with your tally of thought-provoking posts.
We have a world class batsman of our own, Perpetua, in the wider family, don't we? Hasn't it been mentioned that our maternal grandfather Tom Herbert Sutcliffe is connected to THE Herbert Sutcliffe, renowned opening batsman for both Yorkshire and England? How true this is, and how close the cousinship was, I don't know. I acquired a biography of HS recently hoping to track down the common ancestor, but haven't thrown myself into the reserch yet. That's more of a winter hobby, genealogy, as is writing my blog (although reading the work of favourite bloggers is a year-round habit). In the summer I like to get out and about more. I reckon it will be yet awhile before I reach 100!
DeleteI grew up being told and believing this, Baby Sis, but when DD enquired about it and I asked our genealogist sister, PolkaDot for confirmation, she hadn't been able to find a documentary link so far, despite having gone back several generations. Perhaps the story is apocryphal and due just to the similarity of the names, but it's a nice thought nonetheless.
DeleteA quick look at your blog tells me you're four-fifths of the way to your own century, so the score is achievable. :-)
Oh well played, Perpetua! It's been such a pleasure to find and read your blog - always beautifully written, interesting and thoughtful. Like Jane and Lance, who also make blogging so much fun and so engaging, your comments on the blogs of others and your responses to your own commentators has greatly increased the pleasure I personally take in writing my blog and feeling part of the blogging community.
ReplyDeleteKeep batting on!
Axxx
Having just broken for tea, I'm back on the pitch, Annie, fielding the compliments with gratitude. :-) Thanks to Ayak, you and I discovered each other's blogs early on and I've appreciated your company ever since. The conversations we take part in every day on different blogs are life-enhancing and I don't plan to stop any time soon. After all, I have your post total to try to emulate. ;-)
DeleteHappy 100th Birthday Perpetua.
ReplyDeleteIf your next 100 are even half as good as the first I will be assured of something interesting, amusing and often enlightening almost every day.
Whatever else you may do or cease to do, please make sure you continue to post whenever you can.
When you reach the 1000th I will send you some Champagne.
Thanks so much for your kind words, Ray. If I ever reach such an astounding total, I'll hold you to that promise. Only 900 posts to go....:-)
DeleteThe first 100 posts have been a voyage of discovery, both about myself and about the bloggers whose company I so much enjoy. We are all so different and I love the glimpses we are given of each other's lives through this amazing medium.
Congratulations!
ReplyDeleteYes, it's a small world after all!
Thanks, Rosaria. Yes, it's so much smaller than I used to think. Having friends and neighbours from Oregon to Mississippi, from Canada to New Zealand via Costa Rica and all points between is just wonderful.
DeleteCongratulations. I found your blog through other blogs as well. Perpetua kept popping up. I thoroughly enjoy reading the blogs from across the ocean, as it is the only way I shall ever see beyond my shores. It warms the soul to read of others who take the time to share their days, their ups and downs, and their lovely pictures. May you give us many many more posts. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Bonnie. It's lovely to hear from you. I think I first saw your name on Sian's blog about her small island. :-) I know just what you mean about the fun of armchair travelling via blogs. The very first blogs I read were by people who had emigrated and were describing their new lives and surroundings and it went on from there. We live in a beautiful world and it's great when people share their small corner of it.
DeleteDear Perpetua - 100 not out - howzatt.
ReplyDeleteI have not known you all that long but it doesn't feel that way.
My initial introduction was through the help that you so kindly gave me when I was experiencing problems with blogger. I was so grateful to you.
Long may your innings continue, I always look forward to reading what you have to say.
Thanks, Rosemary. I'm not quite run out yet.....
DeleteYou've put your finger on an interesting point: how quickly we come to know people through their blogs. It's just 2 months since I did the post you mention, yet it feels like much longer. The really nice thing about having people discover your blog is discovering theirs in return. :-)
Congratulations on your 100th post Perpetua. Sounds like a committed relationship and you have so well expressed what is so attractive about blogging. I totally agree with you as I have found people who I now feel like are my friends and have learned so very much from others.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Rubye. you're pretty close to that milestone yourself, you know. :-) Discovering the network of relationships that makes up this blogging world of ours is endlessly fascinating and I had no idea it existed before that first post was launched into the ether.
Deletewell done!! and here's to many more :)
ReplyDeletered x
Thanks, Red. You're far ahead of me in post numbers, but I'm puffing valiantly in your wake. :-)
DeleteHappy hundredth - Isn't the serendipity of blog-hopping just the best thing ever. What did we do without them?
