Yes it’s really Halloween and I’m wishing everyone a safe and satisfying day. I was checking my comments late last night and saw this message from WordPress.
Happy Anniversary with WordPress.com!You registered on WordPress.com 9 years ago.Thanks for flying with us. Keep up the good blogging.
It’s shocking to me that I have been here this long. Is it time to retire now? I’ve given it some thought since so many that I started out with have already done so. I still try to keep in touch with them. I mailed out three more hearts yesterday to former bloggers. I want them to know they may be gone from here but are never forgotten and I miss their input.
No two come out alike
We weren’t sure Halloween was going to happen around here as it’s a large community of about 550 manufactured homes and many are older and unwilling to open their doors to strangers. There are a few with children and this year a list was started in our community of those giving out candy. I am one of 52 who signed up. I’m a full mile at the bottom of the hill and these kids and parents still have to walk back up those hills. Quite the price to pay for a little candy.
My daughter and I slipped on our latex gloves and put wrapped chocolate into treat bags and twist tied them shut. Then they were placed in the cauldron to put on the porch in front of the door so I can see through the glass screen who comes and goes in their costumes. We never connect and each child can take one bag of candy without touching anything else. I have orange lights strung along the porch so the kids can see where they are going. We have rarely had more than 10-15 children coming this far down. I’m hoping the map list brings more children this year.
Just so you know, I have not learned to manage the new WP block method and do not like it so if you see something odd here it’s because this is a change I haven’t learned to deal with…yet.
Change is Inevitable. Growth is Optional~John Maxwell
From my heart to yours,
Marlene Herself
insearchofitall 
Comments on: "Happy Hallowversary" (74)
Please don’t retire!!! I really like reading your posts.
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We have to have a word with WordPress then, Lou! It takes me twice as long to figure out how to do what I always do. 😉 My brain is getting a bit mushy too. I have to take it out in the fresh air I guess. Thanks for the visit. Hope you had a spooky night.
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Love the quote. I am writing that one down. It is simple but practical advice.
Re blogging: I am still here, so please don’t leave yet. We need your wisdom! Think of the ripples of kindness you have spread far and wide in that time span, Marlene.
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WordPress is making me struggle to get the photos in the right place and harder to move stuff around. I’m running lower on steam these days. A bit concerning. I keep at it as long as possible or until I toss WP across the room. Thanks for the visit, Amanda. Have one of your posts open for a couple of days now. Next week is looking quiet. Maybe I’ll spend election day here to distract myself. 😉
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Spending election day at the blogs might be a good distraction. I might write a post helping with media. I just don’t know whether the view I see on a free platform is the same as everyone else. Do you just add an image or a gallery?
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I tried to add both images and a gallery. Another blogger has sent me an email on how to get back to the classic version. I’m going to give that a go. If it works I don’t have to waste my precious time learning a new version of something that was already working quite well for m.
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I’m still able to access the classic version on the WordPress admin site. The apps are too confusing for me!
Hang in there Marlene 💕🙏💕
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Thanks so much, Val. I feel better about it now. I want to learn new things every day but learning something new just because it’s new and not necessarily better seems foolish. Glad I’m not alone in this. I have been having all sorts of glitches the last few days including getting to my comments. It’s been hide and seek here. Sign.
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That sounds like a good idea. It does take a while to learn the new method, but know I can’t even remember how the old one worked.
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Have you seen this article? It is very clear in explanation. https://www.wpbeginner.com/beginners-guide/how-to-add-and-align-images-in-wordpress-block-editor/
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Happy Halloween AND anniversary, Marlene! I love your quilt projects; they’re absolutely lovely.
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Thank you so much, Becky. I like to combine machine embroidery with quilting for something unique. That and WP keeps my mind working hard.
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It’s wonderful of you to take the time to make Halloween special for the kids in your community Marlene. It was too hard to predict what would happen around here and as I look outside I see most houses with their lights off, at least in my neighborhood.
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We did try and the 10 that showed up were appreciative. I never opened the door thanks to the glass outside screen so I could see the kids and wish them a Happy Halloween. Sorry yours was a bust too.
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On my way home from the garden tonight, I saw a whole family of mummies walking down the street. The costumes and face paint were pretty creative and realistic. Then I saw a few people in witches hats and spooky costumes and a couple of costumed dogs. It was fun. I do hope you keep blogging. I have realized it’s okay to drop off for a while and come back. So if you can’t do a blog for a month, we’ll be glad to see you when you do!
