The results are in …

Foreward: It’s been over a month since I posted on this blog – partly due to the holidays, and partly due to my Thanksgiving heart episode leading to another stent (resulting in low energy). I just noticed that this is my 200th post. My goal for 2020 is to post an additional 50 posts …

I’ve been reading posts that say Facebook is considering removing the feature where you can like a post. That gave me an idea. Before they make that move, I decided to review my 2019 posts – based on likes – to see what types of posts are most popular. Because there were so many posts, it wasn’t feasible to post the results on Facebook so I decided to use my blog – which featured many of the same photos.

To analyze the posts, I noted those with at least 25 likes. I eliminated more by going to 30, then 35, then … As a result, seven categories arose. A few of the photos are scattered throughout this post. Please keep in mind that this is – in no way – a scientific analysis. It does, however, serve as a good guideline about what to post.

Pets: Of course, Millie was the star of this show. She is just so adorable and yet a terrorist at the same time. Millie is a contributor/writer to my blog. (Click here for stories about Millie: https://carolynlbraun.com/2019/11/09/millies-tales-a-typical-day/ ; https://carolynlbraun.com/2019/12/05/millies-tales-a-dogs-job/ ; https://carolynlbraun.com/2019/04/19/demise-of-the-hedgehog/ )

Photos of family members – including older or historic photos. The big star in this category is virtually any photo with my brother-in-law Ron included. Ron lives with us and attends the local Day Activity Center (sheltered workshop). Click here for a blog post about Ron from New Year’s 2019: https://carolynlbraun.com/2018/12/31/the-best-of-meet-ron/. Historic photos of family members/relatives also received a lot of interest – often leading to genealogy discussions.

Travel (day trips), with an emphasis on barns and deteriorated buildings. Restricted in traveling (because I have to bring along oxygen tanks), we often go on day trips – but always with a camera in hand. This year’s highlight was the Big Boy train arrival (Click here: https://carolynlbraun.com/2019/07/19/big-train-comin/.) Below is a collage of a few of the barn or building photos I took this year. There are many, many more.

Hobbies – For this year, hobbies included soap making, rock painting, crocheting or knitting. Of course, photography is central to all of this. For next year, I am hoping to do more drawing.

Events – People responded well to pictures of our anniversary, our granddaughter Maddy Braun’s musicfest, our DNR award (for 45 years as state fire wardens) and pictures of my hospital visits.

Food – This category surprises me a little – because I often see people posting that they don’t want to look at pictures of food. How boring. Right? Well, apparently not. Perhaps it is the amazing preparation by Chef James. After not much cooking by him for most or our marriage (except outdoor grilling), he is now the chief cook, dishwasher and grocery shopper – and he learned quickly !! Here are just a few of his food creations …

Flowers and bonfires. I love flowers. I will likely post pictures of flowers whether people like them or not. The same is probably true for bonfires.

I have many more pictures that I could post but I will end here.

On to 2020 and more stories and photos!!

Thanks for reading. I hope you return!