Blog business first:
Oy. What a pain in the tush this has been! Last week I noticed something had been added to my blog and, at first, I thought I’d been hacked. A call to my host determined that I hadn’t been hacked but that the host had added a plugin to my site. A caching plugin. Plugins are the method in which a WordPress blog/site can be enhanced and adapted by the owner – just as widgets are for Blogger. Caching is the way in which static files can be created that ultimately enable a faster load time.
But they are not without their problems. I don’t like caching plugins and, early on, eliminated them on my blog. They don’t work so well when you post frequently, as I do. In addition, I was ticked off because something had been added to my site without my permission. I am the owner of my blogs and I determine what goes on the blog and what doesn’t. And it turns out that my host did this to all the sites under their umbrella. I called my host a couple of times last week, including on Christmas Eve, to get to the bottom of this and thought it had been resolved. Some of you, or many of you, would visit my blog on your browser and it would look as if I hadn’t updated the blog in several days, even though I had.
I can’t have that. So, last night, after receiving another email from a concerned reader who wondered why I hadn’t posted lately, I called them again. And the plugins are now powerless. It may take a day or two for all the caching complications to stop, but soon everything should be back to normal. I will keep an eye on things, of course. Sorry about that – but it was done without my knowledge and there has been a lot of blowback about it from other site owners, as well. This was not a good idea!
Okay. Business over. Fingers crossed. If you have any trouble, just reload the blog on your browser, but that shouldn’t be an issue for much longer.
• Something arrived in my mailbox while I was in Hartford.
Number eleven in my collection. Another great cover illustration by Russell H. Tandy. It’s amazing to me that the colors remain so vivid many years later. Between my Nancy Drews and Don’s Hardy Boys, rearranging the bookshelves is fast becoming a priority.
• I want to share four links with you concerning the two local horses, Ashley and Pliers, that were rescued by the Catskill Animal Sanctuary. I just discovered some videos done by the Sanctuary about their rehabilitation and the good news is that they’ve been moved from their temporary quarters on a farm to the Sanctuary itself. If you watch the videos, you’ll understand why they needed to be worked with before that could happen.
Ashley & Pliers, Setting Boundaries
We were so concerned about them, as were other local residents, and seeing how well they are doing fills me with gratitude – gratitude for the Sanctuary and for our friend who gave them a temporary home and initially contacted the Sanctuary, hoping they would take them. They will live out their days in peace and when Ashley leaves us, Pliers will be much better prepared for life without her.
What a blessing.
Happy Thursday.
Ashley & Pliers-this is good stuff! Just watched the videos.
Hope indeed springs eternal.
It does. And we need it these days!
What a lovely sanctuary Ashley and Pliers have found — the updates are wonderful.
Aren’t they? I can’t stop watching them!
Whew!!..was hoping all was well and you were just taking a few days off when there wasn’t a new post……I just kept getting Dec. 23……..the Nancy Drew is just beautiful; oh, so much appreciation for the days of great illustrators!…..the illustrations still “make my heart sing”; not to mention quality printing!…..the horse’s story offers so much hope in so many ways; all is exactly as it should be……..Dianne
Did the new post show up on your browser, Dianne?
Claudia, just tried it on the search I usually use and it came up fine ; but I used a different method this morning…..I went to about MHC and then dec 2016 archives; of course then saw the problem…..appreciate your explanation to solve the mystery!
Good grief! …..I should be checking my comments; should have been horses’ story not horse’s!
Well I was just on the phone with them again and they found some other code that needed to be deleted and I cleared the cache from my server so…please, please!….it should be resolved. That’s four calls to them now and countless hours of worry. I’m not a happy camper!
Thank you for the links, Claudia. I’m glad Pliers and Ashley are acclimating to their new home, and will be well-cared for.
They have a second chance – a chance to live out their days in safety and with good care. Their shelter at their local home was falling apart, they wouldn’t have made it through the winter.
Oh I am so happy about the happy ending for those sweethearts! Thanks so much for sharing this. What would we do without such wonderful people and places in the world?
