Tuesday, October 1, 2013

We’re Alive!! (sort of)

Oh hai my furry peeps. It’s Annabelle. Did you wonder where I disappeared to? The Warden lost her blogging mojo and she said I was not allowed to post either. She didn’t mean for us to stay away for so long, but before we knew it, several weeks had passed.


To tell the truth, I am a little worried about the Warden. She has been having a rough go of it (“life”) for awhile now, and every so often that dreaded monster we call The Big D rears its ugly head. She has to fight that awful thing with all her might, and it chases her down into a big black hole where she has to claw at the walls to get out. It’s so dark and gloomy down in that cave and she gets scared that she won’t ever get back out. I give her as much Purr Therapy as I can, but sometimes the monster is just so strong. For now, the epic battle continues.

The Warden had to put Purr Therapy on hold because it was making her sad and giving the monster more ammunition. She had met so many wonderful folks the past four years managing that other, company sponsored blog some of you know about. Well, some nice folks associated with the CWB said if she started a personal blog, they could hold one of their auctions to help her pay off the huge vet bill from when I was really sick. So she did, because that bill was making her feel really bad. She started gathering up a bunch of cat things she could put into the auction to help, and she was hopeful for the first time in a good long while. But then the auction never happened. We weren’t popular enough, apparently, for an auction.

The Warden was upset to hear that, but she knew in her heart it was true. For months she’d spent hours every day reading a gazillion other pet blogs and being genuinely interested in their kitties and doggies, but not many came ‘round to visit us. Some furriends migrated here from the other blog but then they quit reading what she wrote over there.

She was disheartened. She just couldn’t keep spending so much time on what seemed like a fruitless endeavor. So she stopped. She’s so very grateful for the dear blogging furriends she has made and maybe one day, it will be okay with her that there are just a few Purr Therapy readers.

In the meantime, I’m giving her lots of purrs and headbonks, and hoping she can send that D monster packing and get out of the cave soon. A dark, cold cave is no place for a good-hearted Warden OR for a kitty. We miss you, dear furriends.

Love and kitty licks,
Annabelle

29 comments:

  1. Oh, Annabelle, we're sorry things are so hard for the Warden right now. The head peep knows a lot of how your Warden feels. Many of the stories you have told on the blog have hit pretty close to home for her, and everything can feel insurmountable after a while, even with the excellent purr thearpy you are providing. Blog traffic is really hard to work up to, not comething that happens overnight, and most of ours has come from visiting and interacting with other blogs in comments,and it takes a long while to work your way up to. Please tell the Warden that it's not her fault you aren't a popular blog. It's just a process that takes time. And we know that right now, she isn't feeling up to processes or time. that's OK. Just take good care of her and make sure she's taking good care of herself. Purrs and hugs from all of us.

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  2. Annabelle, my MomKatt's been battling that "Big D" recently - it periodically rears its ugly head. She says she knows exactly what Your Warden is going through and you're right, and I'm right, to give our hoomans all the purr therapy necessary for them to feel better. MomKatt says "Better living through chemistry and cats!"

    Tell her to take good care of herself & to stick close to you and I'll do the same for MomKatt. We are thinking of you.

    Purrz
    Selina

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  3. One can never predict blog traffic, I think. Stuff happens and visitin' blogs can get put on the back burner. It will pick up later. Right now, the blogosphere seems a little quiet to me but I figure that will all change in a heartbeat.

    Important thing is to soldier on, I think. Then take a nap. Naps always make me feel better. Naps and purrs... the best medicine, ever.

    Purrs,
    Nissy

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  4. Annabelle, tell the Warden NOT to be upset...we feel your pain, seriously.....since I moved Dakota's blog to paid WordPress (our own link), NO ONE reads it, (well, not NO ONE) but we lost 100s of subscribers.......and....Cat Chat quite frequently takes a hit as well. Mom and I follow OVER 300 BLOGS and try to comment on MOST at least once a week, (yes, we have lives too,so often we can't get around to everyone).....trust me.......it hurts our feelings often as well.
    We retweet others, we donate when we can, (we have a fixed income in our household and Mom is unemployed, freelancing doesn't pay much!!!), and we share others and more often than not it is not reciprocated.....you aren't alone.
    We just "soldier on" as Nissy said because we blog because we love it, NOT for numbers and those that DO visit us somewhat regularly make up for those that never stop by.
    Love,
    Caren and Cody

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  5. Oh Annabelle, tell your Mom your blog was likely more popular then she realized. We gets your post delivered to our email and we reads your post there. Unfortunately we can not leave a comment from the email and depending on what device we are using we sometimes can't get online to go to the blog. But we have REALLY LIKED getting to know all of you.

