Thursday Thirteen: Celebrating Milestones

As luck would have it, today I am posting my 250th Thursday Thirteen, as well as blog post number 1,800.

To celebrate these milestones, I thought I would point to other bloggers whose work I enjoy. Some of these you will recognize as others who play Thursday Thirteen; others you may not have heard of. Of course these are not all the blogs I follow: I read most of the Thursday Thirteen bloggers and many others.

I have been blogging since 2003; I started a blog in opposition to the Iraq War which went unnoticed and which I have long since deleted. Then I blogged on AOL Journals for a couple years. I liked that format but then switched to blogger as AOL did handstands and ultimately ridded itself of its journals.

This journal, Blue Country Magic, made its debut August 5, 2006. So in 5 years and 11 months, I have written 1800 blog posts. That means there are about 5 days out of a month when I do not post, on average.

Not bad.

1. Colleen over at Loose Leaf Notes gets the first mention because she introduced me to Thursday Thirteen. She has been playing longer than I have, and her blog is older than mine, too; I think it goes back to 2005. I found her because she was listed on the local newspaper's site as a local blogger. I enjoy her poetry, her stories, and her perspective. She lives a few counties over and I hope one day we will meet in person.

2. Diane over at Dish (formerly Blue Ridge Gal) is a blogger I have met in person. We are friends and live in the same county. She writes about her dogs (Izzy & Rowdy), fashion, decorating, and other interesting topics. She loves to take pictures and she likes to help people create interesting headers or otherwise decorate their blogs. Her sister, Denise, lives in California and has a wonderful blog about ranch living, complete with fun photography, over at Autumn Sky Ranch.

3. Tanya is another local blogger I've met in person. She posts at Around Roanoke, offering up pictures of the area. She's not from here originally, like I am, so it is interesting to me to see the community through fresh eyes. She writes about her children and her dog, Ozzy. She's been blogging since 2008.

4. Leonora over at A Journal of Days is also a local blogger. We met briefly at the Fincastle Library one day. She records three things about the day that she wants to remember; it's a lovely way to count your blessings and be thankful.

5. Beth over at Blue Ridge Blue Collar Girl writes about her life in North Carolina. She has two grown children and enjoys rural living. She's a very thoughtful and thought-provoking writer whose blog goes back to 2007.

6. Becky over at Peevish Pen is another friend and local writer. I admire her work greatly. She's published and self-published a number of works and has many opinions about the writing world. She is particularly hard on spammers and others who would take advantage of writers. Her blog dates back to April 2006, so she also has been blogging longer than I.

7. Elena over at Ms. Elenaeous Rants & Raves is yet another friend and local writer. She recently published a book called Fractured Facade through Smashwords. It's available online. Her blog dates back to 2009 but I think she's been blogging longer than that.

8. Heather over at Word Trix is an avid reader and another blogger who does the Thursday Thirteen meme. I enjoy her book reviews and she is also very crafty. I like it when she shares her handiwork on her site. She's been blogging since 2005.

9. Alice Audrey is an author and another blogger who does the Thursday Thirteen meme. She writes about books, writing, vacations, and cats. She has been blogging a little longer than I have, too, as she apparently started in January 2006.

10. Grace over at News From The Hill recently moved to our area. She writes about her horses and home construction. She's been blogging since 2010.

11. Beth over at Elizard Breath Speaks lives somewhere in our area though I'm not exactly sure where. She started blogging in 2011, and posts pictures that look sort of local and familiar but I can't always place them.

12. Donna over at Just Me posts about country living. I think we read each other's AOL Journals, so I have been reading her work for a long time. Her blog archive goes back about as far as mine.

13. Lastly, I want to acknowledge you, dear reader. It is so nice to have you join me, whether that's daily, monthly, or just on occasion. I write for myself but also for you - I know you're out there, and I hope you enjoy my work. Thank you so much for reading and commenting, as I think that does keep me coming back to this blog to write. I look forward to seeing what you have to say every day.

Best wishes and thank you again!



Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here. I've been playing for a while and this is my 250th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday.