One year anniversary: INWIG best of 2010
>> Saturday, March 5, 2011 –
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According to Blogger I made my first blog post on March 5, 2010 which means today is my one-year anniversary! Although I had some trouble the first week or so posting correctly and missed a couple of days, I quickly got into the swing and posted every day after that. One of the main reasons for creating this blog was so I'd document everything I did in the garden, and I have to admit I've done a pretty good job of that. Did I list every detail of every task I did? No, certainly not. I missed lots of stuff, including some important details such as what exact varieties of veggies I planted, spacings, fertilization schedules, etc. but I also shared a lot of things that I would normally have just observed and enjoyed for myself, and have hopefully given some entertainment and knowledge to my few loyal readers.
Today I'm going to take a look back over the past year and list my favorite posts in chronological order. If you haven't seen them before please take a look. If you have seen them already, then think of it as a rerun of your favorite show... or better yet a "best of" clip show. There's a lot here, so take your time.
An index of my favorite posts from the last year. Also, a great page to start on -- if you want to send somebody a link to show them what this site is all about, this is a great one. Click the titles/dates to get to the full posts. Even if you don't click any of the links to see the posts, this page is pretty cool by itself I think.
You should always read the first post of every blog you enjoy. It sets up everything that follows.
Signs of Spring, 19 March 2010
I take a break from posts about cleanup and look around.
I love moss and mossy surfaces, probably because we don't see it here after June or so.
The most exciting time of year for a bamboo lover.
The first look at the strays that enjoy my yard with me.
My up-close view of a finch family.
You can't plan everything in the garden, as these kittens proved to me. They took over my garage and made gardening a lot more challenging for several months. This was the second post of several about them.
If you like photos of water on plants, this is the one for you.
Self-explanatory, adorable.
Baby mantises, unexpected but welcome.
Probably the most popular post due to Google searches for "sedum".
I visit my sister and her "boring" yard in Chicago.
Several cool spiders found in my garden.
A look at this ever-changing flower bed.
My coneflowers, before I planted several more varieties.
Foliage plants are often more beautiful than flowers.
Do you like insects as much as I do?
Bees and the flowers they love, at least in my garden.
Some of my favorite stormcloud images from this past summer.
I love photographing mushrooms!
Hummingbird feeder visitors.
Galls on an oak leaf, fuzzy and wonderful.
This is one of my favorite genus of plants. Such fragrant foliage...
Surprisingly, this post was about butterflies.
I build a bamboo planter box with a friend. This is one of my more popular posts resulting from Google searches for bamboo planter boxes.
Another look at some great clouds. I love clouds.
Do you like more photos of flowers? I know I do.
More examples of water on plants.
A close look at some bumblebees.
I saw a slug on a mushroom.
I took photos of my garden from above with a camera mounted on a long pole.
A bird marks my window.
Watch me remove a bamboo and plant a new one over several days in this video.
The right lighting makes some plants look amazing.
Some nice photos of plants, late in the growing season.
A look at a tree that I really love.
An unusually close look at a sick deer in my yard.
Seed heads abound in my garden.
Do you like colorful garden photos? This is one place to find them.
I put bamboo leaves under the microscope to see what sort of mites they have.
My first look at this interesting phenomenon this year.
Very nice frost this morning.
I look at the birds and wonder how they stay warm.
Old photos of my yard. After this I posted for several days about how my yard changed into a garden each year, from 2002 to 2008. All of these posts together are a great chronicle of my yard's transformation. 2006 was a very busy year.
It's much easier to see these stealthy birds in the winter.
I find lichen to be beautiful and fascinating.
If you like amphibious creatures, this post is for you as it recounts a discovery in May 2009. One of my favorites.
A fantastic sunrise on a cold morning.
I don't normally like moldy food, but this bread was beautiful.
Photos of ice on plants. Quite beautiful in retrospect.
I'm going to end it here. There may be another post or two from February that I could add, but they're too new -- it's hard for me to look at them and think of them as "favorites" when I've written them what feels like a couple of days ago.
Seeing these "best" posts all together, it looks like it's been a pretty impressive year here. I hope the next 365 days of posts will be able to match this! Thanks for reading!
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CONGRATULATIONS!!! I've admired your drive and energy for 6 months now, and you were the catalyst for me trying to post everyday as well. I'll go through your favorite posts over the weekend because I want to enjoy them all over again.
Thank you for all your contributions!
Gerhard
:: Bamboo and More ::
As with everything you do and have done, GREAT JOB!
John
Congratulations on your One Year Blogging-versary! And thank you for sharing with us. You inspire me a lot!
Happy Anniversary of your Blog! Many Happy Returns . . . have a great second year of blogging about your garden.
You use a blog just like I do...try to track and chronicle stuff like a garden journal.
Your blog really has so much beauty and information. I love how you've created your "best of the year" list for your anniversary. As a new reader, it was really nice to be able to see how far you've come. Beautiful! Happy Anniversary!
I'd give this post a place of honour on your sidebar, up there with bamboo, discoveries and flowers. Call it 'start here'.
Only now am I discovering what wide-ranging interesting readable posts you write!
PS Happy first blogaversary!
Alan, thanks for your comments on my blog. The liverwort is the flat, smooth plant in the picture. It is a thallose liverwort; there may be a bit of leafy liverwort in there as well, but I'm not as interested in those. You've got a really nice blog here. Keep it up!
Happy 1st Anniversary! Congratulations on a job well done. More power to you on your 2nd year.
Congratulations on your blogging anniversary! Thanks for giving me a tour of your blog - you covered a lot of ground in a short time. Your blog is really interesting.
Thanks everyone for the nice comments and words of encouragement!
Elephant's Eye: I was thinking that same thing!
Happy blogging anniversary! I know that took a lot of time to recount your favorite posts, but I'm so glad you did. I got an incredible view of what interests you, saw some absolutely fantastic photos, and saw great changes in your garden over the years. Congratulations!
These pictures are stunning, especially the ones with flowers. Nice work! Congrats.