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Thanks so much, Lisa. Struggling with WP these last 2 posts have given me pause. I’m always up for a challenge but this isn’t logical in it’s organization. When you can’t interact with life, there is so much less to discuss. I will probably continue to struggle through a bit longer. I’d miss you. 🙂 We had 10 people trick or treat and 40 bags of candy. Oh dear, I see another 10 pounds coming my way. Thanks for sharing your adventure with me.
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I looked up a couple videos on YouTube that helped with the crazy icons. After that it got a lot easier. Sue W at Nan’s Farm also posted a guide to using it and to getting to Classic Editor, which you can get to through admin–and then just do what you’ve always done.
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Thanks, Lisa. I’m checking out everything since it’s important to keep moving forward and learn new things. My motto has always been, “Let me learn something new each day or close the lid” I’m just not a fan of change for the sake of change. Make it more user friendly or leave it alone. So far, no closed lid on my coffin. 😉
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Well, that’s good! In watching the videos, it became clear to me that this was a business expansion of sorts and the blocks allowed people to insert things on pages about sales, say, as well as other columns and things that Classic didn’t make easy. But it seems they forgot their bloggers who just want to drop in text and photos and communicate with fellow bloggers. Good luck.
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Thanks so much.
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Dear Marlene, all will be well. I have sent you an email with pictures showing how to get back to the Classic Editor we know and love. Do feel free to share it with anyone else who is not enjoying the ‘improvements’ inflicted on us by WP 🙂
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Bless your heart, Kate as the southerner’s would say for any kind act. I like that you see it as ‘improvements’ inflicted on us by WP’. Made me laugh. At my time and condition of life, I don’t want to waste energy learning something that is already working quite well. Too many fun things to do with that time. I’ll go check my email now. Thank you.
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And who wants to learn something that isn’t useful to our style of blogging? Always a pleasure to be of help, my friend.
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Marlene, I’d love a copy of that email, too. Like you, I’m fine with change, but dislike change for only the sake of change. I’ve been struggling with the new (not) improved facebook, too.
No rush on the email. When you have time and inclination is fine with me. Thanks in advance, though.
~ Linne
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I’ll get it to you tomorrow, Linne. It was a lifesaver and Kate always finds ways to save my life. 😉 I’ll send a not too. Hating FB entirely.
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Chocolate candy bars were the first candy to be eaten.
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I have 30 bags of 5 or 6 mini’s each left over. Now what? 😉 Very interesting that choc bars were the first for Halloween.
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I mean after trick or treat we always ate them first. The antithesis to hard candy.
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Hard candy is only for long car rides. Thanks for the clarification. I’m a little slow some mornings. 😉
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I was thinking about you today, remembering that you started blogging on Halloween. I love your orange background.
I have yet to hear one positive comment about the new block editor, but I did see that you can continue to use the classic version. I think they should leave it as an option permanently. I tried the block editor when it first came out. I’m not anxious to try it again. It’s not how people write, so I’m not sure why they went this route. Anyhoo.
Bless your hearts for trying to make a special night of trick or treating for the wee ones. We shut it all down this year. We used to average over 400 children, and as you know, I love decorating and dressing up. It just didn’t seem feasible this year.
I’m sorry you’re feeling more fatigue than usual. I know you have a lot going on, on top of COVID and the election.
Today, my favorite “meme” was: “Don’t forget to change your clocks on Sunday and your president on Tuesday.” 🙂
All of your quilting and embroidery are quite beautiful. I love your generous heart. I hope you’ll continue to blog. You have a great voice and always interesting things to share.
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Oh, Alys! I miss you and your blog. You brighten any day and just made mine with your new meme; “Don’t forget to change your clocks on Sunday and your president on Tuesday.” 🙂 Most of the clocks change themselves these days. Quite the shock to see I woke at 2 a.m. instead of 3 a.m. Sigh. I love making the mug rugs. More instant gratification than a larger project. The photo size makes them look bigger than they are. Kate sent me an email on how to get back to the classic version of WP so I’ll give that a try. Sis is expecting to be called soon. Tomorrow is her 67th BD. I don’t think she can wait too much longer. We had 10 kids and I was happy to have a little for them. No contact between us at all. They got a lot of exercise and moms and dads drove them between long stretches. I know how much you love Halloween too. We decorated a little, mostly inside just for fun. You know of course our votes went in more than a week ago. We have a ballot box with security on it. Even last year. I think there are cameras on it too. This too will pass and on to the next catastrophe. Always another one to muddle through. Hang in there and lets hope these nightmares come to firm and resolute end.
