What happened in March?

Not a lot in my tiny part of the world, but globally is another story, which I won’t delve into here, as this blog is my happy place. March wasn’t an ‘exciting’ month for me, but nowadays that’s just how I like it. When I was younger, I craved excitement, but now calm and contentment do me very nicely, thank you.

There was a moment in March when I wondered if I had lost my blogging ‘mojo.’ I’m pleased to say that this is not the case! However, I did carry out some significant housekeeping on my blog. I had been aware of an unrealistic surge in my statistics, mostly from China. Unfortunately, many of my new subscribers turned out to be spam-bots.

To learn more about this issue, I recommend this very helpful post from Hugh’s Views and News: Look! Blame Me For A Painful Drop In Blog Subscribers. I’m a massive fan of Hugh’s blogging tips, because I find them clear and helpful. Hugh begins by asking, ‘Do you know who follows your blog? Do you care about who is following you? If not, you ought to.’

Hugh goes on to explain why it is not advisable to allow spam-bots to follow your blog, how to identify them, and how to remove them. I, for one, am glad to be rid of them!

Zeph continues to entertain and keep us busy, in equal measures. He has some interesting sleeping positions.

We looked after a friend’s collie, Bonny. Below, they are attempting synchronized sleeping positions.

I did publish one post in March #Wordless Wednesday – Fancying France

The only issue with this type of post is that there is no explanation to accompany the image. Sometimes, the photo is self-explanatory, but not in this case! I came across these stacked toilets at the entrance to our local showground, a popular dog walking venue. Perhaps it was the influence of a recent Banksy exhibition I had attended, but I felt there was something of the art installation in the way they were stacked!

I’m an avid reader, and there was plenty of opportunity to enjoy some interesting books in March. The Hotel Avocado is the first novel I have read by Bob Mortimer, and I was surprised how much I enjoyed it. I would imagine it’s an accurate reflection of what goes on in Bob’s mind!

Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi (translated by Geoffrey Trousselot) was another interesting read. This book asks the question, ‘What would you change if you could go back in time?’ There are four stories in the book, which all set in a small Tokyo café. Visitors to the café can travel back in time but must follow certain strict rules, including staying in a specific seat and returning before their coffee gets cold.

As for television, I have recently enjoyed ‘The Other Bennet Sister’. It was a slow burner at first, but I soon became totally engrossed in Mary’s story, especially when she escaped her claustrophobic family and moved to London. Here’s a trailer for this Regency drama.

I’m always a fan of programmes involving travel, so the new series of Race Across the World has me hooked. This year, the contestants travel from Sicily to Mongolia – amazing!

Although March may have been relatively quiet for me, it was very enjoyable. Now we are gearing up for our return to France.