Hello and Welcome! Come on over and I’ll get you a mug of very strong dark roast, a piping cuppa tea or some hot cocoa. I know it’s a little cold out here, but not frigid and no wind. And it is also sunny! We had some snow this week, so it is very pretty. Oh, were are we? Some of you may recognize the photo as being from New Hampshire.
OK, start with weather. The deep freeze finally broke, but we have only gotten above freezing a couple of times and tomorrow it will start to get frigid again. There are no temperatures above freezing in the forecast and by next weekend we will be back to highs in the teens F (highs around -8 C). There is also supposed to be snow every other day, typically a few inches (maybe 10 cm) each time. It is so odd that winter was very late, but when it arrived, it arrived with a vengeance. Three weeks (or more) in a row with only three or four days above freezing? Ouch! But the last few years have been odd.
OK, this week was mostly the same as usual, and I want to zip through it. Exercise, walking dogs, no running (:( ), work, making sure book is ready to go, working on web sites, reading, etc. Typical.
Reading Natalie’s coffee share made me think about the history of the coffee share. I think I am the only original person left.
Two of the first blogs I followed were brother and sister, Diana and Gene’O . They often linked or coordinated their posts. One of them, or both, started a series about the past week. Every paragraph would start, “If we were having coffee, I would tell you…” and then go into some specific. A couple of other people joined, and so they decided to have a one off blog party. So I did a post on August 23, 2014. I am not sure if this was the first one, but I think it was. I decided to change the format to being more casual and not including that line “If we were having coffee, I’d tell you…,” that most used. So, yeah, I was different from day one ;)
That first blog party was a smashing success! It was decided to have one every week. So, starting with this post on October 11, 2014, I began to do a coffee post almost every week.
The idea was for this to be a casual conversation, a nice little chat, between friends, as if everyone was just sitting around, sipping coffee. At this time I had very few personal posts, so this became my outlet for the more personal side of “Trent’s World”. Over the years I did other things as well. For a while I did a recap of my last week in blogging, linking to my posts. Since I averaged zero clicks, I eventually stopped that ;) Actually, I think the average was zero to many many decimal points – I doubt if anyone every clicked a link.
Eventually Diana and/or Gene’O stopped hosting, and I believe dropped out of blogging. Someplace in there Emily picked it up. She was under “nerd in the brain” at first, but changed to a blog under her own name (I mention the name in case you click on my links above you will see “nerd in the brain”). She changed the tone a little with some of the old dropping and some new people being added. And, of course, Emily’s totally different style.
I am not sure if there was anybody in between, but I know that there was a time after Emily left that nobody hosted it. I did a few posts by myself before discovering Allison’s share. At first, it was tiny, but slowly grew with mostly new people. Again, the community changed from the “Emily days”, which were different from the original share. But it is a good community.
And now it is over to Natalie. Again, it has changed, with a lot of new people jumping in, but change is good.
So there it is, six and a half years of the Coffee Share!
And, yes, I did use different photos to tell you were I was from the very beginning. The first photo was from the house on Cape Cod that I sold last year, so that photo has been retired, but I have used the synthesizer photo from the second share a few times in recent months.
Anyway, the dogs have been whining the entire I ahev been writing, so I need to go take care of them. I hope I didn’t bore you too much with this history. Thanks for dropping by! If you have a coffee share, I will try to stop in.
Natalie the Explorer is now the host of the weekend coffee share and she is doing a wonderful job. Stop in at this week’s main share page or go to the InLinkz linkup to see all of the other shares!
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I think I was there for Diana Part 1, and I remember Emily, but not Diana Part 2? Maybe I blipped out for a bit, I’ve had times my blog sat for a few months.. What an interesting ride it’s been! I’m grateful for all the conversation and friends made along the way!
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I’d have to go back through posts, but I don’t think the Diana part 2 lasted very long. i knew there was someone between Emily and Alli, but until Corina mentioned Diana coming back, I had forgotten who. It has been a very interesting ride and I’ve met so many people through it.
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I just remembered our own Annette Truglio Martin also took the torch from Alli for a while! She was also a wonderful host.. :-)
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Did Annette just host for a short time? I thought I might have missed someone in there, but I don’t specifically remember her turn as the host. lol, I usually just write my share and don’t think about it more than one week at a time :)
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It’s great to read the history of this link up Trent and congrats on being one of the last originals to still be involved! I enjoy reading a variety of posts through the link up and appreciate the longevity of these types of posts. Have a great week from sunny Tumbarumba :) #weekendcoffeeshare
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After putting this up I have come across several people from pretty close to the earliest days – it is amazing how many people I blog with that I met at the coffee share over the years! Some have stopped participating, so I have forgotten that is where we met. Have a great week :)
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Thanks for the coffee share history. I love the writing and writer people i meet in this coffee share.
