Good Bloggie!

One of the things about blogging, you start paying more attention to how you write and how long your text runs. Came across a link which compares blog entries against other bloggers, and it looks like our editing skills must be getting pretty good.

Created by OnePlusYou

This blog entry isn’t about Frenchies, it’s about the software running it.

Updated to the latest version of WordPress this week and decided to try a new theme which supports Widgets. (Little apps which do stuff for you.) A theme is the facade or “skin” of a blog. Found a really nice one, but of course, had to tweak it a bit. My tweaking is akin to “hunt and pecking” on a typewriter and mainly cosmetic things, but it’s getting there. Gotta figure out how to get rid of the extra dingbat on the side lists. Any ideas?

This theme is based off of “Tulip Time” by The Southern Highlights group. Do believe they are in Australia.

To see how much has changed from their original, you can visit these links:
Word Press Themes: Tulip Time
The Southern Highlands

If you’ve been wanting to start a blog, take a look at WordPress. There are two versions: WordPress.org and WordPress.com. What’s the difference?

WordPress.com is free, your blog will live on the WordPress servers, and you don’t have to worry about updates, it’s done for you. The functions and choice of themes are limited (but not much).

WordPress.org gives you more control and you can load it to your existing server or Internet Service Provider’s servers. If your ISP has Fantastico, it’s an easy install. The only thing is Fantastico lags on getting the latest WordPress updates out. It’s not that hard to manually upgrade WordPress. Just always backup first! With .org, there’s more whiz-bang things you can do and more themes to choose from.

Because WordPress is open source code, most of the fun things are available as freeware.

Will probably take a week or so before the blog is where we want it. Feel free to let us know if you like the new look or if the old one was easier.

We want to pay tribute to a fellow blogger and Frenchie lover.

Sadly, Chris lost his darling boy to a brain tumor last week and will be retiring their site, Manhattan Chien. We’ll miss looking forward to the latest news on Eti and reading the blog contributions Chris made to the Frenchie world.

If it weren’t for a common love of this breed, and the desire to share how wonderful they are via blogging, we would have never had the privilege to know Chris and Eti.

Funny how a small, little dog can inspire people to do such amazing things.

Farewell Eti, we will miss you.

That’s right. A year ago we started this blog. Not completely sure what we’d write about (well, other than Frenchies!). It’s been a great experience and thank you to everyone for you readership, your comments, and your support. Our intent has been to entertain and educate, and share our experiences, both the good and the bad, about this wonderful breed. Hopefully, we’ve accomplished our goal.

When we got our first Frenchie nine years ago, there was very little info readily available in print or on the web about our fascinating new creature. There was the Frenchie M-List, a chat list/bulletin board, and www.frenchbulldog.com started by Constance Parker. The M-List has been reborn as the Yahoo Group “frenchbulldog-l”. This list was, and still is, a big source of info. We’ve never met Constance, and can’t remember if we’ve ever exchanged e-mails, but will be indebted to her for creating one of the first single sources of French Bulldog information. Information hungrily consumed by this pair of Frenchie newbies. Thanks to her site, we learned about the critical health issues about the breed, and so much more. Now, there are many, many quality sites of Frenchie info and we happily visit them, as well. (You will find links to some of these sites on our Links Page and on the BlogRoll list to the left.)

Our first eBay purchase was a used copy of “The French Bulldog” by Steve Eltinge for the astounding price of $62. An Amazon search shows it currently going for about $300, down from the $800 it was priced at earlier this year. If you want a signed copy, then it’s yours for $1,600!

Over the years, as we’ve reached out to other Frenchie owners, breeders, and aficionados, our knowledge base has grown, but we still have so much to learn about this breed. How can you explain why a small, snorty, stubborn, sometimes smelly, but always sweet, little dog can capture your imagination and heart so completely? If you own a Frenchie, chances are, you quite understand. If you are thinking about getting a Frenchie, then beware. Your immune system may not be as strong as you thought and you, too, will succumb to “Frenchie Fever.” An illness you will gladly embrace and shun all cures for.

Last week GollyLog bestowed us with The Blogger Reflection Award.

The premise of the award is to reflect on five blogs who have influenced you in a positive way. We are very honored to receive this, and, of course, have begun reflecting upon our five biggest, blogging influences. (And will post them later once we are done reflecting. Darn mirrors keep breaking!)

To learn more about the Blogger Reflection Award click here.

In the meantime, we’d like to thank the folks at GollyLog for putting us in a list of very fine blogs. You can visit GollyLog and their list of awardable blogs by clicking here.