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Dear Marlene, there have been enough rude shocks this year without WordPress changing its interface. I agree with you, and really dislike the new one. (I despise the new-look Facebook even more.) Take Kate’s advice and go back to the Classic, so you stay connected. Clearly no-one wants to lose you xxx
PS. Halloween isn’t much of a thing in South Africa. It doesn’t need to be – our government is already providing us with the stuff of nightmares…
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Oh, Jill! You do my heart good! I feel like I have such good friends here that I don’t want to go away. I will take Kate’s advice as soon as I read her email. I’m with you on the FB issue as well. “Improvements” aren’t always better. I think it’s job security for someone at both places. It’s like going to the grocery store and they have moved absolutely everything overnight! I agree with your statement on Halloween. ” our government is already providing us with the stuff of nightmares…” Well said! Here as well.
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Happy halloween an happy bloggiversary. Hope you don’t give up
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Thank you, Maja. I’m getting old and cranky and they keep changing things that already work just fine for the sake of change. I’m all about learning something new everyday but they should at least make the changes an improvement rather than just a change for it’s own sake. I’ve managed 2 posts now with the new block editor and find it unwieldy. The new Face Book isn’t better either. Just different. Learning these new programs is taking away the little time I have to read other blogs. At least I have a quiet week ahead to catch up a little. Take care and thanks for the visit.
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Take care Marlene
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happy day to you for both reasons, and glad I found you here ). I’ve been wrestling with wp myself, I hope you find a way through
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Thanks for stopping by, Beth. Tenacity is my middle name. I will figure it out and maybe then retire but I will not give up until I figure out the new WP. They might get a few notes from me in the near future. 😉 Blogging has a life of it’s own and almost impossible to walk away from. 🙂 Happy November to you!
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I so agree
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Your post looked great to me, Marlene. Keep doing what you’re doing! I love the Halloween kitten mug rug…it’s adorable. How nice of you and your daughter to treat the children. It was sad in our neighborhood last night. The houses were dark and no childen were in sight. Congratulations on your bloggiversary! Stay well, my friend. xo
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Thanks for the visit, Jill. The kitten is bigger than the mug rugs and hangs on the front door. I hate to take it down. I think it’s in the neighborhood of 10z12. The haunted house turned out even bigger. I was having the most trouble getting photos in place and properly sized. We had once again, maybe 10 kids. That leaves 30 bags of candy left which equates to at least another 10 pounds unless I can find somewhere to donate it. ;( I’m sorry you had a dark neighborhood. My house will be dark next year. Can’t afford the extra pounds. 😉 You stay well too my friend.
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Your community sounds like a good place to live. Such care and thought you all put into salvaging Halloween for kids, especially your no-contact approach. Halloween was cancelled here in Ottawa though when I went for my walk in the afternoon I saw lots of families out parading through the neighbourhood with their kids in costumes. The spirit to dress up is strong!
Like you, I persist with WP though it is frustrating. I’m happy to read that your followers have given you some suggestions (which I’m also taking!) to revert to the classic WP format. I love blogging and the blogger community and would hate to quit because of this insistence on improvement. Learning a new piece of technology is not high on my “needs” in retirement.
Thanks for sharing your hearts with us. The sentiment is so true of these times. Lordy, I miss people!
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Thanks for stopping by, Susanne. I agree with you. I miss people too and fortunately know a few that are as isolated as I am so we can chat with each other without worry. My daughter works from home so that helps too. I chat with neighbors during my walk, always at a safe distance but it’s just not the same. I try to learn something every day but technology is a kids game. I keep up better than most my age but I would rather learn a new quilt project. 😉 Why waste time on something redundant? Hang in there. It has to get better and come to a close.
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Hey Marlene! I hope kiddos found your treat bags. We chose not to hand out candy this year. Instead I made Rice Krispie treats for our grandkids, along with other goodies. It wasn’t quite the same, but I felt better about it. Plus, the grands were all dressed up and fun to hang out with! Take care, my friend!
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Many did exactly what you did and celebrated with grand children. All I have is my grown daughter but we had a nice day anyway. Only 10 kids came this far down…again. So we are looking for somewhere to donate the candy. I can’t afford to wear it all for the rest of the year. 😉 Love rice krispie treats. May have to make some now.
