I’m celebrating today, albeit quietly at home while I drink tea and wait for the washing machine to finish. Happy tenth blogging birthday to me…
(Don’t worry, this isn’t a long post, more of an acknowledgement published for prosperity.)
The best happy birthday traditions make ten-year-olds feel as special as they deserve to feel on their birthday. So how about a blog? You might think that I’d use my birthday as an excuse to climb a hill or go on a slightly silly adventure (the photos you see on this post were taken on a short climb up Cleeve Hill yesterday afternoon). Actually no, over the years I’ve used my blogging birthday as an excuse to make and easy a tasty sweet treat; I’ve had jelly and ice cream, brownies, flapjack, funnel cake, peppermint bark, and even attempted to make my own marshmallow. This year I’ve gone for what can only be described as a “chocolate orange thing”, a favourite recipe in our house that looks like a cheesecake but is made very simply from melted chocolate orange and mixing with whipped double cream and icing sugar, set on top of a buttery biscuit base. It is sweet, creamy, chocolatey, delicious, and definitely befitting a tenth birthday celebration.
I guess that in the world of blogging, ten is quite old. By the time they are ten, blogs have generally gone one of two ways; they have either fizzled out because their owners have moved onto something new (nothing wrong with that), or they are somehow part-time wage-earning beasts with big followings, high influencer ratings, associated e-books and events, cool merchandise and at least two awards on their homepage. I know I’m neither of those two. I am not about to abandon Splodz Blogz, and I certainly haven’t broken into the world of the big bloggers, and that’s good with me – Splodz Blogz is my own little corner of the internet where I can write about things that please me and share them with anyone who fancies reading.
And let’s face it, I have been able to do some amazing things thanks to this blogging lark. I’ve had bucket list ticks I never imagined would be possible, and an outdoors gear cupboard that means I can keep having adventures as often as I like. I did wonder if I should do a roundup of my ten favourite “because-of-blogging” experiences from the last ten years, but I’m not sure if that would be interesting – maybe if enough of you let me know you’d like to read that I’ll put something together…
I should probably have got myself organised ahead of time and sorted a cool giveaway with fabulous outdoorsy stuff to celebrate more widely. But you’ll have to make do with this little note at the bottom of a written-for-prosperity post instead. Thank you to everyone who chooses to come here and read, it makes blogging much more fun knowing there are people who enjoy what you put out there.
I guess I’ll just quietly mutter “happy tenth birthday Splodz Blogz”, staring at the chocolate orange thing knowing I shouldn’t really eat it for breakfast, drinking my tea and waiting for the washing machine to finish. It’s okay, I’ll have a big slice with a can of Root Beer a bit later.
Want to give Splodz Blogz a birthday present? Comment, like, share, tweet, follow… you know the drill.
Angela Bora
Happy 10th Birthday. I hope you have had a lovely Christmas and New Year.x
Splodz
Thank you Angela! I did thank you, I hope you did too x
Teresa Knight
Happy Birthday!!
Splodz
Thank you 🙂
Sarah Irving | The Urban Wanderer
Happy 10th Birthday, Splodz Blogz! I think tea, ‘chocolate orange thing’ and waiting for the washing to finish are perfectly good ways to celebrate. Here’s to more blogging adventures and another ten years of filling up your little space on the internet with bucket list ticks and fun stories.
Splodz
Thank you Sarah 🙂 And yes – here’s to more and more story-worthy fun times!
Riana.AngCanning
Happy 10th Birthday! Quite an achievement to keep a blog going for so long. And that chocolate orange thing looks great! Here’s to the next 10!
Splodz
Thank you 🙂 It doesn’t feel like ten years, I guess time really does fly…
Shybiker
Ten *is* old — and reason to celebrate! Congrats on the achievement. Most blogs fade away after a few years; it takes effort and vision to stay in the game. I admire that. And you!
Gavin
Happy 10th birthday and congratulations on producing such a wonderful blog. You make a good point about how some blogs can either fizzle out over time or blow up into some kind of influencer page. I’m no expert, but I feel as though that middle ground is kind of where you can be most creative in your writing and presentation.
I’ve been plugging away with my own blog now for a little over three years, I enjoy that creative process and the knowledge that I can share my adventures with family and friends. But with that said, I can very well understand how some folk lose interest.
Having reached such a milestone, I wondered what lessons you’ve learnt along the way and what advice you might have to offer bloggers like me?
Keep on bloggin’!
Splodz
Hi Gavin and thanks very much. I’m glad you’re enjoying the creative side of blogging as for me that really is the key – a blog is a place to share our thoughts and opinions on our favourite topics, and that in itself has to be the reason we do it – because we enjoy writing, photography, and sharing. I think my main takeaway from the last ten years is actually something more simple; unless you are making a living from what you are doing, then it should always be enjoyable first and foremost. When the fun is gone the motivation is gone. Keep on blogging on 🙂
WEEKLY BLOG EPISODE 52 | FOCUSSING ON MY INPUTS > SPLODZ BLOGZ
[…] I wrote this post last year when I hit ten, commenting that by the time they are ten, blogs have generally gone one of two ways; they have either fizzled out because their owners have moved onto something new (nothing wrong with that), or they are somehow part-time wage-earning beasts with big followings, high influencer ratings, associated e-books and events, cool merchandise and at least two awards. […]