Taken in the realm of the Thorn Queen last week on our walk.

I’ve been giving a lot of thought to my blog lately. It seems like the new year is just screaming out for something different. It’s time to change things up a bit.

The blog has looked the same way for years now and I’m getting tired of looking at all that white and that dark green. So, first up is a revamp of how the blog looks. Rick and I diligently worked on bits and pieces of that this past weekend to varying degrees of success. Right now you might notice a slight difference in the gray background.

My blog is on our own domain, not a blogging site, so everything has to be programmed in by code instead of just going in and picking what I want as a background, font style, colors, etc. It’s not easy trying to pick colors from a color picker on line. I must have tried a zillion and none were what I wanted. I have this vision in my head that’s having trouble getting out. I want a nice café au lait color: the exact color of our downstairs bathroom! Easier said than done. Some have too much yellow; others too much red that turns the brown rosy. No! Still working on that.

The header will change completely too. In fact, the whole look of the blog will change so don’t be surprised one day to visit and it’s completely different! Just wanted to warn you that it’s in the works.

Maybe the biggest change of all is that I have decided to try going public again and open the blog up. No more membership! I will still have comment moderation on since we get so many spam comments (again, because we don’t have the same filters as the blog sites) and one of the reasons why I went private in the first place. I just got tired of deleting all those crap comments. But I think it’s time to get over that, don’t you? I will try and email all the current members to let them know in case they don’t read the blog much and might miss this post. After all, blogs are for sharing, not hoarding.

Another thing I’ve been mulling around in my head is an additional blog, one dedicated only to photography with no words. Years ago I followed a blog where two people thousands of miles apart each posted a photograph of something in their day, or they had the same subject (say a landscape, a bird, a personal object) but each from their own point of view depending on where they lived. Maybe only one photo per week instead of one per day which would be pretty challenging! Trouble is, I don’t have a partner! It’s just a thought and it might be fun. I know I loved following that blog. I don’t remember the name of it now but I think they stopped after a year anyway. Contact me personally if you might be interested.

My blog will also have a new feature where once a week I highlight a photo taken with my Lytro camera. Lytro Shot of the Week or something like that. I’m having way too much fun with it and I want those shots to stand alone and not be included in a normal blog post. I can see lots of opportunities for macro shots once winter is over.

So, there you have it! I hope to unveil the new look soon. There’s still some work to be done and it might take a few trys to get it right, so I hope you’ll bear with me through it all.

Sounds like you are having lots of fun getting everything all planned out.  If you are like me - thats half the fun!  Good luck and I will be watching!

Yeah! I am so glad you decide to open up the blog. So many people are missing out because they don’t know you!  Yes, dealing with crap comments will be a chore, (I don’t really know about all that, but can imagine) but I know you deserve a greater audience!

Am looking forward to whatever you come up with (BTW love the color of the downstairs bathroom!) Your blog is the BEST (and I’m really NOT biased.) Love the photography blog,too.

Good luck with the new look! Sometimes we all need a change, right?! I didn’t realize you host this blog on your own domain. That’s got to be a lot of work.

Debra, well ... it’s more frustrating at this point than actual fun. I think Rick is having fun because he loves the whole programming thing. Designing it is fun though!

Bigsis, I’m not sure how people would really “find” me anyway, but we’ll see. I know I lost quite a few readers when I went private for whatever reason. Thanks, but I do think you are somewhat biased! You’re very sweet!

Steve, yes, change is good. Having our own domain is more work for sure but Rick usually takes care of all that, thank goodness!

What dark green?  I don’t see anything on your blog that has dark green?  Good luck with the change up.  (BTW you haven’t commented on the changes I made on MY blog.  It’s great though because now I can just change the background any time I want according to the seasons.  The summery dandelion thing just wasn’t working in the middle of winter!)  I’d be your partner with the whole photo thing, but because we live in similar areas, don’t know how much difference there would be as far as subject matter.

C, the banner at the top where it says “Home Archives Rick Weather Contact” and all the blog entry titles are in a dark green. Same on the side panel: heading in dark green.

Really looking forward to your new ideas.  Loved the pics of the birds.

Joyce, thanks glad you liked the new birds!