ReplyDeleteThanks, BtoB. You're so right about the serendipity - the word that springs to my mind too, every time I stumble upon a great new blog.
DeleteSo pleased your broadband is back :-)!! And couldn't agree more about blogging -- it just opens a whole new fab world.
ReplyDeleteHere's to your next hundred posts! They are always a joy to read.
So are we, Niall and Antoinette. It's only now we realise just how slow and unreliable it had become. I have some chance now of keeping up with all the enjoyable creativity out there. :-)
DeleteI can't believe how much I have learned from others since I started blogging - new places, new ideas, new experiences. It's fantastic!
I'm so pleased I have been watching this great innings. I really hope it goes on and on. What is so good for me is that as my blogging adventure only began 6 months ago, I still have quite a few of your 100 to catch up on....a bit like action replays. Congratulations Perpetua, and thankyou so much for all the help you have given me as I have entered this fascinating world. J.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Janice, you're very welcome. We all learn from each other one way or another. Is it only 6 months since you began blogging? Doesn't time fly when you're enjoying yourself? I'd have sworn I'd been reading your lovely blog for much longer than that. :-)
DeleteWhat a lovely milestone, Perpetua, and a a way to celebrate by being back in service. Congratulations! 100 posts is something to crow about. I'm so happy to have found your blog and your words. You always inspire me and educate me, make me laugh and make me think. Here's to 100 blogs more and then more.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Penny. 100 posts may not be much in the great scheme of things, but it's more than I could ever have imagined achieving when I started. Finding your blog (through Dee, I think) was a milestone last autumn and through you I have found others. We are all enriched by these discoveries and it's a lasting enrichment. :-)
DeleteCongratulations! It's lovely to have a blogging friend on a different continent.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Linda. It certainly is, especially when that blogging friend is also a traveller and takes me to new and interesting places. :-)
DeleteI'm so pleased you have tracked down your internet problem and seem to be up and running just fine now! And congratulations, Perpetua, on your one hundredth post! That is a very fine accomplishment. I share so many of your feelings about what it means to be a part of a such a rich and nourishing blogging community. I am always so eager to read what you are sharing, so here's to the next one hundred! Woo-hoo! Debra
ReplyDeleteThanks, Debra. It was frustrating for a long time as the line gradually got worse and it's great now to have internet that works, even with video! Now I can get back to reading and commenting on all the lovely posts which have piled up a bit recently. :-) Posts aren't just about words and images, but about personal interaction with the writer and other commenters and that's what makes blogging so satisfying.
DeleteIt becomes surprisingly easy to notch up the score. I've lost track of how many hundreds I am on. And that's just roughseas, without adding all my blogs together. I never remember the anniversaries either. Or post about how many followers. The satisfaction for me comes from the intelligent and regular friendly comments I get, and that seems to be what you enjoy too.
ReplyDeleteRoughseas, when I first found one of your blogs I was amazed at how many you had until I found out that you are a professional writer, when it all made sense. I'm a little in awe of anyone who can keep several different blogs going in the midst of a busy life. I'm retired and it's still taken me 15 months to notch up 100 post on just one blog. :-)
DeleteKeeping track of the number of posts on Blogger isn't difficult as it's right there on my dashboard when I log in and being aware of followers and page-views is the result of my continuing surprise that anyone actually wants to read what I write and come back for more! But we certainly agree that what makes blogging so special are the comments and the conversations which can ensue. The very real friendships that are made this way are the jewel in the crown.
I am extremely untidy as a person, but I like my writing to be neatly categorised, entonces (whatever that translates to in english, probably therefore) I have blogs for different topics.
DeleteProfessional writer? Well, yes, I have the bits of paper and the track record. I'm not making money from it right now as everyone thinks they can write :( But I will be honest, I can write a thousand words at the drop of a hat. Whether or not they are interesting is up to the reader....
WP has a good feature when you publish where it tells you that you have published 49584957 posts or whatever. The stats are neater than blogger ones were.
I love when people come back with more comments, and not just on their own comments, but on other people's too. That truly is the icing, or the jewel or whatever.
Just wish blogger and wp would be a bit more compatible.
We all have our own way of keeping things in order, roughseas, but I don't think I have the energy or inspiration to run more than one blog, as yet anyway. :-) I don't know enough about how WP functions to be aware of the publishing process as all I've done so far is to import my back posts and hold them there privately.
