It all started as a small idea. This blog was like a seed. Small, yet full of potential. Someone at work mentioned blogging and I thought….’could that be me?….could I become a blogger?…could I create a blog?’ I remember actually checking a book out of the library about blogging and discussing it over lunch with my friend Rachel. Two things I remember from the book were 1. blogs were better if they had a theme and 2. people don’t care what you had for lunch (don’t bore readers with uninteresting details of your life). Well, I had my theme, plants, and I didn’t really want to talk about my life, as we were in the process of losing our house (and garden!), so I started in the world of WordPress on January 16th with a Hello World first post. But before that my blog needed a name. Something catchy. Something descriptive. Something me. Not too long, not too short. Not too weird. I filled up a notebook page front and back with my stream of consciousness ideas. As I began to type them into the WordPress magic blogmaker, I found that most of them were already taken. I had no originality! Or at least other people think like me. Here are some of my starter ideas and my thoughts on them now: Trees and Bees (dumb), Blue Skies (not green enough), A Garden Note (cute), Falling Leaves (love it!), Sunlight, Sunbright (good stuff), Salal Dreams (too weird, but it is the title of my fiction and poems), Plants Permitted (what???), IPlant, YouPlant, WePlant (I am not Apple), Enchanted Leaf (not bad), The Plant Project (too academic), Plant Planet (Hmmmm), The Hundred Acre Woods (nice reference to literature). Nothing on my list worked out, but I must have been inspired because at top of my page of notes is scribbled in pencil Rainyleaf. As soon as I typed it in and it was accepted into the Blogosphere, I knew I had found my niche. As I began to write I found my voice and I enjoyed the process. I enjoyed the research, the photography and the plants. I created new friends and was inspired from their blogs. So many nights I thought I had nothing to say, yet a post was produced. A lot of times my family was talking and distracting me, but somehow I kept on writing (perhaps not as clearly as I would have liked!). And here I am in 2014, with 66,338 all time views and lot of ideas for the future. Thanks for reading! Here’s a look back at last year:
Here are some of my favorite posts from last year:
Book Review– A Memory of Light: Finally, the last book in The Wheel of Time Fantasy Series.
Book Review–Gathering Moss: What a great book! I learned a lot.
A Hobbit’s New Zealand Garden: My favorite garden at the 2013 Northwest Flower and Garden Show.
Happy Birthday Dove Tree: This beautiful tree blooms on my birthday.
Digiplexis Illumination Flame: An striking new foxglove.
Swimming With the Squid at VanDusen Botanical Gardens: Some invertebrates are welcome in the garden.
Iseli Nursery: I finally made it to this famous nursery, it was well worth the wait.
Rhapsody in Blue: From the Portland Rose Garden, my favorite flowers.
Bald Cypress–The Theory on Knees: This was fun to write.
Rainyleaf 
Happy anniversary Elaine. It is always a delight to read your posts. (We began our blogs about the same time.) susie
Thank you, I’m glad we are both still blogging!
Congratulations on your 3rd anniversary Elaine! I have enjoyed your posts over the last couple of years and have learned much about plants and trees from you too. Keep blogging! 😀
Thanks, it’s been a great experiment. Blogging has helped me in more ways than I ever would have thought. I’ve sharpened my writing skills and it helped me get my new job, which I’m really enjoying. Who would have guessed? I’m glad we are both still posting!
Congrats Elaine! Does it seem like the time went by fast? I have enjoyed your posts and pictures throughout the years. I remember several of these posts and another favorite is the one you did recently on David Douglas. Have a great new year of blogging!
Elaine it has been a great 3 years…congrats and here’s to many more!!