What Katie Did

Another Day Another Birth...day

Here I am another year older - it happens every year with a sort of relentlessness regularity.
52 this time - and at 52 a girl needs plenty to read

I've been wanting to read this one since I read the reviews

I heard parts of this serialised on the radio and laughed a lot, so I think this will be lots of fun and then (on the Waterstone's two for three offer)

don't know this one - anyone read it?
Martha sent her aged Mother a book to inspire me to more creative and secretive acts of random art. I have been after this book for ages

The most startling present of all was this digital photo frame from Geoff (seen here modelled by Poppy)

I was a little taken aback as Geoff is not famous for his interest in technology! I have loaded a few photos onto it and will read the instructions (novel for me) to discover what else it will do. Then I have A Plan for where it will go!
So I am off to cook birthday food for Annie and Geoff and Geoff and Owen and me tonight but here are a couple more gifts I got to ponder

I'll be careful how I use these

This map is going to be very useful when we GO AND VISIT JOHN IN FEBRUARY!!!
Happy my birthday to everyone, and thank you all for being so friendly even when I am a grumpy old so and so.

How to lift the January Blues!

Wet, cold, dark outside. But there is fabric inside! On May 13th 2006 we last did this. Why so long to do it again? Our village hall - twenty or so women - SO much fabric - mat frames - simple tools and imagination!

(this is the back of the work! scrumptious or what?)

the little sparkly bits are the packets of her son's favourite snack!

Valentine's day round the corner - Ali getting ready. I love what printed cotton fabric looks like when hooked like this.

Elmo - born in 2007 - this is about two feet square

this stuff makes my mouth water.
If you have checked out the last time we did this, there was food today too

All good - very very good.

WKD

I have writing!! Thanks to Annie my banner has proper writing and is the right size. Who would have thought that Typepad could be so complicated!
Thank you Annie!
.........

..... until the end of the week - I am off to Preston!

So now I know!

Well - what a thoughtful response!
I now know

• that people don't expect a reply to every comment, unless they have asked a question
• that generally we like comments as it lets us know someone out there appreciates what we are doing
• but no-one seems to mind 'lurkers' at all and that we all do it ... quite a lot
• we appreciate a return visit from the blog author to the commenter
• some people are quite surprised to get an email in response to a comment
• if someone has already said what we were thinking there is no need to add to it

and a few of my favourite replies

I just like people and the world and enjoy the connections I've found all over the electronic world.

I am put off by the life history/degree in computing comment forms some blogs have

its just nice being part of the blog community isn't it?

sometimes it is just to tiring or I have too much stitching to do

I love finding people all over the world doing just what I'm doing or thinking

I had to turn on the comment verification (funny letters) though when I received an email from my own address selling myself Viagra!

wonderful!

So if you don't get a reply from me it doesn't mean I don't appreciate you. And we're all doing it too! Hooray for Blogging!
Thanks for such considered replies.

No word from the camera, but I wasn't expecting any yet. Here is another offering from the archive.


Alas, not my garden, but I am off to visit my parents for a few days and I am sure gardening will be on the agenda, and sewing and hens and computing and egg and chips.....

Lurking

Jill left a comment on the last post about 'lurking' by which she means - visiting the blog, having a read and then not leaving a comment. Lurking sounds like a bad thing, but I have no problem with the concept. I 'lurk' all the time. I call it blog-surfing, and I spend a bit of most days checking out my 'regulars' and sometimes clicking on their links and finding new ones. This is how I find all sorts of interesting ideas, for there is nothing new under the sun, and if you think you have come up with a new idea, a bit of blog surfing will soon show you that at least 50 people are doing a variation on your idea  and have been for years.
Leaving a comment is always nice and I am ashamed to say that I don't leave as many comments as I could. Sometimes that is because I have to go through such a palaver if it is Blogger or  one of the ones where I have to fill in my life history before it will let me comment. And those code things are irritating when all the letters are smudgy. (what a moaner)
And then I feel bad when people take the time to comment here and I don't reply at once, or at all. My Blog Inbox has a shameful 152 unanswered emails in there. I like to try and write a considered reply to you. But what do you want?

Lets do some Blog Etiquette research.
Just made up from the top of my head.
For no reason at all.
Expect that I'm curious to know.

1. who minds 'lurkers'?
2. what makes you leave a comment?
3. do you want a reply to your comment?
    a) as an email?
    b) as a comment in my comments?
    c) as acknowledgement in my next post?
    d) as a comment on your blog?
    e) don't expect a comment
4. some people get 100's and 100's of comments, what do they do about replying?
5. some people turn their comments off, so for those of us who don't, how important are they? (I enjoy getting feedback, connecting with people - both those I know and those I have met here, like getting lovely letters through the post or emails from pals, comments are another source of friendly connection - are there any other reasons?)

Well - I don't know what prompted that - maybe just to reassure Jill that I don't mind who calls by here and who leaves their 'hello' - I like it when you do, but I don't mind if you don't.

Now -
My camera is on its way to Colchester where the nice people at Canon assure me it will be repaired and back with me within two weeks. I will trawl back through my old files and find some vintage photos for you. This is Matt, not as seen by a bluebottle, but through one of those toy lensy things.

They said it would snow...

...and it did. This snow has been the most talked about and anticipated. There isn't much, but enough to make me stoke up the fire and resolve to stay inside, indeed I took these photos from the back door with my slippers on.

I offer this next photo as a 'Spot The Difference' for you - there is one difference, if you spot it you are entitled to a prize. Erm... what should it be? I'll think about it and post it later!!

If you can't see any difference - please make an appointment with an optician as soon as possible. Don't drive there - get someone to take you.
Prize later

Here is the prize for everyone who spotted Poppy on the second photo! Hooray! This is a bit of Noggin the Nog, a very favourite story from Oliver Postgate and Peter Firmin. The books are great, the TV adaptations are charming and Noggin is our hero