Monday 29 June 2020

12 Years Today!


Ollie here. As the youngest member of the Poupounette Gang, #1 thought it would be good for me to learn the history of our blog. Twelve years ago today, on June 29th, 2008, Sen-Chan and Tommy published our first ever blog post! What we did not realise at the time was that we hit the start of what was to become the golden age of pet blogging. Our first commenters included Dragonheart and Merlin, Hannah and Lucy, Kaze, Latte and Chase, DaisyGoldie, Shade and Banshee, Isis and Ramses, and Petey. Most of these blogs are gone now, and quite a few of their authors have gone to the Bridge. Some have moved on to Facebook and we enjoy continuing to follow their adventures. For example, Daisy, who was one of the most popular bloggers, has gone to the Bridge, but her successor, Gibson, is just as adorable and on Facebook.

Over the years, we have seen so many changes here. We started out with two, Sen-Chan and Tommy. At one point, there were seven of us, including super-sized Vidock and Violette. There have been so many happy hellos and sad goodbyes. All told, we have welcomed eleven "Gang" members since we started, and had to say goodbye to six. Initially, there was one cat and one dog. At one point, we had four cats (five, counting Trav), one dog and two horses. And now we have two cats, one dog and four horses.

Over the years, we have published 4,180 blog posts, and have had over 920,000 page views!  We can't find a statistic for the number of comments we have had (anyone knows where to find it?) We have never changed the basic look of the blog, and just change the header occasionally, In fact, we need to change the header now to show our new horsy members.

More than anything, we have made so many friends all over the world, and some we have even managed to meet in the flesh! These include Claire of The Swiss Cats, Jackie and Ivor of Eric and Flynn, Nancy of Mickey's Musings, and Phyll of Khyra's Korner. We have shared in smiles and tears, arrivals and goodbyes, and every experience has filled our hearts. We are a little sad that blogging seems to have declined considerably, as Facebook just doesn't have the same kind of immediacy. But we are stil making new friends and expanding our horizons.

I, Ollie, will be 20 months old tomorrow, and I hope to be blogging for many years to come. I want to thank you all for being our friends and sticking with us, and invite you to continue joining us on our journey and sharing yours with us. I also want to share my respect and admiration for our Queen Tama who, like #1, has known all the ones who have gone before. She is our treasure, which is what her name means! In the meantime, here are portraits of all of the Poupounette Gang members to date, in order of appearance:

(RIP) Sen-Chan, aka "Poupounet" (2007-2009) FOUNDER


(RIP) Tommy (2007-2019) FOUNDER


Tama-Chan (2008 —) A birthday coming up in August!


(RIP) Sei-Chan (2009-2018)


(RIP) Yuu-Chan (2009-2010)


(RIP) The Traveller, aka "Trav" (2007? - 2018)


(RIP) Bibi-Chan, aka "Da Beebs" (2009 - 2019)


Vidock (2009 —)


Violette (2009 —)


Genji (2011 —)


Oliver, aka Ollie (2018 —)


Hotesse (1995 —)


Heloise (2017 —)


This is one of our favourite photos, showing (front to back) Yuu-Chan, Sei-Chan and Da Beebs, who are all now reunited at The Bridge:


In addition, there was Ikkyu (1992-2007), #1's first cat and first Aby, who went to the Bridge before the blog but is featured in our Souvenir Saturday posts.


Thank you again to all of you for sharing our lives these past twelve years!

20 comments:

  1. Wow! Happy blogoversary! So many changes in these years! But I have to say, in spite of all of them, you've been amazingly consistent and I always look forward to seeing you all!

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  2. Congratulations on your 12th blogversary!! Thank you for sharing your adventures and stories - I appreciate all of your work in blogging so faithfully. I look forward to reading more!!

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  3. happy blogoversary... it's a sweet thing to look back how it started and who was with us... some memories bring tears, but our blog is our life...like a diray we sahre with friends

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  4. Happy Blogoversary! So lovely to see all those wonderful gang members again. We will always remember with love, those at the bridge. We so enjoyed our blogging years and all the friends we made.
    Sending best wishes to all. X

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  5. Happy 12th Blogoversary!!!!!
    Not as many of us that have started back then and are still blogging. We are not sure when we found your blog but we are happy we did :)
    We enjoy watching the progress and hope to continue for many more years!
    Purrs,Georgia and Julie

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  6. KhonGRats!

    So many pawesome times have come from blogging -

    I first met Little aka Holly thru it - and who would have ever thought she would end up 'here' -

    NAK enabled me to meet so many paws and peoples -in fact, we were lucky enough to meet #1!!!

    The World has surely changed in the years we've been blogging - but through it all, we KNOW we can count on each other for support

    Here's to many more pictures and words and views!

    H&K,
    NAK, Little, and Phyll
    PeeEssWoo: BTW, meeting #1 is still up there on The Khool List!

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  7. Happy Blogoversary dear friends! I agree, blogging sure has changed but we think it keeps getting better with those still here.

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  8. Happy, Happy Blogoversary!
    So glad that I found you, and hope that you all blog for a long time to come!

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  9. Happy Blogoversary! We are so furry happy that you guys are still going strong. Yes, bogging is different these days. Concatulations and enjoy the day!
    Marv, Mom, Kozmo, Jo Jo, and Cinnamon

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  10. Happy Blogoversary! We weren't there in the very beginning but we think we've been following you for about 10 of those years. Thanks for bringing your world to us.

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  11. Happy Blogaversary!!! We think our blog started around the same time, and you were one of our earliest blog pals too. So much has changed over the years, but it is nice to still have you as our good friends.

    Woos - Lightning, Misty, and Timber

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  12. Happy Blogoversary ! And many more !

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  13. Happy Blogoversary!!
    Loved seeing how the gang was and is...and we hope to be friends with you all for years to come!

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  14. Congratulations on 12 years blogging! Beautiful photos of all past and present members of The Poupounette.
    I agree that blogging has changed so much over the years. It was all fun then and you never saw blogs promoting different products.
    I was looking down your favourite blogs list in your sidebar and was sad to see how many haven' posted in years. We know what became of some, but there are others that just disappeared. I often wonder what became of them.

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  15. Thank you Ollie for a wonderful trip down memory lane. Tears due to losses well up, as do great comfort that those no longer here are with us forever. You are a joyful addition to Poupounette!
    With love from Lorine, Simon and our little Gang!!

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  16. Happy Blogaversary!!!
    12 years ! Time fly so fast and more to come =^x^=
    Lot of love

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  17. Concatulations on 12 years of blogging! That is quite an accomplishment. We have heard those original bloggers names throughout the blogosphere, but we didn't have the pleasure of knowing them. We're so glad we found your blog and love reading about your adventures. Here's to 12 more blogging years!

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  18. Happy Blogoversary! We enjoyed this walk through Memory Lane and seeing all the changes over the last 12 years. We have always enjoyed visiting you.

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  19. Happy Blogoversary. We are the same age! Mum says she has been reading you guys from the start.

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  20. Happy 12th blogoversary ! Concatulations ! Claire is so happy to have met #1, and she hopes to meet you one day, Ollie ! Purrs

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