"In the beginning"

Disclaimer

The views expressed in this blog are not necessarily the views of the blog management, (on the other hand, they are not necessarily not the views of the blog management).

No effort has been made to stay within the bounds of the truth in this blog as it has always been the view of the management that the truth should never be allowed to stand in the way of a good story.

Thursday, January 19, 2006

7000 Hits, (and they didn't hurt)

Wow, 7000 hits at holtieshouse since April 2005. number 7000
identified himself as Big Dave, thanks Dave.

Okay, by the standards off some blog sites that would be pathetic, but to
this humble antipodean outpost it seems truly amazing, even more
amazing is the fact that the last 1000 hits have come in under 1 month.

Holtieshouse only missed out on being an April fool’s day joke by 3 days;
I started it because my son Marcus had told me of his “Blog” I didn’t
even know what a blog was back then.

As it happened I did not have a “computer project” on at that time, so
I decided to investigate blogging, and more as a technical challenge to
see if I could set up a site, (it doesn’t have to be very technical to be a
challenge to me folks.)

I had no pre-conceived ideas for the content for the site or any idea of
the potential of the concept; it was more a “wonder if I could do that”
idea.

I kicked off holtieshouse as a place where I could pass on a few jokes,
relate the odd humorous story and not much more than that, I
gradually found that I could also use it to pass on a bit of family history,
some poetry and some personal anecdotes (perhaps that should
be antidotes.)

At this time I had a readership of 2, my son Marcus and my sister
Merle, my next reader was a lass named Hope (who has since
stopped blogging) from the USA, now I’m an internationally read
author…. Wow again.

I won’t bore you with details of how holtieshouse has developed to
what it is,
(should that be what is it?) except to nominate and publicly thank
my next three loyal
readers, Bubba, Maria, and Judy, we have become firm friends
although we have
never met.

As the circle of “friends” has increased over the past few months,
(yes it has all happened that quickly) I have been amazed by the
feeling of closeness that blogging inspires, we share the joy of events
that happen to people we only met in cyberspace a very short time
ago with the same enthusiasm as we would for friends we have
known for years.

There is a “downside” if you like to this, and that is we share their
moments of despair, their illnesses, their heartache too, many a post
has brought a tear to my eye as I have read of, (and shared) a
sadness with a friend.

We all maintain our “blogroll” of folk that we stay in fairly close contact
with, these are often shared contacts, but not always, there are also
degrees of contact, with some we tend to “lurk” (which in the blog
world I don’t find at all sinister) while with others we tend to comment
almost daily.

As I have read so often, written by other bloggers, I am in awe of the
sense of friendship blogging engenders, the openness with which we
can discuss even very personal matters and the warmth in the
responses we get.

A heartfelt thank you especially to my circle of blog buddies, and to all
bloggers everywhere, you are the friends I haven’t “not” met yet.

20 comments:

mreddie said...

The blogging started for me just this June - at the urging of my niece, and it is quite the adventure, reading about the "adventures" of folks all over the world. Keep up the good work! ec

Merle said...

Hi Peter ~~ You have come a long way in a relatvely short time.
So Cograts on 7000.
That Marcus is a spoilsport - I heard that I had a counter of 5000
to start with. Don't think I have a counter any more and no list of bloggers so have to go to Poetry Galore if I can't raise some of them in comments. I am watching
Sara Storer at present. Cheers

jules said...

Well we love you too, Petey baby.

kenju said...

For whatever small part I played in your success, Peter, you are most welcome. You will find that the visitors will increase fantastically now. I used to get 100 a week and now it is over 100 per day - which is amazing to me. I suspect many of them get there by clicking "next blog" and perhaps don't stay long - but who knows? I am glad to be called your friend, and if I ever make it to Oz, I hope to meet you and Merle.

Theresa said...

Congrats on your 7000! Blogging is indeed like a community, and I am glad to say you are one of my neighbors!

Anne Coleman said...

Hellooooooo from Eastern Pa!!

Isn't this "blog thing" great? I can't tell the people I've met and so many have become friends.

JunieRose2005 said...

Peter,

Congrats! WOW! That's a lot of visits!!

...and -good news ! BlogSpot finally decided to let me in!! :)

Come visit-and spread the word! haha

Junie

Big Dave T said...

Oh, oh. I have a link to your site in my blog of today. Hope the unparallel links don't end up destroying the universe or anything.

Thanks for the mention, though.

Jamie Dawn said...

Happy 7000 plus!!!!
It's a pleasure to cyberly know you.

Merle said...

Hi Peter ~~ Thanks for your many visits to Herons Nest. I found the counter and list of Bloggers at the bottom of my posts.
Found an interesting post at June's Place, which you have now explained. I wouldn't know those
instructions, so printed them.

Cliff said...

I'm honored to be your guest Holtie. As you know, I'm here nearly everyday and enjoy it. Keep the good time goin.

bornfool said...

Congratulations. I'm happy to be part of the family. (me and lew)

Anonymous said...

Well put, Peter. You are so right about the bonding that takes place among bloggers. In my next post, I touch upon the same subject. I will be celebrating my one year anniversary of blogging on 1/20/06. At midnight EST, U.S. I will be posting it. A few days ago I surpassed my 500th posting.
...Congratulations on the hits - you will hit 10,000 before you know it.
...Here's wishing you continued goode blogging and and an ever growing list of blogger friends.

Anonymous said...

Peter,
True to form, my first thought was, "Gee I like to see my name in a post." My second thought was, "You know, Peter, really is a good friend." And this is so true. You have been a wonderful visitor to my blog and a kind and compassionate commentator. There is so much truth in all that you said in this post. So heres to the next 7000.

Ivy the Goober said...

Yeah, happy for you (and us) that you started blogging! So soon you'll be having a blogiversary
:)

LZ Blogger said...

I guess that I was so busy lately, that I missed this post. Needless to say my friend, CONGRATULATIONS! That's a lot of hits! ~ Let us know when 10,000 rolls around NEXT WEEK! ~ jb///

stig said...

Well, congrats. So far as I can tell one person reads my blog. (www.srcentral.blogspot.com)

Trucker Bob said...

Good on ya Peter! Well deserved.

Anonymous said...

Hello Peter, I, too, count you as a friend and through you I met some of your friends in the blogworld. I miss my blog more than I thought I would and need to make some decisions soon before everyone forgets me!! ;)

I like stopping by here, it's a nice place to visit while I drink my coffee and today, while I watch the snow pile up higher and higher outside my doors and windows....last I heard it was snowing at the rate of 2-3" per hour and it started at 7AM!!

madameplushbottom said...

7000 holy crap... I won't hit that mark for years!!! I do have something special planned for my 100th posting that should take place some time in February - stay tuned for that!!!

I adore the parts of you I know and I am very grateful to have you here in blogland Peter.

Hang in there... and here's to another 7000 more visits!

Cheer Cheer Cheer!!!

Meg