DeleteYou're right about the lack of compatibility between Blogger and WP, as witness the annoying obstacles they both put up to comments from the other side. It used to work better when I first started blogging, but things have really deteriorated in the past few months. That's a shame because comments are such an important aspect of blogging that anything that impedes the process should be removed, not entrenched.
Exactly! Blogging is not only fund but also educational.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, that's what I say and what I say, counts.
Congratulations on reaching one hundred and here's to the next century.
LOL and thanks, Friko. I've certainly learned a great deal since I started blogging, some of it, such as changes to Blogger, not willingly but out of sheer necessity. But the fun is always there and I start on my second century with undiminished enthusiasm.
DeleteThis blogging lark is utterly addictive isn't it? Even at times when we do a post to say we have nothing to say, we still find something.
ReplyDeleteYour blog is so enjoyable Perpetua. Well done on reaching a 100 posts. Here's to the next 100 xxx
And how, Ayak! We even got broadband in France last summer so that I could carry on blogging and the laptop is another tool. :-)
DeleteI'm glad you enjoy my blog as the feeling is mutual. Fly pointed me in your direction in her comment on my very first post and I've never looked back....
Nice work, Perpetua! Your blog is certainly giving as much pleasure to your readers as it obviously is to you. I shall try to stick with mine, although I'm new to this blogging lark. But thanks for your encouragement and example!!
ReplyDeleteThanks, CB. It's all been such a wonderfully enjoyable experience, and one I could never have anticipated when I started. Do stay with your blog. We were all new once and I really enjoy yours and would miss it if you stopped. :-)
DeleteHurrah! A century! I bet a lot of people stop after a few posts - I thought I would!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Sue. It's a score I couldn't even visualise back in the early days, though I also couldn't imagine stopping after the first few posts. I guess I got hooked early on. :-)
DeleteHello Perpetua - Why on earth should we ever want to get rid of of you????
ReplyDeleteI'm so pleased that BT have finally sorted out your technical problems. The internet, email etc are all so wonderful that we take them for granted - until they don't work!!!!!!! Several years ago, we lost all connection to the outside world for a week when living in North Oxfordshire, because of a fallen tree that brought down our phone line. Our whole world changed - we couldn't communicate with anyone, except by mobile phone.
Congratulations on 100 posts. I'm at 176 but that is in over three years. You'll be catching me up very soon!
LOL, Ricky, you never know....:-)
DeleteIt's like having a new toy since they fixed the fault. The difference in speed is amazing and video works again! We think the line had been deteriorating gradually for a long time until it reached the point at which things stopped working.
176 posts is a lot when you're working full-time. Well done.
If you've hit a century, does that make you a centurion? I'm going to have to work hard to catch up when I start eventually!!
ReplyDeleteNot sure, Helva, but it sounds good. :-) We all have to find the kind of post and rate of posting that suits us, whether short and frequent or longer and less often. I'm the latter.
DeleteOne hundred!! Way to go Perpetua. I'm not sure I'll ever reach that magical number but with you as a stunning example, perhaps...maybe...
ReplyDeleteSmiles - A.
Thanks, Astrid. For a long time I felt like you do, but somehow the posts mounted up and suddenly there I was. :-) You can do it!
DeleteWell done,now the next 100. You go girl! Sue
ReplyDeleteThanks, Sue. With good luck and a following wind I hope to reach the next 100. :-)
DeleteWell done, you!
ReplyDeleteThanks, MadPriest. It's been fun.
DeleteLove your joie de vivre!
ReplyDeleteThanks, poetreehugger. I can be a bit Pollyanna-ish at times for my DH's taste, but yes, I do find life good.
DeleteDear Perpetua, let me assure you that no one wants to "get rid" of you! We all so enjoy what you share with us and how much we learn. I'm speaking for everyone who reads your blog for I'm sure they feel the same way. Peace.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the kind reassurance, Dee. :-) I did, of course, write the last sentence with my tongue in my cheek, as I have a feeling that little short of extreme old age is likely to stop me blogging.
DeleteBelated congratulations! You are a much-valued addition to the blogosphere and I'm so glad that it brings you pleasure, as it does us to have you here. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks, DB. I'm so happy to have found my way into the blogosphere and to have had the chance to discover so much good writing, such wonderful images and above all so many lovely people. :-)
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