20 June 2018

Sometimes

Sometimes I  switch this laptop on ready to make a blogpost and then I realise that I haven't mentally earmarked a subject to blog about. I have nothing to say.

Next Monday, it will be thirteen years since the birth of "Yorkshire Pudding". Over the years I have covered a lot of ground. Country walks and holidays, film and book reviews, flights of fancy and world events, memories and family matters, poetry and paintings... etcetera... etcetera.

This blog has echoed my life. Like a best friend it has held my hand as we have stepped forward together through the passing years.

This particular post is blogpost number 2753. I hate to calculate the number of hours I have devoted to this pastime. Sometimes I think I should have used all that time and energy on something else such as the writing of fiction with a view to publication. Instead, I just kept tapping away. Blogging.

It has been a pleasurable and helpful outlet and it still delights me enormously that I have made so many contacts with visitors from around the world. This wasn't something I anticipated when I wrote my very first sentence on June 25th 2005 -  "So this is England in mid-summer."

So this is England in mid-summer. Sometimes I switch this laptop on ready to make a blogpost. In these early hours of another June morning I think I may have succeeded. Thanks for reading. Thanks for being part of this blogging journey.

46 comments:

  1. Most happy anniversary, Mr Pudding. I am reading you in the middle of the night here on Long Island and am only half brained, so I will elaborate later, after dawn
    And a few hours sleep, but I wanted to be the first to thank you for sending your point of view out into the vod of the Internet. You are confirmation, for me, that there is indeed intellegent life out there in the universe.

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    1. Calling Long Island! Calling Long Island!..Thank you for these kind thoughts Vivian. Sift by name and swift by nature.

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  2. 13 years, more than 2,700 posts and many visitors, some of which have turned into friends - definitely NOT a waste of time! Congratulations!
    I am really glad I found your blog, even though I can not remember how. Maybe I read a comment of yours on someone else's blog, that is how I first came across most of the blogs I regularly read today.

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    1. How we link with bloggers we like is almost a mysterious process. I have no memory of how we connected Meike but I am very pleased that that connection happened.

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  3. If you have enjoyed it, it's not wasted time!
    Congratulations on your anniversary. It took me some time to find you but I'm pleased that I did

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  4. Congratulations on your anniversary. It proves you have staying power!
    I only discovered your blog about 8months ago and read it daily, only commenting occasionally.
    I enjoy reading blogs because you can share others lives and experiences without leaving home.

    Long may you continue, Mr pudding. X

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    1. There was a time when Lancastrians were banned from this blog but I loosened that particular regulation. With your friendly words you have proved that not all Lancastrians are bad people Christina. Thank you.

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  5. I have enjoyed getting to know you. Here's to the next 13 years. Cheers . x

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    1. Next thirteen years Frances? I would be 77 years old. I am not confident I'll last that long. Thanks for calling by again Frances.

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  6. Congratulations on your Anniversary YP. I, for one, have been very happy to join you along the way. You have presented us with such a wonderful variety of subjects - some thought provoking, some we don't necessarily agree with, and some just so hilarious they've had us laughing long after we've finished reading your words.
    Long may you continue to flourish !

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    1. Very kind words which I much appreciate CG. Thank you.

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  7. I love reading blogs and having glimpses into other peoples' lives. I used to blog. It became pressure to blog and life happened and now blogger has changed so much that I don't have the energy or time to try to figure it out.

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    1. That's a shame Kathy... but never say never... you can always come back to blogging. In the meantime it's nice to have visitors like you calling by and engaging with other people's blogposts.

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  8. Thirteen years is a long time. Congratulations!

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    1. My blog is now a teenager. Soon it will storm off to its bedroom slamming doors and yelling "I HATE YOU!"

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  9. I have many of the same thoughts regarding the time I've put into my blog but I can't see stopping now. It is a part of my life and that's all there is to it.

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    1. "Part of my life". That is a phrase that so many bloggers can very much identify with Ms Moon.

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  10. Happy Anniversary to Yorkshire Pudding!

    I'm not sure how I found you, either, but I'm so glad I did! I consider you a friend even though we haven't met in person. I love your blog and it's among the first I read every single day. Thank you for all the work you put in here. Your writing and photographs (not to mention the friendship) mean a lot to me. Here's to the next thirteen! Right? :)

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    1. And I am very happy that I found you Jennifer and pleased that you allowed me and every one who visits "Sparrow Tree Journal" into your life. For me you ARE South Carolina. It is very nice to know real Americans.

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  11. Happy Anniversary, YP. It's funny how blogging brings you into contact with all kinds of people from all over the world. I started mine in times of deep trouble and it buoyed me up during that time. It has helped countless people in similar situations. I seem to have lost most of my readership now, judging by the nil comments on each post nowadays,and I have been tempted to stop blogging, but I still write to record my diary and thoughts, so I can look back on them in the future.

