Happy Blogiversary to me!

It's three years ago this week that I first gingerly dipped my toe into the wonderful world of blogging. I didn't need a Facebook page and hadn't heard of Twitter. I was a shy and nervous new-comer and I was definitely, absolutely sure that nobody would particularly want to read a blog about me, and my life!

But because my friend said, "Hey, you should start a blog!" I started publishing excerpts from my travelling diary, while myself, my husband and our young family explored the waterways of London, Hertfordshire and Essex. As my confidence grew I made friends with other bloggers, went to blogging conferences for mummy bloggers, started a Facebook group for boat families, and also started my own business as a professional blogger! I even began to get articles published in magazines...

So, if YOU are out there thinking maybe, just maybe, you might start a blog one day.... just do it! Let me be that friend that says, "Hey, you should start a blog!" Because that little suggestion changed my life...

Here's the very first blog post that I wrote:

Angel, Islington to Uxbridge.

Space: The final frontier. With the arrival of the new baby we are testing the space limitations of a 57 foot narrowboat. These are the voyages of the narrowboat Grassington, a blue box that tardily travels through time and space, at a maximum speed of four miles per hour. Our mission; to travel the waterways we’ve never seen, to live the dream, to be boaters, travellers, writers and parents. For so long we’ve waited for the right time; to have enough money, or to discover the elusive way of earning a living while travelling.

But the absolutely right time never comes, sometimes you just have to do it anyway. We might not have the biggest, most comfortable boat we had dreamed of, or the huge stash of savings to make the life easy, or the dream job, that meets all our mental and spiritual needs. You know the one, the job that we can work at from home while earning a decent income, and still spend quality time together as a family. But with one of us on maternity leave and one of us working in London we decided to cast off and let go. The handsome doctor and his winsome assistant.

To quote Mark Twain, “In twenty years from now, you’ll be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowline. Sail away from the safe harbour. Explore. Dream. Discover.” Read more.

Memory Book – Hobbies

Dear Daughters,

When I was little my hobbies were reading, writing and drawing. I have always loved books and we have read to you two since you were babies, so now you love books too! I remember enjoying learning to write my letters at infant school and writing poems and short stories at junior school. I was so proud when a short story I wrote was on the front page of the junior school magazine. By the time I was thirteen I was reading Jackie and Bunty comics and creating my own versions. I would pain-stakingly draw picture stories with speech bubbles for the characters. Then I would feed the pencil –coloured pages into my car boot sale typewriter and type words into the speech bubbles.

In my later teenage years I wrote angsty poems, dreamy poems and funny poems. I loved studying English literature and writing essays about Wuthering Heights. I did Art, English and Theatre Studies for A-levels and then spent four years at Art College. After a patchwork career that took me through the building industry, music industry, Friends of the Earth, the NHS and hypnotherapy, I finally got back in touch with my first true love: Writing. I became a performance poet, then a blogger and now a professional blogger and writer.

So what can I tell you about hobbies? Take notice of what you love. Do what you love to do. Never give up. Follow your heart and follow your dreams. It’s not just that my dream was to write. It’s more that I could no more stop writing or not write than I could not breathe.

Follow your dreams.- poem for my daughters.

Love

Mum

Xx

Memory Book is a monthly slot on The Alexander Residenceblog where Penny writes down some memories for her children, there’s a theme each month, and a linky.

Be Your Own Wish Friend.

Image credit: Paul Appleton

My four year old daughter has little wish friends: They make her wishes come true. There are at least sixteen of them, and more appear all the time. One is “bigger than the sun” and one is “smaller than a thread worm egg”.

Last week I decided to become my own little wish friend and make my wishes come true. I got a book from the library that claimed if I spent three hours answering ten key questions I could create a plan for my best year yet.  I’d say it took me more like three evenings, but that could be because I’m very wordy and wrote a lot when I was creating my master plan. (I also drank a little bit of red wine while I was making it.)  If you were reading in January you may notice that this completely contradicts my earlier post: the best goal is no goal.

2012

BEST YEAR YET PLAN

Top Ten Goals

F

Finish writing book and synopsis. Find agent and publisher.

Have one article a week published by the end of the year.

Increase brand awareness and sales for my clients using social media.

Pass my driving test.

Improve relationship, feel closer together.

Create regular ‘me’ time for reading and blogging.

Make time to have fun with my daughters.

Take more care of my health.

Keep the boat tidier and cleaner.

Show my best friends and family that I care.

The back cover says, “You have a career that’s tailor made for you, your relationships are happy, your finances are under control and you have enough time to do the things you love.”

Can a book do all this for me? Can I do it for myself? Do I need to recruit some more little wish friends? Stay tuned and watch me have my Best Year Yet!

If you had just one wish for your best year yet what would it be?

Where is This Relationship Going?

I mean the relationship with my blog! 

I was surprised that Do You Like Roses and Castles? was quite popular. I had it in my notebook for a while as something funny that my daughter had said, and then realised it could be a blog post. It made me realise a post doesn't have to be a long clever pretty piece of writing, it can just be a snippet or a moment in time... I’ve got to take the pressure off myself! When I look back at my old posts I am very proud of them, I can see now that was good writing. But I think that when I started this blog I was driven by a terrible loneliness and discontentment; my blog allowed me to connect with the world and share the highs and lows of my narrowboat existence. 