I don’t know! They give me such hope, Bridget.
Still having to ‘refresh’ to get your updates, but how hard is that? Just knowing what to do to get them is a good thing. Great ‘new’ Nancy Drew.
Heading now to the horses…
Clear your browser cache, Shanna, and I’ll check in with my host, as well. I cleared mine and the new post showed up. We’ll see what tomorrow brings.
Fabulous update on the horses. :D That makes me happy for them!
Me too! They deserve to live out their days feeling loved and in peace.
I have watched the videos three times now, so nice to see Pliers comfort level changing. I know they will be very happy at the rescue. Like the saying ” I don’t wish for a perfect life but a happy one!
Exactly! They are happy now and to see Pliers take interest in the horse in the next corral is so heartening!
I watched all four video links and am absolutely sobbing with the beauty of this story and the rescued, elderly horses. I’m sure this sort of thing isn’t happening enough. How wonderful that you and Don could be part of a successful animal rescue.
The story hit home with me because I have two feral cats, mother and son, I’ve been feeding for nine years. They come from a hillside…the bushes…and, to this day, I can’t get more than five feet from them; truly wild, born in the wild. She has to be at least age 12 and he is age 9; it’s him who worries me, as he has never lived apart from her (I had them humanely trapped together, spayed and neutered; trap & release, when he was a tiny baby; she brought him to the food dishes when she was trying to wean him). Ferals don’t really meow, unless they’re keening for a mate or calling to their young, but he will faintly/quietly meow at her, greeting her. To this day, if she momentarily isn’t at his side, he goes looking for her; he follows her everywhere and despite getting aggressive at feeding time, bumping her out of the way, he body-language pleads to be groomed by her after eating, as if he’s a baby although now he’s an old man. I know that she could live without him but I’ve always known/worried that he won’t make it without her. They stay apart from other cats in a colony on this hillside. He acts the same way as the male horse with his mom; identical behavior. I don’t know of any solution, rather than letting nature take its course with disastrous consequences, other than humane euthanasia if I can trap the two of them, eventually, even though it won’t yet be ‘his’ time. Would be terribly traumatic for them. And me. I never thought they’d make it this long without proper immunization and parasite control, considering we do have many predators and, of course, the weather (although in SoCalif it’s not as severe as other places). Anyway, your horse story has given me resolve to make another appointment with the vet and try to figure out what to do. These aren’t lap cats and I’ve never even touched them/stroked them, but I’m invested emotionally. And I’d made the commitment to feed early on, so I never turned my back on that…but if something happened to me and my situation changed, they’d starve; too old now to find scarce/chance food on their own (he doesn’t even know how).
What a Happy New Year story for Ashley and Pliers. I needed something heartwarming. Thanks.
I can’t get anywhere with your blog; I’ve tried everything you’ve said, after I eventually (somewhat laboriously) found you with google on blogher. It’s as if MHC fell off the face of Earth on December 22. You may lose some readers with this unfortunate development. My experience has been that some blog owners, intentionally, just end their blogs cold turkey with no warning, as if they don’t know how to say goodbye to their readers…but I felt certain that wouldn’t be you. It’s been so concerning; I’d hoped you were okay.
Try clearing the cache on your browser, Vicki. That should clear everything for you. I just called my host and they made more adjustments so I hope this is finally taken care of. It’s been incredibly frustrating and also infuriating.
Anyone who reads this blog regularly would know I wouldn’t suddenly stop writing and end the blog without an explanation, Vicki.