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    1. Hang on a minute ADDY. This year I have made several comments on your posts. They then "await moderation". However, my comments have simply not appeared. I think that there must be technical misunderstanding going on. I bet that some other visitors have also left comments only to find them disappeared.

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  12. Congratulations on the milestone. You're certainly a good nomination for the Laughing Horse award. I'm sure all your readers would agree with me and second my motion. You've covered an interesting variety but most of all you have a first class blog that is very well written. I look forward to many more years at the Pudding.

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    1. I have it on good authority that Mr. Pudding is on the inside track when it comes to winning The Laughing Horse Award for Lifetime Achievement.

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    2. Thank you Senor Red and Congresswoman Swift... but there is no chance of me ever winning a Laughing Horse award as the organisation behind that particular award is corrupt! However, I have been nominated for a Smirking Camel award and a Weeping Weasel award.

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  13. I echo what you say and feel....Going Gently has been a good friend to me over the years

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    1. Our blogs have become integral to our lives John. They are not glossy magazines we can just cast into the recycling bin.

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  14. It pains me to say it, but it has been my pleasure. Here's hoping you have at least thirteen more.

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    1. Even though you are curmudgeonly, I still love you Bob!

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  15. And thank YOU for blogging, and showing me all the intricacies of British English. :) Some mornings I don't know what to write either, but it's pretty amazing how something always seems to emerge. As we used to say in the newspaper biz, there are no dull stories -- only dull reporters.

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    1. You are right Steve. It is indeed amazing that things just seem to emerge organically. It's a kind of magic.

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  16. A Happy Anniversary to you for all these years of blogging. A lovely green giraffe named Albert led me to your blog and I am still grateful for his guidance. You find a lot in blogs today but for me I most appreciate the opportunities they give us all. There is so much in this world today to be concerned about but I feel if only we could all reach out to one another on a personal level as we see done in blogs that possibly we could cross some of the barriers that are put in front of us today. Blogs bring us together across the world and show us that no matter where we live or what we believe we are all more alike than different. Thank you sincerely for your help in drawing us all together and for all your many wonderful posts over the years.

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    1. Gulp! These are wise words. I also had that feeling about blogging Bonnie but I never articulated it as you have done here. Thank you.

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  17. Happy Anniversary Mr.YP, I love reading your blog, it feels like visiting with an old friend, and gives me a little trip "home" each time I pop in.
    Here's to many, many more blogposts.
    ~Jo

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    1. Thank you Jo. It's nice to know that I bounce a little bit of England across the ocean to you.

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  18. You are such a part of my day, Mr. Pudding, that I really, really worry if there is a day without hearing from you. I have no idea how I found you and it definitely was not 13 years ago, but it was a few years back. I have so much enjoyed my walks with you and getting to learn about your part of England and the world. I feel like the Peak District is in my own backyard! Thanks for being a friend, Neil.

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    1. I shouldn't have favourites but you know that you are special to me Donna. It's marvellous to know that up on your Colorado mountain you look forward to visiting Yorkshire Pudding. Thanks for being so lovely and so supportive.

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  19. It's been a pleasure getting to know you Mr Pudding and your photographs are always a delight. Long may you continue blogging.

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  20. Although I have been reading for a wee while and have only just started commenting your blog shines through the chaff. Kia Kaha ( strength to you)

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    1. You know how to sweet talk a blogger Fiona!

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  21. And it's been fun getting to know you...although, I can't recall how or when we "met"...but meet we did. :)

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    1. I met you in a bar in Casablanca. It was very late but you said to the pianist, "Play it again Sam!"

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    2. That's right! Now I remember! That was a good night. But Sam overdid it by playing it over and over and over again....

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  22. ‘Well done, Sir.’ She says very respectfully. And then she rushes on to say it appears she has been following your blog since and commenting since end December 2009. How self-important of her.
    And how is it she still reads this blog? It is the poetry, the walks through the wilds of Yorkshire and the fringes of bordering counties, the photographs, always worth looking at in detail. Holidays at home and abroad, Fred the fox, painting and other diverse sundries too numerous to mention.
    Enough of the obsequious grovelling.

    Thirteen years of blogging requires discipline. Well done you.

    Alphie

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    1. Oh yes Fred Fox - I had almost forgotten. Thanks for being such a regular visitor Alphie and for staying interested. By the way, you appear to have neglected to pay your subscription fee this year - now only £99.99.

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Mr Pudding welcomes all genuine comments - even those with which he disagrees. However, puerile or abusive comments from anonymous contributors will continue to be given the short shrift they deserve. Any spam comments that get through Google/Blogger defences will also be quickly deleted.

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