These days I do not have the same urgency to jot down the intimate details of my daily life, I guess because I'm happier just living it. I could wake up and write about the glistening water and the serenity of the swans but it’s less cathartic than moaning about the distance to the launderette or the price of a new gearbox. 

So, where will my blog take me next?

Now I'm a Page Three Girl!

Who'da thought it, but my latest article is on page 3 of the January issue of Towpath Talk.
I met another boater on the towpath a while back, who said,
"Did you hear a couple of loud bangs the other day? They found a couple of unexploded bombs on the Aylesbury Arm!"
A little bit of investigating later I had come up with my 'scoop'!

Unexploded Bombs on the Aylesbury Arm

Several unexploded World War II bombs were discovered near Dixon's Gap Bridge on the Aylesbury Arm of the Grand Union in early November. The British Waterways maintenance team uncovered seven mortar bombs which were about 15 inches in length and 2 inches in width. The team found the devices after draining a section of the canal in preparation to start lock gate repairs at Lock number five.  The local police were contacted, who in turn alerted the bomb squad. After the suspicious devices had been x-rayed they were carefully removed from the canal bed and blown up  in a controlled explosion on a nearby field.

Read more here: Towpath Talk January 2012 Issue

My brand new blog is here!

At the beginning of this year I started a business blog covering the freelance writing, business blogging and virtual assistant side of life! I might write about blogging and social media tips, answer FAQs, showcase my writing, review relevant books, tell you about my experience and history or give you an insight into working from home on a narrowboat. I haven't really decided yet.
Now that I've got a few clients for business blogging and am doing some social media promotion and freelance writing work I thought I'd better add a blog to my business site.
Services include business blogging, content producing, copywriting, audiotyping/transcription, secretary service, virtual assistant, and social media. I've put some special January sale prices on the site too, as a special offer! Even if you don't need this kind of service, perhaps you could like me on Facebook so that your friends know about my new business, and I can get out there and promote their small businesses with my super blogging powers!
I've got a good feeling about 2012...

http://peggymelmoth.wordpress.com/

Boating With Kids - in Waterways World

I live aboard a 70ft traditional narrowboat with my husband and two little girls. In January's Waterways World I explain how I do it and answer some frequently asked questions.

What jobs do you do?

Have you got a mooring?

Isn't it a bit small?

Are you afraid the children will fall in?
 
Also in the January 2012 issue of Waterways World: The complete guide to Scotland's canals including The Lowlands, Caledonian, Falkirk Wheel and Crinan; On test - 62ft Narrowboat, traditional styling with modern comforts; Boating with kids; New series! The history of British Waterways; An interview with Mikron, the towpath troubadours; Advice - Lock technique and making a boat stool; Boating in 1914; Lost tunnels; plus a FREE 2012 wallplanner.


£3.75 from newsagents. On sale now!

For writing commissions, business blogging and guest posts visit http://www.peggymelmoth.wordpress.com/

Dear So and So

Dear Blog 

When we first started spending time together I had no idea that our relationship would become so serious. You grew out of my life, but now my life has grown around you so that you occupy too much of my thoughts and my time. You encouraged me to write the first draft of my memoir and introduced me to readers that gave me positive feedback. However, I think the time has come for our relationship to change. If you want us to carry on a romance with this kind of intensity you are going to have to start earning your keep. I am going to monetize you. I am going to turn you into multiple income streams. (I got these fancy ideas from Become a Mumpreneur.) I hope that turning commercial doesn’t make you ugly. Soon I am going to a parent blogger conference called Cybermummy. I don’t know what kind of tweeting cyborg they will turn me into, but I know that I will be different when I come back. I hope that you understand that this love affair must now turn into a business relationship. I hope that we can still be friends.

Love from

Your Affectionate Writer

Visit Become a Mumpreneur

Dear Literary Agent

Many thanks for your constructive thoughts and kind compliments about my synopsis and sample chapters. I would be happy to sign a contract with you and appreciate the efforts that you have already made to sell my work. I was amazed to hear that you have several publishers bidding against each other for my memoir, 'The Real Life of a Narrowboat Wife'. I understand that I am not your only client so your detailed feedback on the commercial value of the book was very welcome. I realise that I have not yet written that amazing synopsis, but writing to you in this imaginative way assures me that you are real, you are out there, and you are going to love me and my book.

Looking forward to meeting you.

The Author

 

Dear Mother’s Little Helper

I am worried about what people will think about us spending so much time together. Maybe they think we are co-dependent. When I tried to break it off with you I felt sick for weeks. I should stop worrying about what other people think and enjoy the fact that we are happy together. They say you are simply a serotonin re-uptake inhibiter, but to me you will always be, my imaginary friend Mick Jagger. Thanks for being there.  

Boat-Wife

Dear Reader

Thank you so much for reading. You are an important part of my life. I love to hear what you think, so don’t be shy, leave a comment below, and let’s make this blog interactive! 

Thanks 

Peggy

The idea to write letters comes from Kat at http://3bedroombungalow.blogspot.com/

You can click on her Dear So and So badge to read other Dear So and So letters. Cool idea huh?