You’re welcome. And I’m glad it has strengthened your resolve to take them to the vet and figure out your next step. Oh, these babies steal our hearts and we worry about them so. xo
Vicki…I take care of any stray cats that come this way…I have two I rescued that now live with me…I could never leave an animal starve or die from neglect…It sounds like you have done right by this Mom and son and at least you are thinking ahead instead of waiting until the time comes…Before you do anything drastic..like euthanasia…Maybe you could look for a cat rescue group in your area…they work with a lot of ferals and it is sometimes amazing how they can socialize these cats and turn their lives around…Your cats may be terrified of people because they have been hurt or chased away by people who are nasty…There are also people who will adopt older cats and no-kill sanctuaries were cats can live their lives out and have people to love them…a rescue group who specializes in only cats would seem best to me and can help you decide what is best for the cats…Thank you for caring…Good luck..whatever your choice is…Nancy
Thanks for the input. It’s troubling and I have to figure it out. I have a new neighbor coming in who will also potentially disturb the cats’ sleeping (safe) area. Oh well, another thing on my mind for the new year; seems I’m beginning it with (too many, too soon) big and small “issues” (I haven’t had a great December). Gotta put on my ‘solutions’ thinking cap and lose the ‘woe is me’ crap.
All the best in 2017 for you, Nancy!
thanks for helping those cats.
and may all the good you do come back to you, too. hope 2017 is much better than your december’s been.
kathy in iowa
I’m so touched by your kind words, kathy. Thank you. All the best to you, too, in 2017!
What a relief! I must admit I never once thought of blogging problems and had myself convinced you had some sort of personal emergency. Each morning I would open your blog with trepidation and find it still on Dec. 22. I’ve just enjoyed catching up and now I wish you and Don a very Happy New Year.
Thank goodness everyone is starting to see the posts again! This is so infuriating (what my host did) and it’s been terrible for the blog. Thanks for hanging in there, Deb. I’m glad you’re able to read this post. Happy New Year!
I’ve had to reload your blog page for the past few days to get the current post to appear but thought it was probably temporary. No biggie at all – but I am glad to find out it actually will be . What a pain for you, Claudia. Why are these blog-hosting services always whacking around with things? Wish I knew. At the very least they should be informing their clients about what’s going on – you don’t get this for free, do you? If you have to pay, then it’s a given that you should be informed. Oh well – good to know it’ll be cleared up soon. Thanks for posting the links about Ashley & Pliers. So good to see that Pliers is beginning to adjust & maybe even “separate” from his Mom a bit. I ended up watching about 15 more videos from CAS too. What wonderful people & work they’re doing there – they’re on my list for donations now. How much fun it must be to work there too. Out in the fresh air most of the day taking care of & interacting with animals. Who, for the most part, don’t mind who or what you are, as long as you are good to them. A lesson we could all learn. Highly recommend the CAS videos about Violet, the teeny baby goat. For anyone who might need an injection of cute, these would be the perfect prescription. She is overload adorable. 🐐
Yes, I do pay for it – they should have asked my permission, which I wouldn’t have given. I am angry with them and they know it. I just sent another ‘feedback’ email to them about the whole thing. Thanks for hanging in there with me, Janet. Violet, by the way, is their big YouTube star. I saw her briefly the day we were there. She is adorable!
I’m still fuming over the whole plugin thing. I’ve spent what seems like hours on the phone with them. I just had to talk to them again about an hour ago. The techs are great and they really try to help. This decision was clearly made by a higher-up who is clueless.
I am not happy with your blog people either Claudia…to do something like that without your permission is just not right…I emailed you last night when I just couldn’t take it anymore…I have been so worried that something had happened to you or Don…I know you would never stop posting without giving us warning…I just checked and it seems to be fixed so we will keep our fingers crossed…It is so nice to see Ashley and Pliers again..and doing so well…I subscribed to them and I want to go back and watch more of their videos…
I’m glad you emailed. Your email and a couple of others told me that, despite what I’d been told, the situation hadn’t been cleared up yet. Not only were my readers unable to see new posts, they became worried about me and Don. And I lost ad income. I’ve given them a piece of my mind several times now. Hopefully, something like that will never happen again.
Now, on to something positive. Ashley and Pliers. I am so, so happy for them!
The videos were heartwarming and inspirational. And boy,,,, do we ever need that right now!! Thanks so much for sharing. Do you know what the span of time was from the first one to the last? Was the real time Nov. 29 through Dec. 24? I wasn’t sure if real time and the posting times were accurate. If so, that is amazing!! Animals know when they are being cared for and are loved! Rescues always remain eternally grateful! ♡
I’m not sure the span of time – from sometime in November, probably earlier than the 29th (I think that’s when they posted the video) and I think they were moved to the sanctuary before Dec. 24th. But, all in all, it’s probably close to a month – 6 weeks. It makes me tear up. I’m so happy for those horses.