    Please blog when you can, we will visit as often as we can and we will always read your post in our email. Your friends, ~Socks, Scylla, Fenris, Tuiren & Alasandra

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  6. Hi Annabelle, it's Austin here. Please tell the Warden that The Staff here sympathises greatly. Sometimes life sucks, yep that's what she says! Anyways, we are fans and try to read and comment as much as we can. The Big D is $*^&^@ that's what she says too.

    The Staff started blogging in March 2008 and it was years before anyone read it. She said she just did it for me and her! Eventually, she got a few readers! But it is true, there are an awful lot of pet blogs out there now! Pick the ones that resonate with you the most and keep plugging away!

    May I say Annabelle, you are looking particularly gorgeous today :))) xox

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  7. Purrs to your human, Annabelle. Tell her that doing your blog should be a joy that you and she share together, and to look at it that way - because that is more important than how many readers you get. When my human gets too focused on statistics and popularity, it gets her bummed out too. I know I enjoy seeing you here.

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  8. Annabelle - glad you are back!

    http://homelesscatcare.blogspot.com/2013/09/operation-for-tiger-lilly.html

    Pet lovers please check out my homeless cat blog archives for some fun and informative posts and archived stories about the cat abandoned/feral colony I manage.

    Debby in Prescott Valley, Arizona

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  9. annabelle...pleez ta tell yur mom that itz better ta haz 5...10... cloze friends than 8000 acquaintancezz...

    N pop ewe lair it tee iz like de wind.......heer two day....gone de next....kinda like high skewl.......all de peepulz that thinked they wuz sum thin then....iz noe mor import ant now.... then yesterdayz old mews.....

    yur mom shuld add sum salmon ore tuna ta her diet......noe fish joke; just troo fax.....N her shuld due sum thin HER wants ta due for fun...dont matter what...be it reedin a book, gardenin, do puzzles, go for a walk, enjoy cartoonz on dee vee dee...it doez knot matter..... as long as YUR MOM likes doin it N haz FUN.....ore try sum thin new; it does knot even hafta cost any $$$$

    N due knot ever let her think just coz her did knot cure a dizzeaze, win a peace prize, due sum thin reeelly "grate" with her life...that her dinna make a difference ta sum bodee ....sum wear.....

    if her made a diffrunce in just one life; ther in liez de miracle....N de gratitood oh that one purrson holds mor weight than 329,046,138,455 tonz oh trout.....N THATZ a lot oh trout !!

    XXXX

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  10. Hi Annabelle. We're so happy to see you. We're real sorry the warden is having such a tough time lately. Blogging should be fun, not a chore. And you and the warden shouldn't worry too much about how many people visit. There are so many blogs out there now, it's so hard to keep up.

    And seriously, we don't know who told the warden that you guys weren't popular enough to have an auction. As far as we're concerned, auctions aren't based on popularity.

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  11. OH NO! I feel your pain. TW has spent entire days crying even though my blog is supposed to be funny. She sees my comments and readership going down and realizes we'll never be one of the big blogs. She says it has to do with the days getting shorter and stuff that out of her control. Sending lots of love to you and the Warden.

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  12. Annabelle we were so happy to see your post and we really missed you. You tell your Mom that we've been blogging for 8 years and we are still small fries. Very small on the fry list. But we are A-OK with that. We know we will never be big time, we don't even do FB. So please don't feel bad about your blog traffic. We are sorry that the Warden has not been feelin good, but you tell her if she'd ever like to 'talk' for her to feel free to drop us a line at ManxmnewsATgmailDOTcom. Just tell her that there is alot of us kitties out there who really enjoy seeing you and hearing all the things that you are doing. We hope to see a lot more of you, and we will keep checking. purrrsssss

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  13. Purrrrrrsss to you and the Warden, Anabelle. Hang in there.

    You might want to consider putting a Donate button on your blog, or maybe try GoFundMe. Every little bit helps.

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  14. We're sorry to hear about your mom battling the Big D. Our mom has had major problems with it in the past and at times still has to visit the Big D doctor. We've been blogging for over 5 years and the CB has gotten really large. We can't visit but about once a week lately and our comments are down right now too.

