Happy Blogiversary to me!

In the beginning, I read Blood Sweat and Tea by Tom Reynolds, and thoroughly enjoyed it.

The book gave his blog address, so I started reading his blogs.

Then I followed links to read other (mostly medical of some sort) blogs.

After a while I felt that I was lurking in the undergrowth, and that if I were reading blogs, I should start one myself.

So I did.

On 13 July, 2007

At first I was certain that nobody would be interested in my ramblings.

Then I found that elder son read it every day and was concerned if a day passed without a post. He would then telephone to ensure that all was well.

This was a good way for my family to check up on the aged relative.

Gradually more of my family read the blog and that was very useful for the same reason..

However, I was convinced that nobody outside my family would be in the least bit interested, but since then I have found comments from quite a wide audience, not just in the UK but abroad too, which means that other people read my blog and you feel that you are touching other people in terms of a kind of friendship.

I know that my blog is no great work of literature, but it is maintained only as a personal journal about my daily life and thoughts.

I have titled the blog “Old Age Is A Bitch”, which was prompted by some of my health problems. Currently I feel I am living on borrowed time and have been for quite some time (hope the interest rates aren't too high!) Not to be gloomy, as I still feel well in myself and get around as much as I can and pursue my interests - bridge, wine, cooking, wine, bridge, wine, and, of course the famous Noilly Prat.

My sister (the best sister in the world) took me for a weekend to a health spa for my 60th birthday, and we had a great time until the day we were due to leave, which was the day of my birthday. She came to my room to post my birthday cards under the door, and I was just able to attract her attention and tell her that I was really ill. To cut to the chase an ambulance took me to a near by hospital, and before the day was out I was on a ventilator (diagnosis pneumonia) and remained on it for 10 days. I am now a proud member of the Tracheostomy Survivors Club

At that time I gave up smoking (apart from a short relapse near the beginning).

Since then, I have never seen the pale horse, but did feel the brush of death’s cloak passing by on several occasions. Funnily enough my family were keen for me to move to a more secure environment than the block of flats I lived in then, and also to move to a place closer to them – at least that would reduce the distance they would have to travel every time I was admitted to hospital.

At my last address that meant 11 admissions in two and a half years.

Here I have had only one admission in three years, and that almost three years ago.

I am working on the principle that having a positive attitude helps, so I keep positive (nearly) all of the time.

The thing that amazes me is that I still find new things to say (or new ways of saying the same old thing!) I never thought that this blog would last a week, never mind a year.

I particularly enjoy getting comments and following the links to still more blogs. I know that I read more blogs than I leave comments on, so imagine I have more readers than I know of. Recently I updated and reorganised the list of blogs that I read, most of them on a daily basis (all right, I know I should get a life!)

I reckon the whole thing is rather like Topsy, it “just growed”

Happy Blogiversary to me!

And thank you to my 3 readers for keeping up with it.