What a blessing this is for these sweet old horses to live out their lives at this wonderful sanctuary! I am so happy for them! Thank you for updating us on them. And for caring so much about them. I wish for all neglected horses and other animals that they would have such a good outcome….
I do, too, Lily. Thank you.
Clauida, those Nancy Drew covers are just stunning. You may have answered this question before but, if you did, I somehow missed it: Are the books you are acquiring originals or reprints? Still gorgeous!
They’re not modern reprints, Sharon. These books with illustrations by Russell Tandy were published between 1930 and 1949. They’re all vintage.There is a publisher that is publishing reprints of these, but they’re clearly marked as reprints on the cover. These are originals.
I’ve been so busy today…I’ll be watching the videos later for sure…they sound terrific! Glad your buddies have found a wonderful place to live with people who can care for them! We do need some good news that’s for sure! ;)
Boy, do we! This is good news and a comfort knowing that there are good and loving people out there. Which we, of course, know. It’s just nice to have it affirmed.
The videos are wonderful, bless those workers with them. They truly show love to the horses. Your post would come to me late in the afternoon instead of when you posted so I figured something wasn’t right. I blamed my internet because we always have issues! Take care Claudia.
Well, that had to do with your email, I think. If you get the post via email, there shouldn’t have been an issue. I was still getting them just before noon, like always. So maybe it was your internet, Doris!
It is so wonderful to see the Horses doing so well. Gosh, groups like that just make me believe in goodness again. So much bad this year that the good news is uplifting!
I didn’t experience your blog issues but I know how you care for your blog and this was unacceptable by them to do the add on without letting you know. I hope it’s fixed now.
The Nancy Drew covers are so amazing. Your collection is really growing. I’m getting my voice back but still taking it easy so I can do my presentation next week.
A sad time as we look back on all those we’ve lost this year including my Charlie and your Scout. I’m ready to say goodbye to 2016. The death of Carrie Fisher and now Debbie Reynolds(I believe the grief was just too much for her). It’s why I told my Mom she could not go with me last year when my brother was so ill, seeing it was more then she could deal with. So I’m in a reflective mood at the moment. Trying to be positive in these last days of 2016. Praying 2017 will bring better but fear it might not.
Hugs, Linda
Oh, the loss of Carrie Fisher at so young an age and then the loss of her mother the next day – it’s all too much to bear! We’ve lost so many this year. I’m afraid of what we’ve lost as a country as well. I can’t wait to say goodbye to 2016 but I’m awfully frightened of 2017. Can I just stay in between both years – not quite 2016, not quite 2017?
hope the plug-in problem is soon resolved to your satisfaction and the host doesn’t do that again. i think you deserve an apology and some compensation … hope you get them.
and thank you so much for the update on the horses. i am so happy for them … and for the people fortunate to have such wonderful jobs.
happy, healthy new year to you and your loved ones.
kathy in iowa
I do, too! I told them they should apologize to everyone for installing it without permission.
The horses are doing well and that warms my heart!
thanks, too, for the tour of your “home away from home”. you have personalized it with just a few items … charming, worth it.
kathy in iowa
Absolutely worth it, Kathy!
So glad you are back! I was hoping you were only very busy and not ill or something. I didn’t even think it could be something wrong with the site. I read all the rest and got caught up. All your touches to your apartment are wonderful.
Thanks so much, Tana! I’m glad that everything is fixed now – and I think it finally is.
Glad to hear about the horses. Enjoy the “Nancy Drew” book. The cover is lovely. Wishing you and yours a blessed,healthy and happy 2017.
Marilyn and family
Thank you so much, Marilyn. The same to you and yours.
I too thought you had taken a break from posting when I saw no new posts. I am glad I can now see all your posts.
Me too! It was a week-long battle to get it fixed, but now it is. Thanks, Linda!