    We do want to say that the auctions are not based on popularity. There are a lot of people in the cat blogging world and it's almost impossible to meet the needs of everyone. The auctions are a lot of hard work and just can't occur all the time and for everyone. We want to encourage you to continue blogging and visiting. Try to get involved in the activities in the CB (not the CWB) and people will get to know you and you'll get to know them.

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    1. I do know the auctions are a lot of hard work. I was told I needed to be more well known in order for an auction to be a success so it would be worth all the time and effort of everyone involved. I totally agree with that assessment. Maybe "popular" wasn't the best choice of words. :-)

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  15. Sweet Annabelle, please tell your Warden that we care, and that we are sending some big old purrs and prayers and hugs and headbonks. We always read both Purr Therapy AND that other company-sponsored blog, and try to comment as much as possible. We always do read your posts, though. :)

    Blogging should be fun, and not a chore. So you should do it as you feel up to it, and enjoy. And know that you have friends out here who care about you, okay?

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  16. Fenris has an award for you on our blog http://alasandra2003.blogspot.com/2013/10/opposites-attract-award-thanks-savannah.html

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  17. Annabel, I am very sorry to learn that your Mum is down with the big D, it's a rotten thing and I know you are doing your best to help her climb up the right side of the hill again. Our ape knows how strange things in the animal blogging world can be, sometimes it feels very cruel when you have made a big effort to get involved, reach out or help out and no one responds. But that, unfortunately is the way of the internet, there are so many voices out there and not all get heard. It's particularly harsh when you are with the big D. Be assured Annabel that we do care about you and your Mum. I am sending my best and deepest rumbly purrs to her and my ape is sending her a gentle hug

    Luff from
    Mungo & The Ape xx

    PS: We like Lee County Clowder's suggestion of a Donate button! :)

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  18. We miss people when they don't blog. The human knows all about the Big D. We hope you and the Warden will have happy days soon :)

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  19. Remember, D lies to you.. lies and lies and more lies.. Sometimes when I can't fight off the lies any more I sit there and let it lie to me and the lies get bigger and bigger until they just seem out and out silly which makes them a little easier to fight off the next time.. I've also found great help with "The Mood Cure" moodcure.com

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  20. We have missed you! You just keep taking care of the Mom, she is important!!!

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  21. You are looking beautiful there Annabelle and we hopes that some green papers will come in to help. Purrs, good thoughts and love to the Warden from us. We know all about the Big D, unfortunately. It does suck big time. We are thinking of you all.

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  22. Sending hugs and purrs to chase away that D monster that we hate so much! PURRS.....

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  23. We just found you today and had never visited you before. Mum tries to get us entered into all sorts of things on the CB and it's fun "meeting" people and getting to see lots of new people. Join in on "special" days be it a birthday, sad days, fun days and anything you want and it opens up new people to you and they get to know you.
    Luv Hannah and Lucy xx xx

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  24. Hi! It's us again. We just saw you beautiful kitties all dressed up over at Boolatry, and we have to say ... you look MAH-velous! :)

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  25. We're sorry we don't get by more often. We're so far behind! We are subscribed to your other blog and have Purr Therapy in our bookmarks. The big D is a terrible place to be and we hope your mom is doing better. Someone suggested a GoFundMe button for your blog. If you do any fundraising let us know. We'd be glad to include it in a post.

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  26. guys...we just saw yur coztoomz over at zoolatry ...we loves em !!!! everee one iz lookin grate...even de mouz :) hope ewe all haza grate week oh end N make sure ya eat plentee oh pie !!

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  27. We battle the Big D at our house too... been a rough year for sure and it is very hard for us to keep up with the blogging and comments. But our own health and well-being has to be the priority and that is why we try real hard not to take things too personal - lots of times we don't get a big response either, even though we think we have written a great post and we have learned not to let it bother us like it used to.

    We have also limited our blog commenting to one day a week because our personal life was suffering as a result of being on the computer so much. And keep in mind, things are not always what they seem on the surface. Sometimes we think someone else's grass is greener than ours when it might not be the case at all. We all have our demons and personal trials and tribulations that most people don't realize and more people can relate to what you are saying than you probably realize.

    Sometimes taking a break from it all is the most healthy thing you can do. I enjoy your posts very much and think you are a fantastic writer! Purrs from the Zee and Zoey Gang

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