Norq From Ork

On 28th January 2016 I decided to start a blog called Norq from Ork.  I wasn’t really sure what I wanted to write about, I just knew I wanted to write, and committing to a blog would discipline me to write on a regular basis. I figured people would soon vote with their feet – so to speak- and if it was a pile of rubbish no one would look at it, but I would at least get the practise in.

So I started to write

I wrote about ordinary everyday things, happy things, sad things and my love of Orkney.  I told you about, until now,  greatly undocumented difficulties in keeping chickens in blogs like The world’s most expensive egg ,  Keeping chickens and dogs.,  and Three chickens for sale! I invented blog names for my family like Orkney Beef, Miss Lashes and Tech Support and you loved it.  So many people now wonder what their blog name would be and look forward to seeing it if they get a mention. How We Got our Blog Names

I shared with you my fear of flying in Coming home.  and my struggles in life like when the clocks change The lost hour, unsuccessfully  training Orkney Beef in How to load a dishwasher and Dishwasher part 2. Your questions answered., Orkney Beef unsucessfully  training me how to use the tv controls, do the wallpapering and driving with  a trailer The struggle is real.

I told you what I would do When the kids leave home and shared with you my childhood in A 1970s childhood

I sometimes made you shed a tear, like when I remembered friends (and my brother) who have gone before, Remembering Simon With Thanks,  Remembering Archie Bevan, Remembering Verna, Saying Goodbye.

I’ve shared many, many photos of the beautiful views of Orkney and introduced a regular feature called My Week in Pictures   (there are hundreds of these I’ve just picked one at random) I even made a vlog! My Week in (moving) Pictures

I was worried I might run out of things to say but Orkney Beef doesn’t think that is humanly possible for me. I think I’ve written somewhere in the region of 200 blog posts .  People liked and shared posts and this week I reached a target of 52,000 views.  Delighted!

I was even given my own special mug and bag as birthday presents!

A brilliant mug. Hopefully a taste of things to come.

and a brilliant bag, what great presents

The blog has been viewed in 83 different countries and it has put me in touch with many people across the globe.  People email and message me from different countries and people have introduced themselves time and time again telling me they read the blog and encourage me to keep going. I’ve been reunited with old friends and colleagues and  Thank you SO much, it’s been an absolute delight to get to know you.  I love putting a smile on peoples faces and making people laugh and if my wee contribution brightens up your day for a few minutes then my work is done.

Thank you to EVERYONE who has commented, liked, shared, emailed and supported me in the last year.  It’s been brilliant.  Keep liking, sharing and subscribing, Happy Birthday to us and here’s to the next one.

Norq From Ork