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Sorry, I missed seeing your reply, Marlene. Did you make Rice Krispie treats?
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I haven’t made the Rice Krispy treats yet this year. I have to find someone to eat them first other than me or my daughter. 😉
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That’s why I gave them away! 😳
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Happy Anniversary, so very happy you are here. I absolutely LOVE your Halloween quilts, they are amazing!
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Thank you, Wendi. I had fun making them. Now on to Christmas. That sneaks up on me every year. 😉
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Christmas has a way of doing that doesn’t it!
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No retiring! Happy anniversary and belated Halloween. I love the list idea! Very cool. Too much unknown, chaos, and vagueness is going on and that is very efficient!
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No retiring?? I’m getting slower every day and every little thing seems to take twice as long to do. 😉 I can’t live without lists. I’m kind of a big butterfly flitting from one thing to another. I come from the philosophy “Life is uncertain, eat dessert first” 🙂 Keep resting. Laugh more. Hugs.
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Oh, I definitely love your philosophy. I flit around a lot, too. In my case, I think it’s ADD haha.
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Happy blogging anniversary, Marlene! I hope you’re able to continue. Your posts are always uplifting. My daughter did a safe Halloween for the kids this year. It looked like quite a bit of work, but all of the candy was gone by the end of the evening. I hope yours went well, too.
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Thank you, Liz. I hope to continue a bit longer if possible. Life is full of surprises. We only had maybe 15 kids. I’m looking to re home a lot of candy before it starts to live on my hips. 🙂 I’m glad your daughter’s plan worked out and it does take more work but it’s worth it to see happy faces.
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You’re welcome, Marlene. You’re absolutely right about the unpredictability of life. I take nothing for granted.
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I’m not very good at writing but would surely miss you and your insightful posts should you decide to stop blogging.
But change is part of life and we can’t stop the watch just because we don’t want something we enjoy to change. I hope you do whatever you feel it’s best for you.
Sending you love and hugs and peace
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I feel the same as you do. That I’m not very good at writing but somehow I just have to do it. With only a minimal education, I doubt my abilities daily. I couldn’t write a poem if you paid me good money for one. You seem to have a whole lot more skill than you are owning. I’m just having fun here like when I sew or quilt. I won’t put anything out to earn a blue ribbon. I just have fun with it and nothing I do is perfect,…EVER. I’d miss the interaction with all of you very interesting people if I didn’t blog once in a while. Maybe just not as often. Thanks so much for stopping by and your kind words.
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Hey Marlene-a-go-go, hope your trickers visited for your treat. We had about 60 kids. I had a table out on our front walk and filled it a couple of times. Everyone was well behaved and most visited with their parents who enforced the ‘one-only’ rule. Happy Nine Year WP Anniversary ! That’s awesome 🥰 Looks like you’re enjoying your sewing projects too. Jim’s in the area that I was using for sewing pre-covid. So I haven’t done any for a long time. I’m going to have to re-learn how to use my Serger.
I didn’t like the stupid block thing either and continue with the Classic Editor. If you want, I can send you the slide show of how to do it. Cheers dear! 🥰
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Sounds like you are in the same boat as so many others with losing your creative space to family working from home. There are 2 sides to that coin. 🙂 You may not be sewing these days but your paper crafts are still as stunning as ever. We had less than 20 kids here so I’m certain I won’t be giving out candy next year. I’ll let you know If I need the slide show. I have some direction on how to do it and I’ll give that a try. I appreciate the offer. I’m not posting often these days. So good to hear from you. Have missed you. Hugs
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Happy blogiversary, Marlene!! Here’s to at least another 9 years of blogging! 😍🍾
And I really hope you’ll keep blogging – I always look forward to read your posts!
That’s so lovely how you took every precaution imaginable to make this a safe Halloween for you and the kids. Sadly no Halloween here this time, it was deemed to dangerous what with our infection numbers still rising.
My mum and I actually planned to dress up for ourselves but in the end merely ate candy sans costumes. 😂
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You always make me laugh, Sarah. Eating the candy sans costume cracks me up. I have the candy hidden in my closet because my daughter wanted to throw it away. I figure it will get me through the winter if I don’t find someone to give it to sooner than the next 10 pounds I gain. I’ll blog as long as I can still see to do it. Especially now that I’ve had so much help getting back to the classic version of WP. 😉
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Glad I made you laugh, Marlene! 😀 And yay to hidden candy. 😉 Take care!