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It is amazing how many people I have met through the coffee share. It has really been a great share!
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It’s been a while since I’ve stopped by for coffee. Thank you for the history of the coffee share. I’ve been meaning to get back into it, but can’t seem to find the time to participate fully. They are a lot of fun. Maybe I just need to make the time. :)
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The coffee shares are a lot of fun, though to do it right is pretty time consuming. I often forget where I met different bloggers, but I do know that quite a few that I follow came from one of the different iterations of the coffee share! I hope you can find the time to join in on occasion :)
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Trent, like Molly above, I found Natalie through #MLSTL a couple of years ago. I enjoy her blog and was very happy to see her take over the Coffee Share. She uses a reader-friendly format that allows participating bloggers to be displayed in one place, giving easy access to everyone who wants to read their posts. (similar to your weekly smile recap) Scrolling through comments to find links or pingbacks is time-consuming.
Thank you for sharing the history of the Weekend Coffee Share. I had no idea it had been going on for so long, or how it has evolved. If we were having coffee, I’d tell you I had a great week. I scheduled an appointment to take my first Covid Vaccine shot! Have a great week.
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I think Natalie is the perfect person to take over. I started doing the share less than a year after I started blogging, so it is the most consistent feature for me. It is interesting how it has evolved.
Cool that you are getting the vaccine. Hopefully it will become more available to more people soon and we can get a little closer to the new normal. Have a great week!
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Trent, it is one of the many benefits of being a senior citizen :-)
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WOW!! This is a great post as I love the history!! I’m in the newer group only knowing Allison. I love how much its grown and that it’s been around a long while! Super COOL! ❤️
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It is cool how it has evolved. I still see some of the first bunch of people blogging, and maybe they will come back. No matter, it is still a great group and a lot of fun :)
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i had no idea that you did the coffee share for that long
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and it has evolved eh?
i wish i could do it but just cannot add one more challenge to my list – cannot get to the ones i already do – lol
but i think of you and Coleen (toronto colleen) as the first ones who did the coffee share.
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It has been a long strange trip. No, wait, that was The Grateful Dead… Coleen was pretty close to the beginning, but I don’t think she still does it. Maybe occasionally. I think I see her on Instagram more often than here. There are a few others that I see around but no longer do the coffee share, like Eloise. There are only so many challenges we can participate in. I am pretty full, so I couldn’t add any more either.
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hi – that was funny with the grateful dead joke
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and side note – my post went out for the Little Dorrit challenge – i will go to your post in that now
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Great – I just linked to your post.
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woo hoo
i am excited about this
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Me too :)
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Trent, Thank you so much for this post. I read the history of the Weekend Coffee Share with great interest and will dive further into the links you provided. So the hosts were Gene-Diana-Emily-Allison and now me (#5), with maybe someone in between Emil and Allison. Even though bloggers come and go, the longevity of the link up speaks volume. Have a great weekend!
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According to Corina, Diana made a return before Allison, which may be why I didn’t remember, since it wasn’t a new person. So, yes, I think you are the fifth one :) There are a few from the earliest days still around, but it is great that new people come and go – it would get boring if it were static..
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The history of coffee share, how cool. That’s a lot of coffee with wonderful wonderful people.
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It has been a lot of coffee, and I’ve met a lot of great people :)
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It’s nice to read a recap of the coffee share history. I began sharing coffee posts from the time of the blogger before Alison. Then I joined Alison’s for a bit, took a long break, rejoined Alison for a couple weeks before Natalie took over.
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It is funny how long the history has been and all of the changes, I had the chronology a little off in the write up, but have changed it – it was Diana, not Vicki, and Diana did return for a short time before Alison, so you might have seen Diana part 2 or you might have seen Emily.
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I remember Diana part 2. Then Ali, so I missed Emily.
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The first coffee share post I can find in my archives is January, 2015. The first post of yours that I remember was when you went to pick up your puppy. I think Idina. Does that sound right? As far as the chronology, Gene ‘O and Diana started it together then Diana continued on her own. Emily subbed for Diana for awhile then Diana returned. Dianna passed the nation to Allison. That brings us to Natalie. I dropped it when Allison took over. I haven’t rejoined because I don’t usually get to blog on weekends until Sunday evening and by then it is closed. I’m trying harder now. I’m not sure I’ll do the coffee share format but maybe.
