Looking Back & Ahead

It's been a pleasure over the years, 15+ to be exact, for Patrick (Grenville) and myself Dorothy (Beatrice) to have met so many wonderful people through blogging.

It's greatly enriched our lives to become blog friends with so many here in the U.S., Canada and worldwide who have shared news of their lives, adventures, family and more. And, we've been fortunate in meeting bloggers, not only on road trips, but on getaways abroad, all wonderful and fun experiences. 

WAIT . . . this isn't a farewell post

Instead, it's a bit of nostalgia after tine was spent some time looking back at earlier posts and realizing this blog started 15+ years ago. Also, learned that text in colors, like yellow, do not work well and that black should always be primary. Unfortunately, many photos in those older posts no longer display.

Yikes! Once we started blogging, we were quite active at it. In fact, there were some months when we posted more blogs than there were days in the month! The first 2 years we had over 400 posts for each year, more days than in the year. While we've become less prolific in terms of posts per month, posts have usually been longer. We're never at a loss of ideas it seems.

How did the blog name happen?

Penguin is misspelled as Penguinn with an extra "n" on purpose. Once upon a short-lived time we thought idea of starting a B&B at our VA home and giving it a unique name. We had a collection of frog and penguin stuffed toys, many were gifted to us (never share that you like something or your family and friends will add to your collection). The name The Frog and Penguinn was selected. However, the B&B plan never happened after a friend who ran one in NJ shared her experiences and later sold the business. The blog name stayed.

The first post in mid-January 2015 was written by written by Grenville T. Boyd; the next one was authored by Beatrice P. Boyd. 

What about those odd author names?

Blogging was new to us and rather than give our actual names, we used aliases that we modified a bit. The names Grenville and Beatrice were borrowed from Boyds Bears figurines we owned and we added the random middle initial for fun.

Our Boyds Bear Collection of Beatrice & Grenville still on our bookshelf

How did have so much to post about early on?

To start, especially for those who have not been reading the Frog & Penguinn blog from back then, here's why. We sold our home in our native NJ and relocated to a very small town, Onley, on the VA eastern shore (spelled differently, but pronounced as only). The VA house was our first one together after our later-in-life re-marriages and each having our own home/townhouse. We wanted an "ours" home even if we would have to do some home-work and we were not disappointed there..

The VA house at first sight and a For Sale by Owner sign

The house we bought (above) was an older 1913 Victorian-style former farmhouse and it definitely needed updating. After deciding where to relocate, we made a couple of house hunting trips to the Eastern Shore. We saw this on our last day there, then called the number, met the owner, made an offer and hand shook on the sale. Try doing something like that in today's housing market anywhere else.

When I said Onley, VA, was small, here's a comparison: In our Beachwood, NJ, town there were over 11,000 residents compared to Onley, VA, with just over 530. We now live in Nashua, NH, the second largest city in the state with over 91,000 residents.

What did we post about?

Once we were settled in, we decided to share our progress with anyone who would read about it. Everything  — not just the renovations, but the gardening for both vegetables and flowers and recipes (a lot) and meals on for how we used the veggies which was very large for only 2 people. One thing you quickly learn on the VA Eastern Shore in summer time is that a lot of your neighbors also grow veggies, no one needs giveaways. We bought a small freezer; I made many zucchini breads and zucchini-based meals.

Who commented?

It was a slow start and most posts received no comments or just a few, often from our friend and neighbor, Possum. We weren't deterred as we had a lot of projects going on with renovating the older Victorian home so there was never a lack of subject matter and if there weren't a lot of folks commenting, that didn't matter.

Also, we had internet service, but no TV connection as the local cable company was not especially reliable. Years back, streaming wasn't as popular as today. DVD movies rentals were our source of entertainment from our own collection or rented from the video store in town (remember those days?). Truthfully, after dinner and writing a blog post, it was bedtime for us.

Then it (finally) happened

After a few months, OK give or take 6 or more, we started getting comments from other bloggers. WOW! it was exciting to find out that folks were reading our posts.

Among the earliest folks to comment were John (AC or Anvilcloud), Lois who posted from a cruise ship on which her husband, Kjell, was an officer. There was also Doris in PA and Denise in VA (both of whom we’ve met several times), Kathleen (Eggs in My Pocket, TX), Elaine in Alaska (who we met when she and her husband Marty visited NH), Grammie G in Maine (we met up in Maine), Ludwig in GA (also met up).

By the end of that first year, along with some regulars, we were receiving comments from bloggers throughout the U.S. and beyond, including Mona (Montana), Steve (Iowa), Connie (Iowa), Elaine (Canada), Sandra (FL), Scott (Utah), Larry (Iowa), Valerie and John (England), Christer (Sweden). It was really exciting, that's the truth!

In the years since that first post, there's been many more comments from folks who comment now and then (or no longer comment) and from bloggers from years back who still read and comment. You know who you are; we appreciate y'all. 

Bloggers are an online community of friends

And, we miss them when they're no longer here. Sometimes, a blogger has stopped blogging completely, maybe giving a reason, or not. Sadder yet, several bloggers have passed away: Mona (Wsprsweetly of Cottages), Lorraine (Mamas Mercantile) and most recently John (By Stargoose and Hanglands). We miss all of them.

In some cases, a family member kindly posted an update of a blogger's passing. But, when nothing has been posted, we wonder if anything had happened or did he/she just decide to call it quits, as some have done. Maybe the same has happened to some bloggers you've known as well ?

There's always a NJ connection

Former blogger Goldendaze-Ginnie (NC) was born in the same (and only) hospital in Plainfield, NJ, as myself and also had family living there. Another connection was that she grew up and attended college in New England, where we now live, later moving to NYC. Ginnie voluntarily stopped blogging in 2022 at age 89. If anyone has an update, please share.

In looking back over more than a decade of blogging, not only have fellow bloggers shared their lives and interests, but been there for many of ours, including:

• Moving from our native NJ to VA
• Renovating and gardening of our old home
• Moving (again) from VA to a mill apt in NH
• Births of grandchildren
• Deaths of loved ones 
• Celebrations of birthdays & holidays
• Anniversary celebrations & special occasions
• Day trip getaways & road trips in the U.S. and Canada
• Travels abroad (more to come)
• Humor (Friday Funnies posts)
• Curiosity (What is This? posts)

As noted earlier, we don't blog as often as before. We both have other commitments and interests from volunteering to ham radio and still enjoy road trips, near and in recent years even farther. Still, we enjoy sharing our lives with all who read and comment. Today, Beatrice (Dorothy) is the primary blogger; Grenville (Patrick) is semi-retired from active posting, but reads and contributes (a lot). Jointly, we invite you to come along on our wanderings and anything else that interests us — and maybe you as well. 

Your Turn — Please feel share to share your blogging story & THANKS.