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Just had to jump in here, Marlene, to say that we did nothing here for Hallowe’en, but my cousins bought themselves some of the mini chocolate bars and I did the same. Then the last week before your election things got stressy for me. I rationed the bars at first, but the final two days did me in and now I have none! I’m fine with that, though. 🙂 I love the thought of you hiding yours in your closet so your daughter won’t find them! I raised my boys on very little sweets, as I have a bad sweet tooth, so I used to buy stuff for me and then hide it so they wouldn’t see me being a bad example. Some people disapprove of doing that, but it worked for me; neither of them has a sweet tooth to this day.
Glad to hear you’ll continue blogging; I love your posts and am getting caught up now that I’m settled in for the winter. You have inspired me to continue, too. I have a long post written but am having trouble getting photos from my phone onto the laptop. Soon, I hope.
Your posts always cheer me up and give me something (or more) to think about.
Happy Anniversary, too. And I’m looking forward to many more!! ~ Linne
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Thanks for the visit, Linne. I’m behind still but will be catching up with the winter months ahead and more time inside. You know the drill. 😉 I still have a long list of to-do’s for a Sunday. I’m glad you are going to continue blogging. I kept this last one under 500 words because most people shy away from long blogs. I know I put them last. The fact that I am a short story reader should tell you something. Short attention span. I hide the candy because if we don’t see it, we won’t think about it as much. It irritates my daughter if I bring it home so I just put it out of her field of vision. She gets into enough on her own without my help. Hang in there with me. Maybe I’ll make it to 10 years blogging. 😉
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Here here to what so many are saying… here. Don’t retire. We’re each other buddies – we friends on the blogosphere. We’ve gotten to know each other so well! And I haven’t figured out the stupid block editor either. I’m still using the classic. Word Press should change its mind and listen to us!!!
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Maybe we should vote the new block head out and vote in the classic. 😉
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Hi Marlene! And happy anniversary. Wow! At least you are open to the WP change. I just don’t think I can do it unless I have someone over my shoulder for an hour talking me through it. I need your glass half full. I’m glad you had trick-or-treaters this year. Ours was cancelled. Halloween is so much fun for children. It’s the whole experience more than just the candy.
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I agree that it’s about more than the candy. I grew up without Halloween and only experienced it through my children. They both still love it and it’s never the candy. It’s the imagination! I’ll continue to work at absorbing the new WP but when in a time crunch, I go back to the classic. Thanks for stopping by, Jennie. I’ll be by soon. Taking deep breath here. 🙂
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Yes, it’s about the imagination. I must admit that as long as the classic editor is there, I haven’t tried to learn the new one. Deep breath. Best to you, Marlene!
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As Amanda said, I hardly even remember how the old editor worked. I was afraid that once the transition period ran out, I’d be forced to the new blocks, so I made myself learn them a while back. I do not like them at all. It takes several more steps to do each thing, and it is not as flexible with images as it used to be. I used to like to include a small photo and wrap a paragraph around it, but that is no longer possible. Also!!! It has ruined all my old posts. Now when I go back and look at a post from the classic style, my photos all overlap and are crammed off to the side. What a mess. I’ve already moved on, so I’ll stick with blocks, but if I can see very good reasons to use the old editor which, as you said, was working just fine – so why change it?
Your mug hearts continue to be so splendid. Each one. And that Home Sweet Home Halloween quilt is awesome. Your sense of humor comes out in your creativity. It was sweet of you guys to make such an effort to help the Trick or Treaters in your neighborhood. I’m sad there were only 10 kids, and especially when you were on a map this year. Halloween is my favourite holiday and here at my place in Rainier I never get a child. I tried for several years, and then gave up. It’s too rural and I don’t know enough people I guess. Good for you, keeping the candy in hopes of finding a place to donate them, or else maybe using them as sanity saving devices. Linne was so funny talking about how she ate up her candy while stressing about the election. Yikes what stressful politics we have been having. It’s still not over.
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I’ll put in more effort to learn the block version soon. Right now, I have all the change I can handle. We won’t do Halloween candy again. They just don’t come down this far.
I haven’t looked at my old posts to see if there are changes there. That would disturb me immensely and I might quit blogging because of it. Thanks for the visit, socially distant. 😉
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I hope you don’t find any problems in old posts. For me, I frequently used to do two small images and left- or right-align them. Now, they are aligned right over the top of each other. All the places where I did not align two photos to the same side, it looks ok. I did find a fix for mine, if I go into the html mode and edit.
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