Tenth blogaversary and How I blog

by Diana Studer
- gardening for biodiversity
in Cape Town, South Africa

A strange experience, as I look back over ten years of life, then I choose a single picture as a token for each of those years. Starting from the better pictures which I had winnowed out for blog posts.

2010 Elephant's Eye window
2010 Elephant's Eye window

Sandblasted glass is the luxury I gift to my home. Back to the first Elephant's Eye in Porterville. (False Bay has Celtic knots, circle of life)

I remain with Blogger / blogspot. Updating the look to Soho theme in 2017.

2011 wagtail bathing in Ungardening Pond
2011 wagtail bathing in Ungardening Pond

We miss Ungardening Pond, where we could sit on the sheltered verandah and watch our flock of birds taking it in turn to bathe.

I check with StatCounter each day - which site did my readers come from, which link did they click, what did they download?

2012 Jürg and telemetry with the Cape Leopard Trust
2012 Jürg and telemetry with the Cape Leopard Trust

From Porterville the Ungardener volunteered with the Cape Leopard Trust in the Cederberg.

Blogging, social media, is a tango for two, where I use Feedly to follow about 100 sites.

2013 for Google Authorship my RL face and name
2013 for Google Authorship my RL face and name

I invested a chunk of my time in Google Plus, where I was tricked into using my real name and face for the fleeting benefit of Authorship in Google searches.

Since the City Nature Challenge it is iNaturalist which devours my online time!

2014 Groot Winterhoek July sunshine Leucadendron salignum female
2014 Groot Winterhoek July sunshine Leucadendron salignum female

We hiked in Groot Winterhoek, across the forehead of the elephant head which we saw, again from that verandah.

I process my photos using Canon software. Picasa (which survives on my laptop) for collages. FastStone to watermark, then compress images for fast loading.

2015 Flying Dutchman at False Bay
2015 Flying Dutchman at False Bay

A new chapter when we moved to False Bay.

For good housekeeping, Avira opens a red umbrella to protect my laptop.

2016 St Katharine Dock
2016 St Katharine Dock

Holiday flat at St Katharine Dock in London.

Each month I check Feedburner for new subscribers (and nag gently if they have forgotten to verify their email)

2017 drought
2017 drought

A year of blog posts dedicated to three years of drought. Now our water consumption has settled to 80 litres pp pd (only 30 litres are municipal thanks to our off-grid rain tanks)

Since loading speed is important, I check monthly with page speed insights  (but am frankly mystified by their advice)

2018 bananas in May
2018 bananas in May

Our first bunch of lady finger bananas (none this year)

Final monthly checks. Coverage and Performance with Google Search Console. Using Google Analytics to see who uses mobile (28%), tablet (12%) or desktop. How many pages (one and a half) and seconds (about 40) per session.

2019 Elephant seal Buffel before moulting 28th January
2019 Elephant seal Buffel before moulting 28th January

Buffel the elephant seal rested on our beach for his annual moult. Will this become - remember that year when...?

My camera is still Canon G9 X. Compact, light and with a large sensor. For convenience when hiking, he mostly uses his cellphone.

I invite you to join us at Elephant's Eye on False Bay. Please subscribe as you prefer
via Feedly,
or Bloglovin,
or Facebook 

Pictures by Diana and Jürg Studer

Teal blue text is my links.
To read comments if you are in email or a Reader,

Thanks for comments that add value. Maybe start a new thread of discussion? BTW your comment won't appear until I've read it. No Google account? Just use Anonymous, but do leave a link to your own blog. I would return the visit, if I could...

I welcome comments on posts from the last 2 months.

Comments

  1. Congratulations on 10 years of blogging, Diana! I enjoy all your posts, which provide me an opportunity to see flowers and plants that would otherwise exist only in my imagination. I love the wide shots of your beautiful scenery as well. Your water conservation strategies challenge me to do more too.

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    1. We are now comfortable with 80 litres a day - including a bath this evening - much appreciated in winter.

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  2. Congratulations on this anniversary, that is such an achievement to have continued blogging for so long. Your posts are always so enjoyable to read and it is fascinating discovering where you live. It was interesting to also read all the facts above so helpful! Here's to the next 10! Sarah x

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    1. Thank you! Tomorrow I can concentrate on photos for the June Garden Gate post.

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  3. Congratulations! I hope you will continue sharing your fascinating world for another ten years. I can see why INaturalist devours your online time. So interesting. Thanks for all the interesting links.

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    1. Are you on iNat, Denise? Your bird pictures?

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  4. Congratulations Diana. Hours of dedication, and a generous nature willing to share with the World your knowledge and the beauty of 'The Garden of Eden'.

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    1. I remember with gratitude the people who helped me - at the very beginning when I was floundering, and along the way when I stumbled.

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  5. Sending you congratulations on your 10th year of blogging, Diana. From fellow gardener on other hemisphere, but sharing some common challenges. The way your water consumption is going down is such an exemple for all us gardners dealing with drought conditions. Also, thank you for sharing the amazing flora of South Africa.

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    1. All of my commenters are northern. It is lonely way down south in blogland.

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  6. Very hearty congratulations on your 10th blogaversary! I've been following you for many of those years, and have enjoyed every visit to your blog. That's a good idea to choose a photo from every year. Cheers!

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    1. I think Stasher is the only newish commenter here. The rest of us trace our roots back to Blotanical.

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  7. Congratulations on your 10th year. Love seeing your garden and plants I am so familiar with as they traveled to Oz in ballast, (and in other ways) sailing ships and passengers.

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    1. Sharing your winter weather today - rain driving in from the Atlantic with a few rays of sun breaking thru.

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  8. well done! You've brought us so much pleasure in your posts, you're so good at what you do, the time and dedication , planning and consideration is admirable, I wish I had your skill ! I have enjoyed each and every post! Best wishes for the next ten!

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    1. Your gift is with your painting and the memory water.

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  9. Oh my goodness! Ten years blogging! You have accomplished quite a bit. I often get lost on your site, clicking around and around. Thanks for all the hard work.
    Jeannie@GetMeToTheCountry

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    1. I've been puttering in your huge vegetable garden - pink celery sound delicious!

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    2. I will let you know how it tastes when it is big enough to pick.

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  10. Happy Blogging Anniversary, Diana. We share the same roots (Blotanical) but blog differently: you are more devoted to statistics than I am. You have helped me along the way and I appreciate it. Your postings are delightful; I hope to enjoy your blogging journey for many more years. P x

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    1. It's not a numbers game for me, but I like the information. I need to remember that chunk of readers on small screens (not ideal for the collages I prefer)

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  11. Happy Blogaversary, Diana. It has been quite a ten-year journey, hasn't it? Like you, I still use Picasa for photo collages and am still with my original blogging platform (in my case, Wordpress). BTW, I live in a rural area and don't have very high-speed internet, but I never have any problem loading your pages.

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    1. Good to know - as I wait for iNaturalist to load again ...

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  12. Congratulations Diana - 10 years takes some doing :)

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    1. You and I have blogged together since I saw you as a mentor when I started. Kind and helpful - thank you!

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  13. Belated congratulations Diana - it feels like I have been enjoying your garden(s) for this amount of time - ever since Blotanical - and I am always pleased when I see you have left a comment on my WordPress platform (which I prefer though I was once a Blogger) As Pam says, you are more of a serious devotee of blog stats than I am but either way we can link hands across the continents as it were. Long may you continue

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    1. I enjoy your 'town then country' photos and poetry.

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