Nov. 30th, 2022 is the 2,191st consecutive, yes! CONSECUTIVE! Crazy, right? #dailyshotofwhiskeykitty post.

By Karen England, the Edgehill Herb Farmer.

Where has the time gone? Update!

It’s been yet another year! So, I’ve once again edited the one year anniversary post to say “Wow – the #dailyshotofwhiskeykitty is turning six years old!” And am reposting it.

We here at edgehillherbfarm.blog are going to celebrate!

Again!

The “we” here that I’m referring to are;

• myself, Karen,
• my cat, Whiskey,
• my dogs, Derby and Devon
• my hens
• my duck, Marj(oram)
• My bunny, Sprinkles
• Roger, the marimo ball
• and my Mom!

~ not with prizes this year but just with a big hurrah, meow, woof, cluck, quack etc., from us all this time.

For those new to me, us, this –

Here’s an explanation . . .

On November 30th, 2021 I will have posted a photo of my cat, Whiskey, on Instagram everyday for five entire years. That’s 1826 days in a row (leap year included). I never intended to do this actually everyday for two years, or three years, let alone one year, but gosh, darn it, I have!

When this exercise started years ago it was to appease my family who, unbeknownst to me, worried about me if I didn’t post something on Facebook every day. If I was doing well, and as a fairly recent widow, I was rarely doing well, but if I was faring well, I would go about my life and my day and not post anything on social media unless there was something worthy of posting, thinking this was me being “healthy”. I was unaware that my beloved family and friends were carefully watching and reading my posts from afar to gauge how I was doing. If I didn’t post something for a while they panicked and thought I was in trouble. I probably was, but that’s beside the point in this instance. I figured out this was happening after finally asking people why they were all of a sudden worried and checking up on me in droves. Once I caught on, I thought, “I know, [I’ll fix their wagon! Not my finest hour.] I’ll post a photo of my cat everyday on Instagram and share it to Twitter and Facebook, and even if I’m not doing well, my family will be happy.”

And so was born the #dailyshotofwhiskeykitty

Who knew such a small thing, done for crazy reasons, could in such a short amount of time change my life so much for the better? Not me! I just thought it was a kindness to wonderful, lovely people who needed to go worry about other things besides me for a while.

And, what a difference it has made. Five years ago I had less 200 friends on Twitter, less than 400 followers on Instagram and barely 1000 friends on Facebook. I was trying to find work that would allow me to care for my aging mother who lived at home with me at the time (she lived for a time in a nursing home, but she’s back.) Not an easy feat for an aging single gal like myself re-entering, after 25 years away from traditional employment, a modern work force. At the time I posted on social media inconsistently and haphazardly at best and just for personal pleasure. But five years ago I decided to post daily with intention and to share more than just my grieving out loud story but to also share the whole of my story; my green garden story, my flavorful kitchen story, my fragrant mixology story, my furry animals story, my big dreams story, my fun memories story, my sweet love story, my cosy home story, my only child/big family story and more . . .

The (first) year of the #dailyshotofwhiskeykitty showed me that I can be disciplined about posting, writing and working from home. That I can take good photos and tell engaging stories with them. That folks really like my work. It has made me hundreds of new friends and turned my kitty into a little cat star. It has shown my family that I am getting better and I am doing better. For real. In fact, now, if I don’t post a photo of my cat early enough in the morning my family and friends squawk and worry . . .  so, I’ve learned they will worry about me no matter what I do to alleviate their concerns and frankly I love them for it and wouldn’t have it any other way.

That’s all for now!

Thanks for everything everyone! We here at Edgehill Herb Farm are looking forward to what the next 365 days will bring and sharing it with all of you.