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Hi Corina, I extended the closing time on Sunday night to midnight Toronto time (11:59 p.m. plus one minute). I hope this helps. You’re welcome to join Weekend Coffee Share any and every week.
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Thank you, Natalie. I was honestly going to try this weekend but it didn’t happen. I spend the weekends with the grandchildren and that usually doesn’t give me time, specially since I am on Pacific time so I think that is at least three hours earlier than Toronto. I’ll try next weekend. I might just kind of write it as the week progresses and finish in time to post. It’s a good way to make friends and they really are fun.
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It would have been February 2015 that I picked up Idina, so you have a great memory. Yes, I said “Vicki”, which is Gene’O’s wife, Diana was his sister at Part Time Monster (I correct the post). I didn’t remember that Diana came back for a while. I don’t think it was for long… Anyway, it has been going on for a long time!
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I joined the Weekend Coffee Share in spring 2016 and it was hosted by The Part time Monster then. Do you remember the image of the green coffee mug and 10/6 on it? That was when it was Part time Monster. Nerd in the Brain took over from The Part time Monster. It is interesting to think how long we have been sharing virtual coffee, haha! Great post Trent. Hope you have a nice weekend.
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Yes, you were pretty close to the original group. Vicki Gordon ran the blog Part Time Monster and the share originally bounced between her and Gene’O. I think she started the idea, he did the original link up, and then she took over the link up. Looking back over some of the old links, I do see some of the same people around in the blog world, but only a few still join up for the coffee share. I think many never restarted when it was picked up by Eclectic Ali. It is cool to look back at all of those years of the coffee share :) I hope you have a great weekend!
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Ooops, my mistake, Vicki is GeneO’s wife, Diana is his sister, part time monster
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I “knew” Natalie from #MLSTL blogging days and just reconnected with her posts this week. I was thrilled to see she now has a way for us to connect and share. I’ve missed that. I loved hearing the background about Weekend Coffee Shares. I look forward to this weekly gathering in 2021.
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The coffee share has always been a great way to socialize with other bloggers, and I think Natalie is the perfect host for that. Look forward to seeing you for coffee. Have a great weekend.
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Thank you, Trent, for your kind words. I’m not perfect but will take it as a compliment and strive for hosting excellence :)
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Thank you so much for that piece of coffee share history! That made me think about for how long I’ve been participating myself, I’ll have to look into that. It was before I started this blog I am writing on now, I know that. I believe I got really serious about the coffee shares (writing one every week) when WordPress quit the weekly photo challenge, that was a bummer that they stopped that challenge – Love the coffee shares though! It sounds like we have about the same weather, again. We’ve had a few days with -5F as our coldest days. Right now it’s around 8F, rather comfortable :) Enjoy the rest of your weekend!
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I remember first meeting you, but I don’t remember when. Northern California Zen, or something like that? Do you remember who the host was? It seems like I am missing someone, but don’t remember who… The coffee shares are great!
Truthfully, if we have a typical winter, I don’t mind the cold as much, but since we had a mild start and then went to such a prolonged cold snap, it is getting old! But, as we discussed before, I am more of a cold weather person than a hot weather person. I’m not so sure I’d call 8 F comfortable, unless there was zero wind and it was sunny. The wind has been awful… And that is my biggest problem – with prolonged cold and a strong wind, it is almost impossible to keep my house warm without destroying the planet by running the furnace 12×7. I hate that much more than any discomfort!
Anyway, I hope your weekend is going well and that you have a wonderful week!
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I don’t remember the host, but it was before Allison. I’m pretty sure, and before Norcal Zen as well :) The coffee shares are great! I make it a priority to join every weekend. I’d say that routine, and kind comments by friends helped me a lot during the stressful times of fires in California.
It is sunny and no wind, I mean it was, it is almost dark now. We’ve had almost no wind all week, and lots of sunshine.
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Hmm, now you have me curious. I first remember the Norcal Zen, but I must have met you before. I will have to go back and find some old posts. There might have been someone between Emily and Alison, but I don’t remember who. Emily did a lot of education things at one time, and I think a lot were “nerdy” science projects that kids could do. Does that sound like something you remember? Anyway, as i said, I am curious and will try to figure it out :)
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I so enjoy your coffee shares, thank you for posting.
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The coffee shares are fun :) Thanks for stopping by.
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