WordPress informs me that today is my five-year blogiversary. Yay! Shall we celebrate? There’s home-made lemon drizzle cake (eggs from the garden, lemons from the limery) and a pot of tea made with real leaves (no plastic teabags here).
Frankly, I’m quite astonished that I’ve managed to write so regularly for five years: previously I’ve been rubbish about keeping any sort of diary. I think that it’s probably you, the readers that have kept me going… I’ve made so many friends and so enjoy reading your comments.
Over the years I have, apparently, written 870 posts (excluding this one), but I thought it would be fun to choose one post from each year to mark this special day.
On 1 September 2012 I wrote a post entitled 21st Century Womble. It may be one of my all-time favourite posts. In those days I didn’t always include a picture and so this particular post is just words, but I still like it. In it, I mention finding an old spatula whilst out for a walk and bringing it home to use as a scoop to clean out the chicken house. And, you know what? I’m still using that object… it’s still going strong and I’m still a Womble at heart.
Yes – it is worth growing potatoes
In August 2013 I turned my attention to the humble potato, asking the question Is it worth growing potatoes? At that time I had been experimenting with various more exotic crops and not necessarily enjoying them – I don’t mind oca, for example, but I wouldn’t want to eat it every day. Potatoes, on the other hand guarantee me a crop I like, but since they are easy and relatively cheap to buy, I wondered whether it was really worth bothering. The resounding answer was ‘yes’ – apart from avoiding all the associated pesticides and transportation, there is the simple joy of eating delicious, freshly harvested potatoes and knowing exactly where they have been.
Charlotte’s books
No celebration of this blog would be complete without mentioning the all-time most-visited post. It still gets dozens of views every month and it originally appeared in May 2014. Why is it so popular? Well, I didn’t write it! It is the post that contains the full text of a poem entitled Just in Case by the late Charlotte Mitchell. My blog is, as far as I know, the only place on the net that you can find this poem and the book that it was originally published in is out of print. Don’t think, though, that I ignored copyright. In fact I contacted the author’s daughter, Candy Guard, to get permission to quote it. Hopefully one day Charlotte’s work will be republished, but until then The Snail of Happiness and second-hand bookshops are the only places to find what is probably her most famous poem (do follow the link and read it – I’m sure you will enjoy it).
Abundance in the limery – year 1
New readers may be a little confused about my frequent references to The Limery (it’s what we call our plant-filled conservatory). You can, however, read about its origins and the search for a suitable name here. Regular readers from the time will recall my distress at having an influx of builders, but, as you all told me, it was really worth it in the long run. Today the limery is bursting with plants and it’s hard to remember life without it!
WWKIP 2016
And finally, I have to choose a post about yarn. Perhaps that one that sums up all that is good about knitting and crochet is about what we did last year for Worldwide Knit in Public day. On the Street Where You Knit describes how I spent the day sitting outside The Make It Shop teaching folks to knit and making twiddlemuffs. I met lovely people, shared skills and made something for charity… what more could I ask for?
So, there we are, a selection of old posts that gives a flavour of what The Snail of Happiness is all about… and I managed not to mention knickers! Here’s to another five years of writing, crafting, gardening and trying to be that bit more sustainable.
The Snail of Happiness 
Laurie Graves
/ April 12, 2017Happy, happy! Blog friends make the world a better place, and how wonderful it is to be connected to various people throughout the world because of common interests and, it turns out, attitudes. I so enjoy following your blog, and I hope you write for many, many more years.
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The Snail of Happiness
/ April 12, 2017Thank you. I really can’t believe what wonderful friends I have made through writing my blog… and I’ve even met some of them!
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quietwatercraft
/ April 12, 2017Happy blogiversary 🙂
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The Snail of Happiness
/ April 12, 2017Thank you!
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coppicelearner
/ April 12, 2017I had not come across the poem before but loved it! Thank you! And please keep blogging
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The Snail of Happiness
/ April 12, 2017It occasionally gets read on ‘Poetry Please’ on Radio 4, and then I get a spike in hits!
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Pat
/ April 12, 2017Congratulations on five years of blogging. Hope you will continue for many more. Being a Yank I was totally unfamiliar with Wombles. Wikipedia has an excellent article and and some good links. Sounds like a great show.
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The Snail of Happiness
/ April 12, 2017Oh, they were wonderful… 1970s eco-warriors!
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nanacathy2
/ April 12, 2017Happy Blogversary. I read the poem to my poetry group and they loved it. My favourite post was the one about the snail of happiness. Not certani if you got my messages about craftactivism? I have started!
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The Snail of Happiness
/ April 12, 2017I did get the messages and I did respond… oh dear Have I been sending words into oblivion? I will check what has happened and resend!
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Murtagh's Meadow
/ April 12, 2017Happy 5th blog anniversary!!
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The Snail of Happiness
/ April 12, 2017Thank you… it’s been an interesting five years!
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thecontentedcrafter
/ April 12, 2017What a wonderful idea, to celebrate with a recap of your favourites! Loved that poem! Never thought of you as a womble before, but now I guess I shall 🙂 I recall you being deeply engaged in a large blanket made with contributions from all over the world when we first met – I no longer recall how or via whom – but I do recall contributing something for the second blanket as I was too late for the first. I think that was my first experience of the global sharing phenomenon of blogging. Well done on five years! May there be many more!!
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The Snail of Happiness
/ April 12, 2017I still have the square you sent… contributions for the second blanket have only trickled in… at some point I’ll have a big thrust and we’ll get it finished!
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katechiconi
/ April 12, 2017Many happy returns, dear Snail. I can’t remember how long ago it was that I first started following you, or how it came about, but your blog was one of the first and is still one of the most enjoyable. I know where to come to find opinions, aspirations and news I can share, where the tone of voice is balanced and not mono-focussed, and where although your craft is yarny and mine is fabric-y, we can understand each other’s motivations and enthusiasms. I’m very glad you’re here and plan to stay that way. Vivat Cochlea!
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The Snail of Happiness
/ April 12, 2017I’m pretty sure that Lonnie brought us together!
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katechiconi
/ April 12, 2017Could be! I’m glad he hasn’t faded away entirely…
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Emma
/ April 12, 2017Happy blogversary! I’ve “only” started following you about 2 years ago but it’s really nice to be able to reflect back on your earlier posts. I wish you many more years of blogging, knicker sewing and fruitful harvests 😘
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Tami
/ April 12, 2017Happy Blogerversary!!!! I’m so happy I found your blog – your posts are delightful, entertaining and informative!! 😀
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anne54
/ April 13, 2017Five years, my my, that is something worth celebrating! Like Kate, your blog is up the top of my Must Read List, and the comments are a Must Read too 😊 I agree with you about growing potatoes. There is something magical about removing the top layer of mulch and soil to find the nest of potatoes there. Happy blogging, Ms Snail, and here’s to the next five years! 🎊🎉
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Nice piece of work
/ April 13, 2017You MUST mention the knickers!!!! 😉
Congrats on five lovely years, giving and taking and learning and sharing ❤
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davidprosser
/ April 13, 2017Huge Congratulations Jan. Here’s to the next 5 years.
xxx Gigantic Hugs xxx
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Andrew
/ April 13, 2017Congrats on 5 years! I enjoyed the posts about the Limery last year and can’t wait for it to really start up again this year. The wife and I are starting a garden this year now that we have the fence built to keep most animals away from our plants.
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KerryCan
/ April 13, 2017I missed some of these posts the first time around–it was great to read them! And I LOVE the poem, especially since I’m planning a trip and doing exactly the kind of second guessing that the narrator does! Happy 5 years–and many more!
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The Snail of Happiness
/ April 13, 2017It is my all-time favourite poem and it’s been a delight to be able to share it and ensure that Charlotte Mitchell’s work continues to be accessible. Candy, her daughter, was very gracious about letting me use it. Apparently she still has some never-published poems and she tells me that she’s considering putting them, together with the now out-of-print ones, into a new anthology.
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cookiesimonster
/ April 13, 2017Congrats! I only discovered your blog very recently, but I like your writing, and I started my own Three Things Thursday because I found it on here. Keep going for the next five years – and hopefully many more 🙂
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The Snail of Happiness
/ April 13, 2017Thank you. I’ve discovered that I’ve been doing Three Things Thursday since last June… it makes for a huge list of things that have made me smile!
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crawcraftsbeasties
/ April 13, 2017Hooraaaaay! Happy Blogiversary! I think your blog was one of my very earliest follows back when I started myself, and you remain one of my favorites. Here’s to another five years (at the very least)!
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The Snail of Happiness
/ April 13, 2017Thank you. Perhaps we’ll have a party next year!
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claire
/ April 13, 2017happy blog birthday! thank you for making your little part of the internet and world a better place, a stitch at a time!
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The Snail of Happiness
/ April 13, 2017it’s a pleasure… especially knowing I have such lovely readers out there 🙂
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iamsimplyhooked
/ April 14, 2017Happy, happy blog birthday. I LOVED the 21st Century Womble post – I think it is what got me hooked in to Snaildom!
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The Snail of Happiness
/ April 14, 2017Thank you… I’ve written so many posts over the years it was hard to choose just five, but the womble one is really close to my heart!
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Born To Organize
/ April 21, 2017I’m glad to be reading backwards so that I didn’t miss this post. Congratulations and what a great way to celebrate. Here’s to many more.
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